Comments on: O Rose, Thou Art Sick

By: Aloysius William-

Aloysius William- — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:41:26 +0000

Why Even Grow and Sell flowers at all?
They sit there in a vase and die in two weeks. The love that they supposedly represent usually goes down the same path. This is the kind of malarky we need to be rid of, these stupid wasteful cultural traditions.
The land could instead be used for food, obviously, or maybe these farms tailored to high maintenance flowers would be perfect for tricky medicinal plants.
They serve no purpose, it’s just wastefulness at it’s finest, like chopping down the Canadian Boreal Forest for ad flyers that nobody reads, and paper-boys throw away.
Constantly I am tormented by the ignorance of the masses. And of myself.
How can we change this?- It’s the question I am constantly asking myself, and there is really only one answer.
The change must come from within, not without.
Changes to the systems in place are merely superficial, transitory.
Instead we must tackle the source, the very root of the problem if we are to have lasting change for the better. We must change ourselves, our ways of being, of seeing; We must Change our very Belief Systems.
To begin, we must take Responsibility. Not just for our own actions and purchases, but those of others as well. We must take responsibility for our entire nation, for our entire race. Most people aren’t even aware, they’re too busy texting, unfriending, gawking and squawking. Oh the monstrous trance of modern life.
Woe to the Meanderers of the Mundane World. (I just came up with that. Pretty good, I know.)

By: Linda Brown

Linda Brown — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 00:02:45 +0000

This article inaccurately refers to VeriFlora and Fair Trade interchangeably. For the record, VeriFlora is an independent sustainable agriculture certification program for both cut flowers and potted plants produced both domestically and abroad. It contains rigorous Fair Labor Practices and Community Benefits components that promote the highest level of social responsibility, vetted through well-known labor rights NGOs. It also contains comprehensive environmental protection criteria, including requirements to track energy use and greenhouse gases. Finally, all growers who participate must put into place a continuous improvement plan to address such issues over time. We feel very honored to work with some of the most innovative farmers who have put into place highly energy efficient processes, subscribe to excellent labor practices, and found alternatives to chemicals – banned under this program — that the World Health Organization has deemed highly toxic. We welcome an opportunity to answer any questions folks may have about VeriFlora.

By: Teresa Sabankaya

Teresa Sabankaya — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 15:05:05 +0000

You’re pushing potted plants instead of sustainable cut flowers? Have you visted a local nursery lately? Look at the film on top of the ’soil’ that is used to mass-produce the potted plants that are so desired for holidays such as Valentine’s Day. We have a very serious shortage of sustainable/Veriflora producing potted plants nurseries, and buying them non-sustainble (even here in the U.S.) is MUCH worse on the environment and people than cut flowers that are not only produced sustainably, but locally as well. LOOK to your local indie florists, and nurseries that are bending over backwards to produce beautiful cuts and plants in harmony with practices that are not ony gentle on the environment, but to humans as well.

By: Nia

Nia — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 01:49:30 +0000

There are also domestically produced flowers. This is akin to “local foods” and if they’re produced sustainably, I don’t see anything wrong with it. Many longtime flower farmers in the US are equally suffering from the outsourcing of this industry, and would appreciate a re-emphasis on “local.”