The Sustainable Herbs Program Podcast

In this webinar, Jane Franch of Numi Organic Tea and Kayalin Akens-Irby of Planet FWD discuss the importance of getting accurate data on carbon emissions as a foundation for taking action to reduce those emissions. They discuss available tools, what the tools do and do not measure, and what to look out for as both a company and a customer trying to decide what claims about carbon impacts to trust.

This session introduces a ground-breaking new report by TRAFFIC, FAO, and IUCN SSC Medicinal Plant Specialist Group, entitled WildCheck: Assessing risks and opportunities of trade in wild plant ingredients. The report aims to inspire and support responsible sourcing of the hidden wild-harvested plant ingredients found in everyday beauty, health, and food products, such as shea butter, baobab, Brazil nuts, and licorice.

The discussion explores various aspects of the report through discussions with stakeholders who interact with wild plant ingredients in different ways. What is the demand for these ingredients and how has it changed in recent years? Why is urgent action needed towards responsible sourcing, and who is responsible? What are the key risks to look out for, and the opportunities for businesses to seize? These topics are further illustrated with real-world examples from frankincense supply chains.

A conversation with Arko Chatterjee, Founder and CEO of NaturaYuva, about his company’s work to source high quality natural ingredients from regenerative agroforestry small holder farms. We will talk about what Chatterjee observed on his recent trip in rural India meeting with farmers who supply raw materials for NaturYuva and his vision for, as he says, “disrupting the natural ingredients market” for the benefit of people, plants, and the planet.

Are you really what you eat? David R. Montgomery and Anne Biklé take us far beyond this well-worn adage to deliver a new truth: the roots of good health start on farms. What Your Food Ate marshals evidence from recent and forgotten science to illustrate how the health of the soil ripples through to crops, livestock, and ultimately all of us.

David Montgomery and Anne Biklé speak about their research into the relationships among soil health, crop health, and human health that form the basis of their book, What Your Food Ate. This book is the third in a series of books they have written about soil health, microbiomes, and agriculture, including Dirt, The Hidden Half of Nature, Growing a Revolution, and most recently, What Your Food Ate.

For What Your Food Ate, Montgomery and Biklé selected 10 paired farms across the US, a conventional farm compared with a regenerative farm in the same region growing the same crop in the same year. They measured soil health and conducted microbial tests in the soil and then compared the ratios of minerals, vitamins, and phytochemicals. We will talk about the research and what they found, and about the implications for agriculture in general and for growing botanicals in particular.

Luke Manget, assistant professor of history at Dalton State College, comes from a family of root diggers and herb gatherers in eastern Kentucky. In this webinar we will talk his recently published book: Ginseng Diggers: A History of Root and Herb Gathering in Appalachia, which is based on extensive research into the business records of mountain entrepreneurs, country stores, and pharmaceutical companies.As the production of patent medicines and botanical pharmaceutical products escalated in the mid-to-late-nineteenth century, southern Appalachia emerged as the United States’ most prolific supplier of many species of medicinal plants. We talk about this history and the unique relationship between Appalachia and the global trade of medicinal plants.

Ethnobotany webinar: "From the Garden to the Research Lab: A Conversation with Nadja Cech", Feb. 17, 2022.

Sustainable Herbs Program Director, Ann Armbrecht speaks with Nadja Cech about Dr. Cech's research on medicinally useful plants. Dr. Cech grew up off-grid in a counter-culture community in Williams, Oregon, where herbal medicine was a primary form of healthcare. She talks about her journey to becoming a research chemist, and how her different perspectives of plants (as an illustrator, chemist, gardener, nature lover) inform the research that she does. What is the role of science in understanding how plants work as medicine? What do we learn from scientific study, what do we miss when it comes to understanding the wholeness of plants?

Ruyu Yao, PhD, discusses the value chains of goji berries sourced from China and the implications of this research for understanding links between medicinal plant quality and place. He is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Medicinal Plant Development, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, China. January 20, 2022.

A Conversation with Clinton Farmer, current Chairman of Kutkabbuba Aboriginal Corporation and Keith Drage, Managing Director of WA Sandalwood Plantations. January 6, 2022.

PLANT SERIES. Saw Palmetto: A Conversation on Sustainability, Quality, and Authentication (October 8, 2020)

Saw Palmetto: A Conversation on Sustainability, Quality, and Authentication with ABC Board Member Steven Foster, ABC’s Chief Science Officer Stefan Gafner, Umasudhan Pal., CEO at Valensa International, and Edward Fletcher, President & COO at Native Botanicals, Inc.

TOOLKIT SERIES. FairWild Week Webinar: Wild Plants are Our Business (June 21, 2021)

This webinar was co-organized by TRAFFIC, the FairWild Foundation, and the American Botanical Council’s Sustainable Herbs Program to kick off FairWild Week 2021 with a practical discussion on why wild plants are everyone’s business. From shea butter to liquorice, the speakers discuss specific examples of responsible sourcing challenges and opportunities, emphasizing how important wild plants are to our everyday lives and why responsible sourcing needs to occur.

