the bees’ needs
February 27, 2008
I came across this site by accident in my search of why my favorite childhood flavor of ice cream no longer exists. Back in the day, fancy “foreign” ice creams were introduced and were sold in small pints and not huge half gallon squares, i.e. Frusen Gladje and Haagen Daz. This was before Ben and Jerry’s and before Godiva ice cream. These ice creams were the equivalent of what Depeche Mode meant in the music world, fancy made-up euro words that mean nothing at all, that fed off our obsession and fascination of all things european and exotic. It worked for some better than others.
In the eighties, Haagen Daz had a flavor called, Honey Vanilla. I very often times scare people with my acute memory. I went ahead and googled it to see if i did indeed remember correctly. Yes it was true. The flavor was discontinued in 1992. wahhh. However, in my quest for finding out what happened to a fabulous childhood memory, I came across this new flavor that Haagen Daz has released this February 2008, called Vanilla Honey Bee. The story behind this is a sad one.
We have, once again, successfully exploited one of earth’s natural resources and now find ourselves in the midst of the plight of the honey bees. Though this may sound like some weird biblical reference, it is not. it is very real and will affect each and every one of us. We all learned about the birds and the bees. How ironic that an analogy using bees to teach sex education may be extinct in the matter of a few years if the next generation doesn’t even know what a bee is.
Bees pollinate plants like crops and fruits, nuts and seeds. Without their pollination skills, the landscape of our food would change drastically; no fruits and no vegetables and the no meat from animals that feed off this vegetation. The bees provide us with our seemingly endless abundance of nourishment. Just think, without bees, all these things will suffer.
This honey bee problem has become so severe that Haagen Daz has set-up a site dedicated to the crisis, help the honey bees. I love the design of it! I would have mentioned it regardless of the design, but the fact that it’s easy on the eyes is an added bonus in reading the valuable information.
HD relies on bee pollination for 40% of their flavoring and even the cream that comes from the cows that comes from the alfalfa they feed on. It must be a sheer sign of desperation that a huge American corporation would take on such a cause. That alone is impact enough to wake up and learn about it and what we can do. We all try to be more green and sustainable. If it’s not the earth’s atmosphere, it’s something else. And yes we are truly in a uniquely fragile time. HD is raising money with honey bee dependent flavors. A portion of the sale of these flavors, indicated by a special honey bee logo, will go to UC Davis and Penn State research centers.
The bees need us. We need the bees more than we know. I am so depressed after reading about this crisis, i think i need to go get my hands on this new Vanilla Honey Bee flavor and see if it compares to the original. At least it’s for a good cause.
woe is bee.
I came across this site by accident in my search of why my favorite childhood flavor of ice cream no longer exists. Back in the day, fancy “foreign” ice creams were introduced and were sold in small pints and not huge half gallon squares, i.e. Frusen Gladje and Haagen Daz. This was before Ben and Jerry’s and before Godiva ice cream. These ice creams were the equivalent of what Depeche Mode meant in the music world, fancy made-up euro words that mean nothing at all, that fed off our obsession and fascination of all things european and exotic. It worked for some better than others.
In the eighties, Haagen Daz had a flavor called, Honey Vanilla. I very often times scare people with my acute memory. I went ahead and googled it to see if i did indeed remember correctly. Yes it was true. The flavor was discontinued in 1992. wahhh. However, in my quest for finding out what happened to a fabulous childhood memory, I came across this new flavor that Haagen Daz has released this February 2008, called Vanilla Honey Bee. The story behind this is a sad one.
We have, once again, successfully exploited one of earth’s natural resources and now find ourselves in the midst of the plight of the honey bees. Though this may sound like some weird biblical reference, it is not. it is very real and will affect each and every one of us. We all learned about the birds and the bees. How ironic that an analogy using bees to teach sex education may be extinct in the matter of a few years if the next generation doesn’t even know what a bee is.
Bees pollinate plants like crops and fruits, nuts and seeds. Without their pollination skills, the landscape of our food would change drastically; no fruits and no vegetables and the no meat from animals that feed off this vegetation. The bees provide us with our seemingly endless abundance of nourishment. Just think, without bees, all these things will suffer.
This honey bee problem has become so severe that Haagen Daz has set-up a site dedicated to the crisis, help the honey bees. I love the design of it! I would have mentioned it regardless of the design, but the fact that it’s easy on the eyes is an added bonus in reading the valuable information.
HD relies on bee pollination for 40% of their flavoring and even the cream that comes from the cows that comes from the alfalfa they feed on. It must be a sheer sign of desperation that a huge American corporation would take on such a cause. That alone is impact enough to wake up and learn about it and what we can do. We all try to be more green and sustainable. If it’s not the earth’s atmosphere, it’s something else. And yes we are truly in a uniquely fragile time. HD is raising money with honey bee dependent flavors. A portion of the sale of these flavors, indicated by a special honey bee logo, will go to UC Davis and Penn State research centers.
The bees need us. We need the bees more than we know. I am so depressed after reading about this crisis, i think i need to go get my hands on this new Vanilla Honey Bee flavor and see if it compares to the original. At least it’s for a good cause.
woe is bee.
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