International Labor Rights Forum’s MOTHER’S DAY Roses Raffle

Personally, on Mother's Day, I'm not much for flowers. I'd rather receive an edible plant like basil or a tomato seedling, but I'm sure I'm in the minority. Indoor houseplants still trump cut flowers (from an ecological perspective), which are shipped primarily from South America. However, if you must give cut flowers, look for Fair Trade flowers. Or better yet, read the rest of this posting courtesy of the Internaional Labor Rights Forum:

"This Mother's Day, celebrate by sending a special gift to a loved one, while also helping to improve working conditions for women in the Latin American cut flower industry.

Enter to win a dozen fair trade roses delivered to your mother (or whomever you choose…)! Each entry costs $10. With a $30 donation, you will not only get 3 raffle entries, but we will also send a fair trade chocolate bar and a special card letting your loved one know that a donation was made in their name. Enter online here .

FOUR winners of fair trade bouquets will be chosen at random from the raffle.
Deadline for entering is May 4. Winning entrants will be notified by May 5 and the 4 lucky recipients of fair trade bouquets will be congratulated on the ILRF website and e-newsletter on May 12. For official entry rules, click here .

Proceeds will benefit the International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF)’s Fairness in Flowers campaign, which promotes safe and decent work in the cut flower industries through consumer education and support for local organizations that provide services for workers in Latin America. There are 40,000 flower workers in Ecuador and over 100,000 in Colombia, working to grow, harvest, and package the roses and carnations sold in the United States. More than half of these workers are women, and many are single mothers. They commonly face labor rights violations including sexual harassment, pesticide-related illnesses, and forced pregnancy testing. Your donation will help more workers access legal support and health and safety trainings, and will help ILRF and its partners push producers and retailers to provide real protections for flower workers and the environment.

About Fair Trade roses: Most Fair Trade certified roses come from Ecuador and Kenya. In addition to certifying compliance with labor and environmental standards, workers receive a premium to invest in community development. More information at http://transfairusa.org/content/flowers."