Week 2: Bee Friendly Food Alliance

Now that I have been at Environment Georgia for a week, I have a pretty good idea of how my summer will look from here on out. As an intern I have been helping Environment Georgia launch their “Bee Friendly Food Alliance” which is a way the organization has decided to mobilize the food industry to protects the bees.

Currently we’re losing between 30 – 40% of all bee colonies each year. Scientists point to several causes of the die-off, but one of the largest reasons for bee deaths is the increased use and exposure to a class of bee killing insecticides known as neonics. As an intern I have been reaching out to chefs and restaurant owners throughout the state of Georgia to get them to sign on to a letter that backs the idea that neonics should be banned due to their adverse effects on the environment. The goal of the alliance is to bring together chefs and restauranteurs to help save the bees.

Similarly to this campaign, I will also be working on lobbying other companies about renewable energy as I help prepare for a solar panel system project in Decatur, Georgia called Solarized Decatur. This campaign is dedicated to expanding the usage of renewable energy within the state, and is designed in a way to get information and resources out to people so that they will invest in renewable energy. In relation to this project, one of my highlights this week was a meeting I had with the “Sierra Club” (a grassroots environmental organization) on partnering with them to launch “Solarized Decatur”. I really like working with smaller companies as many of the organizing work is done by the same people who run the company, so it virtually feels as though their is no hierarchy of power–we all are working together.

Both projects are in full-swing and throughout the summer I will be helping to make sure that the timeline that is set for the proposals runs smoothly.