Strawberryhill,
Please check out the website below.
It's the ONLY tea plantation in the USA.
NO pesticides at all, all natural, green.
Go take a tour someday, they actually give tours to people interested in taking them.
We HAVE to support our green home based companies.
It's important.
So they don't go away.
Everyone, check it out.
Grown in the USA! Green!

Sorry, the site won't post it.
Here is what you google for info
Charleston Tea Plantation
The only tea plantation in the USA, no use of pesticides at all, the company is totally green.

Hi butterfly4u: Thank you so much for the info. on "Charleston Tea Plantation" ... much appreciated.

I see that your #1 forum is Fragrant-Plant. I visited that forum briefly and everyone is so friendly. I'm into fragrant plants too, esp. roses which I can cut for the house.

I do not drink green tea or any of those other type drinks...
I hardly ever drink soda anymore as it makes me feel funny also...

Info on Charleston Tea Plantation below:

Here is a link that might be useful: Charleston Tea Plantation info

Hi Jim: thank you for the link to Charleston Tea Plantation ...I'll definitely order some for Christmas ... I love the taste of green tea. Hubby drinks coffee, but that doesn't appeal to me.

A friend sent me a link to how tainted foods from China are, such as contaminated vinegar with anti-freeze (lethal poison). A grandmother in Vietnam was healthy until she turned 98 years old and drank wine tainted with rubbing alcohol ... she became blind & sick and died afterwards.

http://www.wired.com/2011/08/china-food-risk/

Pets are also affected by tainted foods from China. From Wikipedia about the 2007 pet food recalls "By the end of March, veterinary organizations reported more than 100 pet deaths amongst nearly 500 cases of kidney failure,[1] with one online database self-reporting as many as 3,600 deaths as of 11 April.[2][3] The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has received reports of several thousand cats and dogs who have died after eating contaminated food .... the actual death toll could potentially reach into the thousands.[6][7]

Overall, several major companies have recalled more than 5300 pet food products, with most of the recalls coming from Menu Foods.[4] The contamination was caused by melamine in the affected foods. The Chinese company behind the contaminated wheat gluten has initially denied any involvement in the contamination.

Reports of widespread and possibly intentional adulteration of Chinese animal feed with melamine have raised the issue of melamine contamination in the human food supply, both in China and abroad.[11] On 27 April, the U.S. FDA subjected all vegetable proteins imported from China, intended for human or animal consumption, to detention without physical examination, including: wheat gluten, rice gluten, rice protein, rice protein concentrate, corn gluten, corn gluten meal, corn byproducts, soy protein, soy gluten, proteins (includes amino acids and protein hydrosylates), and mung bean protein.[12] In a teleconference with reporters on 1 May, officials from the FDA and U.S. Department of Agriculture said between 2.5 and 3 million people in the United States had consumed chickens that had consumed feed containing contaminated vegetable protein from China.[13]

Current research has focused on the combination of melamine and cyanuric acid in causing renal failure. Reports that cyanuric acid may be an independently and potentially widely used adulterant in China have heightened concerns for both pet and human health.[14]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_pet_food_recalls

Dr. Oz TV-show tested high arsenic levels in major-brands apple-juice, such as Mott and Minute Maid, with China as their supplier. http://www.doctoroz.com/article/dr-oz-investigates-arsenic-apple-juice

The Wall Street Journal has a list of foods most imported from China, here's an excerpt from below link: "Chinese imports dominate some food categories to a striking extent. In a testimony before a subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee in May (pdf), food safety expert Patty Lovera noted that China accounted for 80% of tilapia, 51% of cod, 49% of apple juice, 34% of processed mushrooms, 27% of garlic and 16% of frozen spinach consumed in the U.S. in 2011."

Here is a link that might be useful: Wall Street Journal on foods imported from China

A large percentage of our honey comes from China. One year I visited Cantigny Rose Park, and they had a "Green-fair" where local bee-keepers sold their honey. That stuff tasted so good, and my hay fever was lessened drastically that year. I was dumb to throw away the bottle, with the address of the local bee-keeper.

I spent hours finding where to buy such local honey, but they are too far, will have to make sure to visit "Green-fair" more often. It's shocking about the tainted honey we imported from China. I bought such honey one time, a large jar from Sam's club ... it was utterly disgusting, tasted worse than sugar. So I threw most of that away.

Here's excerpts from below link "Tainted Chinese Honey Pervades US Stores - Millions of pounds of hazardous honey are being smuggled in large quantities from China to the United States, constituting as much as a third or more of the honey on American shelves, a recent investigation found.

