City of Berkeley, Calif. Mayor Jesse Arreguin will proclaim Tuesday, October 12, 2023 as Children's Environmental Health Day in Berkeley. Nutrition Policy Institute's senior policy advisor Christina Hecht worked with the mayor's office to issue the proclamation. Berkeley joins communities and over 100 partner organizations across the nation in recognizing the importance of supporting and improving environmental health, particularly for children. Observed on the second Thursday of every October, CEH Day is meant to raise awareness and ignite actions that support and advance safe and healthy environments for all children. “The Children's Environmental Health Network applauds the work of our CEH Day partners and the important resources that they are for the families and communities,” says Nsedu Obot Witherspoon, executive director of the Children's Environmental Health Network. Check the CEH Day Events & Activities Map to see CEH Day events and activities taking place throughout the country. Healthy places to live, learn, and play—with clean air and water, safe and nutritious food, and stable climates—are critical for children's health and development and are central to NPI's mission. NPI also coordinates the National Drinking Water Alliance which includes a strong focus on children's drinking water safety and access.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
"More than beautiful, monarch butterflies contribute to the health of our planet. While feeding on nectar, they pollinate many types of wildflowers.--National Park Service.
Have you ever seen pollen on a monarch butterfly?
This morning a male migrating monarch, probably on its way to coastal California to an overwintering site, stopped at a Vacaville garden to sip some nectar on a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia rotundifola).
If you look closely, you can see the gold pollen.
Monarchs are not just iconic species facing a population decline, they're pollinators.
"Pollinator species, such as bees, other insects, birds and bats play a critical role in producing more than 100 crops grown in the United States," according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "Honey bee pollination alone adds more than $18 billion in value to agricultural crops annually."
