In an article entitled "Preventing and Treating Winter Colds" published by The Herb Companion, green tea was listed as an herbal and natural approach to preventing colds.
Grist reports on the Austrian government's recent results of a long-term study showing that mice fed genetically modified corn had lower birth rates and fewer offspring than their control-group peers.
UW Milwaukee Green Fair
Tue, Dec 6th from 10-2pm @ UWM Student Union, Milwaukee, WI
The UW Milwaukee Green Fair provides a wonderful opportunity for local green businesses to come together, interact with the younger community, provide eco-friendly, hand-made, and fair trade gifts that are made with compassion for the artisans as well as the environment.
It’s imperative to build awareness of this dire movement as large corporations continue to increase their ecological footprint for the sake of profit, as our country continues to drill for oil, as mountaintop removal continues to destroy our country's biological diversity.
The green movement resonates deeply with Rishi Tea. As a local
While many of our teas are harvested in Asia,
It’s rather simple when you break it down. Buying local helps keep more money in our community. It’s something like .67 cents for every $1 spent locally, stays locally. Organizations like Our Milwaukee are helping build awareness on the importance of buying local. Many local shops and restaurants are adding more and more organic and fair trade products and foods to their menus. Organic is better for the environment, for the people working on the farms and for those consuming the goods. Fair Trade products directly support a better life for the workers and their communities through fair prices, fair wages, direct trade, safe working conditions, environmental sustainability, education and community development. Buying Fair Trade enables and empowers the artisans and farmers in the world’s most economically disadvantaged countries to compete in the global market.
We have to understand that our choices as consumers directly impact other lives. We have the opportunity to better the living and working conditions of artisans around the world, help preserve our environment and build a healthier world for all. Why not make a difference?
-Ghazal Sheei
Marketing Coordinator
Rishi Tea
Open Letter to the President Elect by Farmer in Chief
Today we had the first ever Rishi Tea cold brew championship! Cold brew is tea and water in a glass pitcher with a lid that sits in the fridge for a couple of hours. It really does give you a different flavor. To me it seems like it is more delicate.Our two contestants were Osthmanthus Huang Guan Yin vs White Peony.
We love to make tea for each other at the Rishi offices. There are some of us who are obsessed with white tea (ME!), others with oolong, and others with Japanese green tea. It is quite nice because we all become experts in making the teas we love and we share that info with each other. First thing after I walked in I was challenged to a cold brew off. I am always up for a challenge and I feel that I lived up to that challenge.
I brewed Osthmanthus Huang Guan Yin and my colleague Todd choose one of his favorite cold brews, White Peony.
Osthmanthus Huang Guan Yin was officially declared the winner! The sweet nectar of osthmanthus flowers is so incredibly intoxicating. They infused beautifully into the sweet nectar of the oolong leaves.
Here is the secret to my winning cold brew:
Pour about 185 degree water over the leaves and let steep for about two or three minutes, this will help the leaves release their flavor. Then pour cold water into the pitcher and refrigerate for about three to four hours.
Now take my challenge to submit your favorite cold brew and cold brew secrets!
Right now I have Snow Sprout infusing with Chrysanthemum flowers. It will be ready in three hours. I will keep you updated!
-Susana Mojica
Now more than ever we need to make a stand for clean energy. As a member of Green America (formerly known as Co-Op America), we take pride in their efforts to clean up our world.
Taken from Co-Op America's Newsroom-
Clean Energy for America: It's Possible Now
September 11, 2008
Next January, a new president will take office, confronting a multitude of serious issues, including rising fuel costs, energy security, climate change, and rising unemployment.
When you evaluate the candidates based on their proposed solutions for reinventing the way America produces its energy, do you know what to look for?
Here are three real solutions that are more than just good suggestions. They are essential components of a successful energy policy, which, when deployed together, create an impact much greater than the sum of their parts. Each one is an achievable, affordable step that won’t demand major sacrifices in the way Americans live their lives.
STEP ONE: Invest in energy efficiency: Many people mistakenly believe that energy efficiency is simply a personal virtue and not a policy issue. Nothing could be further from the truth. Increased energy efficiency sets the stage for success in meeting our energy needs with cleaner sources.
In fact, a 2007 report facilitated by the US Department of Energy states that sound energy efficiency measures can reduce our nation’s energy demand growth by 50 percent by 2025. More ambitious studies by the Rocky Mountain Institute report we can achieve 75 percent by 2020.
But don’t just take the experts’ words for it. Consider Juneau, Alaska, a city cut off from its power supply last April after an avalanche destroyed several major transmission towers. In response, the city cut its energy use by 30 percent in a matter of weeks. What Juneau did in a few weeks this spring, the nation can (and should, and will… with the right leadership) do over the next ten years.
