The Dark Side of a Rose

Generally speaking, domestication and cultivation of modern rose varieties have made an impact on Indigenous communities living in Latin America. Flower agribusinesses took hold in the early 1980s when large farms with international financing started growing roses for export in Ecuador's Andean highlands. Rose agribusinesses argue that they have modernized the region by providing jobs, and enhancing local purchasing power, therefore improving local food availability. Large-scale commercial flower farms have been exempted from government permitting and legal protocol in the use of lethal chemicals in large scale industrial farming, veiled as an inedible agricultural product. Therefore, the exploitation of modern roses in the Southern Hemisphere, for the pleasure of the western world, has contributed to the unequal power struggles of local Indigenous communities. 

    Consequently, industrial flower farmers have been controlling natural resources, which has led to many environmental and social injustices. State policies and development intervention services for the conservation of ecosystems and Indigenous traditions are needed. Loss of biodiversity, food sovereignty, water scarcity, and land claims are prominent and recurrent issues that need immediate attention on a global scale. 

    How then can we, as a global consumer of industrial products, align our payments with representing fair economic opportunities and compensation for traditional or marginalized communities? What actions will resolve access to land claims, control over natural resources, and traditional knowledge in the benefit of Local Indigenous populations? These are essential questions to ask ourselves. Answers to these questions can help us find solutions to conserve and create environmentally sensible solutions in culturally sensitive ways for people to make their livelihoods. 

Food or Flower? Industrial Rose Farming in Ecuador 

  Ecuador is the fourth largest exporter of retail roses in the world. Today, two-thirds of Ecuador's roses end up in the United States. The Andes has ideal flower growing conditions due to its volcanic soil, combined with 12 hours of sunshine year-round,

    In the article, 'Deflowering Ecuador' Ross Wehner (2003) describes the adverse effects of modern rose cultivation on an industrial scale. Despite the severe implications fumigation has on human health, industries claim to use ethical practices; however, they do not follow through.  Cut flowers are agricultural export; therefore, they must be pest-free. Flower workers treat cut flowers with chemicals to preserve them from rotting en route to global markets. Meanwhile, pesticides are continuously sprayed during the growing process to kill mildew and insects (Ross, 2003). There are barriers to adopting sustainable floriculture certification; currently, the vast majority of floriculture crops or cut flowers sold in the United States are not labeled as sustainably or organically produced (Wehner, 2003). However, flower identity can be enhanced through "green label" flower certification programs, establishing standards for the reduction of pesticides and other chemicals, conservation of natural resources, worker safety, and labor rights (Hall et al., 2010). 

     Industrial floriculture uses a wide range of chemicals, including pesticides, insecticides, fungicides, nematicides, fertilizers, and improper disposal of toxic waste. The use of these chemicals has resulted in the contamination of soil and water, which threatens biodiversity. The floriculture industry does not pay for medicals bills; workers need to keep working in order to pay their medical bills, thus solidifying the inequalities inherent within the floriculture industry. In rural areas of Ecuador, the expansion of industrial cut flower production is evident (Wehner, 2003).

 "Many doctors in Cayambe are médicos de planta, meaning they are paid a consultancy fee by rose companies in exchange for making weekly visits to the greenhouses" (Wehner, 2003;2). Floriculture companies have said that the arrangement provides better health care for workers, but others say the system is part of the more extensive influence wielded by the rose industry, effectively silencing local officials with hush money (Wehner, 2003). "Corruption is everywhere, says Valladares, the Red Cross official. He faults the government for not enforcing laws about how far greenhouses must be from town and how they treat their industrial runoff. The chemicals they use should be properly controlled" (Wehner, 2003;3). 

   Of Ecuador's 60,000 flower workers, seventy percent are women (Wehner, 2003). There have been some benefits to Ecuadorian women's involvement in paid work, such as elements of empowerment and cash resources. Although agro-industry provides employment opportunities and regional economic development, it also causes social, health, and ecological challenges within Indigenous communities. The International Labor Organization and Ecuador's Catholic University have found that as many as sixty percents of post-harvest workers complained of pesticide-poisoning with symptoms including blurred vision, headaches, nausea, loss of appetite, and muscular twitching (Wehner, 2003). Women experience significantly elevated rates of miscarriage, reproductive disease, and congenital disabilities (Wehner, 2003). Children who make up more than a fifth of the workforce displayed signs of neurological damage at 22 percent above average (Wehner, 2003). 

 There has been concern about pesticide exposure as pesticides are known to cause cancer, congenital disabilities, reproductive illnesses, and neurologic disease in humans (Tenenbaum, 2002). Workers exposed to these pesticides in a variety of ways. For example, workers who transplant, prune, cut, and pack flowers without protective equipment may absorb pesticides through their skin. Dusting, spraying, and other applications of chemicals in enclosed spaces such as greenhouses may result in workers inhaling pesticides. Tenenbaum further argues that the 1990 Restrepo report on Colombia's cut flower industry found a moderate increase in the prevalence of abortion, prematurity, and congenital malformations among children conceived after either parent started working in floriculture (Tenenbaum, 2002). This article supports arguments of environmental injustice, impacts on human health, and safety over exposure to industrial chemicals (Tenenbaum, 2002).

