Buying and enjoying local flowers is a lot like buying and enjoying local food. You connect with and support your local farmers, contribute to a healthy local ecosystem, and enjoy the freshest product.
These are the reasons we love local flowers:
Connect with and support local farmers: When you buy locally-grown flowers, you’re keeping your dollars in the local economy and helping local farmers stay in business. These farmers are your neighbors and community members, and work hard to bring delicious food and beautiful blooms to your table!
Support ecosystem health: Many smaller, local flower growers, like the Colorado farmers GoFarm works with, grow a wide array of flower (and vegetable) varieties, increasing the biodiversity of the local landscape. Some local flower growers choose not to use harmful chemicals, and instead use practices that build healthy soil and foster an ecosystem that is hospitable to pollinators and other wildlife. Local flower farms provide habitat for bees, butterflies, birds, and bats which are all pollinators that provide an essential foundation for our food system. Without pollinators, we wouldn’t have a third of all the food we eat, including everything from fruit to vegetables to coffee to chocolate!
Fresh blooms: Currently, more than 80% of flowers purchased in the United States are grown overseas. It might take weeks from the time the flowers are harvested to get to you. This takes a good deal of resources to transport the flowers and keep them alive, while quality and vase life decline. Alternatively, local flowers can be cut in the morning and displayed on your dining room table that evening. Sourcing flowers locally also opens up a whole world of beautiful, delicate blooms that can’t be shipped.
Carbon Footprint: Most of the bouquets sold in U.S. supermarkets are made up of flowers grown in either Ecuador or Colombia, where climate is favorable for growing popular cut flowers, like roses. Throughout these flowers’ journeys, they must be kept refrigerated at 36 degrees Fahrenheit, from farm, to airport, through customs, in flight, and to point of sale. Along with the fuel used for transportation over thousands of miles, a staggering amount of resources are used to get flowers from their South American farms to U.S. homes. By purchasing locally-grown flowers, you are making a sustainable choice and reducing your carbon footprint!
You may notice a higher price tag on locally-grown flowers. When you factor in the attention to quality and sustainable growing practices that small, local growers use - and pay them a fair wage under ethical labor conditions - the true cost goes up. This explains the price our our flower share. We hope you choose to support your local farmer and bring the joy of local flowers into your home!