STEP TWO: Invest in clean energy: Critical to any serious energy policy, wind and solar energy represent homegrown sources of electricity that can do the job now. Already, in several markets, wind energy is cost-competitive with natural gas, and for both wind and solar, prices are coming down.
Many people mistakenly assume that solar power can’t do the job due unpredictable weather, or that a full-scale conversion to solar power isn’t cost-effective. Neither assumption is correct. Consider Germany, a country that shares more latitude with Canada than with the US. Germany is now the leading producer of solar energy not only in Europe, but in the world (and this with only half as many sunny days as southern European countries, like Portugal). A good deal of Germany’s success is due to sound energy policy, passed in 2000, requiring old-fashioned utilities to support solar start-ups.
As to the cost misperception, a 2008 Solar Catalyst Group study shows that solar energy will become cost-competitive in most areas of the country by 2015. The same report shows how solar energy, with the right commitment, could easily make up 50 percent of the US power supply by 2050. Others are even more ambitious. A January 2008 Scientific American article put the figure closer to 70 percent by 2050.
STEP THREE: Invest in cleaner cars: With fuel economy standards remaining virtually unchanged for 30 years, the time is long past for our leaders to pass laws favoring cleaner cars. If we had adopted President Carter’s energy policy, automobile fuel efficiency would be nearly 45mpg today. We wouldn’t be importing foreign oil, and gasoline price increases wouldn’t be so painful.
On the road today are the first generation of plug-in electric hybrid vehicles getting up to 100 mpg, with all of the major auto manufacturers preparing to bring a PHEV to market in 2010.
Unlike corn ethanol (which generates greenhouse-gases in its production, and appropriates cropland necessary for growing food), PHEVs represent a true solution for how to power our cars responsibly. What’s more, in combination with an investment in renewables, PHEVs can be powered primarily by the wind or the sun (a PHEVs battery recharges by plugging into the electricity grid). A PHEV powered by the sun today costs its owner the equivalent of $2.30 a gallon.
These three solutions should be part of any leader’s platform, and each comes with an embedded bonus – the good jobs that come with producing this technology here in the United States.
Buildings can’t be made efficient by workers overseas, solar energy can’t be outsourced, and all Americans benefit when a clean energy policy delivers jobs, energy security, and a clean environment all at once.
Support independent radio and our community at the seventh annual WMSE “Food Slam” fundraiser taking place Friday, Oct. 3rd from 6 to 10 pm!
Rishi Tea was founded on the commitment to set the standard for quality and expand the awareness of tea and its rich, inspirational tradition. We offer superb loose-leaf tea imported directly from tea gardens across Asia, made according to artisanal, ancient practices using organic cultivation techniques and Fair Trade standards. From our modest beginnings over ten years ago to becoming an established leader in the specialty tea market, our mission has never wavered.
s at Slow Food Nation! San Francisco, CA - The inaugural Slow Food Nation event took place this past Labor Day weekend in San Francisco, drawing more than 60,000 foodies, connoisseurs and environmentally conscious consumers. The international Slow Food movement recognizes the direct connection between our plate and the planet and seeks to build a greater understanding of the role our food choices have on environmental wellness and sustainability. Slow Food, like Rishi Tea, supports fair and sustainable farming that protects the environment, our health and animal welfare, while preserving a food’s true taste.
Slow Food Nation was a wonderfully orchestrated four day tasting and educational event that helped many recognize the symbiotic relationship between food and our environment. The concept: Slow down to taste true food, understand its origins and production process. With 14 Slow Food tasting categories, many attendees revealed to us that slowing down to taste true tea was the most relaxing experience the event offered.
Rishi Tea staff were on hand infusing, serving and discussing the origins, traditions and production of artisanal tea. Among the rare offerings served were Organic Nishi First Flush Sencha, Golden Phoenix Oolong, Organic Fair Trade Ancient Pu-erh Palace, Organic Sil
ver Needle Premium
and Da Hong Pao Oolong in intimate fifteen-minute sessions for groups of 7. Tea enthusiasts waited up to 30 minutes for a chance to taste premium teas from all over the world. Over 1000 attendees sampled Rishi Tea throughout the event.
The Slow Food movement resonates deeply with Rishi Tea. Rishi Tea directly supports sustainable agriculture and social responsibility by offering an extensive variety of premium organic and Fair Trade Certified teas. Rishi Tea staff was honored to have the opportunity to serve tea in support of such a meaningful movement.
Learn more about the success of Slow Food Nation and the momentum of the Slow Food movement at slowfoodnation.org.
