A Rose is Just a Rose?

Next month, many in the West will engage in the largest consumer frenzy since the Christmas season, Valentine's Day. This is supposed to be a holiday where people express love and caring for each other, and exchange letters and tokens of appreciation. In reality, of course, this is a massive commercial enterprise, and just another example of flagrant overconsumption and excess. The rose is one of the main symbols of this holiday, and this is the largest sales period during the year for roses. Yet most of us do not know where these roses come from, or what effect their cultivation has on people and the environment.

Lake Naivasha is a large freshwater lake in Kenya. Floriculture (flower farming) is the main industry surrounding this lake. This is also the location where the movie Out of Africa was filmed. Many European companies are involved in growing roses here, which requires large quantities of water for irrigation. Maude Barlow, a long time water-rights activist, writes the following in her book Blue Covenant:

Kenya is destroying the waters of Lake Naivasha to grow roses for export to Europe. Scientists predict the lake, the source of water for Africa's largest population of hippopotamuses, will be a "putrid muddy puddle" within five to ten years if its draining for flower irrigation is not halted. (Knowing this, the big European flower companies are already planning to relocate to Ethiopia and Uganda.)

If you live in Europe and are planning on giving roses to a loved one this year, you might want to find out more about where those roses came from, and what their production cost. Many workers growing these roses make only a dollar a day, and are becoming ill from excessive exposure to pesticides and herbicides. They receive the side benefit of being allowed to participate in the destruction of their own local environment. Of course, once the water is gone, the companies will move on, but they will still have to live there.

The ecological damage from rose growing in Kenya has been confirmed by a scientific study last year. Dr. David Harper, a conservation biologist, has conducted research in the region for over 25 years, and he says the flower industry is literally draining the country dry. While some local legislation exists to protect the environment, it is rarely enforced. As for Europe's involvement, he says:

Dr Harper said the demand for the ten thousand tonnes of roses sold in the UK for Valentine’s Day and for Mother’s Day had contributed to the devastation of the ecosystem at the lake.

Of course, once Lake Naivasha, and others like it, dry up, they can no longer be a source of fish. This means areas already struggling with starvation will have even less food supplies available.

Before going on a shopping spree for Valentine's Day, it might be a good idea to ask where the products you are buying are coming from. Where were those roses grown, and what impact did that have on the local environment? If you are concerned about the environment, perhaps the day can be celebrated without having to consume anything. Spend time together, and in place of a rose, give your lover a kiss instead.