Your thoughts about the vanishing of bees (what else have you heard/seen about this issue?)
The documentary Vanishing of Bees gave me insight into the problem of the declining of honeybees in the United States. One quote in the documentary that stood out was that "bees are the indicator of environmental quality." This encompassed the idea that the environment, and the industrial agriculture methods we've turned to are--according to the bees--are essentially poor in quality. It is interesting to see that the issue of colony collapse disorder can be traced to the EPA and their lack of regulation on systemic pesticides.
Were you able to discover if there is a factory farm near you? Were you already aware of farms near you? What do you think about this?
According to the factoryfarmmap.org, there are a number of factory farms in Riverside County. As of 2012, there are about 42, 000 dairy animals and almost 3 million chicken layers. I am surprised with the amount of animals but can understand why these industries exist. I would like to see an increase of local farms within the Riverside County area to supply these animal products using organic animal raising methods.
Composting: Do you currently compost? Have you composted in the past? Do you know anyone who composts? Would you consider composting, after learning about its benefits from the movie?
Currently I do not compost in my condo but it was something I used to do with my roommates as an undergrad. The movie illustrated the overall benefits of composting and after reading the composting article on pbs.org, I will most likely build an indoor compost bin.
It was really sad watching the movie Vanishing of Bees. It appears that the colony collapse disorder is related to the systemic pesticides. These class of chemicals have been created and used since the 90’s. The EU has restricted the use of them. Unfortunately, we still use them in the US.
ReplyDeleteI agreed that the lack of EPA regulation has lead to the problem of bees disappearing. What I found very interesting is the consequences of pollinators disappearing completely. In the last decade or so, we have seen the effects of pollinators disappearing and we will see them continue to disappear if we do not come up with solutions and more regulations.
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