Old skills and gratitude

In the hills north of Montpelier, Vermont a small group of folks (some of them are herbalists too, studying at our school) are teaching skills humans have possessed for a long, long time. The Roots School instructors have been mastering tracking, tool-making, weapon-crafting, fire-summoning, fiber-spinning, hide-tanning and more...

Many people are interested in these traditional approaches to meet the basic needs of life. Why is this? Does learning this stuff have any inherent value?

The need for long-term thinking in medicine: Cinnamon as a case study

Here in Vermont, we are approaching the first anniversary of a storm that, over less than a day, poured an incredible amount of rain over the mountains, down the streams, and into narrow river valleys. The hill towns were quickly overwhelmed and literally swept away on huge torrents of water. These types of events are outliers, “hundred-year” floods. We tend not to think about them until they happen. If a river floods one spring, and washes away our garden, we could just build a retaining wall and be fine for years. But in Vermont, it seems that sort of thought process may have contributed to the severity of last summer’s event: narrower valleys, more constrained riverbeds, actually increased the torrent’s force and destructive power. As we rebuild, civil engineers are taking this into account.

Plant medicine heals more than just people

We often discuss how effective plants can be at supporting and gently bringing human beings back to a state of "wellness" (meaning that resiliency, vibrancy, passion are maximized). I've spent a lot of time exploring how this happens, reading through the historical record and perusing modern research, and on balance it seems pretty clear that medicinal herbs, trees, mushrooms and more are good at helping folks in need. But that's not what I want to discuss today.

Canadian herbal product regulation

There's a somewhat alarming development afoot in Canada relating to the sale, use and dispensation of herbal medicines and "natural" supplements. We've been following the discussion on herbal product regulation here in the United States, and looked briefly at the impact that Canadian legislation passed in 2004 (very similar to the FDA's current rules) and the impact it's had on herbalists.

Herbs regulated as drugs

Michael McGuffin, President of the American Herbal Products Association wrote an interesting counterpoint in response to an editorial in the journal Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (full text for both should be available for all starting in April 08).

Herbal medicine commentary: are we chasing fairies ?

"By proper Herbalism, I mean the variety practiced by Herbalists who have devoted many years of study to the application of herbs for medical purposes, as opposed to the fairy chasing brigade who hijack any therapy that they can practice with minimal effort..."