biodiversity, culinary-diversity, and apiaries

[image: climatelab.org]

in trying to understand the pantagruelian diversity of questions being asked and implied at the COP15 climate change conference in copenhagen this week, i'll ask one that bryant simon*, speaking at the taste3 convention in 2008, touched on in his discussion about, among other things, the sociological relationship we as individuals in the developed nations have with starbucks.   my question is this- how do we as individual consumers interact with the problems of long-term climate change?  and how do we avoid the guilt or at least make it feel like we might be doing something responsible as it relates to these changes and our consumer habits?  provided you've ratified the act of climate change, it can seem daunting, overwhelming, and confusing- a vast network of problems without that single canary in the coal mine.  thankfully, as simon suggests, we have economic opportunities that lessen the degree of involvement with this question.  his example is fairtrade coffee and how it rouses the innocence by association within us.

chicago is near enough to a handful of great vineyards- l. mawby  on the leelanau peninsula is atop my short-list.  as a crow flies (if you were to travel by boat or kayak**), mawby would be within the 200 mile radius used by negotiable localphytes to encompass their local edible geography radar.  other than a short short-list, though, really solid wine drinking*** would come to a grinding halt.  where does this leave the chicago wine lover looking to avoid the self-consternation of being guilty by association and avowing one's self of the carbon-belching reality of their wine consumption? 

well, to be sure, i'm regularly tasting through possible contenders to bridge the gulf.  one such contender that couldn't be any closer or sustainable for chicagoans is the mead of wild blossom meadery's greg fischer.  fischer's honey bees collect nectar from the prairies of illinois, the sand dunes of lake michigan, and the naturally re-populated vacant lots on chicago's south side before being transformed into an array of delicious, approachable meads.  thankfully, urban beekeeping is legal here in chicago, unlike in nyc, where individuals like david yassky are working to communicate the many benefits of urban beekeeping to disoriented law-makers.  it's a brilliant use of the urban landscape that others like kim flottum are using to welcome biodiversity while economizing our urban geography in novel ways.

[image: hootingyard.org]

beekeeping is a valuable conversation as it relates to both the local and global balance of economy and ecology.  in terms of the global food-chain, it's estimated that bees pollinate 1/3 of the world's foodcrop.  at local and regional levels bees strengthen biodiversity by propagating local wildflowers which can sustain native habits.  analysis of bee egg hatch, pollen, honey, and adult bees for pollutants is used to study air pollution.  increasing the economy of scale for beekeepers in developing nations helps in not only creating jobs for carpenters to build the hives, but it aids farmers with crop pollination and restaurants with local, sustainable goods.

"you shall scratch at the earth until compactness

is born, until the shadow falls upon the structure

as upon a colossal bee that eats

its own honey lost in infinite time."

[excerpt: neruda los constructores de estatuas (rapa nui)]

*professor of history and director of the american studies program at temple university

**you can take a car-ferry across lake michigan (~$80 one-way) and imagine the number of great ship-wrecked wines and beers laying on the floor of the lake for the trout and bass to look at

***grain spirits produced on washington island near mackinaw would gladly suffice, as well as any of the amazing local breweries