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This Valentine’s Day, before planning your romantic dinner or buying roses and chocolate, think about how your choices will affect the hands that feed you.
This Valentine’s Day, before planning your romantic dinner or buying roses and chocolate, think about how your choices will affect the hands that feed you.
According to the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association, the average consumer spends around US$116 on Valentine’s Day, and florists make about US$400 million in revenue. Approximately 48 percent of consumers spend money on candy, 34 percent spend money on flowers, and about 35 percent dine out.
Workers in these industries, including service workers and farm laborers, are among the lowest paid in the world. They face exposure to pesticides and sexual harassment in the workplace.
Valentine’s Day is the highest grossing day for the US$600 billion restaurant industry; yet the 4.3 million tipped workers in the United States only earn US$2.13 per hour. Unfortunately, this rate has remained the same for more than 23 years.
The choices we make as eaters can support the livelihoods of farm and restaurant workers, and organizations like the Coalition for Immokalee Workers, Fairfood, and Rainforest Alliance are gathering citizen support for workers’ rights.
This Valentine’s Day, spread the love by supporting farmworkers and demanding justice in the food system!
Every rose has its thorn, and a Valentine’s Day rose is no exception. From Ecuador to Colombia to Southeast Asia, the cut flower industry is characterized by high energy use, low labor standards, and low regulation. Floriculture takes up valuable land and water, and can crowd out local food production and family farms. In Colombia, women make up the majority of flower pickers, and face difficult working conditions, health hazards, and sexual harassment. According to Oxfam, some women in the Colombian flower industry work for more than 15 hours per day.
Finding fair trade and sustainable flowers can be challenging, but Fairtrade International and Rainforest Alliance provide certification to qualified producers. Researchers at Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences propose American flower production as an alternative to imported flowers, which come at a high energy cost: flowers are picked in the middle of the night and transported via cold chains to U.S. customers. This process requires vast amounts of energy to quickly cool flowers and prevent fragile blossoms from wilting during travel.
Whole Foods is cashing in on the US$19 billion Americans are expected to spend on flowers this year by offering delivery of its “Whole Trade” flowers. According to marketing reporter, Bruce Horovitz from USA Today this could, “undercut the costs of both local florists and national delivery services,” but also offers higher quality and more sustainable options.
