Fair Trade Tea
Buying
Certified Fair Trade Tea means that you are ensuring that farmers in Africa, Latin America, and Asia are getting a fair price for their products. Major corporations buy from small farmers at the world market, which means many farmers in third world countries are living below the poverty level. Fair Trade makes companies buy from suppliers at the production costs so that the farmers can invest in new technologies, equipment, and helping the community. These premiums have financed new computer learning centers and educational endowments, and health care programs that include nutrition, family planning, special medical needs, clean drinking water and toilets for every household. The Fair Trade movement supports tea workers by guaranteeing compliance with national and regional minimum wages and labor standards. The premiums are also allocated to promote sustainability to ensure a higher level of environmental stewardship.
Fair Trade Standards
Fair trade is a social movement and a market based approach towards helping producers reach sustainability. By advocating a higher payment to growers of goods, they help workers gain self-sufficiency and give them a higher stake in the products. There are two fair trade standards: standards for small farms and hired labor situations:
* In small farming situations, there must be democratic decision making among the workers. All producers must have a say in how Fair Trade Premiums are invested.
* In hired labor situations, workers must be payed what is regionally referred to as decent wages, and all health and safety standards must be met. Child labor is prohibited.
Fair Trade Tea Brands
This is just a small sample of popular Fair Trade Tea Certified companies.
Tea Types
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Oolong Tea is a difficult tea to process and tastes more like black tea. Pouchong and Formosa are two popular kinds.
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Green Tea is closer to white tea, but green tea uses the rolled leaves and not the buds.
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White Tea is the rarest and least processed tea. The taste can be very grassy.
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