“We used to have a lot more available for bees and other pollinators and my goal is to bring that percentage back,” Burley says. He also hopes a side effect will be beautifying the unkempt, unactivated, and unused plots of earth in urban neighborhoods.

Burley tests out different varieties of wildflowers to see which ones are the most resilient. Photo: Angela Johnston

After a successful Kickstarter campaign in the spring of 2014, and lot positive feedback, Burley decided to create a goal to encourage kids to plant one billion wildflowers across the United States.

“At Seedles our goal is to make creating a more abundant ecosystem through wildflowers more fun, accessible, and easy. That’s really what it boils down to. We are trying to make it as easy as possible to make the world a more colorful, and better place.”

All Seedles need is water, sun, and a place to grow. Photo: Angela Johnston

Burley wants to make it clear that while he does like bees, and wildflowers, his ultimate end goal is one of the most important - creating a sustainable food system.

Honeybees are responsible for pollinating roughly one third of the food we eat, Burley explains. We can also thank bees for colorful, fun food like berries, coffee, and watermelons.

“I think anyone who cares about enjoying their morning cup of coffee can do something small to help bring back more bees.”

In order to make this connection more clear, Seedles is beginning to partner with local food companies who will hand out seed balls with the food they sell.

Multicolored Seedles in pots amidst an herb garden. Photo: Chris Burley

Lori Phillips owns Rocko’s Ice Cream Tacos trucks and learned about Seedles from a farm where she gets her wheat and barley flours. “Wildflowers that are free of pesticides support healthy bees, and we need those bees to support the production of all the things we love to eat, including ice cream tacos,” Phillips says.

Phillips contacted Burley to see if they could form a partnership. Bees don’t only pollinate the produce we see in the fruit and vegetable section of the supermarket, but also clover and alfalfa fed to dairy cows.

“I am excited about the idea of giving away Seedles as a way to educate our customers about some of the things that are important to us as a company. We make fun and yummy products that we hope make people happy, but we also hope that our customers think about their food choices and why ingredients matter,” Phillips says.

She wants this cross promotion to open up a conversation with her customers, and will soon be handing out Seedles while offering a raw honey drizzle as a new ice cream taco topping.

“We want to share why we value our ingredients, the people who make them, and most importantly, the environment that supports us all.”

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Bringing Back the Bees: How One Bay Area Company is Using Wildflowers to Create a More Sustainable Food System