All the flowers of all the tomorrows are in the seeds of today.
- Indian Proverb
Building a community peace brand means building something that doesn't yet exist and imagining its shape and aims. It takes courage and imagination. In 1988 a Dutch priest working in Mexico realized the economic misery of many of the coffee workers - supplying one of the world's most popular drinks! With others in the Netherlands he created a system that would give the workers a fairer price and help lift them out of poverty towards a more sustainable future. He called his label Max Havelaar after the hero of a famous Dutch book of the 19th century which was critical of the Dutch colonies in Indonesia. And the first 'Fair Trade' label was born.
Since then ethical and fair trade has evolved and morphed and diversified - other labels have emerged - like Transfair - or Fair Trade USA - and specific certification systems like FLP - the Flower Label Program in Germany and the international label Fair Flowers Fair Plants. The certification Max Havelaar is part of the FLO or Fairtrade Labeling Organizations International.
Getting down to basics for one company - the director of Global Flower Trading (gf-trading.com) informed of me how a portion of the sales price on all their bunches sold goes directly back to the labor force at the flower farms, which allows them to invest in life standard improvements - using funds to build schools, community centers, transportation and even electricity. Many imported roses come from Kenya and Zimbabwe - and the Fairtrade movement works towards a better life for thousands of flower farm workers.
Since then ethical and fair trade has evolved and morphed and diversified - other labels have emerged - like Transfair - or Fair Trade USA - and specific certification systems like FLP - the Flower Label Program in Germany and the international label Fair Flowers Fair Plants. The certification Max Havelaar is part of the FLO or Fairtrade Labeling Organizations International.
Getting down to basics for one company - the director of Global Flower Trading (gf-trading.com) informed of me how a portion of the sales price on all their bunches sold goes directly back to the labor force at the flower farms, which allows them to invest in life standard improvements - using funds to build schools, community centers, transportation and even electricity. Many imported roses come from Kenya and Zimbabwe - and the Fairtrade movement works towards a better life for thousands of flower farm workers.
Emerging flower markets are also growing in post-conflict areas like Rwanda. But what is also emerging like a shoot from a seed are what some are calling 'peace companies' - examples like the budding Peace Ventures are covered by San Francisco journalist Lisa Katayama in her extensive article about bringing together new economies of post-conflict regions into the work of larger conflict resolution.
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The Valentine Peace Project in its handout on 14 February out of the G Gallery in Amsterdam will again include GF-Trading's ethically traded roses with international reflections and poems on peace submitted to the Project over the years and also carnations from Gaza. The Dutch government has been working with the Israeli government to ease their blockade of the region to allow carnation farmers to get their products through.
"My flowers will be a means to spread peace in the world, this is a message to the whole world that peace and love starts from Gaza," says one Palestinian farmer glad to see his crops come to success.
Love and peace is loaded for many and not easy to unpack - but however one feels about good old L&P, the giving of flowers, the work of conflict resolution and deeper meanings of love next to romance - one thing is clear - as Martin Luther King stated: In true peace there is the strong presence of justice and 'Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love.'
The power we associate with brands makes it logical to bring the trading of global products into the conversation of conflict resolution as well as poverty alleviation - creating new ways of business - how it's done, how it's viewed, and what greater good it can accomplish. And simple everyday items of love can be a means to do it. Put that power into your flower this Valentine's Day.
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Be here now - understand your connection - hold your brother while he cries and try to breathe in his affection. - VPP poem submission, student, Boise, Idaho *A flower can show the world how simple beauty truly is and that flaws are what make the world such an awesome home - a flower is something that can be given to anyone, a friend, neighbor, lover or stranger. And like our lives a flower is not forever, but the memory of receiving it lives on. - VPP submission, student, Marlborough School, Los Angeles
