Legislation long sought by American flower growers to require the federal government to procure cut flowers and cut greens from U.S.-based growers is now before Congress, with full support from the Alaska congressional delegation.
“After all these years of working, working, working, now it is all coming together,” said Rita Jo Shoultz, owner of Alaska Perfect Peony at Fritz Creek, on the Kenai Peninsula. “We are looking to the federal government to make a commitment to the domestic community to support homegrown flowers and farms. It will create further economic stability for our farms. We are pretty excited about it.”
Shoultz, who serves as board chair of Certified American Grown, also said that federal customs and border patrols are now enforcing for the first time since that legislation was passed a decade ago a requirement that flowers and foliage imported from other countries be identified by the country of origin. That way consumers buying flowers at grocery stores and flower shops will know and consider the option to buy American, she said.
According to Camron King, chief executive officer of Certified American Grown, many of the flowers are being imported from the South American countries of Ecuador and Columbia, as well as from Mexico. These are countries with different environmental regulations and worker safety protocols, and they create a real competitive challenge because they bring flowers in at a lower price, he said.
American florists want to be able to compete in a fair, competitive market space, he said.
The American Grown Act was introduced in the Senate on July 30 by Sens. Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski, both R-Alaska, Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Angus King, I-Maine. Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, introduced companion legislation in the House last week.
“Nationwide, cut flower growers are making significant investments in America’s economy,” Murkowski said. “Alaska’s ability to grow some of the world’s largest, most vibrant peonies, which bloom later in the season than our competitors’ around the globe, also provides economic opportunities for Alaska’s farmers, wholesalers, retailers and their employees.”
Sullivan said that this is one issue that can unite members of Congress, as federal agencies spend millions of dollars procuring flowers and greenery for many events, ceremonies and galas, “and those flowers should be American-grown.”
