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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.