haagen dazs is covered in bees!

[merchimerch]

I find this article interesting:
http://money.cnn.com/2008/02/17/news/companies/bees_icecream/index.htm

It is good to see large companies publicizing the bee colony collapse and funding research toward a solution. I really do think this is a positive thing.

However, my skeptical side thinks that perhaps Haagen Dazs realized that Ben and Jerry's is quite successful because it has the Whole Foods style of appeal to customers. I call it "whole foods appeal" because Whole Foods and Ben and Jerry's sell a high-priced luxurious product(s) with the extra bonus of allowing its customers to feel good about purchasing it because a portion of the proceeds goes to an environmental cause.

Part of the eco-chic movement seems to be consuming for a cure. I have a problem with the idea that people can really have an environmental impact by buying the "right" products and brands. Don't get me wrong - buying green is better than buying not-green, but I still think that buying less and buying local is the more productive path to healing our over burdened earth.

Regardless, now Haagen Dazs can have a portion of the eco-chic market share. People who like to buy their ice cream in tiny tubs rather than big bricks can now have a choice as to which brand of delicious, environmentally mindful, smug satisfaction they would like to consume :)

Comments

[merchimerch.livejournal.com]

I agree that the bee colony collapse is a HUGE deal, and I'm glad to see it get press. That and the major frog die off is horrifying and I wonder if it means that we've past the tipping point with our environment.

Canaries in coal mines are an apt metaphor at this point, except there's no way out of this mine.