preview

The Ethics Of Labor Organization

Good Essays

Caroline Hahn
April 8, 2015
ANT 302
Ece Saltan

Tea Production:
The Ethics of Labor Organization in Assam and the Tea-Producing World

Americans, and the rest of the Western world, for that matter, often eat and drink—and really, perform daily activities—without thinking about where their products come from. Hundreds of millions of Americans drink a beverage every morning, but there is a certain tendency to overlook why and how the tea or coffee got in their cup. It is common for those who live in affluent countries to just buy what they think is a good brand—a name brand, like Twining’s, for example—because the has a long history of producing quality tea, and if it is available, why not drink quality tea? The problem with this sort of senseless consumerism is that often these companies, especially companies as big and popular as Twining’s, care more about profit than anything else. Twining’s ethical situation should be called into question because it buys tea from ethically questionable sources; their website and informational sources provide a different story than human rights reports, and while the environmental factors of their tea production are an issue, the social ramifications of their tea production are far greater.
Most of Twining’s Tea is produced in countries like India, China, Kenya, and Sri Lanka on large estates. On average, 13 million workers are involved in tea production worldwide (Groosman, 2012: 2) The tea is then processed in processing plants either on

Get Access