Women are the leading providers of agricultural work in many regions of the world, including in the fields of our organic farm partners in India. Learn how the Fair for Life fair trade program helps empower this female-led labor force through equitable wages, paid time off, and working conditions that are safe for farmers and the environment.

Albania's mountains and valleys teem with rich botanical bounty. Mountain Rose Herbs and United Plant Savers visited its fecund countryside at the peak of the autumn harvest to meet the farmers and wildharvesters who help bring culinary apothecary herbs and fruits to plant lovers across the world (like the ripe and ready hawthorn berries above!).

United Plant Savers' Susan Leopold and Mountain Rose Herbs' Jennifer Gerrity travel into the Balkan mountains at the peak of the autumn harvest to visit our organic farm and harvest partners in the Bulgarian countryside.

Amidst the stunning foliage of a golden autumn, I journeyed into the lush valleys and mountains of Bulgaria to seek out the wild plant collection sites where our regional partners harvest an array of our botanicals. Accompanying me on this trip was my esteemed colleague, ethnobotanist Dr. Susan Leopold, Executive Director of United Plant Savers. We wanted to gain a deeper understanding of the horticulture of Bulgaria, meet the people who harvest these plants, observe their traditional methods firsthand, and learn about the culture surrounding plants in the Balkans.

Ashwagandha is to Ayurveda what Ginseng is to Traditional Chinese Medicine. It’s a cornerstone root used through the ages as a part of daily life. A root so treasured that its popularity has spread globally and its use is common.

Earlier this summer, The Future of Ginseng and Forest Botanicals Symposium was held on the beautiful Monongahela River in Morgantown, West Virginia. This critical event was organized by Dr. Susan Leopold, Executive Director of the nonprofit United Plant Savers, and we were pleased to be in attendance.

Chief Operations Officer, Jennifer, visits with a group of Fair for Life farmers on this intercropped forest farm with yearround harvestability in three stories of the forest canopy.

Increasing demand for spices acquired from tree barks, such as our beloved cassia (a.k.a. cinnamon) is putting many tree species in peril worldwide. At Mountain Rose Herbs, we are passionate about supporting sustainable harvesting that preserves the life and integrity of the tree, rather than killing it. Our Fair for Life Project farmers in India use methods that are unconventional, harvesting only small sections of the tree bark and then allowing the tree to heal completely before taking more.

A proud Fair for Life farmer shows off our certified organic nutmeg and mace fruits.

The smiles on the faces of the farmers as I handed them organic cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, and clove saplings were ear-to-ear grins. Today, I had the pleasure of hand-delivering the saplings to one of the 60 farms we collaborate with as part of our innovative Fair for Life Project.

Chief Operations Officer, Jennifer, helps field workers prepare our certified organic turmeric farmland for replanting.

As part of my most recent trip to the Mountain Rose Herbs Fair For Life Project in southern India, I visited the remote agricultural village of Kollegala, based in the foothills of the Western Ghats. It’s a fertile farming land with a dry growing season and heavy summer rains. The community in this area makes its living primarily from the sales of turmeric (Curcuma longa). The turmeric growers here represent the largest farming group in our innovative Fair for Life Project, and they grow turmeric exclusively for  Mountain Rose Herbs. 

Chief Operations Officer, Jennifer, in our organic Fair for Life turmeric field post-harvest.

As the Chief Operations Officer for Mountain Rose Herbs, I regularly visit our Fair for Life Project in southern India. Most recently, I traveled to the state of Karnataka to meet our organic farmers and check in on important developments there.