Whole Foods confused its fans this week when the retailer mysteriously deleted its robust archive of Instagram images. In its place, the scrubbed account simply featured several white blank posts and changed its bio to bee emojis. It also followed only a handful of celebrities–Beyonce, Cardi B, and Sting.
Some concluded that the account had been hacked, while others hoped a Beyonce-Whole Foods collaboration was in the works. Many, however, quickly connected the dots and surmised this had something to do with state of bees.
On Tuesday, Whole Foods announced the social media campaign was indeed to raise awareness for the endangered buzzers in our ecosystem. The company partnered with Whole Kids Foundation for National Pollinator’s Week and Month to raise $100,000 for 50 new school honey beehives. The goal is to spread the word about the cause, as well as to educate the public about the importance of bees.
Recent posts, for example, feature factoids such as, “Without bees, you wouldn’t have your favorite foods” and “Did you know one out of every 3 bites of food you eat is made possible because of pollinators?” The grocery chain also built an entire section on its website devoted to “protecting pollinators.”
Nona Evans, president and executive director of Whole Kids Foundation, shared the following statement:
“We launched the Give Bees A Chance campaign because kids are often taught to be afraid of bees, but the role they play in our ecosystem is imperative and deserving of our respect and protection. One of the best ways we can teach kids about bees is through educational beehives at their schools, where they get an up-close look into the world of pollination.”
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