A Rose doesnt smell so sweet...

I'm kind of embarrassed to say this but this past Valentine's day was my first year celebrating it with a boyfriend. Don't really know what happened all these past years but I never seemed to be with someone on that special day. For this year my boyfriend wanted to make it a really memorable day for me, so he bought me roses, took me to a nice Italian restaurant and we took a little stroll around the town square. It was more then I could ask for. (This is good)

The next day, during dinner we sat down to watch a show we regularly record on Current TV called Vanguard. This week's special was about "Blood Roses and Deadly Diamonds," which talked about what really goes into growing roses in Columbia and how diamonds are mined in Sierra Leone.

This week's episode was VERY disturbing to me. For right now, though, I'll just talk about the rose issue. Roses have always been a symbol of love and affection; they make a girl smile when her man is holding a huge bouquet for her. They make a room smell wonderful and full of fragrance. After watching this special, I now have a different perspective.

To cultivate that perfect rose, growers often resort to chemical weed and insect killers. Alejandro Boada of Universidad Externado de Colombia says pesticides have been found 300 to 400 meters deep in the soils, which have been unable to filter these poisons. Meanwhile, demand for water has also been found to strain local aquifers, on which other farms depend on. When these farmers do get water, researchers have found that the water is contaminated with chemicals.

Also, the working conditions at these rose farms are so harsh that the female workers are required to have their tubes tied before even being hired. This is due to the fact that the chemicals used are so harmful that they do not want any woman who can become pregnant while working there. A 2007 study by the International Labor Rights Fund (ILRF) found that more than 66 percent of Ecuadorian and Colombian flower workers were plagued by work-related health problems including: skin rashes, respiratory problems, and eye problems, due to toxic pesticides and fungicides.

Some farmers are researching alternative means of growing flowers and keeping bugs and insects off them, gentler pesticide formulas, different growing environments, etc. Although they are not having much success, they are at least giving it a try. But most farms, some 80 percent, unfortunately avoid responsibilities to their working force and environment.

For a more in depth look, please check out the video on Current's website.

http://current.com/items/88842037_blood-roses-and-deadly-diamonds.htm