In this paper, we propose a new approach—understood as a whole-of-community approach—to address a dualistic and dysfunctional human/nature relationship. Of particular concern is the decline in health and numbers of the insects that pollinate an estimated 90 percent of the Earth’s flora and an estimated 35 percent of global crop volume. Specifically, bees provide the majority of biotic pollination and play a critical role in food crop pollination. Multiple factors are contributing to this growing problem including a changing climate. In 2016, the International Commission on Stratigraphy agreed that the concept of the Anthropocene—the human epoch—is of sufficient scale to be considered part of the geological time scale. This indicates that these crises are not random or passive—they are largely the direct result of human activities. Despite decades of awareness of these socio-ecological issues, they continue to worsen. In addition, the growing awareness of the critical role of pollinators is creating a new understanding of our interconnectedness with the “natural” world. We introduce the Bee City movement as a way to operationalize a whole-of-community approach. Individual action is critical, but addressing pollinator health in these forums legitimizes and provides an institutional space for otherwise fringe, or even marginalized, activities and more coherent spaces for habitat creation.
We are currently facing myriad socio-ecological crises, from global climate change to resource depletion to the loss of dozens of species every day. Despite a longstanding and impassioned environmental movement, these problems persist and are worsening. The extent and degree of human-induced change on the planet is significant enough to have placed us in a new geological age: the Anthropocene. Three perspectives are engaged as a way to understand this new era and address our fractured human-nature relationship: (1) political ecology, (2) the ecological humanities, and (3) the informal economy. An exploration of intersecting themes leads to the start of a new theoretical contribution, which manifests at the
One million species are threatened with extinction globally, including more than half of the native bee species in North America. In Canada, as of July 2020, 42 municipalities have signed a resolution to commit to the standards of the Bee City Canada program which includes creating and enhancing pollinator habitat, along with celebrating and raising awareness about pollinators in their communities. Our central argument is that the commodification of pollination has detrimental effects on people, pollinators, and ecosystems, and that a diverse economies framework is one conceptual model that can help shift our perspective. Within the 'save the bees' narrative, a capitalocentric, unidimensional image of pollination persists, driven by particular forms of market power and domination. Well-intentioned individuals and groups may be constrained by industrydominated messaging that limits their understanding of appropriate interventions. Meanwhile, Bee City Canada offers municipalities the opportunity to engage in conservation efforts by starting where they are and building on a network of Bee Cities across the country. We conducted a collective case study involving in-depth interviews with members of Ontario Bee Cities. Our thematic interpretive analysis shows how a diverse economies framework can help us to understand the value and contributions of this initiative in previously undervalued and under-recognized ways and how they help to advance a whole-of-community approach. It is only through decentering the hegemonic market-based view of pollination that true conservation of bee diversity, and associated pollination services, can be prioritized. Our findings show that Bee Cities can animate a vibrant political ecology through a collective municipal identity, by centering bees (and other pollinators by proxy).
Historic gleaning activities in Europe took place in farmers’ fields where gleaners could collect the leftovers of the harvest. One of the primary motivations for modern gleaning in Canadian cities is to donate fresh food to local organizations such as food banks. As there is currently little research in this area, this study aims to explore how gleaning initiatives contribute to community food security. The study is based on interviews and surveys with volunteers from several gleaning organizations in Ontario, combined with the Dietitians of Canada’s Food Security Continuum (FSC) as a framework for analysis. Findings include that gleaning contributes to all three stages of the FCS: initial food systems change, food systems in transition, and food systems redesign for sustainability. Respondents felt that while the amount of food harvested could be scaled up, there were benefits that augmented community food security, such as increased food literacy, food awareness, community cohesiveness, and a fresh food supply. Overall, this study improves our understanding of how gleaning initiatives can contribute to community food security. With better ongoing support from the community and on the policy agenda, such projects could further enhance their impacts.
Book Review of Cities and Agriculture: Developing Resilient Urban Food Systems by Henk de Zeeuw and Pay Drechsel (Eds.)
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