Roses Are Green: This V-Day, ‘Fair-Trade’ Is Floral Buzzword

While the differences in the designations are potentially confusing to shoppers
who want to dig deeper into the intricacies of Central American child labor laws
or the relative toxicity of various fertilizers, the bigger picture is that,
increasingly, consumers are looking for more evidence that they’re buying
earth-friendly flowers, not toxic little pesticide bombs.

~A

MediaPost Publications – Roses Are Green: This V-Day, ‘Fair-Trade’ Is Floral Buzzword – 02/04/2008
WHILE “GREEN” FLOWERS HAVE BEEN on high-end consumers’ radar for several years now, this Valentine’s Day may well be the tipping point. Sam’s Club, owned by Wal-Mart, and 1-800-Flowers have begun selling Fair Trade-certified flowers, making the once-niche products available to the flower-buying masses.

The Fair Trade certification, administered by TransFair USA, a nonprofit group, is available only on a handful of imports, including coffee, tea, vanilla, chocolate, and sugar. It joins several other floral designations, including VeriFlora, administered by an independent company, and the 10-year-old Florverde, an effort of the Colombian floral industry.

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