The city of Rennes is offering to rent two hectares of land to a farmer who would come to settle in the area to produce flowers. A site visit is organized this November 7. Today, in France, 9 out of 10 flowers come from abroad and have grown in conditions that do not always respect the planet or people. And yet, customers are increasingly wondering about the origin of the flowers in their bouquets. Decryption.
It is a 2 hectare plot, located near the Champeaux greenhouses where the city of Rennes grows the flowers which beautify the city. “The city of Rennes has 450 hectares of agricultural land,explains Ludovic Brossard, advisor responsible for sustainable food and urban agriculture. Land that is not intended to be urbanized. Some have already been entrusted to farmers for market gardening or grazing. There, as it’s a small area, we thought about flowers.”
“Little by little, we are all becoming aware of the ecological impact of floricultureconfirms Juliette Chevalier, Urban Agriculture project manager, Department of Gardens and Biodiversity at the city of Rennes. We import a lot of flowers which have been produced in a way that is not at all ecological and which have a fairly disastrous carbon footprint. “
Every year, more than 20 million bouquets of roses are sold in France. Out of 10 flowers sold in our country, 9 are imported.
Roses or peonies which were most often grown in heated greenhouses; lit night and day, and traveled thousands of kilometers in refrigerated containers from Kenya (35% of the roses produced in the world), Ethiopia or Ecuador.
© France 3 RA
Before arriving in our vases, they have sometimes traveled around the world. According to a study carried out in 2017 by researchers at Lancaster University, a bouquet of red roses offered with a lot of love for Valentine’s Day is 58 kg of CO2. As much as a plane trip between Paris and London. The carbon footprint of an imported flower is 30 times greater than that of a locally produced flower.
In Kenya, 500,000 people work to produce our delicate roses for salaries of around a hundred euros per month in often difficult conditions.
In 2017, the 60 million consumers association had bouquets of roses sold in France analyzed. There were up to 49 different phytosanitary product molecules, some of which were banned in France.
“Giving roses on Valentine’s Day in February is no longer possible, says Ludovic Brossard. It’s ridiculous !”
“We feel that there is a real individual desire to change our purchasing actions, it is our collective responsibility to support this change, he continues. We need to develop places where it is easy to find local flowers. The challenge for the city of Rennes is to be a pioneer and innovative. “
Also read: Valentine’s Day. Local and sustainable, more and more Breton flowers to celebrate your love!
30 years ago, France had 8,000 flower producers. There are fewer than 500 left today (half of which are near Hyères in the Var). France then ranked 1st among producing countries in Europe, it is today 21st exporter in the world.
But in recent years, France has been relocating its flower production. A year ago, Emilie Meillac started selling the first bouquets made with her flowers, in Dingé in Ille-et-Vilaine.
The greenhouse of “It grows marguerite” • © E. Meillac
A florist for 15 years, she had discovered the other side and a bit of the hell of the decor. “When you see a flower in the store, you can’t imagine everything that’s behind it.” Emilie was starting to no longer like flowers so she decided to produce them herself and created It pushes Marguerite.
In the same way that we don’t eat tomatoes in winter, we don’t offer roses in February,
Emilie Meillac, “It grows marguerite”
In her fields and under her greenhouses, she grows dahlias, anemones, tulips, cosmos, lots of varieties of flowers that have a soul. “There is no one that is the same, they are not standardized like those that come from Holland.” And flowers that respect the seasons. “I sell daffodils in March, although we already find them in certain shops. In the same way that we don’t eat tomatoes in winter, we don’t offer roses in February, we have to people are becoming aware and they need to find out where the flowers come from.”
Emilie Meillac makes her bouquets with flowers from her farm • © E. Meillac
The young woman composes bouquets with her flowers which she sells on her farm, in markets and in grocery stores. She also offers them to local florists. “Young florists who are setting up, they want local flowersshe asserts, it’s in progress. There’s still a lot, a lot of work, but it’s happening.”
And the florist who no longer loved flowers reconnected with her passion.
Emilie Meillac launched into flower production in Dingé in Ille-et-Vilaine • © E. Meillac
“There is a real demand in the region,” assures Ludovic Brossard. And all the more so since June 1, 2023, florists must indicate the origin of the flowers.
Barbara Lechaux, is a florist in Rennes. In her shop, “A fleur de pot”, she notices that customers ask for local flowers. “It’s in the spirit of the times, people want French products. “
Depending on the season, it offers tulips from Brittany, mini Eden roses from Finistère, lily of the valley from Nantes. “”There are times when there aren’t too many French flowers.”, she regrets. Her wholesaler gets her supplies from Holland, but selling flowers that have too many miles on the odometer bothers her a little…
She refuses to sell roses from Kenya. “These, she specifies, they are found in supermarkets. “
French flowers which have been picked when ripe, have not traveled in trucks or refrigerated planes, are more robust, last longer in vases, but cost a little more, points out Barbara Lechaux. 20 to 30 cents more than a flower from Holland.
The city of Rennes wants an environmentally friendly flower farm. “We would like the most gentle cultivation possible which limits the artificialization of soils and which chooses plants adapted to global warming. Hardy flowers, which do not consume too much water.”
Applications can be submitted until February 23.
Today, flower production occupies only 0.5% of the French useful agricultural area. However, it is a market that generates nearly a billion euros per year.
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