Buying local is not just for fruits and veggies anymore: big reasons why you may want to rethink where you are getting your flowers
You’ve heard of farm to table, but have you heard of field to vase?
The farm to table movement has swept across the country. Many of us routinely buy organic produce because we know that rampant pesticide use and spread of GMO food is bad for our health. Many of us also look to see where our food was grown and try to make choices that leave a smaller ecological footprint. But not many of us even think about these things when it comes to buying flowers. Don’t get me wrong, I understand the appeal of the grocery store bouquet. It’s pretty; it’s cheap; and it’s convenient. But what if I told you that those flowers were likely cut more than a week before they appeared at your local grocery store, traveled thousands of miles out of water, and were subjected to any number of pesticides while being grown and then dunked in a fungicide bath before being packaged for the grocery store? The majority of flowers from your florist are not much different. They are definitely conditioned better and not stored right next to ethylene producing fruits and vegetables that shorten the life of flowers like in the grocery store, but they are most likely traveling the same long distances, having been treated with the same unregulated chemicals. Flowers are a $34 billion industry in the US, and 80% of them are not grown in North America.
Why do we need to be concerned about pesticides on our flowers? We don’t eat them.
That is true but pesticides can be absorbed through your skin and contaminate surfaces. Take a moment to think about where you go first when you bring a bouquet of flowers home from the store. I bet you bring them into your kitchen and lay them down on your counter — the same counters where we all routinely lay our fruits and veggies and our children touch many times a day. Or you stick them in a plastic pitcher that you also use to store juice or water. When it’s time to get those flowers in a vase, do you open them on your counter? Do you make sure to wash your hands well after designing them? Scour the counter before you start dinner?
These chemicals are not just bad for us as consumers. They are dangerous to the workers growing and packaging them, they contaminate groundwater, are toxic to life and the environment, and are unregulated in many countries that grow flowers to ship to the US.
Photo: AFP Imageforum
A must read if you are part of the floral industry or if you just love flowers
The book Flower Confidential by Amy Stewart is an eye opening look at the big business of growing and selling flowers. In addition to the environmental impact of the floral industry due to the enormous carbon footprint, draining of natural resources, and fertilizer and pesticide runoff, workers often don’t have the proper gear to protect them from these chemicals, children are working as young as five (and exposed to unregulated neurotoxic substances leading to all kinds of short and long-term health problems) and female workers are frequent victims of sexual harassment and assault.
Jan van Huysum (1682-1749)
I want it and I want it now, the Veruca Salt syndrome
Our immediate gratification society has driven this industry in a dangerous direction. I encourage you to read Prairie Girl Flowers Sustainable Sunday post about the Impossible Bouquet. Our northeastern climate has four seasons, but we can have flower arrangements with peonies in December or a caprese salad with ripe tomatoes in January. Failure to honor the seasonality of plants spoils us but also does damage and disconnects us even further from our precious earth. It diminishes how special and fleeting those peonies are and steals away the anticipation of eating that first fresh Jersey tomato of the season when its all available whenever you want it. I’m getting a little preachy here, and I don’t mean to imply that I’m a perfect custodian of nature. It’s a lofty goal to be a seasonal consumer, but it is one that we should strive to achieve as much and as often as we can.
Another must-read in my opinion!
Barbara Kingsolver’s account of her family’s year eating all locally sourced food.
My personal reasons for choosing local and sustainable flowers
I want to grow my own flowers and also support my local flower farmers for all the reasons above and many more. The foremost reason for me is reducing my personal exposure to pesticides and protecting my family since I work out of my home. I was shocked and horrified when I asked a twenty-year veteran of the floral industry who was teaching a comprehensive wedding design class where she sourced flowers for wedding cakes, and she replied that she uses the same flowers that are in the arrangements and bouquets for her very high-end weddings!? The same flowers I have described to you, the same flowers sprayed with unregulated chemicals that are known to be endocrine disruptors, neurotoxins, and carcinogens, she was sticking into wedding cakes and handing to caterers to decorate trays of food. Wow! Think about that for a second.
The easiest way to ensure that you and your family are not exposed to harmful chemicals is to know your local flower farmers and buy from them (and maybe stop eating wedding cake). It’s a great way to support your local economy too. For my business, I also want flowers at the peak of their beauty and freshness and want to design with special and unique blooms that I can’t find at big wholesalers. As I discussed in a previous blog post, I also love to add something of myself into my arrangements. What better way to do that than with a flower that I have grown from seed and tended at every stage of its life?
Something to consider
Now it may seem that I’m suggesting you never buy flowers from a local grocery store or order from your local florist. I am not saying anything of the sort. Many small sustainable flower farmers sell directly to grocery stores and florists. I’m simply asking you to think about flowers in the same way you think about food. The next time you are captivated by a bouquet when you’re out buying some apples, take a moment to ask where they came from. If we collectively start caring about how and where our flowers are grown, we can enact some real change.
My promise
I believe in the seasonality of flowers, and I am committed to buying locally whenever possible. I also know that there are many times in the year that local blooms are not available. So when I have to source flowers beyond the local market, I will choose American, sustainably grown flowers. And I will always be transparent about where my flowers were grown.
“I want flowers to smell of more than money, and I want flowers at their peak of perfection...seasonality is key. ”