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https://reasonstobecheerful.world/slow-flowers-valentines-day-sustainable-environment/>
"Debra Prinzing won’t get red roses for Valentine’s Day. She and her husband
have been married long enough for him to know that Prinzing doesn’t appreciate
long-stem roses in winter. “I don’t want to shame anybody,” she says from her
home near Seattle, “but I feel bad for the men who are targeted with TV ads
before Valentine’s Day and then think they need to get red roses to somehow
show their love.”
What’s wrong with red roses? Quite a lot, as it turns out. “At this time of the
year, you can hardly get any US-grown roses,” Prinzing says. “They are flown in
from Ecuador, Kenya or the Netherlands, packed in cellophane, which is not
recyclable, not to mention the pesticides that have been used to grow them.
When they are imported, custom officials are only interested in ensuring they
don’t bring in any pests, but nobody controls with which chemicals the flowers
have been treated. To ensure that the flowers clear US customs, they definitely
have been fumigated.”
Exotic flowers might look appealing, but their ecological footprint is
devastating, and Prinzing has set out to raise awareness of the truth behind
the pretty blooms. As the founder of the Slow Flowers Movement, Prinzing and
her colleagues want the floral industry and its clients to embrace local,
seasonal and sustainable flowers, grown without pesticides and under fair
conditions for the workers. “We take our name from the slow food movement,” she
says. “Everybody knows that this means regionally grown, nutritious and
delicious food. But because people don’t eat flowers, they pay less attention
to where their flowers come from.”
Buyers who do want to know the source of their bouquets can search the Slow
Flowers directory, which lists hundreds of local flower farmers and florists
that are part of the “farm to vase” effort. “We’re growing by about 10 percent
every year,” Prinzing says of the Slow Flowers Society membership, which is 850
and counting. Or fresh flower fans can take a Slow Flowers workshop and learn
to grow their own. This February, Prinzing is tending to hellebores, tulips and
daffodils in her yard. “You can make a nice arrangement with some flowering
winter ornamental shrubs,” she suggests."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
