Japanese Cut Flowers Getting Milieu Programma Sierteelt Certification


Over at Treehugger, I note that Japanese cut flowers are moving in the right direction: they are adopting the Dutch standard called Milieu Programma Sierteelt, the environmental horticulture certification program that originated in Holland in 1995. In this system, participating growers record and report data on pesticide, fertilizer and energy consumption and waste management.

If you want to give a rose to someone you love, make sure it is coming from growers that care about our precious planet. If you do not ask, how will the flower shops begin to make the change?

As I wrote this blog entry, and tried to find a nice photo, I discovered that Dutch traders have appreciated Japanese roses for a very long time:

In 1696 Plunkenet added R. multiflora (the Polyantha or Japanese Rose) as the Dutch were bringing home varieties of precious East Asian flowers to Europe.

Update: In the United States, VeriFlora is the label to look for if you are interested in buying cut flowers from growers that use less chemicals. Try the Whole Foods Market, they also have organically grown cut flowers, something I haven't yet seen in Japan.

Comments

Martin J Frid said…
(Why I get zero comments on a blog entry about an important issue like this...)

- Martin
6:19 pm, December 19, 2008
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