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A thorny issue The beauty of a Mother's Day bouquet can belie an ugly journey to your mum, writes Sam Butler

F lowers are always a winner on Mother's Day, and it's hard to argue with the smile they put on your mum's face.

But CHOICE has uncovered some troubling secrets about the flower trade that may make you think twice before rushing off to the florist on 13 May.

Along with Valentine's Day, Mother's Day is the peak

demand time for cut flowers in Australia. Local growers alone can't meet this demand,

so flowers are imported to make up the shortfall - and now is a good time for importers given the strong Aussie dollar.

Unfortunately, however, flowers will sometimes be imported from countries with questionable worker conditions, such as Zimbabwe, Colombia or Kenya, where plantation workers can be forced to work up to 12 hours a day for less than one dollar, handle dangerous

chemicals without protective gear and live in cramped, unsafe conditions.

Yet Australian consumers often have no way of knowing where the flowers they buy have come from as they're not subject to country-of-origin labelling requirements in the same way as food items. The best shoppers can hope for is a label somewhere on the bouquet that specifies whether the flowers are local or import;ed (or a combination of both).

Owen Brinson, president of Flowers Victoria, argues a fair trade certification scheme for imported cut flowers would be difficult given bouquets often contain different types of flowers, some of which are local and some imported. "We need industry awareness first before consumer awareness," he says. "Traders should know where they're importing from and what issues may relate to that country - it might compel them to source from elsewhere."

Tanya Ha, environmentalist, former Catalyst reporter and author of Greeniology 2020, says ethical and environmental considerations around cut flowers are incredibly complex. ~

Best of the bunch for industry

The Flower Association of Queensland Inc IFAQI) with the

support of Horticulture Australia has

compiled Best Bunch, an industry best practice guide designed to "improve

sustainable farm management and

provide information, references and contacts" for Australian cut flower

growers and suppliers. Although

prepared specifically for Queensland growers, it outlines suggested

practices covering aspects of farm

management that are applicable

to all growers in all states, from

legal requirements and staff safety

to irrigation, energy use and pest/

disease management. And FAQI's quarterly Australian

Flower Industry Magazine contai ns

a range of articles and information

wr itten by industry exper ts specifically

addressing the needs of the Austra l ian

cut flower and foliage industry. See

australianflowerindustry.com.au.

CHOICE .COM .AU MAY 2012 /// 19

"The great things about local cut

flowers are the reduced need for

refrigerated transport and storage

and, by world standards, Australia's

good work practices and fair pay for growers. But it's not as simple as

'imported bad, local good'; sometimes

you just don't know.

"Personally, I like to get

the odd bunch of cut flowers

from farmers' markets,

based on whatever is

in season." She also

suggests looking for

suppliers of organically

certified flowers, though these are small in number.

And even when cut

flowers are imported

from countries

with better

20 Ill MAY 2012 CHOICE.COM.AU

worker conditions, it can be a carbon­

hungry exercise. In 2007, a Cranfield

University study found the carbon

footprint of Dutch roses on sale in the UK

is almost six times that of Kenyan roses,

because of the high energy needs of

artificial lighting and temperature control

needed to raise roses in the Netherlands.

All cut flowers arriving

in Australia need to be treated - devitalised

- by the Australian

Quarantine and

Inspection Service

(AQIS) to prevent them

from being propagated

in Australia in order to keep

out foreign diseases. On arrival they're dipped in Roundup, a

glyphosate herbicide, for 20 minutes to

within five centimetres of the flower head.

About a decade ago, the quarantine

procedures for imported flowers normally

carried out domestically by AQIS were

partially outsourced to accredited

agencies in developing countries. In 2009, the Queensland and Victorian

peak flower-growing bodies claimed they had been able to successfully propagate

flowers from imported roses and

chrysanthemums- something quarantine

procedures are supposed to prevent. AQIS

denied this, saying it tested 100% of

incoming cut flower consignments at that

time in response to the allegations and

found none was able to be propagated.

