Sustainable Herbs Initiative’s Post

After five years at the American Botanical Council, I am excited to announce that the Sustainable Herbs Program has moved to the Sustainable Food Lab, which is the program sponsor for what is now called the Sustainable Herbs Initiative. I began my journey following herbs to the source to tell the stories of people and places. I believed that changing our behavior began with changing what we see and understand. I still do believe that. Yet, I have felt an increasing urgency to go beyond what we know is needed to bring about change — traceability, transparency, long-term relationships — and work to create the conditions for those connections and practices to be possible. Conditions that include listening. Mutual respect. Keeping your word. Treating people as people and plants as alive.   The Learning Labs and in-person Learning Journeys that I have been organizing over the past 3 years are building an inspiring foundation from which collaboration based on this respect is taking root. I am excited to dive into this work more fully. The Sustainable Food Lab has been leading in this work for the past twenty years and I am very much looking forward to working with and learning from their experience.   ABC has been a wonderful home to incubate and help grow my work. The organization has provided a platform from which the Sustainable Herbs Project transformed from an idea into a fully developed program with support and recognition in the botanical industry. I am deeply grateful to Mark Blumenthal for his trust and his support of my vision. And I'm grateful to Don Seville, Stephanie L. Daniels and everyone else at the Sustainable Food Lab for welcoming me and this work! I'm excited for what this new partnership will bring! (website is in process of being updated). https://lnkd.in/erceb-nb

I'm excited to be speaking at Expo West this year! Please join us for the panel, Relationships in Sourcing Medicinal Plants, at Expo West! Thursday 4-5 pm. What is the role of wellness-based, natural product businesses in caring for the health of the planet? What is our responsibility, as individuals, as companies, and as a sector? I'll be speaking with Josef Brinckmann from Traditional Medicinals, Elise Higley from OSHALA FARM, LLC, Wilson Lau from Nuherbs, and moderated by Ann Armbrecht from Sustainable Herbs Program about our work to establish and maintain the type of relationships needed to truly use business as a force for good while also fulfilling the rigorous demands of sourcing high quality herbs in a global context. We will share specific practices we have implemented, challenges that have arisen, and concrete ways we have addressed these issues. Participants will come away with concrete examples of how to better steward relationships with their suppliers and competitors as well as broader insights into how the herbal products sector as a whole can better care for the plants, the people, and the planet. more information here: https://lnkd.in/e5n8gVVK #expowest #empoweryourfuture #naturalproducts #groceryretail #cpgindustry #herbalproducts #sourcingwithrespect #sustainablebusiness #fairtrade #bcorp

🎤 Herbcast episode: Combating adulterants – with Mark Blumenthal In addition to his advocacy and educational efforts, Mark Blumenthal has been championing quality control and standardisation in the herbal industry. In this Herbcast episode, Simon Mills chats with Mark about the beginnings of HerbalGram and the American Botanical Council Council, the sector-led initiative to remove adulterated goods from the supply chain, and the importance of sustainable and regenerative practices in herb production. https://lnkd.in/e_2kYv6H