GOSHEN -- The flavors of spring met environmental awareness at Goshen College Tuesday afternoon as students took part in Pollination Day, a time to reflect on and celebrate the importance of bees and other pollinators in the world’s food systems.
Started five years ago as Dandelion Day by EcoPAX, a GC club promoting ecological awareness, action, education and living, the name of the event was changed this year to Pollination Day in recognition of the college’s current efforts to become an official “Bee Campus” through Bee City USA. That organization works to create sustainable habitats for pollinators in cities and college campuses.
“It’s a day to celebrate our bees and the importance of pollination in our food systems,” said Glenn Gilbert, sustainability coordinator for the college. “In the past, we’ve done a Dandelion Day, where we celebrated dandelions, much for the same purpose of education and just raising awareness and appreciation of the importance of early pollination. But we thought that we’d just change the focus a little bit this year in part because we are working to become a Bee Campus.”
Dandelion Cookies
As part of the celebration, GC students were invited to attend a special dining experience in the college’s Westlawn Dining Hall Tuesday afternoon where they were able to sample several dandelion-themed culinary creations prepared by the college’s head chef, Jeremy Corson. A sampling of the creations included dandelion cookies, super pollinator salad and dandelion stir fry.
“We actually went out at 4 p.m. (Monday) and collected all the dandelions from right here on campus,” said Reena Ramos, a junior at GC majoring in environmental science and a member of EcoPAX. “Dandelions are actually the most important spring flower for bees because they’re the first to pop up and the first source of pollen. So today is just about allowing people to eat dandelions and see what dandelions and bees are all about.”
According to Ramos, 90 percent of the world’s wild plants depend on pollinators for reproduction. Pollinators also contribute more than $24 billion to the U.S. economy, of which honey bees account for more than $15 billion of that total.
“And one of the most important things that I think people need to be aware of is that one in three bites of food is food that has been pollinated by insects,” Ramos said. “So if they were gone, it would have a major impact on the world around us. And I don’t think a lot of people realize that.”
That lack of awareness is a major issue that needs to be addressed, especially given that bee populations have been hit particularly hard in recent years due primarily to issues of habitat loss and widespread use of pesticides and herbicides, Gilbert added.
“Bees are under serious attack right now internationally, and there are a lot of reasons for that, but most of it is because of environmental degradation to our food system through the use of chemicals and pesticides,” Gilbert said. “That’s a pretty controversial topic, but there’s no question that bees are subject to disease and populations of bees are dying. So it is a form of a crisis, but it’s one that we don’t think about unless we’re taught about it. So that’s kind of what we’re trying to do here, raise awareness.”
AJ Delgadillo, a GC senior from Freeport, Illinois, was among the many students to sample some of the dandelion-infused foods available at the dining hall.
“It’s pretty good,” Delgadillo said after biting into a dandelion cookie. “It just tastes like honey, so I like it.”
Ian Keim, a freshman and Goshen native, also gave high marks to the dandelion stir fry.
“It’s good,” Keim said. “It’s got a tart flavor. I like it.”
Follow John on Twitter at @jkline_TGN