     The argument here is that roses are, in fact, edible. The petals are edible, as well as the fruits. In the case of hybridized modern roses, even though they do not create rose hips like the wild rose relatives, rose petals of any variety, are edible. Through this fact, salient work needs to be done regarding policy-making against the use of hazardous pesticides, which is an injustice to human welfare and the environment-dependent upon for sustenance, as demonstrated in the following quote: 

  All my life, I have worked in flowers," one rose worker tells me as she stands in her doorway, an infant slung against her chest in a rainbow-colored shawl. She is in her mid-30s, but she looks at least 20 years older. "I got sick in my kidneys; I got sick with asthma from the fumigations," she continues. "What I was earning, it was not enough to pay for the treatment. I spent two months in bed." The company, she says, refused to pay for her medical bills or her sick leave. (Wehner, 2003; 3)

     Evidence shows that chemicals used in floriculture are harmful to humans and the environment. Female workers handle up to one thousand chemically soaked roses per day (Wehner, 2003). The floriculture industry neglects to report or aid workers who need medical assistance (Wehner, 2003). Instead, they pay doctors to remain silent (Wehner, 2003).

The stories and voices of Indigenous women working on flower plantations remain unheard of; their lives and the lives of their children need to be valued. Floriculture companies exploit women in developing countries for-profit and negatively affect Indigenous women's health and empowerment. The need for advocacy for fair trade policies for sustainable environmental practices is dire. 

   Since cut flowers are considered a "non-edible agricultural export," therein lies the loophole that has been allowing big agro-business to escape the regulation of harmful pesticide use. Agrochemical exposure is not only a health risk to humans; it is incredibly damaging to the environment. Technological advances are available to facilitate reduced use of pesticides (Sawer, 2005); however, they are not being implemented in sustainable cut-flower production, as demonstrated below: 

  "Before she was forced to quit, she worked in the greenhouses throughout the past decade, handling thousands of chemical-soaked roses with only gloves for protection. When the fumigating was going on, she says, the company told employees to keep working. Since studies show that female rose workers experience elevated rates of miscarriage and congenital disabilities, I ask if she ever had any trouble bearing children. She pauses, and when she speaks again, her voice is shaking. "I gave birth to a mongoloid baby," she says. In the yard, the clucking of hens competes with the honky-tonk beat of a Quechuan love ballad coming from a radio inside. Maybe it was because of the chemicals, she says, before stepping back into her house and shutting the front gate. "But I did not have the money to find out. (Wehner, 2003;3)

     The past and present exploitation of the South for the indulgent living standards in the westernized countries in the North can not be sustainable in the future. We buy roses to say 'I love you' when in actuality, those roses come with the hidden cost of exploitation and abuse. That is where education and awareness is key to the transformation of human consciousness. Many consumers of roses probably do not consider or know about the ecological footprint or injustices that are inherent in the roses they purchase. The threats to Ecuador's biodiversity are varying. However, substantial industrial export businesses have contributed to the majority of that destruction.

      It is crucial to provide the public with information about the practices of industrial cut flowers as well as the impacts of exotic species planted in ornamental gardens. Educating people on the effects of invasive species is essential. Promoting indigenous plant species for increased biodiversity and genetics of indigenous plants to their preferred ecosystem will be essential to part to play in plant resilience in the face of climate change. There is no denying our earth is in crisis, and we as individuals, communities, companies need to put pressure on governments, legislation, and corporations alike to take responsibility to make changes that will have a lasting and positive impact on the planet. Industrial floriculture is a global issue impacting humankind and education and awareness about what the reality of the future truly is. Cultivating indigenous species in our landscapes or buying locally grown flowers over exported ones are significant ways in which we can contribute to landscape restoration and increased biodiverse ecosystems and loss in biodiversity

REFERENCES

Caitlin Nordehn., “Women’s Work in Agribusinesses and Gender-Based Violence: What Do We Know? Report from the Government of the United States of America, Feed the Future Enabling Environment for Food Security Project, July 2018.

Retrieved at:

https://reliefweb.int/report/world/women-s-work-agribusinesses-and-gender-based-violence-what-do-we-know

Raynolds, Laura T. "Fair trade flowers: Global certification, environmental sustainability, and labor standards." Rural Sociology 77, no. 4 (2012): 493-519.

Sawers, Larry. "Sustainable Floriculture in Ecuador." American University Department of Economics Working Paper Series, American University, Washington DC (2005).

Shaw, Leona R. "The Ecology of Food and Medicine Plants and their Gathering Sites as Defined by Tl’azt’en Nation." Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, BC, Canada (2010).

Tenenbaum, David. "Would a rose not smell as sweet?" Environmental Health Perspectives 110, no. 5 (2002): A240-A247.

Wehner, Ross. “Deflowering Ecuador.” Mother Jones Vol. 28, Issue 1. Jan/Feb 2003.

 World Bank., “Project Completion Report: Ecuador,” Agriculture Sector Loan (Loan 2626-EC), Report No. 9309, January 1991.

Retrieved at:

http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/393301468026947043/pdf/multi-page.pdf