Why Using Sustainable Herbs Matters
Join us for this Half Day Conference!

by Ann Armbrecht, PhD
SHP Director

When I was studying herbal medicine, the instructors usually recommended which companies we could trust when buying high quality herbal products. But as I learned more, I realized I needed to know more than just which companies to trust. Companies change. CEO’s retire or leave. New sourcing staff are hired. The business changes hands. And so, I needed to be able to know what questions to ask and what answers to look for to make sure those companies were still ones I wanted to support, ones with products and values I could trust.

But the issues are complex, and it can be difficult to know where to begin.

Sebastian Pole, Co-Founder of Pukka Herbs and FairWild Foundation member, and I have put together this conference to bring together experts on key topics that are important for anyone who uses herbs as medicine to understand. Speakers will address issues like biodiversity loss, risks of wild harvesting, the relationship between investing in sourcing and the quality of the raw material, the relationship between the quality of the raw material and clinical efficacy, and the impact of migration and addressing equity and fairness in sourcing communities.

Our hope is that this event  can not only empower every attendee to access high quality herbs to use as medicine, but to also can lay the groundwork for more collaborative work among everyone who uses herbs so that companies know they need to step up to take better care of the plants, the people working with the plants, and the planet.

Confirmed Conference Speakers and Topics

  • The world we live in: Global supply situation — Sebastian Pole, Pukka Herbs, Herbal Reality, Herbal Alliance
  • Cultural and ecological diversity; Sustainability & Wild Harvesting — Josef Brinckmann, Traditional Medicinals
  • Herbal sustainability, wild harvesting, and climate change — Anastasiya Timoshyna, TRAFFIC
  • Are all herbs equal? Research on the relationship of quality to sustainable value chains — Anthony (Tony) Booker, University of Westminster
  • Are all herbs equal? Quality and sourcing — Alison Czeczuga, Gaia Herbs
  • How ‘Fair’ is the herbal supply chain — Erin Smith, Banyan Botanicals
  • The link between quality and efficacy — Roy Upton, American Herbal Pharmacopoeia
  • Quality, Sustainable Sourcing, and Clinical Practice — David Winston, Founder,  Herbalist & Alchemist
  • What Can Practitioners Do? Part 1: Sustainable Herbs Program initiatives — Ann Armbrecht, SHP Director
  • What Can Practitioners Do? Part 2: Herbal Alliance –Vicky Murray, Sustainability Advisor

Find out more and register here.

We hope you will join us!