Speakers include:
Erin Smith, MSc, CCH, Director of Herbal Science & Research at Banyan Botanicals, and Board Member and Co-Chair of the Sustainability Committee for the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA)
Susan Curtis, Director and Brand Ambassador at Neal’s Yard Remedies
Andrea Rommeler, Sustainable Wild Collection Manager at Martin Bauer
Marin Anastasov, Head of Procurement at Pukka Herbs
Giulia Muir, Non-Wood Forest Product Specialist at FAO

The session provides practical advice to businesses trading in wild plant ingredients, with an opportunity for Q&A with the speakers, as well as increasing consumer awareness of these prolific yet hidden ingredients by sharing stories around the origins of specific ingredients.

Jan Von Enden discusses the business and ethical cases for paying attention to sustainability. The excerpt is from the the Sustainable Herbs Program Toolkit Webinar "Certification as a Path to Sustainability?" To watch the complete conversation go to: vimeo.com/540314958

TOOLKIT SERIES: Certifications as a Path to Sustainability? (April 22, 2021)

This webinar focuses on the social and economic dimensions of growing and harvesting botanical raw materials for the global market. With speakers Jan Von Enden, Martin Bauer Group; Kevin Casey, Banyan Botanicals; and Yuca Waarts, Wageningen University.

Gocha Dzneladze, CEO of Geoflower Ltd, speaks about the importance of consumer awareness in the path towards sustainability. This excerpt is from the Sustainable Herbs Program Toolkit Webinar "Herbal Tea Sourcing with Respect," co-hosted with the Union for Ethical BioTrade (UEBT). (February 18, 2021).

Rik Kutsch Lojenga, Executive Director of UEBT, talks about the complexity of informal supply chains in the herbal industry. This excerpt is from the Sustainable Herbs Program Toolkit Webinar "Herbal Tea Sourcing with Respect," co-hosted with the Union for Ethical BioTrade (UEBT). (February 18, 2021).

Rik Kutsch Lojenga, Executive Director of UEBT, explains what UEBT is. This excerpt is from the Sustainable Herbs Program Toolkit Webinar "Herbal Tea Sourcing with Respect," co-hosted with the Union for Ethical BioTrade (UEBT). (February 18, 2021).

Gocha Dzneladze, CEO of Geoflower Ltd, speaks about fair pricing for collectors. This excerpt is from the Sustainable Herbs Program Toolkit Webinar "Herbal Tea Sourcing with Respect," co-hosted with the Union for Ethical BioTrade (UEBT). (February 18, 2021).

TOOLKIT SERIES. Herbal Tea Sourcing with Respect (February 18, 2021)

Sourcing botanicals for herbal teas is a complicated process. Most herbal teas are a blend of different ingredients, typically from small-scale producers, including as many as 300 different ingredients in herbal teas, originating in more than 100 countries across Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas. Challenges to sourcing include threats to biodiversity, overuse of pesticides, minimal quality control, and over-harvesting of wild botanical species. This webinar discusses some of the challenges in sourcing herbal tea ingredients with respect to social equity and biodiversity, with particular attention to how to improve conditions on small farms.

Sustainable Herbs Program Director Ann Armbrecht spoke with Gocha Dzneladze, COO of GeoFlower, Georgia, which provides FairWild certified licorice, among other products, to the global market, Diana Bartolić Director for quality, purchase and general affairs for the Spider Group, a producing company in Croatia that provides UEBT (Union for Ethical BioTrade) certified chamomile and other ingredients, and Rik Kutsch Lojenga, Executive Director of UEBT.

Jeff and Melanie Carpenter, Owners/Operators of Zach Woods Herb Farms, speak about how big companies can support small herb growers. (April 1, 2021)

This is an excerpt from the Sustainable Herbs Program Toolkit Webinar: Caring for the Whole Ecosystem 2: Regenerative Practices on Family-Owned Farms. To view the complete recording go here: vimeo.com/531997080

Melanie Carpenter, Owner/Operator of Zach Woods Herb Farms, speak about how plants are not commodities. (April 1, 2021)

This is an excerpt from the Sustainable Herbs Program Toolkit Webinar: Caring for the Whole Ecosystem 2: Regenerative Practices on Family-Owned Farms. To view the complete recording go here: vimeo.com/531997080

Jeff Higley, Founder of Oshala Farms, speaks about biodiversity. This is an excerpt from the Sustainable Herbs Program Toolkit Webinar: Caring for the Whole Ecosystem 2: Regenerative Practices on Family-Owned Farms. To view the complete recording go here: vimeo.com/531997080

Jeff Carpenter, Owner/Operator of Zach Woods Herb Farms, speak about the quality of herbs. (April 1, 2021)

