07/11/2025
I have been wondering for a long time, about the dynamics of growing and using herbs and foods for most of our medicines. Many of the herbs we American herbal product makers use are supplied in bulk amounts by growers in other countries. No doubt if you are such an herb-crafter, you have noted a gradual decrease in availability and increase in price over the years.
Chamomile from Bulgaria, Mullein flower from Greece and Albania. Blue lotus root from Thailand. Triphala and Brahmi from India. So much of our herbal medicines come from other growers in other countries with labor costs much cheaper than what American workers and growers would accept or afford to tolerate.
Habitat loss due to development for construction or mega-farming or cattle grazing. Climate changes making former growing places inhospitable for certain plants. Increased fuel costs of overseas shipping. And now tariffs on many imported goods. And it is difficult in other countries to make a living wage growing medicine plants, just as it is difficult here.
I don't feel inclined to be an "herbal isolationist" though. For one, I don't think the fear and protectionist response is realistic anyway. The blue lotus that you try to grow in an artificially produced environment in say, Louisiana, will probably be expensive to grow and process, and not likely to have the same medicinal or psychoactive effects as its subtropical sister. So I think we herbalists could think more about how to support our growers of things that are uniquely suited to different environments in many countries, and also look at the herbal medicine plants that could be grown and processed on the US continent, that could continue to support small, Indigenous, regional and local medicines and economies.
We talk more about sustainable food supplies and nutritional resources. How about we look at sustainable medicine?
https://www.supplysidesj.com/supplement-regulations/tariffs-on-imported-herbs-threaten-us-wellness-industry-consumer-access?utm_source=ahpa&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ahpa_update
https://www.supplysidesj.com/supplement-regulations/tariffs-on-imported-herbs-threaten-us-wellness-industry-consumer-access?utm_source=ahpa&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ahpa_update
