Click here to sign our bee petition.
Honeybees are under attack but despite years of research the culprit for colony collapse disorder (CCD) has yet to be identified.
What we do know is that there’s probably not just one thing causing the massive die-offs, but several factors interacting to cause a perfect, lethal storm.
What difference does it make?
- Roughly 30% of our food gets brought into the world by honeybee pollination
- The increased yield and quality of crops that have been visited by honeybees adds $15 billion to the annual US agricultural economy.
- The impact of another year of 40% losses of honeybee populations will be devastating to food production, food prices, and biodiversity.
How can I help?
LEARN more about CCD by: 1) hosting a screening of Vanishing of the Bees. The filmmakers of this award-winning documentary, narrated by Ellen Page, have offered significant discounts on screening licenses to Slow Food members. Email emily@slowfoodusa.org for more information. 2) Download this one-page information sheet on the importance of bees to our food system. Also, you can download a screening guide for the film by clicking here.
SIGN the petition. The EPA recently pledged to take a closer look at one of the factors that watchdog organizations like Beyond Pesticides and Pesticide Action Network believe to be a contributing cause of CCD. Together we can hold the EPA accountable to its promise to dig deeper into some of the likeliest causes of CCD, like a new class of agricultural pesticides. If you’d like to gather petition signatures on your own–at a screening, or outside your supermarket– and send them to us, you can download a petition sheet by clicking here.
PLANT a bee friendly habitat in your garden or windowsill with pollen- and nectar-rich flowering plants like sunflowers, berries, gourds, and most herbs.
REDUCE your usage of insecticides and herbicides around the home. They may get rid of pests, but they can also harm “non-target” insects such as honeybees.
SUPPORT your local beekeepers, and producers of rare honey. Learn about honey varieties in your area and those on the US Ark of Taste.
The threat that this phenomenon poses to our food security and our economy is grave. We can’t just swat this problem away.
Thanks for being a part of the solution. And if you haven’t yet signed our petition to the EPA, click here.
