At Mountain Rose Herbs, we have been in a years-long process of shifting our procurement policies away from wildharvested herbs in favor of cultivated ones whenever possible. This policy was necessitated by the increasing impact of overharvesting on some of the most popular herbs and spices around the world. In some cases, for instance with white sage (Salvia apiana), we have been able to source excellent organic, cultivated options, which means we can continue to offer this herbal ally with a good conscience. In other cases, however, as with false unicorn (Chamaelirium luteum) and trillium (Trillium spp.), we have chosen to discontinue carrying an herb because we simply cannot find an ethical way to procure it. As we are navigating an increasingly complex procurement reality, I want to give you a peek behind the curtain, as it were, into why and how we determine what we can sell while prioritizing the overall wellbeing of people, plants, and planet.
People have been wildharvesting medicinal herbs since the beginning of human time, so the question is, “What has changed that makes us have to look at this practice differently now?”
I have been in the business of organic herbs for more than two decades and have witnessed firsthand the enormous increase in wildharvesting. Twenty or thirty years ago, there were perhaps five to ten thousand working herbalists in North America going out into the wild to harvest botanicals. Many of them were well-meaning but not properly educated on how to nurture the plants that they harvested, but in those days the wild still seemed expansive. Today, land use regulations have changed, allowing communities to push farther into formerly uninhabited areas at the same time that there has been an exponential growth in interest in herbalism and wildharvesting. Now we have less wild land and roughly half a million herbalists in North America, many of whom venture out to gather botanicals from the wild. To put it succinctly, there are just too many of us now harvesting from more limited wild populations.
The problem is that, at this time, there isn’t enough infrastructure in place for wide-scale organic herb cultivation. There are only a handful of farmers around the world that specialize in the cultivation of medicinal herbs. And, while there is certainly interest, there is a strong barrier to entry because experimental herb cultivation is prohibitively expensive for working farmers.
There is obviously no quick fix for this problem, but Mountain Rose Herbs is determined to be part of the long-term solution. Currently, we are involved with carefully selected farmers who are developing cultivation programs for at-risk botanicals. Our ultimate goal is to make the pertinent information from these programs available for free to other farmers, growers, and herbalists—soil types, growing conditions, climate requirements, shade vs. sun. etc.—in order to expedite the learning process so that more farmers can find affordable ways to get involved in organic medicinal herb cultivation sooner rather than later.
In the meantime, our first choice is always to seek out a cultivated organic source for botanicals, and if none is available, we rely on our stringent procurement protocols to make sure we only offer ethically wildharvested herbs. We work closely with organizations like United Plant Savers and CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) to determine if an herb should ever be harvested in the wild and, if so, when and where. When wildharvesting of botanicals is acceptable, we have longstanding agreements with a very small, very select group of trusted wildharvesters. Because we have been working with our wildharvesting team for more than two decades, we have been able to hone it down to a group of some of the finest certified harvesters who can offer us complete transparency—we know they have the proper permitting on file, we have been out in the field with them, and we know their harvesting sites. This is the only way we can guarantee that we are doing our best for the botanical communities we cherish.
Unfortunately, I am afraid that the issues of today are going to become more problematic over the next years and will impact a wider variety of plants due to land use issues, climate change, and ongoing overharvesting. Those of us advocating for the botanical world must take action wherever and whenever we can. Steps we can all take to protect our precious herbal allies include:
Together, we can make a difference. Onward!
You may also enjoy: