A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME... FAIR TRADE FLOWERS

This March, La Montañita’s Valley and Santa Fe locations will begin offering Fair Trade Certified roses for the first time.

Fair Trade Certified flowers have been available in the United States for less than a year, and are still not offered by most florists, grocers or wholesalers
due to the lack of understanding on what Fair Trade actually means, and how it’s different from the many different “green” labels that are currently available.
The Problem Over 70% of the cut flowers sold in the U.S. come from Africa and
South America. Workers on these floral farms are typically women and are often
abused, paid unfairly and forced to work outrageous hours to meet production quotas and keep their jobs. In addition, they are rarely given any
protection from the many harmful chemicals and pesticides that are used on most farms. Because of these factors, the negative environmental, social and economic impacts of the floral industry in developing countries are astounding.
With the rise of consumer awareness, many “green” labeling efforts have taken the initiative to make positive changes in the floral industry worldwide.
Labels like FlorVerde, Veriflora and Sierra Eco have all helped to reduce the impact of environmentally degrading growing practices in various ways and they are a great step forward in improving the floral industry worldwide. The problem for consumers is that these labels are often hard to differentiate between, and offer little
solution to the many human rights abuses that mar the floral industry. In addition, consistency in what these labels mean from farm to farm has been far from stable, even in recent years. Fair Trade Certification Flowers and floral farms can only be certified as Fair Trade for the U.S. market by TransFair USA. TransFair’s Fair Trade Certification includes these principles:

• Fair prices: Democratically organized farmer groups receive a guaranteed minimum floor price and an additional premium for certified organic products. Farmer
organizations are also eligible for preharvest credit.
• Fair labor conditions: Workers on Fair Trade farms enjoy freedom of association,
safe working conditions and living wages. Forced child labor is strictly
prohibited.
• Direct trade: With Fair Trade, importers purchase from Fair Trade producer
groups as directly as possible, empowering farmers to develop the business capacity necessary to compete in the global marketplace.
• Democratic and transparent organizations: Fair Trade farmers and farm workers decide democratically how to invest Fair Trade revenues.
• Community development: Fair Trade farmers and farm workers invest Fair Trade premiums in social and business development projects like scholarship programs, quality improvement trainings and organic certification.
• Environmental sustainability: Harmful agrochemicals and GMOs are strictly prohibited in favor of environmentally sustainable farming methods that protect farmers' health and preserve valuable ecosystems for future generations.
To uphold these criteria, TransFair USA maintains close working relationships with certified farms and is available to help each farm continue to develop its social and environmental programs.