The Politics of Flower Cultivation

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February 7, 2021

a project of ServiceSpace

I do dimly perceive that whilst everything around me is ever changing, ever-dying, there is underlying all that change a Living Power that is changeless, that holds all together, that creates, dissolves, and re-creates.

- Mahatma Gandhi -

The Politics of Flower Cultivation

"The tradition of gifting roses for St. Valentine's Day is actually a misguided ritual from an ecology perspective because the roses are actually transported from Kenya, for example. Roses do not grow locally in countries north of the equator during February. Because flowers are not food, we tend to overlook the fact that they are also seasonal products, and we just cannot have it all the time unless we buy it from abroad.[...] The commodification of the living is a very deep ethical question from a plant perspective, as much as from a human perspective. 10 years ago, Switzerland adopted a law that recognizes plant rights, and the underlying suffering or loss of dignity of plants." Masami Charlotte Lavaut is the founder of Plein Air, the first flower farm in Paris. She shares more here about the 'slow flowers' approach, that speaks to our relationship with time, and nature, while also shedding light on the political implications and hidden costs of the floral industry. { read more }