Audio By Carbonatix
Savvy locavores already know the sad
story of declining bee populations; as The Dallas Morning News
put it earlier this week, “Unless you’ve been living under a
rock, you know that huge numbers of honey
bees across the United States are
succumbing to a mysterious phenomenon known as colony collapse
disorder.”
But Brandon Pollard of the nonprofit
Texas Honeybee Guild says awareness doesn’t make the problem any
less urgent, which is why his organization’s partnering with Edible
Dallas to screen Vanishing of the Bees at 6:30 p.m. today at the Kessler
Theater.
The 2009 documentary, narrated by Ellen
Page, features Michael Pollan holding forth on the link between
honeybees and the world’s food supply, a pet topic of Pollard’s.
“We have got to get people to
understand the only reason fruits and vegetables aren’t
disappearing are honeybees,” Pollard says. “It’s only because
bees are amazing insects that you don’t have to fight for apple
rations.”
As of Tuesday, only about 60 tickets to
the event had been sold; the Kessler’s seating capacity is 575.
Pollard rejected suggestions that the weariness voiced by the Morning
News was beginning to infect local food fans.
“There are some enlightened folks out
there,” he said.
To entice prospective attendees who
might already be familiar with the honeybee crisis, organizers have
recruited Bolsa’s Graham Dodds to provide hors d’oeuvres for the
event. His menu, announced yesterday, includes blue cheese-stuffed
dates; slow roasted grapes with Zip Code honey; brie and comb honey
skewers; apple-honey butternut squash soup and local bee pollen.
Tickets to the event are $25.
