Say it with Organic Flowers

This Mother’s Day, about half of all Americans will buy some pretty flowers for Mom, says the National Retail Federation. And some of us will show our love with an organic flourish. Doting sons, daughters and spouses can now treat a special mother in their lives to a special bouquet that’s untouched by toxins. The whole family can enjoy nature’s beautiful blooms, and breathe them in worry-free.

Floral offerings grown without chemical pesticides and fertilizers are the fastest growing non-food item in this country’s burgeoning organic market. By 2012, the national demand for organic flowers is expected to exceed $100 million. That’s still a drop in the bucket compared with the annual $20 billion fresh flower retail business in the United States, but it’s a rapidly increasing share of the market.

The Organic Trade Association reports that organic flower sales doubled in 2003 to $8 million, and doubled again to $16 million by 2005. Gerald Prolman, founder and CEO of OrganicBouquet.com, a pioneer in the field, reports that this year, "We are racing to keep up with demand."

Conscious consumers are waking up to the fact that floriculture is one of the most poison-intensive agricultural endeavors on the planet. "Flowers are such a high-value crop that it takes a huge amount of pesticides to make them perfect," says Martha Olson Jarocki, formerly with the Pesticide Action Network.

Seventy percent of the cut flowers that arrive in this country come from Central and South America, where the commercial chemical artillery includes up to 20 percent of the pesticides now banned in the States. While organic flowers look and smell the same as conventionally grown blooms, they’re much better for the local and global environment. And growing organic would be immensely better for the tens of thousands of workers—most of them young women, mothers and children—who currently work in greenhouses and tents filled with pesticides.

Studies in the Environmental Health Perspectives journal document symptoms of pesticide poisoning in 50 to 60 percent of flower workers in Colombia and Ecuador, which respectively produce 59 and 19 percent of the cut flowers imported to the United States. With the organic-flower industry still in its seedling stage, Scientific Certification Systems notes that fewer than 100 organic producers operate on a scale big enough to supply retailers. Shoppers can help by boycotting non-organic flowers, and asking florists, supermarkets and other retailers to stock more of the organic varieties.

Some flowers, like sunflowers, are easy to grow without chemicals. But some of the most popular stems purchased for Mother’s Day, such as roses, are "tough," says Prolman. Organic versions of carnations and orchids aren’t yet available, but Prolman says that he sees more flowers coming into the "organic fold" every year. So far that includes chrysanthemums, lilies, daisies, tulips and irises–all available for delighting special moms this year. 

Google "organic flowers" to locate bouquets carrying a USDA or certified organic logo, Veriflora’s Green Label, or the Transitional mark of an organic grower seeking certification. Locate suppliers by zip code at LocalHarvest.org/organic-flowers.jsp.

Sources: USAToday.com, CoopAmerica.com and OrganicConsumers.org.

Source:
by Susie Ruth