FROM THE GROUND UP

FROM THE GROUND UP Modern Herbalism is a Grassroots Movement

by Patricia Staino

As long as herbs have grown, their cultivation, gathering, preparation and sharing have synergized a kind of grassroots movement, spurred by neighbor helping neighbor and “hyped” by word of mouth. Herbalism goes back thousands of years, to early healers and mystics, although in the last century or so, its purpose was obscured and its practice frequently misunderstood. “I’ve been working as an herbalist for nearly 25 years, and one of the things I hear more than anything else is people don’t know what [herbalism] means,” says Lupo Passero of Twin Star, a New Milford-based apothecary and school of herbal and energetic arts. “They either think I grow cannabis for a living or that I’m a naturopathic or homeopathic doctor, which I don’t and I’m not. There’s a lot of confusion about what an herbalist is.”

Better Together According to the American Herbalist Guild, herbalists are people who dedicate their lives to working with medicinal plants. They include, but are not limited to, native healers, scientists, naturopaths, holistic medical doctors, researchers, writers, herbal pharmacists, medicine makers, wild crafters, harvesters, herbal farmers and possibly your own grandmother. The scope of related vocations makes sense when you realize how many of their tools are rooted in the soil under our very feet. Joan Palmer, a nutritionist and community herbalist, found the connections intriguing; the symbiosis of food, health, health, healing and lifestyle motivated her to start The Institute Of Sustainable Nutrition in West Granby. She had completed her degree in human nutrition, but felt that her course of study, and many like it, focused narrowly on a statistic of what food is. I was really frustrated because I knew that the nutrients found in a carrot are not the same if they are grown with chemicals in lifeless soil as opposed to being grown by sustainable, regenerative gardening practices,” she says. “I knew we couldn’t talk about nutrition and not also talk about the health of the soil, herbs, and what grows in our area, both wild and cultivated. From there it became a whole picture of sustainability.” The one-year certificate program Palmer developed around sustainable nutrition takes her students on a journey from science to gardening and foraging, to culinary skills like fermentation, to herbalism, preparing healing remedies, and even mixing up their own cleaning and body care products. While some students attend to round out their professions, many more attend to educate themselves on sustainable practices to improve their well-being. “This is truly a community movement,” she says.

Back to Basics Herbalism fell out of favor about 100 years ago, but there’s been a resurgence in people returning to the earth, beginning with the counter-culture of the ‘60s and increasing since, especially during the past decade. Passero, an herbalist, educator and flower essence practitioner, was inspired by her grandmother, who was born in Italy and spent her life as a homesteader who wildcrafted her own plants and grew a lot of her own medicines. “She was raised with the old-world ideology of finding your food and medicine in your own backyard,” says Passero. Since Twin Star opened 10 years ago, Passero has seen interest in the field grow and, at any given time, there are around 150 students enrolled in classes and programs. Students—those who attend one-off, drop-in seminars as well as those who attend programs lasting nine months to three years—learn all aspects of herbalism, including how to identify plants, work with them to brew herbal remedies, and then get the plants into the hands of people who need them. Local herbalists say they see many people seeking support for mood disorders, anxiety, depression, inflammation and reproductive and fertility issues. One of the most popular reasons for seeing an herbalist is to find natural treatments for colds and flu and first aid, as well as beauty and skin care. “The thing I feel most passionate about is helping people remember that this is what our ancestors have done from the very beginning—that keeps me inspired every day. And seeing people get well, in a time where so many people’s needs are not being met by the current medical system, particularly the millions of folks that do not have insurance,” says Passero.“They can come into the apothecary with $2 in their pocket, and I can scoop out $2 worth of the dried herbs and send them home to make their teas and help them be well. It’s really an affordable way to give access to proper health care to all.”

