Hopes, and Homes, Crumbling on Indian Tea Plantations, from NYT.com.
An article reporting on working and living conditions in Assam, India, which produces some of the largest quantities of cheap black tea in the world. Conditions like this are likely much more common than known publicly.
It’s a stark contrast to my experience at Makaibari Estate in Darjeeling. which is well known for it’s reinvestment in it’s community and workers.
Tea pluckers, most of whom are elderly women, deserve great respect and support. Without them we would not have tea.
Pluckers in the fields at Makaibari, Darjeeling. May 2013.
