Whole Foods works to save the bees

Whole Foods Market is once again showing the importance of bees to the global food system and lamenting the plight of pollinators.

This year, the retailer highlighted the necessity of bees to the dairy department by showing what shelves would look like if the insects weren’t around to pollinate. Whole Foods posted similar photos of the produce department last year.

A YouTube video presents a dystopian world where the loss of bees leads to a lack of available food, which forces a restaurant out of business. “Unfortunately, the bees are disappearing, and with their decline the farmer’s yield diminishes, and those who deliver carry only memories,” the video says.

To combat these losses, Whole Foods has teamed up with General Mills’ Cascadian Farms, according to MediaPost. The CPG brand launched Buzz Crunch Honey Almond cereal exclusively in Whole Foods in April and will donate $1 for every box sold to the Xerces Society, a non-profit that works on bee conservation, through July 1.

Individual Whole Foods stores also held in-store events and sales to promote awareness and raise funds for the Xerces Society.

Consumers can find out more about the role bees play in food production, the declines in bee populations in recent years, and ways to help at www.wholefoodsmarket.com/sharethebuzz.