Beekeeper here. The "white man's fly" (Native American term for imported Italian apis mellifera) is a valuable pollinator but is hardly the only one active in non-commercial conditions. The humble bumble actually pollinates more flora more prodigiously due to anatomic advantage. Attempts are being made to manage them as hired pollinators but not being a social insect there isn't much success to date. Honey bees will produce royal jelly, propolis, pollen and of course honey in excess depending on management. All bees apart from the queen & drones work themselves to death, whether managed or not (feral). Management doesn't mean exploitation without agreeing on some clarifying definition. Bee KEEPERS have a vested interest in the health of their hives. If competition means burgeoning population vying for fixed resources, I agree with the premise. But I can show you 15 different pollinators in a square foot of buckwheat in bloom that belie that. Cooperation and harmony come to mind rather.

I like this cookbook I picked up on a whim. It is mostly vegan with a bit of cheese here and there. All of the recipes are eggless. It is from a long-standing Los Angeles vegetarian restaurant. I can see it packed in a gift basket with tempeh, tamari sauce, whole grain pasta, nuts, egg replacer (health food store), good olive oil, and assorted organic vegetables. Here is a link that might be useful: Follow Your Heart Cookbook

Honestly I've explored the anti-inflamation diet info. out there and if you're really into it, you might as well give up eating all together. Try to find a good list of foods to avoid if you're prone to gout, for example, which my BF is. Whoa! I have terrible menstrual cramps and tried a diet low in the precursors to prostglandins and also anti-inflammatory as well. Did it for months. Made no difference. Exercise helped dramatically with that problem though--sitting at a desk all day is absolutely the bane of life for our bodies! Now I'm on a low acid diet for interstitial cystitis. Only a few of the so called "trigger" foods bother me, which I found out by going the elimination diet route. Sitting isn't good for that problem either! So diet isn't always the magic pill. But some folks have found themselves remarkably healed by diet too, so there you go. As for beans and inflammation, the only one I'm aware of is kidney beans. Supposedly high in purine which causes gout. Honestly though, compared to meats, kidney beans are small potatoes. Oh, sorry you nightshade folks, small turnips, oh wait, those are cruciferous aren't they, small rice grains. I don't know if it is because I have always loved fiber-filled foods or what, but when I eat like my dad does, with the five main food groups being meat, starch, sugar, salt and oil, I start to feel lousy pretty quick! I tried it for a week when they were here one time for Christmas, I tried only making foods I knew my dad likes and not making separate for myself. Ugh. Couldn't sleep and felt sluggish. However, if you're used to a diet high in unhealthy foods, I don't think you realize its effects because that is just "normal" for you. And it takes a long time for the body to adjust to changes, either good or bad. Which is a good thing when you think about it. If your body couldn't adjust humans wouldn't be able to survive very well. But anyway, if you shock your system one way or the other, you're going to feel lousy and hate the foods, either way. That's why the best route is to go gradual. For some, "fake" products are part of the transition process. Eventually you may loose your taste for those kinds of things as your palate develops. I have been going low fat for so long that the full fat versions of most things don't agree with me, which is quite the opposite of how it would seem to someone just starting out on a low fat diet, they would find the low fat foods disappointing. But you can develop sensitivieis to certain foods as you age. I used to pride myself on having an iron constitution. I can no longer get away with those things! Last night I had a fishwich, fries and coffee. Hardly the worst of fast food meals, but I was not able to sleep well due to indigestion and thirst due to the salt and then going to the bathroom! But I'll bet if I was used to it I wouldn't have had as much of a problem.

Pesky, I totally agree about the quality of our animal products. It doesn't stop with them though. Grains are said to also not be what our ancestors ate, not good at all these days, even eliminate. Fruits and vegetables have had a lot of their taste and nutrition bred out of them in favor of long shelf life and other more marketable qualities. But I agree, the hormones, antibiotics, living conditions are wretched -- at least lower your intake of the bad stuff. It's just shameful what has happened to our food. But they probably didn't realize it at the time. What really gets me is these natural/organic companies that advertise healthy foods but load them with things like cane sugar. I lump Whole Foods into that group. Soy and corn are other spoiled and contaminated food sources that turn up in so many processed things. I read all labels and try not to buy any of those -- unless I'm desperate for something to eat! Grass-fed beef and organic chicken is easily accessible here, as well as eggs, dairy and other products. At Whole Foods their meats do not have antibiotics or hormones and pasture fed is available (maybe not all types of meat). But gads, that organic cheese I was looking at, the only one available, was $32 per pound. Ain't gonna happen, lol. But I don't eat cheese or dairy often. Organic chicken and grass fed beef is expensive, running about $8 pound for both as I recall -- that would be chicken breast and ground beef. A lot when you can get the regular chicken for something like $3. I have read the GF beef is as healthy as fish. Sure hope, but it unfortunately doesn't have all the flavor grain fed does. So sometimes I just want a disgustingly unhealthy burger! This post was edited by snookums2 on Wed, Nov 20, 13 at 21:18