Certified
Teas: Good for the Body and Soul
Certified
teas launched onto the market in a direct response to the
recent environmentally conscious and socially responsible
food and drink movement.
Even
your grocery store has to certifiably tell you which foods
are grown or produced chemical and pesticide free now.
Tea
drinkers, on the coattails of coffee drinkers, are now not
only demanding chemical and pesticide-free teas, but they
also take pride in buying teas from organizations who take
care of their tea farmers.
Two
of the most commonly known programs are Organic Tea Certification
and Fair Trade Tea Certification.
Organic
Teas:
Decades of chemical farming may have just about played themselves
out. Consumers are starting to stand up and demand safe,
quality goods for their dollar. Such farming methodology
adversely affects agricultural sustainability, productivity,
and quality, farm worker health, and ultimately our health
as we ingest chemically grown crops into our bodies.
In
2002, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) put National
Organic Standards into practice, which requires all organic
products to be certified under certain guidelines by a USDA-approved
independent agency (such as Quality Assurance International,
Inc.) and labeled as such.
So
now certified organic teas are readily available on the
market, and yes, avid tea snobs are willing to pay a little
more for them. After all, it’s a benefit for your
health and your taste buds and an insurance policy toward
quality tea for years to come.
Fair
Trade Teas:
Fair Trade certification is newer to the certified tea market
than organic tea or at least it’s only recently advancing
in popularity. Coupled with Organic certification, Fair
Trade certification just ups socially conscious consumerism
another notch.
Fair
Trade helps farming families in developing countries build
successful working cooperatives and market their crops on
the international circuit.
Subsequently,
the farmers can warrant a fair price for their goods and
invest back into the farming cooperatives by means of improved
healthcare, education, and housing and preserving sustainable
growing methods. By empowering these groups, there is a
higher guarantee of quality products as well. A healthy
farmer with thriving land can come up with some incredible
results!
Fair
Trade is truly a working partnership between tea farmers,
tea traders, and tea drinkers. Supporters and buyers actively
uphold its efforts. It creates a positive and functioning
cycle that ultimately works for the betterment of human
lives and the ecosystem — and not to mention the long-term
cultivation of great tasting tea!
For
more information on certified teas, see the links below.
www.consciouschoice.com
www.organicconsumers.org
www.qai-inc.com
www.transfairusa.org
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