For over a decade, Americans have recognized June as National Pollinator Month. This year, food company Justin’s has partnered with the National Honey Board to raise awareness about the difficulties faced by bee populations in its enlightening June ad campaign.
“For the love of peanut butter cups”
Because every Justin’s product is manufactured with nuts, pollinators are crucial to the company’s survival. But according to recent reports, honeybee colonies are shrinking drastically each year, which will significantly impact the global food supply unless people take action. Penny Andino, vice president of marketing at Justin’s recently shared:
“One out of every three bites of food we eat depends on pollinators, like bees, as they pollinate a wide range of plants we know and love, including crops like almonds.
That’s why protecting our bee friends and all pollinators is critical.
We’re committed to pollinator education and conservation with our partners at the National Honey Board. We hope that creating more buzz about pollinators’ role in our food system and sharing pollinator-friendly garden tips will support more collective action for us all to do our part to help protect honeybees.”
BEE Conscientious: “Plant for Pollinators”
To increase awareness about the plight of pollinators, Justin’s partnered with a small restaurant to perform a social experiment and secretly recorded patrons for an evening. Initially, waiters served the guests as usual, but every time they brought a new dish or drink to a table, they would take out a measuring stick and remove one third of it. Customers were visibly confused and didn’t know how to respond. When one guest finally asked what was going on, they were told that Justin’s was taking their food to “help the bees” and they were all on candid camera!
The video was then placed on various social media channels throughout the month to “showcas[e] how pollinators play a big part in putting food on our plates.” Alongside it, Justin’s and the National Honey Board asked viewers to sign their Plant for Pollinators Pledge and plant “nectar-producing plants.” Every participant will be entered to win a Justin’s Pollinator Garden Makeover Giveaway, which includes a $3,000 gift card to a local garden store and “care packages” from Justin’s and the National Honey Board.
Lastly, the National Honey Board also shared five additional ways people can do their part to improve the lives of honeybees across the nation:
1. Plant bee-friendly flowers and flowering herbs in your garden and yard.
2. Reduce the use of pesticides – you may not like weeds, but bees love them! Reduce the use of pesticides to treat your lawn or garden while flowers are in bloom by picking the weeds instead of spraying them.
3. Bees are thirsty. Put a shallow basin of fresh water with marbles or rocks in it for the bees to land on outside your home.
4. Donate to an organization dedicated to helping protect and promote honeybees and other pollinators.
5. Support beekeepers by purchasing honey and selecting made-with-honey products, like JUSTIN’S® Honey Almond Butter and JUSTIN’S® Honey Peanut Butter.