From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT
By Paul Homewood
h/t Ian Magness
It’s a sad state of affairs when a supposedly Christian organisation has to resort to outright lies to promote its political agenda.
The familiar taste of the British cuppa is under threat from climate change, with new analysis warning that rising temperatures and extreme weather could make tea more bitter, harsher and less consistent in flavour.
The report, published today by Christian Aid, finds that the delicate balance of flavour in tea depends on stable temperature and rainfall conditions – conditions that are now breaking down in key tea-growing regions across Kenya, India and Sri Lanka.
Alongside changes in taste, the report highlights growing instability in global tea markets. Climate shocks such as droughts, floods and heatwaves are already disrupting harvests, leading to price spikes and supply uncertainty.
Reuben Korir, a small-scale tea farmer from Kericho County in Kenya, said:
“When the weather is very dry or unpredictable, the tea quality changes. The leaves are smaller, and we believe the taste is not as good as it used to be during more stable seasons.
“Rains no longer come when expected, and dry periods last longer. Harvests are not predictable anymore, and neither is the income. Even when we produce tea, the payments are often small and delayed.”
Dr Neha Mittal, senior climate services scientist at the Met Office and visiting scientist at the University of Leeds, said: “Tea brands depend on delivering a stable and recognisable flavour profile. As climate variability increases, achieving that consistency becomes more challenging.”
There is no evidence provided to back up the assertion that tea is becoming more bitter, such as market feedback. Instead all we get are assertions.
As for claims of extreme weather and unpredictable harvests, the data shows this to be an outright lie, even in Kenya, where Christian Aid found a small-scale tea farmer to provide a sob story:
But perhaps most significantly of all, is the catastrophe that hit Sri Lanka’s tea industry in 2022, following their ban on imported fertilisers, which resulted in harvests falling by a quarter:
Net Zero is the man-made disaster Christian Aid should be campaigning about.
Instead their conclusions and recommendations consist of:
- Reducing emissions
- Rich countries paying poor ones
- Climate finance
- Buy organic tea
