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We see flowers cut off from their roots, dissociated from their origins. Flowers so captivate us with their colours, scents and symbolism that it is easy to forget the story – and the people – behind the bouquet. But flowers are like any other crop, and the manner of their cultivation may be benign, or it may be harmful to workers and to the environment. Floriculture is blooming in many parts of the world, especially in developing countries, and as flowers are a high value export crop, it may provide much needed employment. But there are worrying reports on working conditions, in particular the exposure of growers and packers to a large number of pesticides, some of them highly toxic or associated with chronic health effects. ‘Flowers – a tale of beauty and the beast’ is an introduction to some of the social and environmental issues surrounding floriculture, for anyone wanting to know more about where and how their flowers are grown, and wishing to inform themselves, as consumers, in order to demand change. Also available here are four articles which first appeared in PAN UK’s journal, Pesticides News They are reproduced here as a resource for those seeking in-depth background information on this subject.
Further and unedited PDFs from Pesticide News
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PAN UK is the only NGO focused solely on global pesticide issues Each year at least 3 million people are poisoned by pesticides and 20,000 may die, mainly in developing countries |
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