Helpful Healing Gayle Nogas, a master herbalist, longstanding member of the Connecticut Herb Association, and a member of Northeast Herbal Association, began her journey to herbalism more than 25 years ago while searching for relief from anxiety and panic attacks. “The only answer at that time was, ‘Here are some tranquilizers, just go home and get drugged up and you’ll be fine.’ As a single mom raising three kids, I didn’t have time to be drugged up and in Lalaland,” she remembers. One day, she attended a luncheon at Caprilands Herb Farm in Coventry, where a leading figure of herbalism (and the farm’s owner)—Adelma Simmons—was speaking. Simmons, who died in 1997, was one of the leading herbalists of the 20th century. Caprilands was her family farm and she made her first attempt to grow vegetables there while raising goats. Goat farming didn’t pay the bills, however, and her early attempts at growing crops failed due to the rocky soil. Eventually, she tried her hand at herbs, and the farm flourished. She left her entire estate to the Caprilands Institute, a nonprofit educational organization that furthered her research in herbs, plants and flowers. “Adelma started talking about medicinal herbs for relaxation, and that just opened up the whole door to everything,” says Nogas. “I bought all her books, went there as often as I could and learned everything I could from her lectures. I realized the doctors could take their prescriptions and shove them because I didn’t need them; I had alternatives.” Nogas opened her own herb shop in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts and soon banded together with like-minded enthusiasts to start the Connecticut Herb Association (CHA). The group’s primary goal is to educate and share the diverse world of herbs with one another and throughout the state, as well as compiling a local network of herb-related resources. They do so by hosting a monthly medicinal herb study group and events focused on topics like plant spirit medicine, bitters recipes, product swaps, plant propagation and more. Nogas says she is seeing an uptick in interest in herbs and herbal medicine, and the group’s membership is diverse in age and background. Young mothers, in particular, have been seeking out the group’s resources, as they look for a more natural, healthy way of bringing up their babies: “They’re making their own baby foods and cleaning products. We’re all realizing now that we’re being poisoned, and young mothers don’t want to raise their kids like that.” Palmer, who reminds her students that “food can be medicine, too,” agrees that an interest in sustainable nutrition and herbalism takes many forms, and doesn’t always stem from furthering oneself in a health-related career: “We have people that just want to make changes in their lives, that just want to bring this to their families, people who have health issues, teachers who want to share with their students, carpenters even—people from all careers and all walks of life. They just want to improve their well-being and the environment.”

One Giant Leaf for Mankind What kind of impact could herbalism have on a community if more people took an interest? “I think it would have an empowering impact, to be able to take care of yourself and your family, to support vitality and longevity, and to have a more healthful lifestyle,” says Passero. Similarly, Palmer believes sustainable nutrition could be the much-needed salve to boost overall mood, health and outlook, a hope that drives her mission every day. “The impact could be significant. I know we’d be healthier. I think we’d be happier. I think this epidemic of anxiety and depression, even now with our young children, a big piece of it is diet- and chemical-related. This information is paramount to health and happiness. I think we are seeing behavior, mood, health in general being impacted by our food and our environment.”

Patricia Staino is a freelance writer and editor living in North Carolina, who is also the managing editor of Natural Awakenings’ Fairfield County/Housatonic Valley and Greater Hartford editions.

How to Choose an Herbalist

by Patricia Staino H erbalists feel deep connection to plants and the earth; they like to speak of their relationship with plants and the respect for what they contribute to the earth. “Once you spend enough time with plants, you get to know them and see what they have to offer, their generosity, their beauty, their scent,” says Lupo Passero of Twin Star, a New Milford-based apothecary and school of herbal and energetic arts. “Just following nature and paying attention to the beautiful order that was created for us is so intriguing. And it’s a never-ending study, so it’s not likely you’ll ever get bored. One could study herbal medicine for 50 lifetimes and still wouldn’t learn all that there is to learn about the plants just in their immediate ecosystem.” There are currently no state or federal laws regulating herbalists, which suits Passero just fine: “I think that’s a blessing because I would hate to see the government get their hands on something that is really a birthright of all people. A lot of herbalists could have gained their knowledge directly from indigenous people, or their own grandmother, or an elder in the community who has worked with plants for a lifetime. Just because someone went to the best herb school in the country doesn’t mean they’re going to be a better herbalist than someone who has studied with their grandmother or a First Nation’s person for the last 10 years.” That being said, herbalists do selfregulate, following guidelines set forward by the American Herbalists Guild (AHG), which was founded in 1989 in the mountains of Breitenbush, Oregon. While there are no formal “degree” programs, herbal education, like yoga teacher training, is based upon the hours spent learning. The AHG recommends that a practicing herbalist have more than 1600 hours of training. An herbalist’s education should include medical applications of the plants, botany, plant identification, phytochemistry, understanding herb/drug interactions, medicine-making and proper formulation. Passero recommends students study for two and a half to three years before going out to practice on their own. And while not all students become herbalists, they do find ways to incorporate what they’ve learned into the paths they’ve been traveling. For example, a massage therapist may start working with botanical oils, while a therapist may use flower essences with patients and a chef may add new herbs to her menu. “There are many different ways to share this knowledge, and that’s why we call it an art as well as a science,” says Passero. Customers should be comfortable asking herbalists very specific questions, such as where they studied, what they studied and how long they studied. A good herbalist should learn by getting outside and working with the plants, not only studying them on the internet. In addition to affirming an herbalist’s knowledge, clients should be comfortable with their personality and most importantly, their personal philosophy of health and healing. “My personal philosophy is looking at folks’ emotional, mental and spiritual needs as well as the physical needs because they’re all connected,” says Passero. “But clients should follow their gut and their own intuition when choosing someone to work with. Just because somebody is a professional doesn’t mean will be the right fit as your practitioner.” Gayle Nogas, a master herbalist and longstanding member of the Connecticut Herb Association, also stresses that those seeking herbal remedies should educate themselves on herbs, treatments and especially possible interactions with pharmaceuticals. “I wish I could get the word out there to people: Don’t be stupid, don’t be stupid,” she says. “A health magazine, vitamin shop or someone on TV tells you an herb is good for you, and you want to take it. But you have to be in charge of your own health. If you are on medications or have a serious illness—heart conditions, COPD, high blood pressure—herbs can interact with them. They’re not something to play with it. You really need to find knowledgeable people to discuss it with and do the research. An organization like the Connecticut Herb Association would be a CamilleWhite/Bigstock.com

