Valentine's Day flowers

[aeshna5]

There's been much talk about air-miles + carbon emissions on here + I was astonished on the air miles used by the average bunch of flowers arriving in the supermarket or garage forecourt.

I don't want to be a killjoy + ruin romance, but 27,000 miles were quoted for one bunch of flowers (not sure about the figures accuracy), with Carnations, Roses, etc coming from Ethiopia + Kenya, other flowers from Chile, while imports from the Netherlands have been much reduced.

On the one hand it does provide employment + money for poorer countries, but with scarce water reserves, is it a wise economy? I know there are also concerns of pesticides getting into the groundwater effecting the ecology of lakes, etc.

Think it's going to be local daffs this year!

[Gill Catton]

It is quite scary what we have come to accept as normal, that sort of thing is all I've known in my lifetime, but you're right it seems I'd be perfectly happy with daffs only my fella will be almost as far away as the origin of those flowers (sigh) Never mind maybe I'll buy some for him for me hee hee

[Deer Stalker]

Can I use that as an excuse to cancel Valentines day??

[aeshna5]

Originally Posted by Deer Stalker

Can I use that as an excuse to cancel Valentines day??

I could say yes, but me thinks you'll be in the doghouse for some time! Guess we'll have to be more creative in our choice of pressies if we want to be green + maintain diplomatic relations with our s/o.

[svenrufus]

While the export of flowers to the rich developed countries is a good money maker for the African countries that supply us the most, there is a disadvantage to it from a development point of view for their own future well being. Having been forced into this sort of export market (by IMF and World Bank loans - export revenue needed to pay them back) these countries are not developing their internal self sufficiency before looking after our less essental interests. They become dependant on the money gained from exports, and if we have a recession or for some other reason decide we don't want their product anymore, those countries will suffer huge loss of income, but not have any fall back to be able to support themselves until we start spending again.
Also, the flowers are grown on land owned and managed by western companies, so the money made from the exports is not always allowed to stay in the country that grows them. The workforce are frequently badly trained in the use of pesticides and fertilisers, and suffer from toxic effects of the chemicals that they are using. The local environmental standards are not as high as we would impose in the UK, so we leave them with polluted watercourses and ruined landscapes.
Flowers from overseas are an unforgivable excess, and actually don't do anyone in the country of origin any favours either.
There is nothing romantic about flowers when you think about them in this perspective. If you must have flowers and can stomach the waste of land and the excess chemicals that are used to grow them, either buy from UK growers for less air miles, or look for Fairtrade flowers which I beleive the Co-op is selling now, or pick them yourself.
However, the best romance is personal company not gifts. (see my auto signature below - knew it would come in handy!)

[Wild-Woman]

Originally Posted by aeshna5

I could say yes, but me thinks you'll be in the doghouse for some time! Guess we'll have to be more creative in our choice of pressies if we want to be green + maintain diplomatic relations with our s/o.

I'd be happy and probably overcome with joy if my other half cooked a meal. I've shown him where the cooker is but he keeps forgetting.

[Tinkerbell]

I made a similar point recently to the BBC - we have seen a rundown in our own farming industry. Rather patronisingly farmers were advised, yet again recently, to diversify with holiday accommodation being one such recommendation, whilst rearing less livestock or producing less cereals, etc.

In the meantime, our government gives grant aid to less developed areas of the world and encourages them to start new industries. Vegetables and flowers in particular spring to mind, from Africa etc. There probably isn't a market for these products where they are produced, so they need to be flown to Europe etc. - thereby increasing emissions, which our government purports to be so concerned about and tells us that increased taxes need to be levied, in the hope of reducing air travel! The knock-on effect of higher taxes for air transportation will probably make the products we in the UK import too expensive to sell - so eventually we stop buying from abroad. Where then do these countries then sell their flowers and vegetables?

And if we ceased to import these products, where are the UK producers who have gone out of business supposed to be found - Scilly Isles and Cornish flowers, vegetables etc. to name a couple?

What is the logic behind all these decisions?

[smartie]

I was horrified about that 27,000 miles figure as well. I don't suppose it's 100% accurate, but it doesn't really need to be, does it? I admit I have been in the habit of sending people bouquets of cut flowers for occasions, but I have decided it will have to stop unless they are sourced in the UK. Not that it's easy to know. Even a lot of those daffs aren't grown in the UK. Someone sent me a wonderful bunch of fragrant roses from a company that made a lot of their old fashioned Hampshire garden - but when I looked them up they had the old fashioned garden OK but also a farm in Kenya that they don't make so much of a song and dance about.

[goosey]

I would much rather receive a plant for the garden than cut flowers any day. You then have somethig to remind you of a special occasion for years instead of 10 days if you are lucky.

[mrs fish]

I can believe the 27,000 mile travel, say a shipment of ferns for sprays starts off in Costa Rica and then goes to the other continents before Europe dropping off some of the load and the rest carries on to here that would be alot of miles.

I hope you can understand the above

I agree with you Goosey a plant for the garden or house is a nicer gift