"One is not even allowed to bring in a black servant, and when I applied to the authorities for permission to bring Samand with me, the reply was : "Not for all the tea in China"." This was stated about 1914 in Australia, as they were not allowing people of color into the country.
All pictures taken in Taiwan a few years ago. This top picture is Farmer Chen and his wife demonstrating their tea picker/trimmer.
When I originally thought of this quote I was sipping my morning tea. I was thinking how could I ever drink all the tea in China. I would need to be drinking morning, day, and night and still there would be more tea in China to drink. Now I know that is a silly thought, but it did lead me down a rabbit hole and I was fascinated by where that comment came from.
With the pandemic I have ordered more tea than I usually do online and my basket overflows with delicious teas.There are wonderful oolong teas from Taiwan, deliciousness of Darjeelings from India, a yummy black tea from Viet Nam, and an amazing variety of teas from China. There is even a tea grown in the USA too. Do you think about the places your tea comes from? How does that effect the flavor? What beautiful hands went into making it for you? Were there "people of color" picking and processing the tea?
Knowing where our products come from and recognizing the laborers and embracing them as we savor their work makes our consumption so much more done with thought and love. Remember who makes the tea, coffee, wine, and food as we enjoy their labors. For all the tea in China and elsewhere was made by hands of many colors.
Happy Weekend, dear friends!
What a wonderful thought to be able to identify where all our goods are coming from and the love and care taken to get them to us.
ReplyDelete