Herbal Radio

Happy holidays and belated Winter Solstice, Herbal Radio listeners! Thank you for tuning in with us for this week's episode. Today, we chat with esteemed author and food-expert, Jon Steinman. Jon is the face and writer behind Grocery Story: The Promise of Food Co-ops in the Age of Grocery Giants, which offers inspiring stories and a thorough analysis of American and Canadian food co-ops using real life examples. Through his wiring, Jon dissects the food retail sector and the shadows cast by corporate giants. He makes a strong case for food co-ops being the crucial alternative to create local food-based economies and enhance low-income food access across communities. Jon's expertise within the food industry for over two decades, there truly is no better person to shed light on the evolution and current standing of our food-gathering rituals. Jon Steinman has studied and worked with all things food for 25 years. He was an elected director from 2006-2016 of the Kootenay Co-op – Canada's largest retail food co-op specializing in natural foods, serving as Board President from 2014-2016. Following the publication of his book Grocery Story: the Promise of Food Co-ops in the Age of Grocery Giants (New Society Publishers 2019), he completed an extensive book tour that took him to 125 food co-ops and 23 in their development phases. Jon regularly delivers educational sessions to food co-op boards and staff and is a frequent guest speaker at food co-op annual meetings and book clubs. In 2023, Jon became an Accredited Professional Dialogue Practitioner through the Academy of Professional Dialogue and introduces organizations such as food co-ops to this mode of communication. Jon was the producer and host of the internationally syndicated radio show and podcast Deconstructing Dinner, once ranked as the most-listened-to food podcast in Canada and was writer and host of Deconstructing Dinner: Reconstructing our Food System – a television and web series available online. Jon coordinated and curated the annual Deconstructing Dinner Film Festival of food documentaries and was involved in a number of local food initiatives including the Kootenay Grain CSA - Canada's first community supported agriculture project for grain and G.E. Free Kootenays. Join our community! Subscribe to the Mountain Rose Herbs newsletter Subscribe to Mountain Rose Herbs on YouTube Follow on Instagram Like on Facebook Follow on Pinterest Follow on Twitter Read the Mountain Rose Herbs blog Follow on TikTok Strengthening the bonds between people and plants for a healthier world. Mountain Rose Herbs www.mountainroseherbs.com

Welcome back to Herbal Radio plant-enthusiasts, thank you for joining us for this week's episode. We had the pleasure of sitting down with our long-time friend and proprietor of Herbcraft, jim mcdonald. Last time jim was our featured guest on Herbal Radio, we shared his enthralling presentation from the Summer 2022 Free Herbalism Project on the virtues of plantain – an infinitely sustainable and resilient plant that often carries the unfortunate reputation of being a pesky weed. Today, jim dives deeper into what constitutes a "weed", and what allows a botanical to cross over the threshold of what we consider carrying medicinal value. Without giving too much of Thomas and jim's conversation away, here is a quote from jim to start us off with an introspective thought, "Just because you can't do everything, doesn't mean you can't do anything". We truly hope you enjoy today's episode of Herbal Radio, we're so happy to have you here with us on this botanical ride. jim mcdonald is an herbalist, manic wildcrafter, and medicine maker in Southeast Michigan (that cool state that looks like a mitten you can see from space) where he teaches, sees clients, wildharvests, and concocts herbal formulas. In 1994, jim's life changed when he drank tea from a wild plant he harvested from the land he lived upon. Since those first sips of strange tea, his life in the woods and meadows of Southeast Michigan has centered itself on the plants & ecosystems of that land, and how he might share their virtues to restore wellness with those around him. His approach to herbalism is a blend of traditional folk and Indigenous influences mixed up with a bit of 19th century eclectic and physiomedical vitalism. He weaves his sense of humor and discretionary irreverence to his approach so as not to appear too serious about life! Jim hosts the websites www.herbcraft.org & herbcraft.podia.com, which list his offerings and conveys his thoughts on plants and herbalism (and if you've ever wondered, the lack of capitalization is an homage to e.e. cummings). Learn more about jim and his educational opportunities by clicking here. Join our community! Subscribe to the Mountain Rose Herbs newsletter Subscribe to Mountain Rose Herbs on YouTube Follow on Instagram Like on Facebook Follow on Pinterest Follow on Twitter Read the Mountain Rose Herbs blog Follow on TikTok Strengthening the bonds between people and plants for a healthier world. Mountain Rose Herbs www.mountainroseherbs.com