If cut flowers are treated offshore, this

will be done by an A,QIS-audited and approved facility. AQIS randomly tests

one-third of all consignments coming

The five most popular flowers bought for Mother's Day

in, and should it detect a devitalisation

failure it will deregister that facility.

Most commercial flower consignments

are also subject, at the importer's expense,

to mandatory fumigation with methyl

bromide to keep out any foreign insects

or pests that may arrive with them, such as

snails. More recently, the Department of

Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

(such as Roundup) are of concern to

you, buying flowers locally is a good

way to avoid them.

Supermarket squeeze Like many industries, the domestic retail

downturn is hitting cut flower growers

hard. Flowers have been a lot easier to

import than export thanks to our strong

Like many industries, the domestic retail downturn is hitting cut flower growers hard

(DAFF), under

which AQIS falls,

told CHOICE that "a

further DAFF review of

Australia's import protocol in 2009

confirmed the existing system is

effective in detecting treatment

failures" in cut flower stems.

Brinson believes the situation has

"improved quite markedly" and he and

Flowers Victoria are confident that

imported cut flowers are being properly

devitalised. But Lodi Pameijer, president

of the Flower Association of Queensland

Inc (FAQI), is less confident. "We'd like to

see devitalisation brought back onshore.

There is a feeling among the industry that

the current system isn't achieving what

it's meant to." He has heard anecdotal

evidence that local growers have been able

to propagate imported roses after 2009.

He stresses, however, that his and other

state association groups are working with

AQIS to maintain and improve the

protection of Australia's biosecurity.

../ The use of methyl bromide has been

banned in the EU for m ost purposes.

If this and other chemical treatments

Gerbera

dollar - with Japan far and away our biggest

overseas market - and fewer consumers are

indulging in discretionary spending as they

tighten their belts post-GFC.

But local growers are also having their

profit margins squeezed by supermarkets,

thanks to what a recent IbisWorld report

calls "the unprecedented bargaining power

ofleading supermarket retailers over the

supply chain"- a power supermarkets are

exploiting, as CHOICE recently revealed

(see CHOICE, April 2012 and also page 27).

Brinson agrees supermarkets are putting

downward pressure on producer prices for

cut flowers. He also says that "when you

pick up a cheap bunch of flowers at your

local supermarket or convenience store,

they're not the same quality as those you'd

get in a florist and the sales staff aren't likely

to be as well-trained ".

Similarly, the Ibis World report argues

that "supermarkets and convenience stores

are less equipped [than specialist florists]

to minimise spoilage, without the precise

temperature-controlled fridges used by

florists, necessitating flowers that are

more resilient as well as some margin

for spoilage". •

,·----------------------------, : LOCALLEGENDS : w hen it comes to Mother's Day

1 gifts, Tanya Ha's approach is to

: think outside the bouquet. "The huge

: spike in demand for cut flowers for

: such a short window of time means

: increased use of carbon-intensive ' means to control temperatures,

synthetic chemical use and so on.

And the more humans intervene, the

greater the environmental impact."

Lodi Pameijer agrees. "We accept

that imported flowers have their role

in the marketplace, especially to

match peak demand times around

Valentine's Day and Mother's Day.

But growers would prefer to have 1 all-year demand rather tjlan just

a few spots in the year.

"Buy flowers for birthdays,

engagements, anniversaries,

special occasions, any time you can

-and go straight for the Australian-

,. grown flowers and foliage, both all

: year-round and seasonal. The NSW I

: Christmas Bush is a highly dense

: evergreen shrub that appears around I

: spring and summer. It loves sunshine

: and open fields but can also tolerate

: frost and filtered sun." I

: Ha suggests giving your mum a

: rose bush instead of a bouquet of

: roses . "A friend of mine was being I

: courted and a few suitors brought

: her roses. The winner, however, I : gave her a ball of dirt with a stick

: pointing out of it- and it's been giving

: her roses ever since." She argues I

• that while this may be a little less

conventional, it's a healthier and

more sustainable option. Like

Pameijer, Ha also suggests

considering a native Australian

flower, and recommends checking

out growinggifts.com.au for plant­

based gift alternatives to cut flowers .

I I I I

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