Issues > January/February 2003 (#94) > Better Blooms, Bon-Bons and Fine Wines

Better Blooms, Bon-Bons and Fine Wines

Updated January 25, 2006

Cherish the planet as well as your beloved this Valentine's Day! New organic options bring full bloom to the romance of flowers, chocolate, and wine. And for your best chocolate choices, download our Smart Shopper's Chocolate Card (see sidebar).

Flowers

In 2003, Americans spent an estimated $50 per capita on flowers, garden plants and nursery crops, and "green industry" floricultural grower receipts were predicted to reach $14.4 billion. But some industry costs remained hidden. The floral industry uses the highest level of pesticides of all agricultural sectors. And since the majority of flowers we buy originate abroad, this can include U.S.-banned pesticides such as DDT, Harper's Magazine reported in 2001. These chemicals may even remain on bouquets for long enough to rub off on skin or be inhaled by your beloved: When the EWG tested a small sample of roses in 1997, they found residues of several pesticides at up to 50 times the amounts allowed in food.

At the growing source, pesticide runoff from flower farms pollutes waterways, and for the most part workers still earn poverty wages, as Reuters noted in an article on Kenya. Recent research, E. Magazine reports, has found that nearly two-thirds of Colombia's flower workers report maladies associated with pesticide exposure.

Try buying organic cut flowers instead of conventionally grown varieties. If you can’t find organic flowers locally, or don’t want to have them shipped, try growing your own. Organic bulbs are increasingly available from garden retailers. Although flowers growing wildly along the road may look pretty, it’s best not to pick them.

Organic Options:

• Buy fresh, dried blooms at your local farmer's market or www.driedflowersdirect.com (starting at $4.00).

• Send an organic bouquet from Organic Bouquet online or at Whole Foods and Wild Oats stores: (Roses are $34.99 for one dozen and $49.99 for two dozen online or $16.99 retail; www.organicbouquet.com, 888/899-2468.)

• Organic Tropical Bouquets are available in 8-stem, 16-stem and 24-stem varieties from Diamond Organics ($49 and up, http://www.diamondorganics.com/ShowView/prod_detail_list/48).

• Looking for a little variety? Manic Organics has a wide selection of organic bouquets, from sunflowers to pale pink roses there is something for any taste. (Starting at $60, http://www.manicorganicsflowers.com/site/1313809/page/494171).

• Grow your own, or force bulbs if not in season (see bulb.com). Organic tulip bulbs are available from Johnny’s Selected Seeds ($6.25/ 10 bulbs, http://www.johnnyseeds.com/catalog/subcategory.aspx?category=567&subcategory=588). Or try organic ECO tulip bulbs from Tulip World (Garden Party Variety: $15.95/ 20 bulbs, http://www.tulipworld.com/tulip.asp?contentloc=/info/items/ECObulbs.shtml).

Chocolate

A traditional, shade-grown cacao farm can be the next best thing to wild rainforest for species diversity.However, most is conventionally grown with the use of environment-damaging pesticides, child labor and poor working conditions.

Organic Options:

• Rapunzel's Dark Organic Chocolate Bar, $4.65 (http://www.diamondorganics.com/ShowView/prod_detail_list/34, 888/ORGANIC)

• Dagoba's 10-piece Single Origin Tasting Square Gift Box, $12.00 (http://www.dagobachocolate.com/store/product.php?productid=165&cat=8&page=1, 800/393-6075)

• Children will pounce on Endangered Species' Lady Bug Gift Box with trading cards $11.95, (www.chocolatebar.com, 541/535-2170).

• Try a little of everything with Allison’s Gourmet Organic Vegan Chocolate Assortment. Includes truffles, caramels, and toffee, $14.95/ 6-piece box (http://www.allisonsgourmet.com/vegan-chocolates.html, 800/361-8292).

• For Valentine's breakfast or bedtime, serve hot cocoa made with Equal Exchange's organic, fair-trade mix, $6.00 (www.equalexchange.com, 781-830-0303).

• Betty Lou's Inc. makes organic Chocolate, Almond Butter and Peanut Butter Golden Smackers (from $16.56/24-piece box, www.bettylousinc.com).

