Sustainable Herbal Supply Chain Intensive

Much of an herb’s efficacy is connected to its origin story: where and how it was grown, processed, and packaged, and by whom. Sustainably produced herbs are critical to an herbal market that both benefits people and protects the planet. In this intensive, Herbal Academy partners with the Sustainable Herbs Program (SHP) to bring you an in-depth understanding of sustainable practices in the herbal supply chain, from your local bioregion all the way to a global scale. 

Ann Armbrecht, PhD

This intensive was designed to highlight the important work the SHP has been doing for a number of years under the direction of Ann Armbrecht, PhD. Ann began this work in 2015 with a fundraising campaign to tell the stories of the people and plants behind finished herbal products and later was awarded the 2017 Fulbright-Nehru Scholarship for documenting the supply chain of herbs in India, which led to development of both the SHP and her book, The Business of Botanicals: Exploring the Healing Promise of Plant Medicines in a Global Industry.

There are three sessions to this series—three lessons, each containing multiple videos developed by the Sustainable Herbs Program and excerpts from The Business of Botanicals.

Session 1 | Herbal Sustainability and Quality: Session 1 defines what sustainable herbs are by exploring the many different steps in the herbal supply chain, even peeking into a primary herb processing center in Poland for an insider’s viewpoint. What impact does pollution and water or soil contamination have on the supply chain? How do you assess what your role is in the supply chain and how to make it more sustainable?

Session 2 | Relationships Through the Supply Chain: In this session, we explore why the relationships between those involved in the supply chain are all-important. We go into the field to learn about relationship dynamics through examples of cultivated herbs from senna to haritaki berry. Why is paying attention to the numerous parts of the supply chain instrumental to caring for the whole?

Session 3 | Place-Based Case Studies. In Session 3 we travel to vastly different landscapes all over the world to learn from various methods of sustainable herb management. From Costa Rica to Appalachia to Oregon to India, you will gain an international perspective on what is possible in the herbal supply chain.

Let’s get started!