No Honey, No Haagen Dazs Strawberry Ice Cream

Appreciation, Gratitude, Haagen-Dazs, Happiness, Honey Bee, Honeybee disappearing, Information, Save the bee

No Honey, No Haagen Dazs Strawberry Ice Cream

bk
July 21, 2013
No Honey, No Haagen Dazs Strawberry Ice Cream

No Honey, No Haagen Dazs Strawberry Ice Cream

Reading a petition started in AVAAZ.org awhile ago has gotten me to look at this post which I had first written back in August 11, 2008 and decided to re-post it to raise awareness.

No Honey, No Haagen Dazs Strawberry Ice Cream

Believe it or not, ‘No honey, No ice cream?’ You must be kidding me? Most of you would have heard something like, “No money, no honey?” And now, “No honey, no ice cream.” Well, not what you have in mind. ‘Honey’ here means ‘honey bee’ – to be more exact. And what has honey bee got to do with ice cream? Can you imagine what the world would be like without ice cream? I can’t even bear to think about it. I remember growing up with ice cream being one of my favorite desserts; there was once during my army days, when a camp-mate and I each finished a whole tub of peanut ice cream. You can’t really blame us, it was summer in Taiwan then, where we were having our training, and the peanut ice cream simply tasted too good.

Whenever I heard people talking about ice cream, my face would literally lit up – ‘Eating ice cream makes one happy.’ So when do you think is the best time to eat ice cream? I heard someone ‘shouting’ anytime? I have a friend who shared this common thing about ice cream; we both love to eat ice cream on a rainy day or on a cold day. To us, ice cream seems to taste especially good on a cold day.

And here was how I discovered the Haagen-Dazs online advertisement back in August 11, 2008:

While I was surfing and reading some blogs on the net the other day, I saw this very interesting and attractive advertisement by Haagen-Dazs about honey bee. Out of curiosity, I clicked on the advertisement and it brought me to a well designed interactive flash website with the heading, ‘Imagine a world without honey bees.’ Then there is a passage after that that caught my attention:

“Now imagine that world without tasty pears, luscious raspberries and juicy strawberries. Honey bees are responsible for pollinating one-third of all the foods we eat, including many of the ingredients that define our all-natural ice creams.”

honey beeDo you know about that? I certainly have no idea. Just one of the things I learned while exploring the website:

“Cherries: We cannot tell a lie. More than 80 percent of all cherries rely on honey bee pollination. In order to produce quality fruit, a cherry blossom must get 100 grains of pollen from a honey bee visitor. Luckily, honey bees can carry as many as 100,000 grains of pollen at once!”

According to this article, ‘Disappearing bees threaten ice cream sellers’ by Parija B. Kavilanz, which I found on the site from CNNMoney.com, “Premium maker Haagen-Dazs says vanishing bee colonies in the United States could mean fewer flavors and higher prices.” I have learnt from young that the honey bees are very industrious but I never knew that honey bee can be so important to an ice cream maker.

“Honey bees apparently are responsible for 40% of its 60 flavors – such as strawberry, toasted pecan and banana split and these are among consumers’ favorite flavors,” according to Katty Pien, brand director with Haagen-Dazs. In fact, one-third of the U.S. food supply – including a variety of fruits, vegetables and even nuts – depends on pollination from bees. And we think that oil price increases will increase food prices. If there are no honey bees, then we may not have one-third of the food to begin with?
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It was comforting to know that at least premium ice cream maker’s like Haagen-Dazs was doing their bit for the honey bees in 2008. No doubt they have financial interest, it was still a great thing to do, to raise consumers’ awareness about the issue. We do have to give recognition to the honey bees for billions worth of work each year! Just in case you are wondering if Haagen-Dazs paid me to spread the message, I was not paid anything then and certainly not anything now to spread this message. However, it would be a great idea if I can get free tubs of Haagen-Dazs’s ice cream to share with my family and friends.

If you do love your ice cream, I do urge you to do something too. Go to AVAAZ.org to sign the petition. Next time when you have a tub of Haagen-Dazs’s ice cream, think about the honey bees and remember ‘no honey, no ice cream.’ Thank you my honey friends.

Photo credit: Sarah Gilbert

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19 thoughts on “No Honey, No Haagen Dazs Strawberry Ice Cream”

  1. Brandie

    Wow, that is interesting! I knew the honey bee’s population has been declining, but I didn’t know it would affect everything from produce prices to ice cream prices & flavor variety. Thanks for sharing, and I hope someone soon discovers what’s causing this serious decline in honey bee numbers.

    Brandies last blog post..My Weekend In Pictures

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    @ Brandie, I agree with you that that is interesting! That was what gotten me to click on the ad in the first place; to find out what has honey bee gotten to do with ice cream and Haagen Dazs. I do hope too that someone can do something about it or it may really cause some problems with our food supplies.

  2. Michael

    I love coffee flavor!

    As for bees, there’s a way to do what they do, but it’s labor-intensive.

    Michaels last blog post..How Boyish or Girlish Are You?

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    @ Michael, my coffee flavor is my mother’s favorite. As for me, I am not too choosy on ice cream. πŸ™‚

  3. My Bug Life

    Thanks for sharing this…there was a cartoon shown recently asking the same question..imagine what it would be like w/o honeybees. Thanks for visiting my blog and I like ice cream anytime of the day πŸ™‚

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    @ Bug Life, there is always something we can learn … even from cartoon right? πŸ™‚

  8. Sherxr

    Thanks for the information! πŸ˜›
    I didn’t click on that banner even though it was on my site some time ago! Ha…
    I was going to do a writeup about Honey. But given the limited internet access at the moment, it seems like an impossible task. πŸ˜› Lazy I tell you!!

    Sherxrs last blog post..Those wicked Caramel Bars

  9. Symphony of Love Post author

    @ Chelle, I don’t quite like bees too but usually if we don’t mess with them, they won’t mess with us. πŸ™‚

    @ Sher, yes, I saw it in one of the websites with Foodbuzz and could not help but clicked on it. It sure was a worthy click. πŸ˜‰

    Limited internet access? Did I hear excuse? πŸ˜›
    You can type out the article first and then post it when you go online. Don’t be lazy. πŸ˜›

  10. Theresa

    Oh jeez, if a bee is around, I’m not. I am terrified of them – I don’t swat them, I run. For some reason, there aren’t many honey bees here in Arkansas where I live. I’m not complaining! But, it never crossed my mind the impact the little buggers have on everything. Thanks for sharing this info!

    Theresas last blog post..What Was Then Isn’t Now

  14. mspennylane

    I used to hate bees but my boyfriend (yes, he loves bees!) has recently taught me their wonders. I think it was me getting them confused with wasps probably! I also saw a program about this on TV. I really hope that the problem doesn’t get worse.

    mspennylanes last blog post..Revelations

  15. Symphony of Love Post author

    @ Leet, thank you. I have seen your paintings; they are remarkably done and captured the feeling of the subjects well.

    @ Mspennylane, I know what you mean, bees are not so bad. Wasps are different definitely. Stay clear from wasps all time! πŸ™‚