Educational Media Reviews Online

As tea is only second to water as the most highly consumed beverage in the world, there is constant pressure for high volume and low prices. The process of harvesting tea by hand, however, holds health risks and financial desolation for the laborers. Fair Trade, an organization that sets out to improve working and living conditions in developing countries by offering certification to humanely produced items, comes under sharp scrutiny in this documentary. It systematically examines assurances made by Fair Trade, and how often the loop holes and lack of specificity leads to further hardship for tea workers. For example, Fair Trade never uses the word “guarantee” in its promises in its most current version of pledges to consumers, leading to standards being marginally addressed or completely violated by tea plantation managers. The Fair Trade itself sets out to ensure that entities (cities, corporations) uphold the standards, but here again, inspections lack teeth and are announced well in advance to give authorities time to perform makeshift improvements. The film examines the plight of the disadvantaged tea pluckers, their working conditions, and vain attempts at unionization and forming a pension plan. Distributions of Fair Trade funds are also called into question. Ongoing interviews with a Fair Trade associate, who is quite candid in her responses, keep this film engaging and on point. The filmmakers do an outstanding job of investigating safety in processing plants, and pressing hard questions to those who are responsible for this state of affairs.

As one of the interviewees plainly states, “This is a true picture of tea production in ‘Third World’ countries.” This film delivers gashing criticisms of Fair Trade, tea purchasing multinationals, tea plantation managers, and regulatory agencies. This work is perhaps more disheartening than a documentary solely examining poverty, as any movements in a positive direction, such as the formation of an international watchdog organization and a pension plan, are seemingly doomed to fail. This film is highly recommended for its composed but relentless inspection of tea production.