This Valentine’s Day, Slowflowers.com urges us all to support local farmers and florists by choosing sustainable, American-grown bouquets for our loved ones.
Even though the retail flower market is strong ($7-8 Billion per year), stats show that only 2% of roses sold annually are actually grown in the USA. Slowflowers.com has nearly five hundred florists committed to sourcing their flowers from the USA, and they are looking to you to help them drive business away from the 1-800 tele-florists and their imported bouquets.
Slowflowers.com has launched a farm-to-vase crusade and aims to make Valentine’s 2015 a flower revolution. This year, florists are turning down 1-800 orders that flow into their businesses every February – choosing instead to deliver only domestic flowers and foliage to their customers.
Debra Prinzing, founder of Slowflowers.com has faith that you will make the right choice if you are given the options. “Fifty-eight percent of consumers would rather purchase domestic flowers if given the choice. Valentine’s sees millions of roses arrive via Jumbo Jet with a shelf life of just days,” she says. “Even if ‘American-grown’ is not a concern, buying fresher flowers should be.”
Slowflowers.com florist, Farmgirl Flowers, owned by Christina Stembel, only uses California-grown flowers. “The entire process of ordering from the big guys feels like you just got conned,” says Stembel. “We’re pledging flowers that are fresh, local, beautifully designed, and thoughtfully delivered.”
The Origin Matters initiative from the California Cut Flower Commission is determined to promote change this season by placing Valentine’s 2015 into the hands of florists committed to domestic flowers.
“We are ready to prove Slowflowers.com bouquets and arrangements are far better than imported alternatives,” says Prinzing. “It’s time to show your love with local flowers.”
Slow Flowers is an online directory to help consumers find florists, event planners, supermarket flower departments and flower farmers committed to using American-grown flowers. More information is at www.slowflowers.com.
