Blog 2 : Flowers provide health care

This article seems to be relevant for the due date. Most people believe that the flowers they are buying for their significant others on Valentine’s Day are produced locally. When actually the flower industry has grown to have a worldwide trade like our fruits and vegetables. Which also holds cheaper labor. Southern countries have a better climate for the production of flowers. This is better for the environment than growing these flowers in local glass houses. The down side to this global market of flowers is that in 2005 the women working in these fields like in Ecuador were harmed by the toxic fertilizers required for the plants along with sexual harassment and child labor. All of these farms were encouraged to fix these problems to be Fair Trade certified. One country with this certification is Kenya, which now gives free health insurance and education to the workers and their families.

As the world market gets larger and larger more products are open for trade and cheaper production like flowers. Having this opportunity for southern countries which usually are third world and have the right climate to produce flowers allows for more work and less poverty. At first in 2005 there were many problems occurring on the farms but with reinforcement of a Fair trade certificate these farms improved their conditions. Now countries are starting to give the workers and their family’s free health care which encourages people to work and improve their lives.