02/14/07 Imported Roses

Flowers and Chocolates have come to symbolize Valentines Day when in reality roses and coffee have more in common. Nearly 90 percent of our roses today are imported, most from countries famous for growing coffee, like Columbia, Ecuador and Kenya. In fact Columbia produces more roses than all the other combined and China will be on the bandwagon before long. Sadly just like with produce US rose growers can't compete with the imports' cheap labor and lax restrictions so an American grown rose is virtually non existent While our growers face rigid pesticide standards, (California flower farms now post all pesticide amounts on the web,) statistic don't exists for the chemicals applied by South American flower farms. When they enter our country they are only required to be bug free. That's frightening because it isn't so much the residue on the roses rather the amount of pesticide exposure to impoverished workers, and the threat to the environment that begs our attention. Forgo the Rose and support Us flower growers by selecting the few flowers still grown domestically, like orchids, irises, lilies and tulips.