Gerald Prolman, CEO of Organic Bouquet, answers questions 0

Gerald Prolman.

What work do you do?

I'm CEO of Organic Bouquet.

How does it relate to the environment?

Organic Bouquet is the world's first online organic florist. All the flowers we sell are grown in a manner that is gentle on the earth and safe for the farmworkers, wildlife, and the environment.

Non-organic flowers are grown with a variety of fertilizers, insecticides, fungicides, nematocides, and plant-growth regulators. Nearly 70 percent of all flowers sold in the U.S. are imported, and the federal government requires that flowers arrive at our borders pest-free. Trade laws thus encourage the use of strong chemicals that can negatively affect the environment.

What long and winding road led you to your current position?

Photo: Organic Bouquet.

I have been working in the natural-products business for the past 27 years.

I was a chef-in-training at a very young age and took an interest in where the ingredients came from, how they were grown, and what nutritional value they offered. This led me to start a business supplying top restaurants and hotels with natural gourmet ingredients.

The next business venture was to market organic produce. I met several organic growers and was highly impressed with the organic method and was personally moved by their commitment to grow crops in a responsible manner, and they needed help in marketing. The name of that company was Made in Nature and was the first to successfully introduce a line of organic produce under a brand to mass-market retailers. In 1994, I sold Made in Nature to Dole. Once Dole embraced the organic concept, most other major agribusinesses started some level of organic production.

Five years ago, I started a quest to find or develop sources for organically grown flowers. It is the goal of Organic Bouquet to lead the floral trade to a day when all flowers grown and sold are produced in a socially responsible and sustainable manner. I'm proud to say that Veriflora, the organic certification standard Organic Bouquet initiated, is now in the process of becoming a national standard for the fresh-cut flower trade.

Where were you born? Where do you live now?

Born in Boston. Now live in Marin County, Calif. (San Francisco Bay Area).

What's been the best moment in your professional life to date?

Organic Bouquet was named "official florist" for the United Nations World Environment Day, a historic event that took place in San Francisco in June.

What environmental offense has infuriated you the most?

It infuriates me to know that the harsh chemicals used in floriculture pose a threat to people, the environment, and wildlife, but are not outlawed. There are viable alternatives, and the industry needs to take a stand for responsible choices.

Who is your environmental hero?

I have several: Katherine DiMatteo, Julia Butterfly Hill, Wangari Maathai, Vandana Shiva, Heather Mills McCartney, John Jeavons.

What is your environmental nightmare?

That it's too late. That the damage being done to our planet is out of control and change is too slow to reverse the accelerating downward trend.

What's your environmental vice?

I still drive a car that requires gasoline, but I am planning to change as soon as possible.

What are you reading these days?

College applications with my son.

What's your favorite meal?

Veggie pad thai. Oatmeal for breakfast. Real French-made croissants, warm just out of the oven with organic strawberry jam.

Which stereotype about environmentalists most fits you?

I am always pointing out various environmental and social-justice issues, though it's not always "appropriate" light subject matter in social settings.

If you could institute by fiat one environmental reform, what would it be?

Make it law that only socially responsible and sustainably grown products can be sold in retail markets under appropriate certifications. If it were mandatory, you can bet that the industry would figure how to be green faster than you can blink.

Who were your favorite musical artists when you were 18?

Electric Light Orchestra, 10CC, Queen, Beatles, David Bowie, Bob Marley, Stevie Wonder, Simon and Garfunkel, Meatloaf.

Favorite musical artists today?

Raquel Bitton (my wife!), Leonard Cohen, Roy Orbison, Paul McCartney, Edwin Hawkins, and so many more.

What are you happy about right now?

I am happy to see my children growing to be responsible, compassionate, and giving people who are bound for great adventures.

I am also very happy to see that after five years of development, Organic Bouquet is now gaining traction at a fast clip. We are making an impact on a global scale, and that is quite satisfying.

