The wild harvesting of botanicals is a practice as old as herbalism itself and many of the cornerstone products here at Mountain Rose Herbs are collected in this tradition. These important herbs may come from the temperate mixed forests of Eastern Europe, shrublands of Africa, or closer to home in the Appalachian Mountains of the United States.
While the systems designed to promote fair, transparent, and equitable supply chains in cultivated agriculture have existed for a long time, the push to likewise represent wild harvesters has been a relatively recent movement. This is why we have adopted a new FairWild Certification.
The FairWild standard is a collection of principles and regulatory criteria that govern the supply chain for wild harvester operations as well as the companies that buy from them. While these are complex and touch on a wide array of detailed topics, they are centered around 3 main themes: Ecological, Socio-Cultural, and Business Practices.
FairWild Principles in Action
Ecological: Certification ensures the ways in which a botanical is harvested protects and nurtures both the target species as well as the broader environment.
Socio-Cultural: In addition to considerations for the plants, FairWild certification demands that fair and transparent compensation is provided to workers. It also takes into consideration the unique local needs of each specific wildharvest community.
Business Practices: Making this commitment to a wildharvest certification ensures strict adherence to all local, national, and international regulatory requirements.
The system is audited yearly to ensure that the standard is being upheld across the supply chain. All of this ensures that the people, plants, and environments that allow for this traditional component of herbalism remain protected. Mountain Rose Herbs is currently exploring which products to focus on first and is proud to now offer Organic Myrrh Gum Resin as certified FairWild, soon to be followed by Organic Frankincense Resin. These materials are sourced from Africa and the FairWild organization has gone to great lengths to ensure an equitable method of paying workers in a very complicated socioeconomic environment. Stay tuned for more information about our FairWild Certified offerings and how we continue to ensure an ethical and sustainable future for the herbal community.
You may also be interested in:
Topics: Our Farms, Sustainability
Thomas Klingensmith is the Regulatory Compliance Officer at Mountain Rose Herbs and has worked for the company for over 10 years. Most of his time with the company has been spent in their world class testing laboratory. Thomas comes from a background in local food systems and holds a master’s degree in Anthropology. When he isn’t interpreting the most recent revisions to Federal Organic Policy or collaborating with vendors and customers around the world, he can be found exploring the Oregon wilderness looking for the coldest water to swim in, trying a new recipe from his collection of Southeast Asian cookbooks, or planning his next international trip.
The wild harvesting of botanicals is a practice as old as herbalism itself and many of the cornerstone products here at Mountain Rose Herbs are collected in this tradition. These important herbs may come from the temperate mixed forests of Eastern Europe, shrublands of Africa, or closer to home in the Appalachian Mountains of the United States.
While the systems designed to promote fair, transparent, and equitable supply chains in cultivated agriculture have existed for a long time, the push to likewise represent wild harvesters has been a relatively recent movement. This is why we have adopted a new FairWild Certification.
The FairWild standard is a collection of principles and regulatory criteria that govern the supply chain for wild harvester operations as well as the companies that buy from them. While these are complex and touch on a wide array of detailed topics, they are centered around 3 main themes: Ecological, Socio-Cultural, and Business Practices.
FairWild Principles in Action
Ecological: Certification ensures the ways in which a botanical is harvested protects and nurtures both the target species as well as the broader environment.
Socio-Cultural: In addition to considerations for the plants, FairWild certification demands that fair and transparent compensation is provided to workers. It also takes into consideration the unique local needs of each specific wildharvest community.
Business Practices: Making this commitment to a wildharvest certification ensures strict adherence to all local, national, and international regulatory requirements.
The system is audited yearly to ensure that the standard is being upheld across the supply chain. All of this ensures that the people, plants, and environments that allow for this traditional component of herbalism remain protected. Mountain Rose Herbs is currently exploring which products to focus on first and is proud to now offer Organic Myrrh Gum Resin as certified FairWild, soon to be followed by Organic Frankincense Resin. These materials are sourced from Africa and the FairWild organization has gone to great lengths to ensure an equitable method of paying workers in a very complicated socioeconomic environment. Stay tuned for more information about our FairWild Certified offerings and how we continue to ensure an ethical and sustainable future for the herbal community.
You may also be interested in:
Topics: Our Farms, Sustainability
Thomas Klingensmith is the Regulatory Compliance Officer at Mountain Rose Herbs and has worked for the company for over 10 years. Most of his time with the company has been spent in their world class testing laboratory. Thomas comes from a background in local food systems and holds a master’s degree in Anthropology. When he isn’t interpreting the most recent revisions to Federal Organic Policy or collaborating with vendors and customers around the world, he can be found exploring the Oregon wilderness looking for the coldest water to swim in, trying a new recipe from his collection of Southeast Asian cookbooks, or planning his next international trip.
