Where are the Domestic Herbs?
As part of the Sustainable Herbs Project, we are working to understand the supply chain of domestic herbs more fully. So far I’ve discovered it’s a lot more complicated than saying, simply, that locally grown herbs are always best. I’m trying to tease out the key issues involved from the perspectives of both growers and buyers to:
- Educate us all about the challenges growers and buyers face, the obstacles to entering the market as a grower, the pressures on price, the demands of regulation, concerns about quality, supporting existing relationships with suppliers overseas etc.
- Create resources to help support more links between local and regional growers and local and regional buyers.
Herbalists who understand the importance of quality are the best market for locally grown organic herbs that tend to cost more. We know the difference it makes in the medicines we make. Some of us are lucky enough to have fantastic sources in our region; others aren’t so lucky.
Colleen Dando of Urban Moonshine, SHP interns Anita Burke and Amy Harkins and I created these surveys to understand the market more fully.
- Herb Growers
If you grow herbs for sale, please take a moment to fill out this survey.
- Herb Practitioners and Teachers
And if you are an herbalist who buys bulk herbs to make remedies for sale or for clients and/or an herb teacher that either teaches others to make herbal remedies and/or buys herbs in bulk for the school, please take a moment to fill out this survey.
Thank you in advance!
If you would like to be notified as we begin to share what we discover, please sign up for our newsletter (on the right sidebar) if you aren’t already.
I shall offer a word of criticism. I am a grower, producing the best quality herbs I can imagine, utterly clean and proper from seed to dried herb or root product. Individual consumers, as at farmers markets, are very appreciative, can see the high quality, and my herbs sell well to them.
My complaint is about herbalists! I communicate endlessly with various shops in several states around here, and in return I get apathy. Even those who’ve met me don’t care. They’ve complained to me about the quality of herbs coming from a certain large online supplier.
I am not trained as a herbalist. I am a cultivator. I’ve been growing and selling vegetables, fruit and herbs for decades. Is there some way to make these connections which I’m failing to make? Is it simply that people are cynical and suspicious? I’d like to know how to establish connections, communication, awareness.
I’m not kidding—I’ve got very good herbal product. Not huge quantities, but enough that any herb shop would do well with my entire output, as it’s all excellent and consists of herbs people want! I’d love input on this concern.
Thanks so much for your comments. For exactly the reason you mention, apathy of herbalists!, we are hosting a 1/2-day online event on April 27th about quality and sustainability directed at practitioners. There is just not enough of a voice I think in the US practitioner world athat is talking about the crucial connections between quality and sustainability issues. We will be sharing information on this event soon! And I also think organizing regionally is a great idea. I think there is so much herb schools and practitioners can do about that. That’s hopefully one of the potential outcomes of the April event! Thank you again for taking the time to write. Best, Ann