For the last few years we have run a campaign championing positive change in the floriculture industry: ‘Why buy roses in February?’. So, here we go again - At risk of spelling it out, asking the question ‘‘Why buy roses in February?’ is exactly that - a deliberately open question to prompt introspection into practices that have become so commonplace we may have stopped using our common sense. To be clear, we are not against a global floriculture industry, it just needs to be better than it is now, and we believe that by focusing on seasonality, legislating traceability and environmental/ethical accountability it can be.
Just in case this is the first time coming to our campaign, why do we buy roses in February?
This is always an interesting question, one that could take a whole book to answer. Thankfully, cultural historian Simon Morley has done it for us with his comprehensive 2021 study ‘By any other name, A cultural history of the rose’.
In it he explores the enduring relationship between humans and our most beloved flower and its significance and meaning in different cultures across the globe. It’s an incredibly thorough historical account that proves in nearly 300 pages, just how deep rooted our love affair with the rose is. He however concludes by asking a very similar question to ours:
‘Can we still blithely justify the lucrative business of breeding countless roses in industrialised conditions that are a direct threat to the ecosystem simply because we are educated by our culture to see them symbolically as freighted, aesthetically pleasing and useful gifts?’
One of the issues we keep coming up against is where to get up-to-date, relevant information that we can trust. We are constantly scouring academic journals, press articles and industry statistics but reliable and recent facts are not easy to come by. This is the age of misinformation we know, but any industry that is opaque, that leaves consumers or even trade insiders in the dark is problematic. A huge part of this campaign is to try and raise awareness for the need for transparency so everyone can make informed decisions.
What’s changed since our campaign last year?
Well, in some ways a lot, and in others not much. We’ve had lots of conversations with all sorts of different stakeholders and we now confidently know a lot of work is being done behind the scenes but progress is slow, and it still doesn’t feel quite clear how we as the tiny people can do anything other than individually ‘be the change’ in the meantime.
Unfairly putting pressure on individuals doesn’t sit that well with us, especially as the more we have read and researched the murkier the global floriculture industry seems to be, and the more complicated it seems it might be to implement any genuine solutions to make it more transparent, eg. provenance labels or formal accreditations as it doesn’t seem to have the vested interests of the multinational corporations wielding the power.
So why are we still asking the question?
Because money talks. And if we all put our money where our mouths are we might just be able to cut through the lack of incentive slowing things down at the top and push for change from the bottom.
Written in response to the effect of the COVID 19 Pandemic, one of the key findings from the Fairtrade Foundation’s ‘Recommendations for building fairer, more sustainable and resilient flower supply chains in East Africa’, ‘is that much more money needs to reach the start of the supply chain, in order to pay for the changes that need to take place, including better wages and conditions. Retailers, as well as suppliers and consumers, all need to pay a fairer share of value for the flowers they buy.’
Of course, it is important to note that it is the supermarkets and international wholesalers, who have the largest voices here in terms of setting prices but we all know that they rely on loyalty from their customers, so if consumers were to recognise this and put pressure on their retailers to seek out and support better supply chain practices there is a chance the fight from the bottom may well reach the top.
Whether we like it or not, how we spend our money is political. The ethics of the companies we support financially are the ethics we are by de facto supporting. This is a fact made even less palatable by the cost of living crisis making ethical choices, which are often more expensive, more challenging. But we have purchasing power. Championing ethical businesses where we can, can make a real difference - helping them to prosper gives them a bigger stake in a market share and ultimately a louder voice when it comes to policy change.
So why not buy roses in February?
In very simplistic terms our answer would be because a rose is not in season in February. To return to Simon Morley: ‘The fact that 14 February is not the time of year when roses naturally bloom - in both the northern and southern hemispheres - should give us pause for thought. While they were growing in huge, temperature-controlled greenhouses, they would likely have been sprayed with a toxic cocktail of chemicals, some of which are restricted or banned outright where you live. As a result, prenatal exposure to chemicals sometimes lead the women employed to pick the roses to have children with abnormalities. Once those roses are on their way to somewhere nearer to you, they need to be preserved in energy-hungry refrigerated warehouses, then flown by refrigerated cargo plane to another refrigerated warehouse prior to distribution by refrigerated truck to the florist or supermarket, and then your loved one.’
Of course, nothing is ever simple. Whole nations rely on the GDP created by producing unseasonal products. Whole industries have been built on supplying them all year round, very real people rely on the income generated by it. But just because it has long been so doesn’t mean it should stay so.
We are simply asking at what cost? It is not a simplification to say that buying produce out of season has an environmental and often ethical impact.
