Fair Trade Flowers for Mom

"For every flower that we are able to sell, a child is able to study. Here in Ecuador, there are so many children that do not study. For this reason, it's very important to buy Fair Trade flowers, because our children are our future."

Those words were spoken by Mariana Vasquez, of the Hoja Verde Flower Farm, but they could be a quote from anyone who works on a fair trade flower farm in any of the other countries where they operate.
With Mother's Day coming up this weekend, you might be thinking of making a gift of flowers on Sunday May 11. Your gift, intended to make your mother's day a little brighter, can do so much more than that, if you make sure the flowers are fair trade certified. In addition to fair wages paid to the workers and protection from harmful pesticides, Fair Trade certification requires the flower farms provide employee benefits that include 12 weeks paid maternity leave, vacation and sick leave, and childcare. The workers are given a premium of between 8 and 12% of each sale to invest in community development, and provided with training to implement development projects of their choosing. These projects can include adult literacy and gardens to feed their families. Some Fair Trade Certified flower farms have even given supervisory positions to women, quite a departure from the norm in most of the countries boasting these farms. Your mother's fair trade bouquet can help to ensure that women worldwide have an opportunity to equal access of employment. It will also help to protect the environment, since Fair Trade certification ensures that farms "comply with rigorous environmental standards governing the use of pesticides, conservation of water, treatment of waste water, protection of ecosystems and more. There is an extensive list of agrochemicals that are completely prohibited on Fair Trade farms, and others that must be phased out over time."
If you have any question about the quality of fair trade flowers,a few figures from Switzerland might provide answers for you. 50 per cent of all roses sold there are fair trade certified, and a whopping 97 per cent of Swiss consumers say the Fair Trade Flowers are of equal or even better quality than the norm.
Click here to find fair trade flowers in Canada, and have a great day this Sunday!