1. The "Vanishing of the Bees" film was absolutely heartbreaking for me. I say that honestly, with no exaggeration. My mother raises bees and I've grown up loving them since I was in grade school. I loved the short history lesson in the movie - when they explained how ancient Egyptians would float hives down the river to follow the bloom - how amazing is that?! But the sad reality of this film was also driven home and I was very troubled to learn about colony collapse disorder and seeing the empty hive boxes strewn about all over the place.
2. Similar to my connection to the "Vanishing of the Bees" film, I also had a strong nostalgia connection to the "Dirt" film and Fact Sheet because of how I was raised. My parents have always composted and I am lucky enough to live in an apartment complex that has a composting service for tenants as well. After watching the "Vanishing of the Bees" film, it was nice to switch to something that felt a little more upbeat and positive. The film does a great job describing the process, why its important, and how you can get involved.
3. From the "Factory Farm Map" website I was able to see that Marin County scored in the "high" range according to the US Department of Agriculture Census. This didn't surprise me too much as I have seen, and know of, many farms that operate in our county. I did not see any Factory Farms listed in Marin though I noticed that the info had not been updated since 2012. Still, I do not think there are any Factory Farms in our county - I hope I am correct!
4. As I started to state in bullet #2, composting has been a large part of my culinary life since I can remember. I was raised composting and continue to do it myself. My challenge with composting has been trying to get my significant other on-board with the system. Its not that he is adamantly opposing it, but he often forgets to compost and struggles to remember what CAN and CANNOT be composted. This is something we continue to work on every day and he is getting a hang of it! Slowlllllyyyy but surely!
Hi Alex,
ReplyDeleteThat is so great that your mother raises bees! How interesting! Did this movie reflect anything that has happened to your mother's bees back home? Has she noticed any signs of colony collapse disorder?
Omg how cool that your mom raises bees! I am actually on the same as your boyfriend. I am not very big with composting but I try to be. However, sometimes I may not be doing it the correct way but it makes me feel good knowing that I am trying lol.
ReplyDeleteResponse: Christina
ReplyDeleteThe abuse of soil by humans is something you captured really well in your blog. I hadn't given much thought to this issue until we watched this movie. I'd only ever thought about soil and how we have to cycle it as we farm to be sure it remains nutrient rich etc. This movie brought a lot to my attention that I was lacking in understanding.
Response: Brianna
I think a lot of people share your sentiment of "thinking of bees makes me think about getting stung". I promise you though, honey bees are not aggressive! They will only sting if their hives are being attacked or if you sit on them or something like that. I think lots of people get honey bees confused with yellow jackets, wasps, and other bee species that can be more aggressive. These other bee species often pray on honey bees and are generally accepted as a nasty insect (sorry!) by bee keepers.