One out of every three bites of food you eat is the result of a pollinator. Every third bite we take, we should be thanking a pollinator: butterflies, bees, etc. I learned that there is National Pollinator Week: June 20-26. Thank a pollinator you have strawberries, zucchini, avocados, oranges, almonds and more.

Many pollinators are on the brink of extinction. The Monarch population has dropped by 80%.

Yes, pesticides are in part to blame, but the biggest contributing factor to the pressures pushing pollinators to the brink is loss of habitat. We are crowding them out. Ironically, humans take more space and will get less food, a LOT less food. In fact, humanity simply cannot survive without pollinators. 

A retired fire fighter in San Francisco put in plant called “pipeline plant”. He did this to help provide habitat for a unique Northern California butterfly: the Pipeline Swallowtail Butterfly. He planted the plants 17 years ago. This year the butterflies are back; he waited, tending the plants for 17 years! “Let us run the race with perseverance.” (Hebrews 12:1) What a faithful expression of hope!

The community of God’s creation is interdependent. Humanity, in our arrogance, often pits our needs over and against the rest of creation when in reality, our future is tied to the well-being of the planet and all who dwell on and in it. The interdependence of God’s creation serves to remind us that none of us is self-made or self-sustaining. We require communities and that includes pollinators!