Do the right thing: buy flowers from Africa
Hilary Benn says that we should buy flowers imported from poor countries, even if we are concerned about the environment:
some recent research by Cranfield University – who compared the emissions from producing 12,000 rose stems in Kenya with those in Holland, including transporting them to Hampshire – and found that the emissions produced by Kenyan rose and flying them here can be less than a fifth of those grown in heated and lighted greenhouses in Holland. Why? Because Kenya is warm and sunny, and heating greenhouses in Holland uses enormous amounts of fossil fuels.
Furthermore, even if it were not better for the environment to buy African flowers rather than Dutch flowers, we should still consider buying flowers, fruit and vegetables from Africa:
people living in the vast majority of African countries are responsible for a tiny amount of carbon emissions. In Kenya, carbon emissions are 200 kg a head; here it is fifty times that. We should bear that in mind when making our choices.
This is social justice on a global scale. If we boycott their goods that are flown to the UK we deny our fellow human beings their chance to grow; their chance to reduce poverty. It’s like saying, we messed this planet up, but you can take the consequences.
So do the right thing on Valentines Day: buy flowers from Africa.
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On a related Valentines Day note is the impact of pesticide exposure from picking roses on women’s health in Columbia. Check out the following news story:
"Colombia Flower Farms Rely on Pesticides" (Link) or:
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070212/colombia_toxic_flowers.html
I agree that buying flowers from Kenya in February is more environmentally sustainable than buying flowers from northern Europe. But consumers have another choice, and that is to buy locally and seasonally. For example, the curly kale and cavolo de nero sold at our local farmers market has travelled less than 30 miles, the most appropriate flowers in February are snowdrops and crocuses, and British daffodils are already available. Should Kenyan economic development be controlled by British supermarkets, which don't have a great track record in giving producers a fair share of the profits, or in handling the environmental and social consequences in Kenya? Are there more sustainable value-added products that would be better for Kenya, as shown by Ghana's Divine Chocolate? And are there emerging markets in the region for locally-grown produce?
Thanks John.
I agree on the value of buying local and seasonal food. But I also buy imported food, and I don’t feel uncomfortable about it. The countries that grow that food – may of whose people depend on the income – have much lower emissions per head than we do; and we should cut our own emissions rather than impose the cost of adjustment on them.
The supermarkets do not "control" Kenyan development. They provide an opportunity for Kenyan farmers to sell their products to rich consumers. That is welcome. As consumers, we should do what we can to ensure that we buy products that pass benefits to the growers – for example by buying Fair Trade. But it does not benefit the world’s poor to boycott the products that they are able to sell us.