After years of building strong relationships with a variety of local food producers Barret Lang recognized a need – to make their products available to local communities in a way that offers easy access for consumers and fair prices all around. His venture, Bear’s Honeypot, seeks to accomplish this goal. Barret, a member of KA, graduated from South River High School in 2003 Roanoke College in 2007.
On Saturday, July 21 at 12:00pm Bear’s Honeypot will hold its grand opening event, which includes a live band, bar-b-que, door prizes, and a raffle.
The store is located in the Stone Circle complex off of Odenton Road. It will carry local jams, cow and goat cheeses, honey, eggs, milk, produce, meats, yogurt, pasta, sauces, and a variety of specialty products. All the products are from local, small producers with many being organic. The meats are free range, hormone free, and grass fed and the eggs are free range. The honey is raw and unprocessed and from apiary’s in Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania.
In addition to the store, Bear’s Honeypot participates in multiple farmers’ markets in MD/DC/NOVA. Barret is also starting a Bear’s Honeypot CSA in 2013 and has begun providing product to local retail stores and restaurants so they can go local too. ‘Honey Bear Creations’ specializes in homemade soaps and sugar scrubs. This reduces the carbon footprint of large soap making operations.
With help from his family, friends and a few key staff members, Barret has taken on a full-time project on top of his already full time job. In addition to providing a service, he’s also an activist, as he hopes that Bear’s Honeypot will offer avenues for education and community member involvement. A portion of the sales from the store will be donated to local schools and to save the polar bears.
The benefits of eating local and organic are numerous. The money spent is put directly back into the local economy, the food is fresh and free of harmful preservatives, chemicals, hormones, etc., and the food producers are sustainable and environmentally conscious.
For example, Cherry Glenn Farm in Boyds, MD runs all of its operations on solar power. The makers of Fresh Batch jams started their small company as a way to raise funds for their son’s Leukemia bills. The jams were so delicious that people kept asking for them after the fundraiser was finished.
Bear’s Honeypot certainly will be a local hub for the region. Barret is very aware of input from community members about which local products they have a need for. If it’s local, Bear’s Honeypot will carry it.
