Date of publication: February 8, 2007
Source: Utne Magazine
Author: Elizabeth Oliver
Excerpt from article:
Analyzed by the most soulful of poets and adored tenderly by the most perfunctory of scientists, flowers have resounded through the ages as emblems of beauty, sex, and love -- the ideal token of affection for a sweetie or loved one. Yet the modern commercial flower and the $40 billion a year industry behind it have a sinister side that might just change the way you say "be mine" this Valentine's Day.
In her new book, Flower Confidential [1], Amy Stewart illuminates many sinister facets of the business, botany, and history of flowers. Stewart reports that 78 percent of the estimated 4 billion flowers purchased in the United States each year come from overseas -- most from Latin America, where flower growers are notorious for their shoddy labor rights records...