This week's guest on Herbal Radio is the knowledgeable and passionate naturopath, Taryn Forrelli. As an expert in wellness and supplement formulation using science-backed plant medicine, Taryn holds the title of Chief Science Officer at Traditional Medicinals. Thomas and Taryn chat about her upbringing in Boston, MA, and how her passion for uncovering medicinal secrets hidden within the individual cells of plants blossomed throughout her young adulthood. We truly hope you leave today's episode with a piece of newfound plant knowledge from this innovative and brilliant individual. Taryn has spent nearly 20 years working in the natural products industry including 12 years with New Chapter and 4 years with OLLY. She actively holds the title of Chief Science Officer at Traditional Medicinals and is responsible for their quality, formulation, and leading her team with science-backed innovative strategies. Her knowledge and understanding of plant medicine have allowed Taryn to collaborate with numerous organizations to launch over 60 science-backed dietary supplements. She is a Naturopathic Doctor and wellness expert with a passion for science, innovation, and formulation. Lean more about Taryn's work with Traditional Medicinals! Connect with Taryn on LinkedIn! Join our community! Subscribe to the Mountain Rose Herbs newsletter Subscribe to Mountain Rose Herbs on YouTube Follow on Instagram Like on Facebook Follow on Pinterest Follow on Twitter Read the Mountain Rose Herbs blog Follow on TikTok Strengthening the bonds between people and plants for a healthier world. Mountain Rose Herbs www.mountainroseherbs.com

The Botanical Bus, with Jocelyn Boreta | Tea Talks with Jiling Jocelyn Boreta is a community organizer, herbalist and the granddaughter of an Indigenous Farmworker. She is committed to cultivating health equity through culturally centered care. Before co-founding the Botanical Bus, Jocelyn organized weekly bilingual, bicultural wellness workshops with Cultivando para Salud at LandPaths Bayer Farm and worked as a clinical herbalist at Farmacopia for four years. Her activism has roots in 10-years working as Program Director of the Global Exchange Fair Trade Stores. Jocelyn holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Cultural Anthropology from University of California Santa Barbara and certification in herbalism from the California School of Herbal Studies. She believes that "Herbalism is activism. It shows us that we are connected to the earth, that we know how to heal ourselves, our families and our communities with the plants that grow around us." Jiling and Jocelyn discuss: Community as medicine, health as celebration Planting seeds of self-care through seasonal health Creating healthcare equity, access, and inclusion with culturally-centered services Food as medicine "Todos somos medicina" (We are all medicine") "Si sanas tu, sano yo" ("If you heal, I heal") Radical love The importance of stress and sleep support; starting with the nervous system The healing harvest Visit Jocelyn Boreta & The Botanical Bus at: TheBotanicalBus.org Instagram @Botanical.Bus Facebook @BilingualMobileHerbClinic Resources mentioned (from The Botanical Bus): Donate to the Botanical Bus (non-profit) Become a Botanical Bus volunteer (for licensed clinicians) Become a Botanical Bus apprentice! (3-4 BIPOC folks accepted each year) Join Botanical Bus Wellness Workshops (online + in-person) Learn more about the Botanical Bus Mobile Herb Clinic Read up on the Botanical Bus commitments About Jiling: Jiling Lin is a Licensed Acupuncturist (L.Ac) and herbalist in Ventura, CA. Visit Jiling at JilingLin.com, Instagram @LinJiling, and Facebook @JilingLAc. Get her free Nourishing Life (養生) template, Five Phases (五行) outline, or sign up for her newsletter here. Join our community! Subscribe to the Mountain Rose Herbs newsletter Subscribe to Mountain Rose Herbs on YouTube Follow on Instagram Like on Facebook Follow on Pinterest Follow on Twitter Read the Mountain Rose Herbs blog Follow on TikTok Strengthening the bonds between people and plants for a healthier world. Mountain Rose Herbs www.mountainroseherbs.com

