Will 1-800-Flowers Offer Fair Trade Stems for Valentine's Day?

A bouquet of flowers on Valentine's Day should be a symbol of love. But for the many workers in the cut flower industry who face sexual assault, abuse, horrific working conditions, and unfair pay, flowers are a symbol of exploitation. Will 1-800-Flowers, the largest florist in the U.S., help stop these abuses by offering Fair Trade certified flowers this Valentines Day?

The cut flowers that large florists like 1-800-Flowers sell often come from countries in Central and South America and Africa -- where beautiful blossoms grow year round, but workers' rights aren't always respected. On Kenyan flower plantations, workers reported being forced to work 8-12 hour days for less than a dollar a day, handling dangerous chemicals without protective gear, and living in cramped, unsafe conditions. In Columbia and Ecuador, which are the main countries that supply the U.S. flower market, over half of female workers have been sexually harassed or assaulted on the job, and mandatory 70 to 80 hour work weeks without overtime pay are common. Exploitation and abuse of workers in the cut flower industry is rampant.

For many of these workers, the weeks before Valentine's Day are the worst time of year, when they're forced to work long hours to cut enough flowers to stock the shelves of 1-800-Flowers and other florists. In fact, a full third of Ecuador's fresh flower exports are sent to the U.S. for Valentine's Day. That can make you wonder if the roses you bought for your sweetheart were picked by a woman forced to keep quiet about being sexually assaulted at work. Or maybe the bouquet you sent your mom was picked by a little girl, denied the chance to go to school. Yikes! If you want more certainty in the symbols of love you buy, there is a solution.

1-800-Flowers currently offers no Fair Trade certified cut flowers, so customers who want to send slave-free arrangements aren't able to do so now. They also publish almost no information on where they source their flowers, and what, if anything, the company is doing to address worker exploitation from their suppliers. But if they made those simple changes, 1-800-Flowers customers could choose to send slave-free arrangements to their loved ones, and flower farms would be held more accountable for their abuses of workers.

Ask 1-800-Flowers to offer Fair Trade certified arrangements this Valentine's Day. That way, both the people in your life and the people in the fresh cut flower industry get to feel some love.

Photo credit: Kaz Andrew