TAKE ACTION: Love Shouldn’t Be Toxic: Regulate Pesticides on Flowers

1d • News

As Valentine’s Day approaches, millions of people will give flowers as a symbol of love without realizing that those bouquets may be coated in toxic pesticides. Unlike food, flowers are not regulated for pesticide residues, meaning there is no limit to how much poison can be left on a single bouquet, including chemicals banned on food crops.

Unregulated flowers put farmworkers and florists at serious risk, with exposures linked to cancer, birth defects, and long-term illness. From flower farms in Kenya and Colombia to florist shops in the U.S., workers report devastating health impacts while companies evade accountability.

Love shouldn’t come at the cost of workers’ lives.

Please sign this alert and tell Congress to begin regulating pesticides on flowers!

When traditions rely on harmful practices, sustainability doesn’t always mean finding a better version of the same thing; sometimes it means opting out. Valentine’s Day offers an opportunity to reimagine what a meaningful gift looks like, especially in places where ethical, organic flowers aren’t available, and the more responsible choice may be to skip flowers entirely in favor of gifts that align with our values

Choose Valentine’s gifts that reflect care for people, workers, and the planet

READ: “Deaths and Illness from Unregulated Pesticide Residues on Flowers” by Alexis Baden-Mayer

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