Valentine's Day Haters Rejoice

From Elizabeth Newell:

Think you’re anti-Valentine’s Day?

Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialists are working round overtime to make sure flowers being imported for Valentine’s Day bouquets are free from insects and disease that could harm the agriculture and floral industries in the U.S.

According to CBP, agents processed approximately 500 million cut flower stems during the 2008 Valentine’s Day season. The top 10 ports of entry processing cut flowers last year were: Miami; Laredo, Texas; New York; Otay Mesa, Calif.; Los Angeles; Newark; Chicago; Wilmington, Del.; Boston and San Juan, Puerto Rico. Most of the cut flower shipments are imported from South America, primarily Colombia. The top three cut flower imports are mixed bouquets, dianthus and chrysanthemum and the most common type of insect found in flower inputs is the “Lepidoptera larva” also known as… a moth.