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Jennifer Grayson, environmental journalist:

"US: "Flowers may be nice for mom, but they're terrible for mother earth"

In an article in the Washington post, Jennifer Grayson, environmental journalist wrote about the impact of growing flowers on Mother Earth. "The truth is that most flowers are organic only in the truest sense of that word: highly perishable and thus susceptible to decay, as well as vermin and disease. Up to 80 percent of the 5.6 billion stems of flowers sold in the United States each year are imported. Of those, 93 percent are grown thousands of miles away in production greenhouses in Colombia or Ecuador. And it takes an awful lot of energy and artificial tinkering to keep those flowers fresh."

Besides highlighting the negative environmental impacts and labor conditions when growing flowers in other Colombia and Ecuador, Grayson also pointed out the improvements in the sector and the move to buy local flowers. "The industry has become a little more sustainable in the past few years, so it is possible for conscientious children to get their mothers less-problematic blossoms. Growers certified by the Veriflora or Florverde programs have taken steps to minimize ecological impacts and improve worker conditions. There is also a movement to go local. Flowers with the American Grown and California Grown labels have a reduced carbon footprint, because they don’t travel as far as their exotic counterparts, and are grown under more stringent standards."

Click here to read the complete article at www.washingtonpost.com.
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