Pollinator Protection & Hunger

National Pollinator Protection Week 2021 was June 21-27. Roseville, where I live, adopted a Pollinator Friendly Community resolution in 2017 with actions for both city and residents. Bee nest boxes have been placed in each of our city parks.

I have learned a lot more about pollinators recently; our cooperative has a pollinator garden thanks to one of our members. Karen has been teaching us about which native plants attract which pollinators. She has continued to add to the garden each of the past three years so some of the plants are now firmly rooted while the newest ones need her tender loving care—and a lot of water during these dry and hot days. She was delighted to hear that we saw a Monarch butterfly in the garden the other evening and wanted to know which of the plants we saw it hovering above.

We tend to think of pollinators as being important for making the beauty of flowers possible. Perhaps we think about their importance for fruit trees when we see bees busy around apple blossoms in the spring as we sniff the blooms very carefully. But we seldom remember that pollinators are crucial for not only flowers and fruit trees but also for vegetables to reproduce.

Many of our food crops could not exist without pollinators. Crop yield suffers without them, too. Pollinator numbers are declining, mainly because of loss of habitat and overuse of pesticides. Disease is also a factor. Honeybees, in particular, are suffering great losses.

Hungry children and adults need vegetables and fruit for healthy diets. Do all you can to ensure that pollinators are welcome in your yard, neighborhood, and community. When next you see a bright apple, peach or green bean at the food shelf or the farmers’ market, remember to thank a pollinator. Smile at a bee or a butterfly.

-Vernita Kennen

Incarnation, Shoreview

Read more of Vernita's posts at https://spas-elca.org/category/blog/addressing-hunger/.