The most clichéd Valentine’s Day gift remains cut flowers, making up almost half of the annual V-Day spend. For a gift of such stunning beauty, the ugly reality is that cut flowers are perishing from the second they are harvested, and the $100 billion+ global export flower industry is really an euphemism for ‘flying compost all around the world’ and that's before you think about the non-sustainable practices of the global cut flower industry. WITH EXPORT FLORICULTURE CENTRES MOVING FROM EUROPE TO DEVELOPING COUNTRIES PARTICULARLY KENYA AND COLUMBIA OVER THE PAST COUPLE OF DECADES, UNFORTUNATELY MANY OF THOSE MUCH-ADMIRED STEMS GIVEN ON VALENTINE’S DAY COME WITH ENOUGH AIR MILES TO MAKE ANY CONSCIENTIOUS SHOPPER NERVOUS. Add to the conversation Australia’s lag in compulsory Country of Origin labelling for floral products, even though our local grower bodies are desperately pushing for this, and the eco-consumer simply doesn’t have the tools to make good decisions when it comes to buying exotic cut flowers. It’s a far from transparent market. Roses remain the flower of choice for Valentine’s Day. It’s hard to nail down exact statistics, but last year Australia imported an insane 10.5 million rose stems to meet Valentine’s Day demand and the overwhelming majority of those came from Kenya. Again, without compulsory Country of Origin labelling for flowers, the consumer is none the wiser. It’s a thorny issue when the incomes and employment opportunities for those in developing countries depend on the First World dollar. However, support for more sustainable products has to be everyone’s priority and that’s why we say reconsider cut flower imports.THERE IS NO DENYING THE BEAUTY OF FLOWERS. THEY ARE VISUALLY IMPACTFUL, MIND-BLOWINGLY COLOURFUL, THEY HAVE CHARACTER, THEY BRING NATURE INTO OUR EVERYDAY LIVES AND THEY CAN SMELL OTHERWORLDLY, YET WE CUT THEM IN THEIR PRIME DENYING THEM THEIR REAL PURPOSE IN THE NATURAL WORLD AND SENDING THEM TO THEIR IMMEDIATE DEATH. WE PRODUCE SACHETS OF CHEMICALS TO EXTEND THEIR LIFE WHEN WE HAVE ALREADY PUT THEM IN PALLIATIVE CARE, AND WE PRESENT THEM IN CELLOPHANE AND OTHER MISADVENTURES OF HUMAN CREATION.
If you are going to give cut flowers on Valentine’s Day or any special occasion, consider giving potted flowers and plants instead. If you have your heart set on cut flowers, try and give low mileage, local flowers and support both a local grower like Flowers at the Farm or an organic grower like Good Hope Blooms and a lower emissions footprint and give less pesticides. And be mindful of excessive packaging.
Alternatively, if you want to avoid clichés, there is a spectrum of alternatives for eco-consumers moving away from cut flowers. And each of these ideas provides a much deeper gift-giving experience in the process!
If you are considering sending something to me, I'd just like to mention that my preference would be for something like this small cake. Local, vegan, raw and handmade of course.