Is organic important to you?

47 Replies

@Yat-Fung Yeung

I don’t know about any organic pesticides specifically used for tea, but there is rotenone (banned in US/Canada), pyrenthrins, Bt, and copper based fungicides. Of those pyrenthrins, which are derived from chrysanthemum flowers and also have synthetic versions, are relatively benign but can be a hazard for the sprayers. Copper compounds can cause liver problems. They also can build up in the soil to toxic levels and kill off the plants. I believe there are a few organic vineyards who sprayed themselves out of a crop. Bt is relatively safe and this is why it is used routinely by both organic and conventional (including GMO) crops. Rotenone is banned for a reason so I would hope it’s not used much anywhere.

Thank you! Good information. Just make a search about Bt, very interesting.
Talked to the organic tea farmer in China, they’ve never mentioned any pesticides.
They are using insect trap instead. Light trap to attract insect at night and sticky trap.

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Alexandra said

Well GMO is GMO and numbers and facts don’t lie.. I am not an expert either but at this point I will leave it to the scientist who does the testings for GMO products… For personal reasons, Id rather not ingest Plastic aka genetically modified organisms (GMO) in my body if I can. Again, most people aren’t have an illness like celiac dse.. It is safe to say that most people doesn’t come close knowing how to live with this disease your whole life. Growing up, this was never brought up and I suffered and my cousins suffered too. However, theres a minority of us who are in this situation. Yes, I choose to not suffer and will spread the word so people won’t have to go thru what I had gone thru. If you ask me about non GMO and gluten free products, yep I support them only if they have a certified stamp.

I understand that this is case to case basis. I am not saying you should or shouldn’t do this. However, I am just sharing my experience when it comes to choosing what products I put in my mouth or to use at home etc. If you have the money and if you are really concern about your health then do so. If you don’t care much then don’t do it. Do only what makes you happy because at the end of the day, it is your life! To each its own and I respect that! :)

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stock man said

Well, I think that if the tea is 100% organic it will be always be healthier, so I would prefer it. But as my budget is small I have to drink a bit of everything.

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I was just talking to a Thai tea vendor about this related to certifications in this country. He said that his products were certified as organic by the related US and EU organizations because that was a lot more meaningful, with strict related testing processes. I suppose the most interesting part is just how weak the Thai organic certification review process could be, and I intentionally left that vague in a blog post talking about it. It might be a stretch to say that it’s completely meaningless but I will say per my understanding that it’s nothing like the EU and US process. For myself I drink teas from lots of sources, and don’t use that as a criteria for not drinking a tea, but if I were going to drink a lot of any one tea it is something I would consider.

neither trust Chinese Organic organisation…

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Being a tea company, I find most of my customers seem to understand when I explain that sometimes smaller tea farmers do not get an organic certification due to costs/time in order to export to America. Even though the tea is grown organically, it is not labeled so. For me, as long as I know the source, I feel comfortable without having a label.

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Anlina said

Organic is a pretty meaningless marketing ploy to me.

For a long time, based on the way that organic gets talked about, I assumed that organic meant pesticide-free, which isn’t true at all. Organic just means that pesticides have to be natural, and natural doesn’t mean safer, or better for humans or the environment.

And I don’t believe there are any GMO teas on the market, but even if there are/were, I’d happily drink them. GMO products undergo more testing than any other food introduced to market, and there’s substantial evidence that GMOs are categorically safe and just as nutritional as crops that have been developed through selective breeding, mutagenesis and other tools.

I’m far more interested in sustainable farming practices that respect the human and labour rights of the workers.

AllanK said

It is true that organic doesn’t mean pesticide free. Just different pesticides are allowed and they can be potentially harmful.

You summed up my opinions on this perfectly! Well said!

I’m of two minds on this point, and that sums up one of them perfectly. On the other side, three different Thai vendors have mentioned that the use of pesticides in making Thai teas is scary, not necessarily what one would ordinarily see as moderate or conventional. And there is no guarantee that they aren’t using chemicals that have long since been rejected for use in the US and other places as completely unsafe, DDT and such (although surely they’ve banned some of them). Two of those vendors sold conventional teas, not only organic versions, so it wasn’t just about marketing their product range. It’s true that organic pesticides may pose their own risks too but there may be a real issue here. I don’t limit what I drink, so I don’t take it so seriously myself in practice related to that step, but what I do or don’t do doesn’t change the actual facts of the matter.

LuckyMe said

For me, pesticide use is one of the foremost criteria in selecting tea. I drink a lot of tea so minimizing exposure to harmful pollutants is important especially considering the rampant use of toxic chemicals in China. A cup or two of conventional tea isn’t going to kill you. The impact is from the cumulative effect of drinking chemical laden tea in large amounts (i.e., gong fu) over time.

It’s true that organic is no guarantee of safety but farmers that engage in sustainable or organic farming are typically more mindful of the impact of chemicals on the environment and health. Many Chinese farmers that operate conventional farms won’t drink the tea from it because of the high levels of pesticides, heavy metals, herbicides, synthetic fertilizers, etc.

I’m not a stickler for organic certification. It’s nearly impossible for small family farms to obtain it anyway. As long as the vendor is trustworthy and responsibly sources their tea, that’s good enough for me.

AllanK said

I don’t worry too much about pesticides but I do appreciate companies that test for pesticides. Two that I know of who do this are Yunnan Sourcing and Puerhshop.

LuckyMe said

Teavivre also tests for pesticides and posts the results for every tea.

It is very costly for small vendor to do that on all their products. I want to test all my products, but I can not afford it. It is also my reason to sell organic certified teas, since those are already tested.

If the vendors are serious about testing, they should test every single batch they received, not just once a year.

We know the origin of our product are coming from pollution free area and we can only trust those farmer doing a good job. Pesticides is not free, the farmers don’t use pesticides unless there is present of pest. What I thinking is people who are worry about pesticides, at least they have a choice and can buy organic.

AllanK said

I don’t worry too much about pesticides. I know a lot of the teas I buy are somewhat older puerhs that probably have pesticides on them. I really don’t give it too much thought but I do like a vendor like Yunnan Sourcing that ensures all of his current productions are pesticide free.

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Somewhat, I’ll buy it if I find it.

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