Sugar Story

(Page 3 of 3)

September/October 1971
By Fred Rohe 
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I have not seen Turbinado or Demarara sugar produced, but my understanding of sugar procesing enables me to make the following wager with complete confidence: I'll bet Turbinado sugar is at least 95% sucrose. I'm so confident that I would not lose those bets that I won't sell Turbinado or Demarara either. That wager makes no pretense of being founded on "scientific" grounds but on first-hand experience of what sugar looks like during the refining procedure.

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Not having known the facts, some Organic Merchants have allowed so-called "raw sugar" to have a home in their stores. Probably some products containing it are popular. Our intention is not take the pleasure out of anyone's life, but to play a part in upgrading the quality of American food. If enought of us stop buying junk—even the better junk—the food manufacturers will listen.

So what are you going to use for a sweetener if you never allow sugar to cross your lips? Half the amount of honey should be used in substituting for sugar in recipes. Beyong that, it's all experimental. Try carob molasses, carb syrup, unrefined sugar cane syrup, date sugar. Best experiment of all is to follow the advice of J.I. Rodale: "We receive so many letter from readers asking what kind of sugar to use. So far as we are concerned, the answer is none... if you would be healthy, omit all sugar and just get accustomed to doing without it."

Reprints available from: Organic Merchants, c/o Erewhon, 8003 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, Ca. 90048, 651-3787.

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  • rosc 9/12/2009 12:13:17 PM

    I'm glad I'm not the only one who realized "raw" sugar was a scam - just look at the price, that tells it all. Pure white sugar is like .60cent per pound, allegedly "raw" sugar is over $2/lb. PT Barnum would be proud.

    Also, don't necessarily assume honey is all that pure. There are no laws governing the adulteration of honey with sugar or anything else (glucose syrup, etc.)

    So, unless you know your apiary, and can trust the producer, you have no way of knowing if your honey was cut with sugar to earn more money for the seller.

    Same with maple syrup. BTW, MEN had an article explaining how to refine maple syrup, and even how to do it without massive expense for cooking (freeze it, semi-melt to pour off the water, etc.)

  • MC 12/8/2008 7:17:23 PM

    My aunt and uncle have taken to collecting maple sap and boiling it down in their back yard. They don't share their knowledge even with those willing to learn-- whether from an inability to teach or a desire to thin the pool of potential survivors I'm not sure-- but I guess if they can figure it out from a book, probably anyone can. From my understaning, it's a time consuming process requiring the attentions of at least two people who are able to attend to it full time for a few days. And, of course, as it requires being in the habitat of the sugar maple, it's really only viable *well* north of I-40 (hint: in NW Arkansas, I'd have to hunt a long time to find enough wild sugar maples to make maple sugar for a family of 5). But that does cover a sizable percentage of the population of North America, and tapping trees does appear to be a much more sustainable procedure than large-scale agribusiness, so...

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