After the Commerce Department imposed high tariffs��"as much as $1.20 per pound��"on honey from China in 2001, honey peddlers there began shipping their goods through Asian countries such as India and Vietnam, to obfuscate the real origin.

For example, 16 shipments containing more than 688,000 pounds of honey went from the Chinese port of Nansha to the Indian honey manufacturer Little Bee Honey during the last month. Six shipments of the same honey went from Little Bee Honey to the port of Los Angeles a week before the report was published,

About 23 percent of the honey from China contains lead, and at least two harmful antibiotics, according to findings from the Indian Export Inspection Council earlier this year.To expedite their production process, Chinese beekeepers use Indian-made animal antibiotics, including chloramphenicol, a substance that is banned in food by the FDA for its carcinogenicity and DNA damage to children.

Once the buyers collect their honey, they store it in unlined, small, and lead-soldered drums before handing it off to brokers. The honey, now contaminated with lead, is then processed. Lead affects “almost every organ and system” in the human body and can lead to death in high doses, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Once blended with real Indian honey on its way to the United States, the final product appears just like its American counterpart on the grocery shelves. It’s cheaper, but half of it is not honey at all."

Here is a link that might be useful: Tainted Chinese Honey pervades US stores

Good results from my researching on this thread:

1) Solved my tummy ache & nausea problem by stop drinking green tea imported from China.

2) Solved my right-hand skin blistering and peeling, plus extreme itch. I found the culprit: latex-free gloves imported from China. sold cheap at local Walmart. It's latex-free, but tainted with other chemicals.

Prevous years of wearing the blue Latex-gloves made in U.S.A ... I had zero skin-problems. Plus Latex-gloves last longer & sturdier than latex-free. The yellow Playtex plastic gloves are made in Malaysia .. will have to find plastic gloves made in U.S.A.

The excerpts from below link on tainted sofas from China helped me to pin-point the problem. I tested gloves by wearing Chinese-latex-free glove on right hand, and leave the left hand un-gloved. My right hand skin itched, peeled, and blistered.

"LONDON��"Hundreds of U.K. consumers who suffered severe burns from toxic sofas manufactured in China will receive a combined compensation payout of US$30 million. The victims received skin burns and peeling from a chemical called DMF (dimethyl fumarate) that was found in the leather sofas manufactured by Chinese firms Linkwise and Eurosofa. The chemical was used to treat the sofas to prevent mold during their transit from China and subsequent storage.

Others suffered breathing problems and irritation of the eyes ... Creams, lotions, antibiotics, steroids, and two biopsies later, the cause was found��"her leather sofa that was made in China.

“The skin just started peeling away all the time,” Dalton told the BBC. “It was very, very painful, I couldn’t sleep at night, I couldn’t walk about, I couldn’t drive.” The EU has now banned the use of DMF in leather sofas. “We believe many sofas are still in use with DMF in them,” Langton said

In 2008, it emerged that Chinese milk manufacturers had mixed powered products with the toxic chemical melamine��"leading to thousands of babies becoming ill and several deaths were recorded.

Earlier this month, a New Orleans judge awarded seven families more than $2.6 million in losses caused by toxic Chinese drywall in their homes. "

Here is a link that might be useful: Victims received $30 milion payout from tainted leather sofas

I hate China products period...lol
My mom got ill & itchy once from wearing a certain brand of china shoes...

Hi Jim: Glad to hear from you, thank you for that confirming info. This morning was the 1st time in two years that I woke up without intense itch & rash on my right hand. I used those China-made vinyl gloves, bought from Walmart, every night to do dishes, plus pulling weeds from the garden.

At first I blamed it on the weeds .. then our cold front set in, no more weeds pulling ... yet my right hand still itch. I wear vinyl glove mostly on my right hand, to squeeze lemons, clean the house, etc... Those Chinese vinyl gloves (latex-free) are so cheap, that it lasts only one time. Compare that to 2 weeks with American latex gloves, which I re-use over, and over again, with no rash nor leakage.

I washed dishes with those Chinese vinyl gloves, and it LEAKED while I was washing dishes !! The gloves which the two nurses who caught Ebola wore ... I wonder if they are made in China. A friend sent me cotton gloves made in China. I opened the package yesterday, and the chemical odor knocked me over. I was dumb to stick my nose to sniff it ... my nose burned for hours afterwards, plus itchy eyes.

