Oct 9, 2014

By: Jeanne von Zastrow, Senior Director for Sustainability, Food Marketing Institute Pollinators Posted at a Grocery Store

The old adage “busy a bee” may point to the insect’s work ethic, but a situation is surfacing that may tax the bee population’s work load.  It has been estimated by Natural Resources Defense Council that 30 percent of our food supply depends on bees and other pollinators successfully doing their jobs in farms and fields across the world.  More than $15 billion a year in U.S. crops are pollinated by bees.  On the other hand, a study performed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that in the winter of 2014, the U.S. experienced a 25 percent mortality rate for commercial beehives.      

To help food retailers better understand the economic, agricultural and ecologic implications of this issue, FMI’s sustainability executive committee is developing a retailer backgrounder, resource guide and webinar to be available at the end of this year.  In the meantime, here are some more details about the issue.

There are currently about 1,600 commercial beekeepers in the U.S.  The diminishing bee population and the vital agronomic role they play are keeping beekeepers constantly on the move, transporting their hives across the country to pollinate fruit and vegetables at just the right time every year. For example, there is a three-week window every February where nearly 800,000 acres of almond trees need to be pollinated. Beekeepers load up their hives in semi-trucks and race across the country to California to help with pollination. This migration to the almond groves puts stress on the bees due to widely varying temperatures, risks of severe weather, and increased risk of illness due to colonies from all over the country being in such close quarters.

But beekeeper transport isn’t the only danger the bees face. Other escalating dangers to pollinators include loss of habitat; loss of forage and feed; climate change; and exposure to pesticides used by both homeowners and farmers.  In both the U.S .and Europe one of the most widely used class of pesticides, the neonicotinoids, are under review due to concerns about impacts on pollinator ability to use their "homing radar."  

The plight of pollinators and risk to the food supply chain has gained the attention of the U.S. government, universities, NGOs, consumers and the food industry in search of answers. USDA has provided a $3 million for grants, and many universities, foundations and corporations are researching for answers to the entangled mystery of colony collapse disorder. The World Wildlife Fund is also working on this issue and has informed this blog. 

Like many complex supply chain issues, the pollinator solution will need the benefit of our collective systems, creative leadership and stakeholder collaboration.