“Buy American.” Marketers have used it to sell cars, clothing and toys. Now
an association of flower growers is using the slogan to remind consumers to
purchase U.S. blooms when picking up their Thanksgiving bouquets.
“Rather than buy flowers shipped in by 747s, you can help beat back the
recession and drive jobs here at home,” said Kasey Cronquist, executive director
of the California Cut Flower Commission.
The commission kicked off a buy-local campaign this month in supermarket flower
sections, starting in Vons and Safeway stores. California products bear “hint
cards” boasting that Golden State flowers are America’s freshest.
Photo Caption: “It’s a tougher business than it was — we’re hitting the wall,”
says Rene Van Wingerden, owner of flower company Ocean Breeze of Carpinteria,
Calif. “We need to grow stuff they can’t grow economically,” he says of foreign
rivals. Van Wingerden no longer grows roses but is still competitive with
gerbera daisies, which are delicate and hard to ship.
Photo Credit: Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times
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