If you could have every InterActivist reader do one thing, what would it be?

Advise your retailer in writing (via an in-store suggestion box and/or a letter to corporate management) that you want them to assure that all the flowers they carry are sustainably grown on farms that also maintain socially responsible practices.

Mama Said There'd Be Daisies Like This

Gerald Prolman, CEO of Organic Bouquet.

Are all of your flowers produced by U.S. growers, or are some imported?    -- Judith Galla, Vienna, Austria

At this time, we source flowers in California, Oregon, Holland, Ecuador, and Colombia, with a new major organic development in Mexico.

The majority of your cultivars sold actually aren't produced to organic but instead "green label" standards. So isn't your company name a bit misleading?    -- Holly Scoggins, Blacksburg, Va.

Great question and right at the heart of the issues we have taken on for the past five years. By volume, the majority of flowers we are currently selling are certified organic. The organic selections are increasing over time as we recruit more organic growers and as growers we support during their transition become fully organic.

Only flowers that are certified organic are sold under the Organic Bouquet brand label. To avoid any confusion, flowers that are certified sustainable by Veriflora are sold under a new label we recently introduced, Eco-Bouquet.

All the flowers we market are sustainably grown and are certified under three stringent certifications we have embraced: certified organic by USDA, certified biodynamic by Demeter, and certified sustainable by Veriflora. In addition, under a special circumstance, we temporarily accept product from two progressive growers who are certified by Flower Label Program of Ecuador and Florverde of Colombia.

We have been told by the certification agency that the Veriflora certificate has been approved for both of these growers and is in the process of being sent. Because accurate labeling is the cornerstone of our business, we are very careful to clearly indicate that the flowers from those growers are in a "green label" program until we have the Veriflora certificate in our hands -- then we will entirely drop the "green label" designation from our site.

How does Organic Bouquet verify that participating growers do indeed adhere to the Veriflora standards?    -- Victoria Jadali, Watchung, N.J.

We verify our Veriflora growers in the same way we verify organic growers. We rely on the credibility of the certification process and the final certificate as proof. We maintain records that confirm the source and certification of every flower that we buy and sell. These records are subject to inspection at any time by the certification agencies. We also provide a copy of our certificate to consumers upon request.

I wonder about the environmental impact of shipping organic flowers around the country. I assume the flowers are shipped in heavily air-conditioned trucks or on airplanes, using a lot of energy and creating pollution from fossil-fuel use. Elsewhere in Grist, it was said that it is better to buy locally than to buy organic if the organic produce is shipped from far away. What do you say?    -- Tobin Freid, Durham, N.C.

I believe that buying locally and organic is always the best option.

I don't agree as a general statement "that it is better to buy locally than to buy organic if the organic produce is shipped from far away." I think one needs to weigh the facts and make a purchasing decision like this based on the greatest-good factor. My opinion is that it is far better to support organic wherever it may be than to not support it at all.

After initially meeting with dozens of local growers who were not interested in going organic, I looked to regions outside the U.S. and identified a group of progressive growers who were interested. I felt that it was crucial to begin somewhere, rather than hold onto an ideal that would not lead to any immediate positive change.

We do give priority to local production, but the fact is that 70 percent of all flowers sold in the U.S. are imported. Flower exports from Ecuador, Colombia, and elsewhere in the world provide essential benefits for hundreds of thousands of people who otherwise would not have this income opportunity. The lives of many people, the local environment, and the wildlife where the flowers are grown can be improved by supporting sustainable agriculture.

That being said, we still must be conscious of the impact from trucking and flying the flowers. To compensate for that aspect, we will soon introduce a CO2 offset program to which we will contribute a portion of every sale, as well as provide an opportunity for our customers to contribute. We expect this to go live in the next few months.

I'm the daughter of conventional florists. All of our roses come from South America, as do most of our other flowers. How can I convince my parents to try and buy in-country, or even go organic?    -- Sarah Wassberg, Fargo, N.D.