Only China can put that much chemicals in a pair of cotton gloves. Never in my life I smell such strong chemicals from any fabric !! I need to read the fine-print of the country of origin, and spend more money on American-made products. The peeler I bought from Walmart could not even peel apples ... then I googled and found someone else complained about the Walmart peeler (made in China). There's that wrist-watch I bought for my kid that broke the 1st time (made in China) ... there's that winter-jacket which the zipper broke on me (brand new from China).

A friend told me she NEVER buy any clothes from Walmart because they always rip or tear on her kid instantly. She buys her clothes from Target. There's that vinyl handbag which I carried books from the library for my kid (also made in China) ... my right hand was blistering for years when she was a toddler.

There's that plastic Noah Ark with animals which we bought for my kid when she was a toddler. It stank like sewage plus reeked of chemicals. We kept it in the basement, but it stank up the entire house. With the news of lead in toys imported from China ... we returned that to the store. My kid never play with that, the smell was nauseating and revolting.

My neighbor's dog died from that 2007 tainted-dog food, imported from China. However, Pet Stores still sell those dog-treats, bone & leather chew, made in China.

People have the misconception that latex gloves cause rash, and latex-free don't. If you google, "vinyl gloves and rash" ... lots of people complain that even the latex-free ones cause intense itch and rash.

I used to work as a dental assistant in my early 20's, that was 3 decades ago. I wore latex gloves, made in U.S.A, eight hours a day ... and NO problems whatsoever, even with the powder inside the gloves.

NO problems whatsoever 3 years ago with the blue-latex gloves made in USA. Only for the past 2 years that Walmart switched to China-made vinyl gloves (latex-free) ... that I have intense itch, rash, and peeling of skin on my right hand ... the hand that I put on vinyl glove the most.

If China can make contaminated milk to endanger babies, I don't trust vinyl gloves, hand bags, nor shoes from China either. Wikipedia has a long-list of food-safety violations in China, and it get worse. See link below:

Here is a link that might be useful: Wikipedia on Food safety incidents in China

This post was edited by Strawberryhill on Thu, Oct 23, 14 at 10:22

My recent pair of tennis shoes from Walmart lasted 1 month then fell apart...
1st and last time for buying those!

Yes I also bought Wrangler Jeans at Walmart before and they ripped quite quickly!

Even a lot of American flags are made in China! :-/

Hi Jim: It's sad that American flags are made in China !! I bought a pair of tennis shoes for my kid at Walmart, and she complained that it hurt her feet .. such thin sole. So we no longer buy any shoes from Walmart. Now we buy her Nike running shoes which she loves to walk.

Buyers beware of garden-gloves made in China. Here's an excerpt from below link, the lady also posted pics. of her inflamed hands: "It will be three years at the end of August that I have been fighting a rash caused from garden gloves made in China. The inside seams were not finished. After seeing several doctors I have about got it licked. My hands will still develop small cuts, like paper cuts, if I don't put a prescription cream on my hands and wear non-latex gloves all night 3-5 times a week. It hasn't been easy.

So here is my advice: Put on Vaseline or Crisco, then put on a pair of exam gloves (I wear two pair) BEFORE putting on your garden gloves. I sincerely hope none of you have to go through the pain I have had. Please, learn from my mistake." Vi Johnson.

*** From Strawberryhill: Thanks to that lady, I always check the label to see if garden gloves are made in USA, or China. Also noticed that Del Monte fruit products are packed in USA, except for Mandarin oranges ...all that are from China. I visited a Canadian website, and folks there lamented that the wafers used for Catholic church communion are also made in China. I hope that's not the case with USA.

Here is a link that might be useful: Warning about garden gloves made in China

Below is a picture of nitrile blue-glove (latex-free) made in America, versus the Chinese made gloves: yellowish latex, and the clear one is latex-free, sold at Walmart.

Notice how much thicker the blue glove (made in America) is compared to the Chinese-made ones. The blue glove is strong like the Playtex gloves used to wash dishes ... these lasts forever: through breaking up branches to fill many bags of yard-waste, to scrubbing floor, or hand-washing tons of rags .... I keep re-using the American-made gloves for weeks, versus the Chinese ones leak within the first few minutes of ONE-TIME wear.

The Chinese ones (both latex and latex-free) gave me horrible rash for the past years. No problems whatsoever with the blue gloves (made in America).

This post was edited by Strawberryhill on Wed, Oct 29, 14 at 19:50

My mom has terrible troubles with China products too...
Esp shoes...