CAYAMBE, Ecuador, Feb. 10 — In just five years, Ecuadorean roses,
as big and red as the human heart, have become the new status flower in
the United States, thanks to the volcanic soil, perfect temperatures and
abundant sunlight that help generate $240 million a year and tens of
thousands of jobs in this once-impoverished region north of Quito.
This St. Valentine's Day, hundreds of American florists and catalogs
are offering the roses of this fertile valley. Calyx & Corolla, for
instance, bills it as a place "where Andean mists and equatorial sun
conspire to produce roses that quickly burst into extravagant bloom, then
hold their glory long after lesser specimens have begun to droop."
But roses come with thorns, too. As Ecuador's colorful blooms radiate
romance around the world, large growers here have been accused of misusing
a toxic mixture of pesticides, fungicides and fumigants to grow and export
unblemished pest-free flowers.
As in other industries like garment production, bananas and diamonds,
the poor worry about eating first and labor conditions later. They toil
here despite headaches and rashes here for the wealthier of the world, who
in turn know little of the conditions in which their desires are met.
Doctors and scientists who have worked here say serious health problems
have resulted for many of the industry's 50,000 workers, more than 70
percent of them women. Researchers say their work is hampered by lack of
access to flower farms because of reluctant growers. But studies that the
International Labor Organization published in 1999 and the Catholic
University issued here last year showed that women in the industry had
more miscarriages than average and that more than 60 percent of all
workers suffered headaches, nausea, blurred vision or fatigue.
"No one can speak with conclusive facts in hand about the impact of
this industry on the health of the workers, because we have not been able
to do the necessary studies,"said Dr. Bolívar Vera, a health specialist at
the Health Environment and Development Foundation in Quito. "So the
companies have been able to wash their hands of the matter."
In the 20 years since the farms started here, Ecuador has out of
nowhere become the fourth-largest producer of roses in the world, with
customers from Kazakhstan to Kansas.
St. Valentine's Day is the biggest rose event in the United States,
which buys more than 70 percent of its cut flowers from South America and
is Ecuador's biggest trading partner. Roses retail for up to $6 a bloom.
Last week, workers at
RosaPrima, a plantation here, moved at a dizzying
pace to cut, wrap and box 70,000 stems a day. Computers help supervisors
track each stem and each worker's productivity.
The general manager, Ross Johnson, said he was proud of his business
and especially his workers. He said that a doctor visited the farm several
times a week and that all workers wore gloves and protective equipment,
whether or not handling chemicals. Mr. Johnson said he had cracked down on
contractors who hired children as temporary workers.
"We have made a lot of improvements over the years," said Mr. Johnson,
who was born in Ecuador and who helped start the farm seven years ago. "I
think this is a noble business that does noble things for people here and
around the world."
He said roses were typically fumigated 24 hours before being cut. Then
they are soaked overnight in a nontoxic chemical solution and shipped at
near freezing temperatures.
Dr. César
Paz-y-Miño, a geneticist at the Catholic University, said
several pesticides used on a farm that was the setting for his research in
the late 1990's were restricted as health hazards in other countries,
including the United States, and labeled as highly toxic by the World
Health Organization.
Among the most notorious are
captan, aldicarb and
fenamiphos. Dr. Paz-y-Miño refused to identify the flower farm under an agreement that he
said he had with the owners.
He described the conditions as astonishing and recalled workers'
fumigating in street clothes without protective equipment, pesticides
stored in poorly sealed containers and fumes wafting over the workers'
dining halls. When asked what government agencies monitor worker health
and safety, Dr. Paz-y-Miño said, "There are no such checks."
Neither the Labor nor Health Ministries have occupational health
departments. In an interview, Labor Minister Felipe Mantilla said he
planned to visit flower and banana plantations in a few weeks. Human
rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, have criticized Ecuadorean
banana growers for using child
labor. Mr. Mantilla said the government
planned to set up "discussion tables" for workers and managers to discuss
competitiveness and labor conditions.
"If there are violations," he said, "we will act firmly. We are drawing
up a plan of action on the issue of workers' conditions and we are seeking
help from international organizations. The ministry does not have funds to
implement plans for progressive control. So that is why we look for
international help."
Industry representatives denied that there was a health problem or that
unacceptable risks were taken.
