We’re in the New York Times!

Well, not quite — but small flower farms made the Gray Lady today in an op-ed by Margaret Renkl, an author and backyard naturalist who “picks good heroes — John Lewis, John Prine, ‘the lowly Tennessee coneflower’ — and she makes sharp judgments without sounding judgmental.”

And it’s in the spirit of a neighbor to all of us that she writes about how damaging the global cut-flower trade is for our shared global neighborhood. We’ve pointed out many of the same issues of imported flowers that Ms. Renkl does in her article: significant chemical pollution impacts (not only at locations of the factory farms, but also by florists who use floral foam and plastic packaging), the high carbon emissions of the global cold-chain used to deliver the flowers, as well as the human toll of poor working conditions in the farms located in developing nations.

What’s her top suggestion for communicating love this Valentine’s Day while also avoiding the environmental disaster that is the global cut-flower trade? Small flower farms just like ours, of course! Ms. Renkl writes

Still, the very best environmental alternative to a bouquet of imported flowers probably isn’t a potted plant or even paper flowers. The best alternative, I would argue, is a local flower farm, ideally one that operates according to regenerative farming principles. It’s possible to support sustainable flowers through gift cards, retail sales at farmers’ markets or community-supported agriculture subscriptions. A flower C.S.A. works much like a produce C.S.A.: Customers provide the farmer with a reliable source of income, and the farmer provides a reliable source of fresh, in-season flowers (or, in winter, foliage and berry-laden boughs). Often the flowers are fragile heirloom varieties that would never survive a trip from South America.

Local flower farms continue to be a growing movement — one that we are excited to be a part of in Erie, Pennsylvania and the larger Northwestern PA area. We are joined by several other budding flower farms, including Bella’s Blooms, Bumbling Bee, Love Blossoms, and Uprooted Flowers to mention just a few.

We hope that you have a great time honoring St. Valentine tomorrow, and we would love it if you would help this movement of local flower farming grow by purchasing a flower C.S.A. subscription or checking out any of the other flower farmers’ stands and market stalls this year!