Tea is the worlds second most popular beverage. Limited to certain growing regions, India, Sri Lanka, China and Kenya have plantations with labor intensive work where women pick buds from the camellia synthesis by hand under a hot sun. The amount they earn is determined by how much is gathered, often based upon minimum wage if it even exists for their country. In many cases, their earnings amount to a US $1 a day. In March 2004, 800 tea workers in India were reported to have died of starvation, surviving on roots and wild rats. In Assam, chemicals and pesticides are often spayed and mixed by child laborers who are not provided masks or gloves, and are often illiterate or too young to read the warnings. Research in Sri Lanka shows that deaths as a result of pesticide use are also not uncommon. Some tea estates are now qualifying for fair trade. Minimum standards for health an d safety must be met with to qualify. Some of these include; no employment for children under 15, a paid premium for social, environmental, or economic programs must be paid to invest in programs for workers, "joint bodies," where workers can have a direct connection with managers and owners in decision making.
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