The floral industry in South America provides wonderful opportunities for many people. Although we give our first priority to organic growers locally, we support sustainable production in the areas where flowers are grown.

We are launching an online wholesale site that will make our eco-flowers available to floral shops, retailers, hotels, and event planners. There will soon be a link on our homepage for "wholesale flowers."

I am engaged and attempting to plan the greenest wedding I can. Would organic flowers have a better environmental impact than silk flowers?    -- Ada Hopper, St. Paul, Minn.

I haven't explored the impacts of silk, so I can't answer that. But I can say that if you do choose to use real flowers, purchasing organic, biodynamic, and Veriflora -- from any grower/vendor -- is definitely better than conventional.

My husband and I are interested in starting a business or helping an existing company grow larger. Was it hard to get started? Any advice?    -- Erin Levingston, Winter Park, Fla.

Getting started was easy. It all starts with a vision. The hard part was/is implementation. Five years later, I can say that it's been worthwhile, and we are successfully accomplishing our objectives.

My advice is to dream up something purposeful that you consider a lot of fun, then make a business plan to see if it makes financial sense, and if so, go for it!

Since the flowers in your bouquets are organic, is there any reason folks couldn't use them to add color and flavor to their cooking?    -- Cathy Wilkinson Barash, Des Moines, Iowa

I am not sure of the edibleness of our flowers. Be aware that some plants, regardless of the farming method, are known to be toxic to humans and/or animals if ingested.

That being said, we have many requests for our organic roses from people using them to decorate wedding cakes.

In season, we do offer culinary wreaths made with organic herbs.

Selection for resistance -- for example, breeding roses resistant to black spot -- is a potential weapon against pesticide use, though little is happening in university circles as this is such a tiny market and no federal research funding exists. Does your company actively support any internal or external breeding programs?    -- Holly Scoggins, Blacksburg, Va.

We are not breeders or directly involved in farming as we are specifically a marketing and distribution company. However, we do work closely with growers and breeders. We focus the use of our funds on establishing a market for sustainable flowers. I am certain that if growers and breeders see there is a viable market, they will use their resources to research and develop better farming methods.

One of the things that we do is ask our growers to ask their breeders for varieties that are more disease- and pest-tolerant so that they will have a better chance at success when beginning to go organic.

Have you teamed up with the green burial industry to encourage people to send organic flowers to the bereaved?    -- Rachel May, Syracuse, N.Y.

Once we launch our wholesale site, we'll definitely connect with the green burial community.

I'm so happy to hear about your business! Why have I never heard this issue covered on NPR or in another mainstream news source? Am I out of the loop and missed it, or has it just not been covered?    -- Jessica Schultz, Plymouth, Mass.

We do get a significant amount of press coverage. Please visit our press room to see the many articles that have been written on the subject of organic flowers. This has been an essential tool to get the word out nationally and globally.

Have you ever been asked to speak in public about how others can get started in organic growing?    -- Jamie Zimmerly, Baraboo, Wis.

I have been speaking about the market and benefits of organic-agriculture production for more than 17 years, mostly in farming communities around the world.

I suspect that you may be a vegetarian, as I am. What are your thoughts regarding the impact of a vegetarian diet on the well-being of the environment?    -- Marylou Noble, Portland, Ore.

Yes, I am a vegetarian. I believe that a vegetarian diet certainly treads significantly lighter on the earth than a meat-based diet.

Would you consider joining 1% for the Planet?    -- Terry Kellogg, Newburyport, Mass.

I am very open to learning about your organization. Please send information to and indicate: for Gerald Prolman.

Seems timely to ask about all those flowers used in the Rose Parade. Do we need to stage a Pasadena-worthy awareness campaign?    -- Deb Jensen, Placerville, Calif.

I did propose the world's first organic-rose float, but the idea was rejected last year. I will try again next year. If not, I have it in mind to start my own parade in the future. Perhaps for Earth Day.

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