If you are like me, you probably never thought about where your bouquet of flowers came from. I had no idea until I discovered organic flower delievery. It made me think - if these flowers were organic, what about all those other flowers? This is what I learned. The flowers in question were most likely imported from Columbia or Ecuador (over 70% of our imported flowers come from Latin America), where farm workers (many of them children) worked for very low wages in a pesticide ridden environment, and suffered from health issues including pesticide related poisoning. "In Ecuador, nearly 60 percent of floral workers surveyed showed poisoning symptoms, including headaches, dizziness, hand-trembling and blurred vision." (Environmental Health Perspectives 2002). Gerald Prolman, founder of OrganicBouquet.com is addressing this issue by working directly with farmers to protect the workers and the environment. "Organic Bouquet offers the finest floral gifts sourced from growers that are committed to the highest social and environmental standards. Our flowers are grown and harvested using practices that aim to improve the quality of farm working conditions, minimize damage to ecosystems, conserve biodiversity, and enhance environmental quality for future generations." (OrganicBouquet.com website). The standards that OrganicBouquet uses for the farms and flowers are Organic, Veraflora, Biodynamic, Fair Trade, and Transitional. I highly recommend checking them out. They also offer organic chocolates, organic flowering teas, gift baskets, and all their packaging is 100% recyclable or biodegradable. This would make a wonderful gift for anyone, and, by buying from this company you are not only receiving beautiful, pesticide-free flowers and gifts, but you are also showing your support for fair trade and better labor conditions for thousands in Latin America. Happy flower shopping!