good place to start.” Clients should also ask where an herbalist sources their herbs. According to Passero, many herbs can be grown locally, so there’s no reason they shouldn’t be organic, locally sourced or wildcrafted. “You don’t really want to go with herbs that have been shipped in from India or China unless they are plants indigenous to those areas that we can’t grow here,” she says. Additionally, when browsing in a local herb shop, Nogas encourages customers to use their own discerning eye and sense of smell. Herbs should be colorful and fragrant. If they’re not, they are mostly likely well past their useful prime: “When I teach my students, I show them crappy herbs and compare them to really good herbs, so they know the difference.” Most importantly, a reputable herbalist will not offer a diagnosis for what ails you. While they can recommend herbal remedies that have supported similar symptoms, they are not qualified to offer medical advice. However, many clients visit an herbalist with a diagnosis in hand, often after conventional medical treatment has not worked or may have exacerbated symptoms. Again, while the herbalist cannot offer a “cure,” they can recommend herbs that have been shown to offer relief from symptoms or to support body systems that are not working at full capacity. The traditional medical establishment usually doesn’t recommend herbal treatments due to regulatory issues (since herbalism is not a regulated industry, medical doctors can’t prescribe herbal remedies as treatment or cure). Yet, Passero says doctors, nurses and pharmacists alike attend classes at Twin Star to learn more about herbalism; as many of their patients increasingly seek out alternative, natural and herbal remedies to ease what ails them, the more conventional medical practitioners want to be more knowledgeable about their use and potential interactions.

Patricia Staino is a freelance writer and editor living in North Carolina, who is also the managing editor of Natural Awakenings’ Fairfield County/Housatonic Valley and Greater Hartford editions.

Foraging Your Own Path Beyond offering a one-year certification in sustainable nutrition, The Institute Of Sustainable Nutrition in West Granby often runs sustainable foraging walks to educate the public on the nutritional and medicinal value of Connecticut’s wild, indigenous plants, how to identify them, and how to responsibly gather and utilize them. Natural Awakenings recently talked to the Institute’s founder, Joan Palmer, about the growing interest in local foraging.

What excites you about sustainable nutrition? It’s important to understand what wants to grow in our area and how we can grow and prepare it without impacting the rest of the world. How do we grow our food and medicine so we’re not shipping in amendments and fertilizers—even organic products—from around the world, where we don’t know how the workers and the land were treated? Why aren’t we using fermentations and local minerals that work on the health and biology of the soil? What’s good for the soil is good for the plants, is good for the animals, the environment and us.

Why is foraging an important part of nutrition education? We try throughout the year to get students out foraging to learn about some of the really plentiful herbs/weeds, trees, shrubs and more in our region, even some of the “invasives.” There’s a vendetta to get rid of the invasives and weeds in our area, but many of them, from an herbalist’s and nutritionist’s perspective, are useful. A lot of them have powerful medicine in them. Japanese knotweed is a perfect example; it’s a vilified invasive, and it is one that wants to take over everything, but it also is a very important plant for emerging bacterial infections like Lyme disease. A lot of these invasives are also edible, so rather than just putting them in big plastic bags and sending them off to a landfill, we could be harvesting, preparing and consuming them. Many of the wild plants are more nutritious and mineralrich than much of the produce found in our grocery stores.

So, pulling these invasives solves two problems? Using invasives helps the native plants not be “out-competed” and gives us access to important plant medicine, much of which is also edible and nourishing. As foraging becomes more popular, we worry about the impact of overharvesting noninvasive plants in our wild spaces, so we emphasize sustainable foraging. If you find a stand of a certain plant, what are the criteria to know if that is something you should be harvesting? What are the numbers of plants in that local stand, regionally, nationally? Is it in a clean location? How much can you take without impacting the survivability of the group? How much do you really need? We teach students that there’s an ethical concern we have to address when we start foraging.

For more information on programs through The Institute of Sustainable Nutrition, or to sign up for its next foraging walk, visit TIOSN.com. See ad, page 21.