Herbs in the United States can be purchased at small health food stores as well as at Wal-Mart. No matter which place we purchase herbs most of us have no idea where they came from.  Herbs are becoming quite popular in the United States. Many of us reach for Echinacea when we feel a cold coming on. Yet do we think about where the herb comes from, how it impacts our body and what earth resources are utilized between the time the herb is harvested and the time we ingest it. Herbs have been applied around the world for centuries, yet not in the context of a commercial crop. We have yet to fully comprehend the impact of herbal remedies as a commodity on the open market. The majority of people around the globe utilize local herbs that grow around them.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 4 billion people--80 percent of the world population--use herbal medicine for some aspect of primary health care (Farnsworth et al., 1985). Historically herbal medicine and the natural world were the only healing tools available and most people had knowledge of common healing plants.  While this trend has continued in other parts of the world, the United States is only recently experiencing a resurgence of interest in herbal medicine. The commercial interest has sparked reason for concern among herbalists interested in preserving plant medicines for generations to come.

Preserving food and seed for future generations has been a pivotal impetus for the sustainable farming movement in the United States. In order to emphasize the need to support local food production, proponents of the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) movement have long used the example; that a tomato usually travels about 1,500 miles from where it is grown to your salad bowl. Yet few contemplate how many miles herbs have traveled. The vast majority of herbs that American companies are using and selling do not come from within the U.S. Most (some estimates range over 95%) are imported from Eastern Europe, India, China, Mexico, and many third-world countries. Many are grown using pesticides and are fumigated when they are brought into the United States. Given these facts, it is critical to ask questions about where our remedies come from and whether or not our choices are sustainable.

Some of the issues of sustainability in the context of herbal remedies lead us to ask the following questions:

1. Where does the herb come from and what other resources are utilized to transport and manufacture the herb. What is the impact on the earth?

For example if I have a fungal infection “popular herbalism” suggests I reach for Tea Tree Oil and I ask myself where does Tea Tree Oil come from? Australia-and what resources does it take to bottle that herb and transport it to me? Now wisdom tells me that the people who lived on this continent had all the medicines they needed, so that leads me to look for an anti- fungal herb in my backyard. And so I reach for Red Cedar (Thuja plicata). I can make a strong infusion, a tincture or an oil with minimal impact to the planet.

2. Is the plant being naturally grown or if-if it is being wild crafted: what part of the plant is being harvested? Most wild crafted plants that are endangered are perennial plants being harvested for their root. Echinacea and Goldenseal are popular examples that are cited as endangered by the United Plant Savers. When plants are wild crafted commercially large stands of plants are uprooted and removed from the ecosystem. These plants play a vital role in their ecosystem, of which only one part is to offer human beings medicine. Ethical wild crafting takes this into consideration.  According to CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) 12.5% or 34,000 of the world's plants are in danger of extinction.       

3. How does the plant interact with your body? Is it sustainable to ingest highly  stimulating

herbs for long periods of time?  For example tobacco, coffee, ma huang etc.While these are useful healing plants they are not intended for long-term use and the sustainability of our body’s ecosystem is in question when we apply these for long-term use. Is it sustainable to reduce herbs to a sum of their parts. Basic to the use of medicinal herbs in many societies is the practice of using whole, unrefined plant material. The material may be leaves, buds, flowers, bark, or roots, separately or in combination. In some cases an herbal remedy is a complex mixture of many plants. There is an age-old belief that whole-plant medicines have fewer dangerous side effects and provide a more balanced physiological action than plant-derived pharmaceutical drugs whose single ingredient has been isolated, concentrated, and packaged as a pill or liquid.

Herbs are not only a source for treating disease they are also a source for promoting  health. Our ancestors ingested a wide diversity of plants and thus their constituents, which strengthened their systems. Traditional Chinese medicine, Native Healing Ways, Ayervedic traditions as well as folk traditions have long relied on plants to promote health. For example Astragulus-considered a noxious weed in some parts of  the world-is added to food to build immune health. This is a sustainable practice.

In solidarity with the sustainable farming movement, it is important that we begin to make local choices regarding herbs. Wild crafted or organically grown local herbs cost more than the imported material but by knowing the grower we can be assured they are grown without the use of pesticides and are not fumigated in order to bring them into this country.

Despite the cost the commitment to grow or purchase locally and organically grown herbs is an investment in the health of the planet.  When we choose to obtain a locally grown and/or wild crafted herb we can ask about growing standards and wild crafting practices. Like our ancestors an ethical wild crafter is invested in the stand of herbs being available for  generations to come.

"We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect."

-Aldo Leopold

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Prepared by Linda Conroy of

Moonwise Herbs a community resource

dedicated to promoting healing through the herbal education, handcrafted herbal wares and

compassionate communication.

Contact us to learn more or to purchase locally grown and/or wild crafted herbs see:

PO Box 166

Sheboygan, WI 53081

www.moonwiseherbs.com

Resources:

United Plant Savers          

United Plant Savers' mission is to protect native medicinal plants of the United States and Canada and their native habitat while ensuring an abundant renewable supply of medicinal plants for generations to come.

www.unitedplantsavers.org

From Earth to Herbalist

An Earth Conscious Guide to Medicinal Plants

By Gregory C. Tilford

The Lost Language of Plants:

The Ecological Importance of Plant Medicines for Life on Earth

By Stephen Harrod Buhner