"The growers we know are very conscious of environmental issues," said
Harrison Kennicott, the chief executive of Kennicott Brothers, a
wholesaler in Chicago who is a former president of the Society of American
Florists, a trade group.
"They go to lengths to get certified environmentally," Mr. Kennicott
said. "The growers take care of the people. They provide housing and
medical care.
"Our job is to satisfy our customers, who are the florists and
retailers who deliver flowers to the public. Our interest is having the
best quality product at a competitive price."
Yet it is hard to erase images of workers like Soledad, 32, and
Petrona, 34, both mothers and both looking jaundiced and bony. In
interviews after quitting time, they asked not to be fully identified out
of fear that they would lose their $156-a-month jobs cutting flowers in
greenhouses. The women said they had elementary school educations but did
not need high-level science to tell them why their kidneys throbbed at
night and heads throbbed in the day.
"There is no respect for the fumigation rules," said
Petrona, who has
worked on flower farms for four years. "They spray the chemicals even
while we are working."
"My hair has begun to fall out," she added, running a hand from the top
of her visibly receding hairline down a single scruffy braid. "I am young,
but I feel very old."
Soledad, who has worked on flower farms for 12 years, slowly turned her
head from side to side.
"If I move my head any faster, I feel nauseous," she said, and then
pulled up her sleeve to show her skeletal limbs. "I have no appetite."
When asked whether the farm where they worked had a doctor on duty, the
women rolled their eyes.
"He always tells us there is nothing wrong with us and sends us back to
work," Petrona said. "He works for the company. He does not help us."
The industry received a helping hand from the Andean Trade Preference
Act of 1991. It gives tariff-free access to American markets for farmers
in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. The law was intended as part of
Washington's fight against drug trafficking, offering incentives to
abandon coca and poppy growing.
Roses have become one of the top five sources of export revenue for
Ecuador. The bloom boom has transformed this once sleepy region of cattle
ranches, inhabited primarily by Indians. Much of the heartland has been
hollowed out by illegal immigration to Europe and the United States, but
the population in the flower regions north and south of Quito has soared.
In Cayambe, the population has increased in 10 years, from 5,000 to more
than 70,000.
Flowers have helped pave roads and built sophisticated irrigation
systems. This year, construction will begin on an international airport
between Quito and
Cayambe.
The average flower worker earns more than the $120-a-month minimum
wage. By employing women, the industry has fostered a social revolution in
which mothers and wives have more control over their families' spending,
especially on schooling for their children.
As it has grown successful, the industry has come under fire from the
green movement in Europe and was the subject of a recent article in Mother
Jones magazine. European consumers have pressed for improvements and
environmental safeguards, encouraging some growers to join a voluntary
program aimed at helping customers identify responsible growers. The
certification signifies that dozens of the 460 growers have distributed
protective gear, given training in using chemicals and hired doctors to
visit at least weekly.
"There are still farms that do not respect fumigation limits or give
workers proper training and equipment for handling chemicals," said
Gonzalo Luzuriaga, chief executive officer of
BellaRosa, another flower
grower here. "But many of the farmers are very conscientious about these
issues, and we are working to make improvements."
Still numerous signs remain that life for the workers, although better,
is far from good. Looking over the town plaza from his second-floor
office, Mayor Diego
Bonifaz, who also operates a flower farm, said: "It's
hard for me to get the wealth out of the plantations and into the
community. The farms operate in the first world, selling flowers on the
Internet. I am still struggling to pave streets."
Reliable health care, however, seems the most glaring need. Beds have
been added to the local hospital, doctors said, but workers often cannot
afford services there. The chief of the Red Cross clinic, Dr. Toribio
Valladares, said he had seen growing numbers of people with respiratory
problems, conjunctivitis, miscarriages and rashes, although he did not
have firm numbers.
Like the two women who harvest greenhouse roses, Dr. Valladares voiced
deep distrust of doctors who worked on the flower farms.
"When the workers go for help to the doctors on the plantations," he
said, "the doctors treat the symptoms but do not examine the workers to
try to determine their illnesses. And the doctors always tell them that
their illnesses have nothing to do with their work."
In Miami, James
Pagano, chief marketing officer of Calyx & Corolla,
said he had not been to Ecuador and did not want to comment on
environmental or worker conditions.
"We buy what we think consumers will perceive to be a high quality rose
at a competitive price," he said. The environment "is not an issue we have
any business being in."