nectar to be had. Loss of wild habitat—in household gardens,
on farms, in once-wild places cleared for development—also
leaves fewer plants for pollinators to visit. And, no surprise,
a particular class of pesticides, neonicotinoids, meant to kill
pests, also harms honeybees. These chemicals are widely used
not only on farms but in home gardens.
This is concerning because all together, pollinators—and
especially bees—support more than 250,000 species of plants
that not just we humans but animals depend on for our food
supply. Of all those pollination-dependent crops, 80 percent
rely on bees specifically.
WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP?
Buy food that’s grown without those pesticides. You can
also choose foods grown by farmers engaged in habitat
preservation and planting pollinator-friendly flowers inter-
spersed among their crops. Ask about them at your farmers’
market.
To be a conscious eater, in this case, be a conscious gar-
dener. Avoid neonics yourself by choosing live garden
plants grown without them. Thankfully, big home and
garden retailers like Home Depot and Lowe’s have commit-
ted to phasing out neonics over time,
and those still treated with them will
usually be labeled as such. You
can also help by not using
the pesticide yourself on
the plants you grow.
Consult the website of
the Xerces Society for
Invertebrate Conservation
(xerces.org) for the common
Stuff that Comes from the Ground 57