A Blooming Business

The world's billion-dollar international flower trade relies to a great extent upon plants grown on large farms in developing countries. Filmmaker Ton van Zantvoort examines the harsh reality behind the beautiful blossoms in The Blooming Business, which looks at the detrimental economic and environmental effects, as well as the abuses suffered by workers—particularly women. Van Zantvoort trains his lens on the poor rural community of Naivasha in Kenya, where employment is scarce, laborers put in long hours in hazardous, chemical-saturated conditions for little pay, and women say their supervisors often coerce them into sexual relationships. The affecting interview subjects include a young single mother struggling to support her family and an activist who risks his job by secretly filming inside the farms. Even community members working in other jobs feel the impact, such as a fisherman whose livelihood is threatened by the contamination of local lakes and the water consumption for the cultivated acreage. Offering a powerful, devastating portrait of the working and social conditions of people caught in a snare of commercial exploitation and government indifference, this is highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (M. Puffer-Rothenberg)