I’m so excited about the initiatives about how you’re growing those or how you’re partnering to get those grown.
Well, to give a little bit… I was going to say, if you are really excited about the high price of rhodiola, you should look at the price of our goldenseal and ginseng in particular. Talk a little bit about where that rhodiola is coming from, how it’s being grown, and all of the amazing things that we’re getting for that price. But because it is Mountain Rose, and because I know so much about your sustainability initiatives, I am so excited about what that number represents. And of course it doesn’t represent that every expensive thing you buy. But what I’m really excited about when I see that number is what it represents. A lot of people might think that I’m kind of weird to say that. And I have to say that when I see that, I feel so excited. But I want to kind of position this from the start that rhodiola, on the Mountain Rose website this morning, is selling for $117 a pound. I want to launch off, and then I’m going to stop talking and just let you talk for a while. And I’m so excited to be talking about sustainability and stewardship and the price of herbs and the cost of herbs and what you are really buying when you buy herbs. So, with that in mind we are super excited to introduce Shawn Donnille, who is the owner of Mountain Rose Herbs. And if we approach herbalism as consumers, we will in fact consume it all. Which means in relationship with the earth, in relationship with the growers, and okay, well actually everything is connected here. So, we need to rebuild ourselves into stewards, people in relationship with plants. So, there’s some rebuilding that needs to happen here. And what are we instead, or maybe what do we need to rebuild ourselves into? Because literally we all grew up in this consumer economy. So, we might need to say it together like a mantra.
And sometimes I’m really afraid that as the popularity of herbalism snowballs, that part of the teaching might be being left out. So I want to start right off here with the reality that as herbalists, we are actually not consumers. We need a new thought process about everything we purchase, but especially, specifically about how we’re buying herbs. But listen, nothing about that is sustainable. We’ve been taught to think about what we want and to prioritize getting it as cheap as possible. Here’s the interview.Īs people in this time and place, we are taught to be consumers. And I think that you all will enjoy hearing about how Mountain Rose Herbs is focusing on herbal sustainability, and what all of us can do to contribute to that effort. It was still a really great conversation. There was some definite cheerleading happening, but don’t worry. And then we were talking to Shawn, and I got really, really excited. But the thing is I get really excited about businesses who are trying to do good things in the world. And y’all, I promised myself that I would leave my pompoms at home. I was really looking forward to having this conversation. We talked with him about their sustainability practices and their partnerships, and why it’s a good thing that rhodiola is expensive. This week we’re going to take a brief interlude in our herbs A to Z series, because we had the chance to interview Shawn Donnille, owner of Mountain Rose Herbs. Holistic Herbalism Podcast, Episode 109: Sustainability for HerbalistsĪnd we’re here at Commonwealth Holistic Herbalism in Boston, Massachusetts.Īnd on the internet everywhere thanks to the podcast.CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species).That commitment leads them to make some business decisions that put plants ahead of profits – just the way it should be! They are one of the biggest herbal suppliers in the United States, so it’s important that they’re taking seriously the impact their business has on plant populations. One company working for good in this way is Mountain Rose Herbs. We must pay special attention to the activities of large corporations, because they can have much larger impacts than single people – for good or for ill. But like all issues of environmental sustainability, it’s not just about individual decisions and habits. As herbalism is becoming more popular, the sustainability of plants themselves needs to be a primary focus for all of us.
0 kommentar(er)
