Question from Christal Janis
I love Tea but 99% comes from China or Japan. With the toxic conditions in China and the toxic air now in Japan, where can a person get safe tea? Thanks
Debra’s Answer
“China” and “Japan” are large areas with varying amounts of air pollution. While air pollutants certainly can travel around a country and around the world, there is more air pollution near the source of pollutants than far away. So the air quality in a city or industrial area is much more polluted that where tea is grown.
I suggest learning more about where teas are actually grown. Chinese teas come from five provinces. Yunnan, for example, is close to the Himalayas. The tea is grown at high altitudes where the air is very clean.
Japan produces almost exclusively green tea, which is almost all consumed right in Japan.
The largest tea exporter in the world is actually India. Other areas that produce tea are Ceylon and Formosa, East Africa, and Russia.
If you are a tea lover, I would suggest you forego the supermarket teas sold in teabags and head for the natural food store or a specialty tea shop or website, where they will know where their tea is grown.
Another option is to switch to herbal tea. Herbs can be grown almost anywhere. I grow mint in my own backyard for tea, and stevia to sweeten it.
You should try out http://www.bulkherbstore.com for all kinds of teas. Or you can purchase dried herbs to mix for your own teas. Theirs are the greatest!
COMMENT FROM DEBRA:
I went and checked out this site. They have a lot of organic herbs and teas. Type “organic” into their search box and you’ll be able to find them easily.
Thanks for the information but it is not the air that concerns me it is the water that is used that is the problem. It is very toxic and therefore I have quit drinking tea all together. Yes the air quality after the fal out in Japan keeps me totaly away from any tea since that accident. I wish there was somewhere here in the US that grew tea!’