This is an excerpt from the Sustainable Herbs Program Toolkit Webinar: Caring for the Whole Ecosystem 2: Regenerative Practices on Family-Owned Farms. To view the complete recording go here: vimeo.com/531997080

TOOLKIT SERIES: Caring for the Whole Ecosystem: Regenerative Practices on Family-Owned Farms (April 1, 2021)

More people and companies are interested in sourcing high quality, certified organic botanicals from US grown farms. And family farmers who do grow botanicals do so because they see this as a way to change the world, a way to care for the soil, to produce healthy herbal medicine for their community, to provide good jobs, and to support biodiversity. In this webinar SHP Director, Ann Armbrecht, speaks with four farms growing medicinal plants in different regions of the US (North Carolina, Vermont, Oregon, and Hawaii) about their vision for farming, some specific practices they follow, and the unique challenges they face. We talk about what is needed to shift towards a more equitable system, create more resilient models and the responsibilities of botanical companies and buyers of herbal products.  

Speakers: Jordan Pratt, Farmer Director, Kauai Organic Farms; Cee Stanley, from Green Heffa Farms, Inc.; Mel and Jeff Carpenter from Zack Woods Herb Farm; and Jeff and Elise Higley from Oshala Farm.

Jacopo Gabriele Orlando, Impact and Sustainability Manager of ABOCA, talks about how they maintain soil biodiversity. This excerpt is from the Sustainable Herbs Program Toolkit Webinar "Caring for the Whole Ecosystem: Regenerative Practices on Corporate-Owned Farms." (March 18, 2021)

Christine Mason, Farm Manager of Standard Process, talks about what sustainability means to them. This excerpt is from the Sustainable Herbs Program Toolkit Webinar "Caring for the Whole Ecosystem: Regenerative Practices on Corporate-Owned Farms." (March 18, 2021)

Christine Mason, Farm Manager of Standard Process, talks about the benefit of being vertically integrated. This excerpt is from the Sustainable Herbs Program Toolkit Webinar "Caring for the Whole Ecosystem: Regenerative Practices on Corporate-Owned Farms." (March 18, 2021)

Jacopo Gabriele Orlando, Impact and Sustainability Manager of ABOCA, talks about creating value. This excerpt is from the Sustainable Herbs Program Toolkit Webinar "Caring for the Whole Ecosystem: Regenerative Practices on Corporate-Owned Farms." (March 18, 2021)

Danielle Kruse, Farm Manager of Trout Lake Farm, talks about the how soil health is the foundation to healthy farm and crops. 

This excerpt is from the Sustainable Herbs Program Toolkit Webinar "Caring for the Whole Ecosystem: Regenerative Practices on Corporate-Owned Farms" (March 18, 2021).

TOOLKIT SERIES. Caring for the Whole Ecosystem: Regenerative Practices on Corporate-Owned Farms (March 18, 2021)

In this webinar, SHP Director Ann Armbrecht speaks with the managers of three certified organic farms leading the way in practicing methods that care for the health of the soil and biodiversity as a whole.

In the botanical industry, botanicals are often distinguished between those that are wild harvested and those that are cultivated. Yet, there is a tremendous variation in the types of cultivation, from large monocrops grown with pesticides and fertilizers to farms that focus on the health of the whole ecosystem as a way to ensure the health of the particular botanicals and other crops that they grow.  In this webinar, SHP Director Ann Armbrecht speaks with the managers of three certified organic farms leading the way in practicing methods that care for the health of the soil and biodiversity as a whole.   Speakers: Danielle Kruse, Farm Manager for Trout Lake Farm, the source of much of the certified organic echinacea in the world, Christine Mason, farm manager of Standard Process, a multi-generational, family-owned and operated, nutritional supplement company for over 90 years, and Jacopo Gabriele Orlando, Impact and Sustainability Manager from ABOCA, an Italian company that cultivates 80 species of medicinal plants on over 1,400 hectares of land in Tuscany and Umbria, using organic farming methods.

TOOLKIT SERIES: Sourcing Botanicals and Quality Control: A Conversation with Michael Heinrich and Anthony Booker (November 4, 2021).

In this webinar, SHP Director Ann Armbrecht speaks with renowned medicinal plant researchers Prof. Michael Heinrich, PhD, and Anthony Booker, PhD, about their research investigating the quality of botanical ingredients and herbal medicinal products along diverse value chains. The two guests explore the relationship between how herbs are grown, handled, and processed and its impact on the quality of a selected number of finished herbal products. This conversation brings together the themes of sustainability and botanical ingredient authenticity as Heinrich and Booker discuss the importance of investing in value chains in order to ensure the quality of the finished herbal products. In particular they discuss their research into the value chains of turmeric (Curcuma longa), rhodiola (Rhodiola rosea) and St John’s wort products (Hypericum perforatum L.).