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

[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.

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