05/21/2026
Today is International Tea Day, and the themes the FAO has chosen for 2026 feel especially close to home: Fostering Growth and Inclusion. Sustaining Tea, Supporting Communities. Tea for Wellness.
The photograph is from Jun Chiyabari, our partner tea garden in the hills of eastern Nepal. The people in the frame are the ones who make the tea you sip possible — pluckers, sorters, processors — whose hands have shaped every leaf that eventually finds its way into our compostable pouches here in Rochester.
It's easy, half a world away, to think of tea as a product. A flavor. A morning ritual. But every cup begins on a hillside like this one, with someone deciding which leaves to pick and which to leave for tomorrow.
The FAO's themes matter because growth and inclusion mean little if the people closest to the plant aren't part of the conversation. Sustaining tea means sustaining the soil, the climate, and the families whose livelihoods depend on the harvest. And wellness only holds up if it extends from the cup all the way back to the garden.
Fifteen years in, we're still learning. But today feels like a good day to pause, look at this photograph, and say thank you — to the growers in Darjeeling and beyond, and to you, for choosing tea that tries to do right by all of them.
Happy International Tea Day from all of us at Happy Earth Tea.
Pic credit:
