4.24.2008 9:22 AM

Where Winter Roses Come From ...

... And What They Cost the Environment

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A false color satellite image of Lake Naivasha, Kenya, where much of the world's winter rose crop is grown.

Photo: NASA, GSFC, METI, ERSDAC, JAROS, U.S./ Japan ASTER Science Team, Jesse Allen

By Dan Shapley

NASA today published this image of Lake Naivasha in Kenya, where a sunny equatorial climate makes it a center of the world's year-round roses industry.

"Bright white squares mix with fields of green, tan and purple along the shores of the lake," NASA describes the image. "Sunlight glints off the long rows of glass greenhouses, turning them silvery blue and white in this view from space. Fallow fields are tan and pink, while growing plants turn the ground bright green. Roses, lilies and carnations are the most common flowers grown in the greenhouses and fields scattered around the lake."

NASA goes on to lay out the costs of year-round roses:

"The flowers provide an important source of income to Kenya, but the industry comes with a price. Flowers are not held to the same standards for chemical residues as food products. Strong chemical pesticides can be used on the flowers to produce the perfect, pest-free bloom, and this could pose a health risk to workers and local wildlife, including hippos, environmental groups told the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 2002. The chemicals may also threatened the water quality of Lake Naivasha, one of Kenya's few freshwater lakes. The Kenya Flower Council instituted a code of conduct establishing guidelines for pesticide that phases out the use of one of the most toxic pesticides.

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