Hi everyone! I read this article today about the "Slow Flowers" movement which is similar to the Slow Food movement. It's about buying local flowers instead of the usual ones imported from South America. I'll admit, I'm personally against the cut flower industry. I think there are still too many abuses of workers, too much use of pesticides, and frankly, I find the same old flowers Boring with a capital B! Also, I prefer my plants in the ground where I can keep enjoying them and they can feed my butterflies! Here's the article:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireS...
Now, as someone with an economics degree and a native Floridian, I am well aware that Miami is a major importer of cut flowers from South America (I once had a job interview in college with a company in Miami in this industry). So I don't want to take jobs away from my own state. But why couldn't we shift those jobs to growing our own flowers and becoming part of this "Slow Flowers" movement? The woman in the article is in Nebraska and can only sell her flowers six months out of the year. But I can think of plenty of places across the southern part of the country that could do this pretty much year-round. I just checked and the movement has its own website:
http://slowflowers.com/ So maybe the next time you have to buy flowers for someone (I hear there's some big holiday coming up), maybe you can see if there's a retailer near you. I always tell people voting with your dollars is just as important as voting at the polls. So if supporting florists who grow wildflowers here in the United States is important to you, please support them! And thanks for letting me get on my soapbox a little bit.