The Sustainable Cut Flower Project was launched in 2016 by Professor David Bek (Coventry University) and Dr Jill Timms (University of Surrey):
‘With about 90% of flowers bought in the UK being imported, we are part of a complex global web of production and supply. Without fundamental change in the structuring of this sector, consumers are faced with limited options and no easy answers. For us, asking questions is an essential part of bringing about change.
The question leading this campaign can highlight the mismatch in seasonality, between the flowers naturally supported by a particular environment and the flowers consumers are mostly offered there. Understanding this disconnect can promote consumer interest in the possibilities of seasonal flowers, just as many are already making seasonal food choices. This matters not only for connecting to the rhythms of our environment, but also due to the potential environmental and social impact flower production can have if we do not.
We always encourage the public, but also florists and wholesalers to ask questions about the flowers they are interested in - where they come from, how they are grown and to what standards. Transparency is a big challenge and often the seller will not know, however the more we ask, the more the message gets through that consumers do care about the impact of flowers, just like many do about the clothes and food they buy. Issues such as carbon footprint and worker and environmental welfare can be priorities for some, helping determine what they purchase, whether that is flowers grown locally or supporting farms in developing countries, looking for those with certifications, such as Fairtrade. So ask and keep asking about sustainability, whether local or imported.
The flower industry has become more aware of its sustainability challenges in recent years and there are interesting initiatives to tackle the problems. A lot of research is being invested in sea freight which has a much lower carbon footprint than flying and some growers are making major changes to their energy systems which will dramatically reduce consumption and bring their businesses closer to net-zero. The more pressure that comes from consumers, retailers and government then the quicker the industry will implement changes. The growth of the local/seasonal movement internationally is helping to lead the way
After researching the flower industry and working conditions for about two decades, it is good to be able to say we are witnessing some change. There is fragile, but growing consumer interest in the journey of their flowers from seed to vase, partly due to increased understanding of carbon footprints and partly affected by the pandemic, when long supply chains became more visible in the goods we could not get. There has also been some progress in promoting standards in international flower production, which could be driven further by future regulation. Then in places, including the UK, there has been growing interest in local flowers and short supply chains, with Flowers from the Farm being a great example. So there is a long way to go, but more people are asking questions such as 'Why buy roses in February?' will help us to get there.’
Today supermarkets are filled with flowers, many at improbable prices. The UK is an outlier in Western Europe in that the majority of sales of cut flowers are via the supermarkets. You only have to look at your own high street to realise that florists are in decline. Most florists we know care about the opacity of their industry and would welcome any means that would make it possible for them to make a living and make better choices. One household supermarket is selling a dozen for £4.49…
We want the global floriculture industry to be better because we believe it is an industry worth being better. This is not to say that local and independent means better all the time but it often does. Faceless supermarkets and online megaliths have a lot to answer for here.
If something looks too good to be true, it probably is. Something sold too cheap means someone isn’t getting paid enough or corners are being cut on ethical/ecological standards. It is very similar to fast fashion. We have been conditioned through clever marketing, often making false claims or empty promises, that lead us to a distorted, disconnected perception of what is a fair price for a flower or what is a fair way for a flower to be grown.
We are not opposed to the import of flowers in season from trusted, ethical suppliers abroad and there might be a growing number of farms that not only employ and sustain whole communities’ livelihoods but make conscious and clear improvements for workers, their families and the local infrastructure. There are a handful of farms listed on the Fairtrade website but It’s currently still near impossible to trace where these millions of stems end up, so we need as an industry and as consumers to be demanding traceability and transparency.
Valentine’s Day is here to stay, but we’ve got to go back to basics. It has to be about love, it has to be about making decisions that are led by love, for each other, first and foremost for the planet we live on and for the future generations to come. Love seems to be something we might have lost sight of in the commercialisation of Valentine’s Day, so this year we encourage you to think with both your head and your heart.
We’ll leave you with one of our favourite poems, love being symbolic of an onion - not quite in season either but much more easily stored and kept over winter than a rose ever will be.
Valentine, by Carol Anne Duffy
Not a red rose or a satin heart.
I give you an onion.
It is a moon wrapped in brown paper.
It promises lightlike the careful undressing of love.
Here.
It will blind you with tearslike a lover.
It will make your reflectiona wobbling photo of grief.
I am trying to be truthful.
Not a cute card or a kissogram.
I give you an onion.
Its fierce kiss will stay on your lips,
possessive and faithful as we are,
for as long as we are.
Take it.
Its platinum loops shrink to a wedding ring,
if you like.
Lethal.
Its scent will cling to your fingers,
cling to your knife.
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