Q: I love the bouquets that my husband buys for me from specialty shops in our city, but I'm wondering what the resource implications are for cut flowers bought at the store, and what are the most locally grown or sustainable options?
Asked by Erika Check, ’99, San Francisco, Calif.
Human Health Hazards
I mentioned in the Essential Answer to this question that human health is an issue with growing flowers. In fact, conditions for workers in the flower industry can be so bad that they deserve their own section in a column.
In the tropical countries where most flowers are grown, the regulation of pesticides is much more lax than in the Unites States or Europe, where most of those flowers are ultimately delivered. Many of the chemicals routinely used on overseas flower farms, such as DDT and methyl bromide, have been banned domestically due to their toxicity to humans or to wildlife. These chemicals are often applied within enclosed greenhouses, and without proper safety gear, which creates an enormous health hazard for farm workers.
When you buy foreign flowers, you may be importing similar hazards to your home. Flowers aren’t food, so they aren’t subject to the same regulations that limit pesticide residues allowed on imported fruits and vegetables.
To the contrary, flower imports can be rejected on the basis of a single insect found in the shipment, which encourages producers to overspray. As an example, the levels of one carcinogenic chemical, Iprodione, were found to be 50 times higher on roses than amounts allowed in food. Sometimes, flowers are shipped with such high chemical residue levels that the workers need to wear gloves to handle them.
As frightening as the thought of a pesticide-laden bouquet may be, acute pesticide poisoning from cut flowers is rare—because, again, you’re not likely to ingest them. The biggest effect, instead, is on the people who apply the chemicals. Farm workers spraying pesticides by hand and often without any protective clothing, resulting in complaints of rashes, headaches, dizziness and fainting. In some studies, two out of three workers were found to have symptoms related to chemical exposure. Miscarriages, premature births, and birth defects are also more common amongst female flower workers.
Even in the developed world, flower farms use a lot of pesticides. Many customers will put up with spots on their apples, if they know that no pesticides were used. But a blemished rose does not, apparently, smell so sweet. In California, where nearly the entire U.S. domestic cut flower harvest is grown, flowers rank sixth on the list of crops associated with the most cases of pesticide exposure. In Marin County, 91 percent of all pesticide poisonings between 1991 and 1996 were associated with workers on rose farms.
Certifiers of Organic Flowers
The certification processes for sustainable flowers vary from one organization to another, but generally involve some combination of environmental and social responsibility.
Fair Trade is an international certification focused on social issues, such as living wage and healthy working conditions. Those can include decreased use of pesticides, or safer spraying conditions.
FlorEcuador, a certifier in Ecuador, prohibits the use of the most toxic pesticides and works to improve labor and environmental conditions.
FlorVerde is worker-focused, with secondary environmental goals. It champions safe working conditions, medical support and social programs. It also requires integrated pest management, a system that combines organic practices with some limited use of pesticides.
The Rainforest Alliance has an ecologically focused standard with secondary social goals. It includes guidelines on water use, conservation of habitat, reduction of pollution and erosion; and collaboration with farmers, including improved health and working conditions.
USDA and California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) are certifiers for the U.S. organic program, and their guidelines focus more on the environmental, rather than the social side. They include no use of artificial fertilizers or pesticides, and require that soil and water quality be maintained.
VeriFlora is a certifier for the United States and beyond, involving fair labor practices, local community building, resource and ecosystem protection, waste management and minimized chemical use with a “phase-in” of organic practices.
With all these options, it can get overwhelming. However, any of them is better than no certification at all. I would recommend choosing whichever one resonates most with your ideals, whether those are strictly organic, fairness to workers, or a combination of the two, and asking your local or online florists if they can help you find flowers whose beauty isn’t only petal deep.
Rachael Monosson, '11, is an earth systems major.
