South American flowers bloom during Valentine’s Day

Ah yes, Valentine’s Day; a time when flowers are a de rigueur gift and the floriculture industry is working overtime trying to fulfill the high demand. But did you know that over 85% of all the flowers sold in the U.S. come from South American nations like Ecuador and Colombia? Trade preferences since the early 1990s gave a big boost to the South American flower industry and allowed the U.S. market to be nearly saturated with inexpensive, but high quality flowers.

However, there are some pitfalls associated with the Latin American floriculture industry; one of them has to do with the abuses faced by laborers in Colombia:

“Whether young or old, they complained about the lack of protective equipment and clothing, which leaves them exposed to pesticides in the fields and to the fungicides that flowers are dipped in prior to shipment. These chemicals cause widespread headaches, asthma, nausea, and impaired vision, plus miscarriages among pregnant women. The repetitive tasks and long hours in assembly-line jobs have also left many flower workers with painful carpel tunnel injuries”.

In addition, there is the risk that the same chemicals applied to flowers remains when the get exported abroad. Poor government oversight and worry from competition in Africa and Asia cause flower growers to sometimes curtail the rules. Yet the floriculture industry will not slow down anytime soon so as long as demand is high around this time.

Update: On April 12, 2007 the Associated Press issued a correction over several points made in the last link to this blog post.

Image- southamericanpictures.com (Flower cutter doing her job in a Colombian greenhouse)

Links- New York Sun, Pittsburgh Star-Telegraph, Wesleyan Argus, Discovery Channel