客人的博客, Autumn Thon is a sophomore at UNH majoring in Social Work and Women’s and Gender Studies. They are a non-traditional student attending college at 27. 秋正在与这两家公司合作 联合国卫生组织社区公平和多样性办公室 和 可持续发展研究所 把第7号带来 新英格兰食品解决方案's 21天种族平等习惯养成挑战 作为实习安排的一部分 嘘 程序.
作为他们实习工作的一部分, Autumn has interviewed and will feature some of the sustainable vendors who work with 是不是吃饭. This is the first of several in their vendor blog series, "UNH Eats Equitable".
I don’t believe that it’s an exaggeration to say there are few things more integral to the functioning of UNH than tea and coffee to keep its people running. We'll get to the coffee later, but first, to kick off this series 和 UNH 21天种族平等习惯养成挑战我们先从茶开始. Meet the company that brings you your hot chai between classes: Teatulia!
Teatulia是一个有趣的研究, as a company that sells locally but grows internationally, 它对社会正义事务有双重视角. There’s a lot to be learned from having a local, international, and global view.
我坐下来(当然), 在COVID时代)与Nick Stefiuk的电话, 销售副总裁, 电子商务 & Foodservice for Teatulia for a deep dive into what the company holds at heart. 不到一个小时, 我们讨论了公平, 可持续性, 以及再生农业的力量.
It was about a year and a half ago at the time of this writing that Teatulia began selling in our dining halls. Nick has been personally acquainted for some time with our wonderful Director of 餐厅, 大卫•希尔, who helped me to connect with the vendors who will be featured during the current Challenge. 在尼克15年的大学销售生涯中, he’s always been on the lookout to partner with unis with like-minded values. 联合国大学在可持续发展方面的领先地位吸引了尼克, the organic and compostable nature of Teatulia’s product drew 是不是吃饭, 这是一对幸福的姻缘.
One of the first things made clear to me is that Teatulia is a business dealing with roots, whether that be in the 茶园 they source their leaves from or when tackling issues of equity. Their view on combatting inequities in food systems is to uproot them at the base of the supply chain. The Tea Garden is housed in one of the most economically poor regions of the world, 在孟加拉国北部. Teatulia has invested significantly into initiatives to empower the community working in and living around the Garden economically. The idea is that by creating good-paying jobs in an area lacking such and providing resources with which people can start their own local businesses, a serious impact can be made in terms of equity on a global scale, 在世界经济中.
And then, of course, there is the looming threat of climate change. “The biggest thing when it comes to environmental justice is that it affects everyone,尼克说。, “But unfortunately it’s often the most vulnerable communities that are most impacted. They don’t have the resources to protect themselves against environmental threats. 通常是那些贡献了 至少 对于气候变化，我们需要应对其影响.” It’s important to keep in mind this intersection between social and environmental justice, especially as we head into the future and see more and more communities endangered.
Some of the environmental initiatives Teatulia takes are to ensure that the vast majority of its materials are compostable and to carefully monitor their water usage, 但在我和尼克的谈话中, it was clear that the Tea Garden is the most prized project, 也许是因为它的众多影响. 今天的花园是一个蓬勃发展的生态系统, but the picture of the land it occupies wasn’t always so rosy.
The approximately 4,000 acres were purchased in 1995, at which point it was practically a desert. 这在很大程度上要归功于一种叫做举石的做法, in which rocks are pulled from the soil to be sold to cement and concrete factories. Teatulia雇用了老, deep organic farming methods over about six to eight years to build the land back up into fertile ground on which tea could be grown. 这些年的辛勤工作终于有了回报, 是的, 丰富的新鲜茶叶, 但也有很多其他方面. Even animal species that have been long-vacant from the area are returning, 它显示了, 用尼克的话来说, 环境恢复需要多长时间.
不平等不是一维的, 虽然, 并通过它在茶园及其周围的倡议, Teatulia has taken a special focus on local women and children who are further marginalized and vulnerable. Their cattle lending 程序 has been one of the flagships. Through this 程序, area women are given a cow that they can use to sell milk. 他们能够保留奶牛生产的任何小牛, 作为回报, 女性可以提供自然, organic fertilizer straight from the cow that can be used in the Garden. 一些人已经能够购买土地或创业, a big deal where women historically haven’t held a high status in their communities. For many, this has even taken their husbands out of hard labor jobs. Nick shared one of the most powerful moments he’d experienced, meeting with a group of women participating in the lending 程序 outside of the school their children attend.
那么Teatulia的未来会是什么样子呢?
“(We’d) love to lead the way to a future where 可持续性 is the norm and not just a food choice,尼克在采访快结束时详细阐述道, “We have to lead by example and educate people at all levels of the food chain. 很多人都固步自封. 可持续性 is better for the earth, the environment, and… everything.”
以身作则. Isn’t that something we can all keep in mind as we enter into the Challenge and beyond? A parting 虽然t Nick left me with was that he definitely appreciates UNH and its ability to bring equity and 可持续性 to the forefront of 餐厅, and that he hopes other universities will follow our lead. 当很多学生做出承诺时，就会产生 big 区别.
