アメリカで消費される切り花は、かつて65％が米国産（主としてカリフォルニア）だった。それがいまや国内産の比率は一桁に落ちて、ほぼコロンビアとエクアドル産になっている。2014年に、母の日とバレンタインの国内消費は、対前年比で10％伸びている。そこに、スローフラワー（国産の花）の運動が始まっている。
”US Mother’s Day to see flower sales increase”
After the economy started to improve in the United States, so did flower orders. In 2014 and again this year, sales for Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day increased 10 percent.
Americans are expected to spend more than ever this year on Mother’s Day — an average of $172.63 each — according to a survey by the National Retail Federation. The total outlay could climb to $21.2 billion, with 11 percent of that — $2.4 billion — spent on flowers.
Mother’s Day is the most popular day to give flowers and unlike Valentine’s Day, when almost all of the roses are flown to the U.S. aboard a fleet of cargo jumbo jets from South America, the bouquets given to moms are brimming with American-grown blooms.
Once, U.S. farms produced nearly 65 percent of the nation’s cut flowers, but over the past two decades, imports have caused that figure to shrink to single digits, according to USDA reports.
Industrialized cut flower farms in the Netherlands, Colombia and Ecuador fly or ship pallets of flowers every day, creating a transportation footprint that buy-local supporters say overshadows the environmental costs to heat U.S. greenhouses and send the perishable product to stores.
Slow flower advocate and author Debra Prinzing of Seattle speaks across the country about the importance of labeling bouquet sleeves and adding store signage to let consumers know where flowers were grown and who grew them.
Her Slow Flowers directory lists farmers and designers who supply American blooms.
Also helping shoppers be aware of the source of their flowers are campaigns modeled after buy local and farm-to-table movements. These grassroots promotions encourage shoppers to want the flowers on their table to be as fresh, sustainable and local as the food on their plate.
13:35 – Wed 06/05/2015 Bron: Oregon Live
