U.S. flower growers fight to survive amid flood of imports

[HiPointDem]

As she took a break on Monday from picking dahlias, zinnias and amaranths on her Jello Mold Farm in Mount Vernon, Wash., Diane Szukovathy wondered why, in her opinion, the federal government is working so hard to put other flower growers and her out of business by helping competitors thousands of miles away in the temperate regions of Colombia.

First came the international war on drugs, with the U.S. government spending millions since 1999 to help poor Colombian farmers destroy their coca plants and replace them with flowers. Then Congress passed a free-trade agreement with Colombia last year, making those blooms cheaper for Americans to buy.

With Colombian imports now accounting for three of every four cut flowers sold in the United States, domestic growers say they can’t compete with the planeloads of Colombian flowers that are flown in through Miami each day.

“It’s job robbing. I mean, it’s so bad. It’s so wrong,” said Szukovathy, 49, who’s run her farm in the Skagit River Valley, about an hour north of Seattle, for nearly 10 years. “Those politics are such a mess. I don’t really feel like that’s my government, almost.”

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/08/30/164345/us-flower-growers-fight-to-survive.html#storylink=cpy

[msongs]

1. darling it isn't YOUR government, its corporate controlled and owned government nt

[SoCalDem]

2. But but but..when you are growing in South America

you get to spray your workers with chemicals & they cannot complain..and you can house them in hovels with tainted water & you don't have to pay them much..

and you gotta provide assistance to buy off local officials..

it's just "biddness"...dont-cha-know


Rough Cut video from Frontline

Just miles from the equator, rose farms have become a colorful focal point of Ecuador's Andean countryside. With an elevation nearing 10,000 feet, the country's proximity to the sun and cool nights provide perfect growing conditions for long, straight roses. Ecuador's cut-flower industry supplies roughly one-third of America's roses, but the industry is notorious for dangerous pesticides, poor labor practices and corrupt management.

Over the past 10 years, the fair trade model has transformed the coffee industry across much of Latin America. And while fair-trade-certified flowers have been available in Europe for more than a decade, consumer demand in the United States has not pushed flower growers to comply with fair labor practices or to produce a sustainable rose.

snip

[SIDURI]

3. Our local flower growers are having similar problems

California Central Coast -- they actually participated in helping set up cut flower enterprises in Columbia, as part of the "war" on drugs. Makes sense, right? They just didn't realize how much competition Columbian flower growers would get to be for them.

Their response has been to switch to different kinds of flowers -- i.e. orchids. They do all their growing in temperature controlled buildings, but it's still tough to switch gears like that.

Siduri

[Zalatix]

4. Where's the free trade crowd to tell us how killing American jobs is good for us?

[Starry Messenger]

5. k&r

[Brickbat]

6. "Job robbing," hardly! It's job CREATION! As promised by these free-trade agreements!

Sheesh, it's like she wants job creation and protection for HERSELF!

[razakhan]

7. U.S. flower growers fight to survive

hahaha cant think about it