Since Europeans first imported tea from China, food has traveled across the globe, but never at the speed or in the magnitude that it has over the last decade. According to the United Nations, what we eat, drink, and consume directly impacts climate change. Reducing both individual and collective (businesses, countries, and industries), carbon footprinting is needed in the fight for environmental responsibility.
I watched with delight this week as the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Mvskoke Nation of Oklahoma, recognizing about half of the state as "promised reservation." In a 5-4 decision, the Court elected to hold the federal government to its word, having promised the land to several native nations more than a century ago. This is an important victory for indigenous people, and one that is rarer than a hen's tooth. Since the first colonial contact was made, indigenous people have faced tribulation after tribulation. Forced removals, genocide, armed conflict, disease, and famine were all part...
As Independence Day approaches, we find ourselves at the crossroads of a new kind of revolution where we are reinventing what it means to be "American." Equality, oppression, the pursuit of happiness and liberty, all remain central themes as they were at the onset of the American Experiment. But it is not so well known that tea played a key role in kicking off the American Revolution; moreover taxes on tea. Remember hearing "taxation without representation?" Part of that is rooted in the Tea Act, which was passed by the British Parliament on May 10th, 1773.