Sweeteners supply quick energy but very little else, and at the quantities a community can produce they are a tiny share of its food: 200-500 lb of honey a year is about 0.27-0.67% of the 102.2 million kcal that 100 people eat, only 8-19 kcal per person per day. Their value is in preserving fruit, flavouring a monotonous diet and morale, not in closing a calorie gap.
The caloric and nutritional role of sweeteners is the food energy and the few nutrients that honey, syrups, sugar and molasses provide in a community diet.
Energy Dense, Nutrient Poor
Recalled food-composition values per 100 g: refined sugar about 387 kcal, honey about 304, sorghum syrup about 290 and maple syrup about 260. Per pound (453.6 g) that is about 1,755, 1,379, 1,315 and 1,179 kcal. These are mostly sugars with almost no protein or fat, and the vitamins and minerals are a small share of what a person needs; unrefined syrups and molasses keep somewhat more minerals than refined sugar (qualitative, recalled).
Worked Example: How Much Is It Worth?
- The sugar guide’s honey target for 100 people is 200-500 lb a year. In kilograms: 200 × 0.4536 = 90.7 kg and 500 × 0.4536 = 226.8 kg.
- Energy at 3.04 kcal per gram: 90,700 g × 3.04 = 275,800 kcal and 226,800 g × 3.04 = 689,500 kcal.
- Share of the community’s 102.2 million kcal a year: 275,800 ÷ 102.2 million = 0.27% and 689,500 ÷ 102.2 million = 0.67%.
- Per person per day: 275,800 ÷ 100 ÷ 365 = 7.6 kcal and 689,500 ÷ 100 ÷ 365 = 18.9 kcal. That is 8-19 kcal against a 2,800 kcal average.
- The same size of share for other sweeteners: 50-100 gallons of maple syrup is about 0.65-1.3 million kcal, 0.64-1.28% (Maple Syrup Production); an acre of sorghum is 1.5-3.0 million kcal (Yield and Labor Requirements).
So sweeteners cannot be planned as a calorie source in the winter gap (Winter Calorie Gap Planning). They are an extra.
What Sweeteners Do Well
- Preserve: fruit as jam and in syrup, and honey and sugar as mead and wine (Sugar in Food Preservation (Jams, Fruit)).
- Make a plain diet acceptable, which matters for a community living on grain, beans and roots for months.
- Give fast energy to heavy workers between meals (qualitative; it does not replace the staples).
- Carry medicine: the guide notes medicinal preparations among the uses.
What They Cost
The land and fuel set by the sweetener: honey uses forage and hives; maple uses wood; beets and sorghum use crop land and wood. Per calorie these are expensive compared with grain, so sweeteners are a deliberate, limited allocation.
What You Need
- A sweetener allocation set once a year from the harvest
- A rule for children’s and workers’ use
- Dental hygiene, since sugar feeds the bacteria that cause tooth decay (recalled), and there may be no dentist (Dental Care)
Method: Allocate The Sweetener
Step 1: Total the year’s honey, syrup and sugar. Step 2: Set aside the preservation share first (the guide’s 100-300 lb of honey for jams, mead and medicinal uses). Step 3: Divide the rest for the table. Step 4: Record what is used.
Common Mistakes
- Counting sweeteners as winter calories. They are under 1% of the community’s energy.
- Giving up preservation to spend it at the table. The preserved fruit is worth more than the sugar.
- Feeding it to infants. See below.
Safety
Honey and infants
Never give honey to an infant under 1 year: the corpus lists infant intestinal botulism as the risk (Food Safety Standards). Do not substitute a sweet drink for breast milk or proper food in young children (Child Nutrition).
What’s Next
- Learn next: Storage & Preservation Uses — the broader view of sweeteners in the store
- Combine with: Caloric Requirements by Population — the denominator these shares are measured against