• La Siembra Group's Cocoa Camino chocolate bars, $12 for 4 (www.lasiembra.com; 613-235-6122). Indulge a loved one with European style Organic Chocolate Truffles $9.99 (http://www.ecoexpress.com/page.php?item=1208&display=OCCASION&cat=1039, 800/733-3495)

• Grenada Chocolate Company's organic 60 percent cocoa-content dark from a cooperative on that island ($5.50/bar; www.chocosphere.com, 877-99-CHOCO).

• Green & Black's and Maya Gold Chocolate $4.75, a 3.5oz dark chocolate bar (www.chocosphere.com).

• Show your support for the Sierra Club and for small farms with Sierra Club's organic Chocolate Coins ($8.95/10-oz. box) and Peanut Butter cups, each wrapped in cornstarch-based cellophane ($7.95/6-oz. box; www.theconsumerlink.com/SierraClub).

What You Can Do:

• Oppose child labor by joining Global Exchange's chocolate campaign, at www.globalexchange.org, 415-255-7296.

• See The Green Guide's Chocolate Product Report.

Coffee

Many people can’t start their day without it, yet conventionally grown coffee beans are both detrimental to the environment and the people who pick and grow them. Try varieties that are organic, shade-grown and fair-trade when you buy for your loved one.

• Grounds for Change's organic, fair-trade and shade-grown Songbird gift box benefits a co-op farm in Chile ($29.95; www.groundsforchange.com).

• Batdorf & Bronson "relationship" coffees are also organic, fair-trade certified and shade-grown.

• Try the Organic Costa Rica ($12/lb.; www.batdorf.com, 800-955-5282).

• The Fair Trade Coffee Company’s Peruvian, Guatemalan and Mexican coffee are both organic and fair-trade ($9, http://www.fairtradecoffee.org/).

• Peace Coffee offers nearly twenty varieties of organic, shade grown, fair-trade coffee. ($9.95/ lb, https://www.peacecoffee.com/order/order.php?category=1)

• Higher Ground offers organic and fair-trade coffees in light, medium and dark roasts (www.highergrounds.com).

Wine

To round out the flavors of a romantic Valentine's dinner, organic and biodynamic wines offer an environmentally-friendly alternative to vintages from conventionally-grown grapes.

Organic Options

Reds:

• Ceàgo Vinegarden's 2000 Camp Léma Merlot ($28) and 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon ($32), certified biodynamic by Demeter with limited added sulfites. Order from Ceàgo at 707 274-1462.

• Though on the expensive side, Newton Vineyard's 2000 Pinot Noir Special Cuvée ($29) and 2000 Unfiltered Merlot ($51) are consistently rated highly by Wine Spectator . No sulfites added.

• Portugal's Port Vintage Character Casal Dos Jordoes port wine hails from the world's only organic-port producer ($26; www.ecowine.com, 888-ECO-WINE).

• Orleans Hill Winery's 2004 "Our Daily Red" ($9; www.ourdailyred.com) is a good affordable table wine.

• The Chateau de Bastet 2003 Cotes du Rhone Cuvée Spéciale is also vegan ($17.99; www.organicvintners.com, 800-216-3898).

• Frey Vineyard's 2003 Organic Syrah ($11.25) and 2002 Organic Pinot Noir ($12.25) contain no added sulfites and have won numerous prizes in wine competitions. They can be ordered directly online in many states.

Whites:

• Ceàgo Vinegarden's 2003 Kathleen's Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc ($16) certified biodynamic by Demeter and a 2003 Jericho Vineyard Chardonnay ($16), certified organic by California Certified Organic Farmers with limited added sulfites. Order from Ceàgo at 707 274-1462.

• Talley Vineyard's 2003 Estate Chardonnay ($26, www.talleyvineyards.com, 805-489-0446).

• Georg Breuer 2002 Terra Montosa Riesling ($25; www.classicalwines.com, 800-257-7225). Badger Mountain's 2004 Johannesburg Riesling ($8; www.badgermtnvineyard.com, 800-643-WINE).

• Newton Vineyard's unfiltered Chardonnays ($50).

• Bonterra Vineyard's 2002 Chardonnay ($13).

Image courtesy of OrganicBouquet.com.