Most of the roses sold in the United
States are grown in Colombia and Ecuador, where they are doused with toxic
pesticides.
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| An alternative |
“Why
do American companies sell pesticides that are banned in the U.S. to my
country?” my Colombian friend Luz asked me. I had no good answer.
Yet,
this question lies at the core of the bouquet of roses you might give or
receive this Valentine’s Day. Nearly all roses sold in the U.S. are grown in
Colombia or Ecuador. U.S. trade policies even encourage them to sell us roses
by scrapping import duties, because Washington hopes it will keep them from
selling and shipping us cocaine.
A
dozen roses, though beautiful and fragrant, above all, are a symbol. “I love
you. I care about you. I care so much I spent a lot of money on you,” they say.
A simple gift of one dozen roses can cost you $45 or more, especially this time
of year.
The
love of your life might find her bouquet a little less romantic if she knew how they
were produced. Colombian and
Ecuadorian rose growers douse the flowers with toxic pesticides, and an estimated 20
percent of the pesticides they use are banned in the United States. Sure, a dozen roses would
be much less romantic if a bug crawled out of them, but how romantic is it to
give something toxic to your beloved?
The
South American export-oriented flower industry’s workforce is primarily
comprised of young women. They work long, hard hours, often with little safety
gear to shield them
from dangerous chemicals. The land and water devoted to growing the roses South America
exports puts pressure on farmers who are growing food for their families or to
sell in local markets. The pollution from the rose farms affects local
communities as well, since some chemicals seep into the waterways.
Because
roses aren’t food, they aren’t tested for pesticide residues when they arrive
in the United States. And, as Luz pointed out, many pesticides sold worldwide
are produced by U.S. corporations. I suppose you could say Americans benefit on
both ends when our corporations make money selling toxic pesticides abroad and
we gain the opportunity to buy cheap imported roses.
But
these gains come at the expense of the health and well-being of people we’ve never
met who live half a world away.
Why
not skip the roses this year? How about giving your sweetheart something a
little less toxic?
Like
roses, a home-cooked meal is a gesture that tells your love how much you care.
Can’t cook? Go out for dinner and pick up the tab. Give your significant other
a massage. Be creative. What gift will commemorate your relationship with one
another in a special way?
If
you’re hooked on roses, you can look for organic ones (yes, they exist!) or,
better yet, give a potted rose bush that you can plant together and enjoy for
years to come.
You
don’t eat roses, you don’t use them for anything, and they are gone within a
week. There are an awful lot of environmentally harmful things in our lives
that are harder to give up than a stereotypical Valentine’s Day bouquet. Cars,
for example. Or air conditioning.
Switching
from toxic roses to other gifts is a tiny sacrifice that can make a difference.
OtherWords columnist Jill
Richardson is the author of Recipe
for America: Why Our Food System Is Broken and What We Can Do to Fix It. OtherWords.org