Slate.com today has a very interesting article on whether cane sugar is environmentally better than high fructose corn syrup. The simple answer is yes. Beet sugar is also better than HFCS, but it's unclear whether cane or beet sugar are better. Sugarcane produces more sugar per acre, and its byproducts are used to power the plants that process the sugar, making it rather efficient, but it requires a huge amount of water to produce and can only be grown in tropical climates. Beets grow happily in northern climates but require more processing.
Which raises the locavore question: is it possible to get locally produced beet sugar? If so, would the reduction in transportation costs offset the processing cost? Does anyone know of a source of local beet sugar? And how does this measure up to maple syrup and honey as sweeteners?
The general conclusion of the article, incidentally, was to use less sweeteners overall.
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