Every year on December 15th, tea-producing countries celebrate International Tea Day. The day seeks to draw the attention of governments and citizens around the world to the impact that tea trade has on workers and growers.
The tea-producing countries that celebrate International Tea Day include:
- Bangladesh
- Sri Lanka
- Nepal
- Vietnam
- Indonesia
- Kenya
- Malawi
- Malaysia
- Uganda
- India
- Tanzania
Aside from water, tea is the most popular beverage in the world. The primary types of tea include white, black, green, oolong, herbal, and pu’erh. Tea is believed to have originated in China. There, drinkers used tea for medicinal reasons. In the 17th century, tea made its way to the UK.
Because of the large number of tea drinkers in the world, tea demands a massive production scale. Unfortunately, in many tea-producing countries, production comes with many challenges. Some of the obstacles tea-producing countries face include low wages for tea workers, lack of medical care for tea workers in rural areas, and a lack of clean and potable water on tea plantations. There is also a need for improved sanitation on tea plantations. Additionally, women make up 50 percent of the workforce on tea plantations. These women usually don’t have access to education.
International Tea Day was created at the World Social Forum in 2004. In 2005, the first International Tea Day was celebrated in New Delhi. Sri Lanka began organizing celebrations in 2006. Trade union movements have been responsible for organizing International Tea Day celebrations, as well as Global Tea Conferences. In 2015, the Indian government made a proposal to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The proposal was to expand the observance to countries around the world. In June of 2019, the UN considered combining special tea days in different countries into one day.
No comments:
Post a Comment