Happy holiday season to all our plant-enthusiast listeners! For this episode of Herbal Radio, we'll be shaking things up a bit from the usual herbal adventure we find ourselves embarking on each week. Today, in acknowledgment of the Buy Nothing Day movement, we sit down with our President & Owner, Shawn Donnille. Shawn and Thomas will dissect the traditions behind Black Friday, and shed light on the consequences surrounding the mass-consumerism culture that we all find ourselves living in today. Whilst many large corporations are gearing up for some of their biggest sales of the year, Mountain Rose Herbs has other plans. Each year, we've marked our own Black Friday tradition by celebrating Buy Nothing Day. In making this stand, we are joining tens of thousands of people in 65 nations for an international day of protest against mass consumerism and the throw-away culture that accompanies it. The Buy Nothing Movement has been growing since 1992 as overconsumption continues to consume our precious natural resources faster than we can replace them, putting our planet in real jeopardy. If you visit our website today, you will see that our entire website is blacked out in protest of Black Friday. Instead, we hope you will spend the day with your family and friends, sharing acts of kindness, starting that craft project you've been putting off, listening to this podcast, or better yet, all of the above! This is a day to reach for the meaning in our lives instead of stuff, and we thank you all for being part of the solution alongside us. So please, do not shop with us today Friday, November 24. Shawn Donnille first became involved with Mountain Rose Herbs as a passionate young idealist with a fervent desire to change the world. He was the town's notorious rabble-rouser, always petitioning for mandatory labeling on genetically modified food crops, encouraging people to support a strong conservation ethic, fighting for the protection of endangered or threatened species, and the protection and enhancement of our riparian areas. When Mountain Rose Herbs came into his life, Shawn saw it as an opportunity to change the way business is conducted on this planet. To this day, the revolutionary business principles that Shawn initiated have been used as a successful model by countless other organizations around the world. Shawn became co-owner of the company in 2001, and since then he has initiated several bold and daring changes, most notably the eradication of all conventionally grown products from our product line, introducing the first line of fair trade certified medicinal herbs in the United States, implementing the design and deployment of our web presence, launching our zero waste program, our charitable giving program, and so much more! Now, Shawn proudly holds the title of our President & Owner, and he currently oversees all behind-the-scenes aspects of Mountain Rose Herbs that keep our herbal-ship afloat. In addition to this, he is intimately connected with developing all of our sustainability initiatives to further enhance and propel bold ideas that are being shared with numerous other corporations, non-profits, state agencies, and civic groups as a working model for success. "All of our environmental issues can be connected to the embarrassing way that business abuses this planet. My objective is to stop this destructive pattern by offering an alternative modality and sharing that modality with others so we can all lead the change necessary to heal the planet" Learn more about the organizations and initiatives mentioned in this episode: The Cornucopia Institute Letter from the Founder of Patagonia - Yvon Chouinard Mountain Rose Herbs Blog - Buy Nothing Day: A Stand Against Throw-Away Culture Join our community! Subscribe to the Mountain Rose Herbs newsletter Subscribe to Mountain Rose Herbs on YouTube Follow on Instagram Like on Facebook Follow on Pinterest Read the Mountain Rose Herbs blog Follow on TikTok Strengthening the bonds between people and plants for a healthier world. Mountain Rose Herbs www.mountainroseherbs.com

For this week's plant adventure on Herbal Radio, we sit down with the President of Native Botanical Inc., Edward Fletcher. We had the opportunity to learn about Ed's many intriguing life journeys that led him to his wide-spread successes throughout the herbal community today. We'll dive into Ed's upbringing, where his family founded the first nature preserve in North Carolina in the early 1900s, a memorable moment shared with his grandmother when he encountered his first taste of medicinal plant wisdom, and Ed's passion for ethical cultivation practices of the American ginseng plant. On top of his work as the President and COO at Native Botanicals Inc., Ed has also been a proud presenter at the AHPA's Botanical Congress for just shy of 5 years. His expertise on proper cultivation and propagation practices was key to the creation of AHPA's Good Stewardship Brochures. These valuable resources share conservation statuses and harvesting guidelines for a few of Mother Nature's at-risk botanicals. Learn more about this week's featured guest: Edward J. Fletcher is the President and COO of Native Botanicals, Inc.. He has been in the botanical business and made his livelihood with plants for all of his adult life. He learned about plants from the roots up, propagating and growing native American wildflowers in his family's 4th generation ornamental nursery business, Gardens of The Blue Ridge. He joined Wilcox Natural Products, and as Cultivation Manager where he developed and managed the cultivation program overseeing nearly 4,000 hectares in 8 different countries of medicinal species. He continued this work as the Chief Operating Officer of Strategic Sourcing, Inc's Botanical Division for 15 years. Join our community! Subscribe to the Mountain Rose Herbs newsletter Subscribe to Mountain Rose Herbs on YouTube Follow on Instagram Like on Facebook Follow on Pinterest Follow on Twitter Read the Mountain Rose Herbs blog Follow on TikTok Strengthening the bonds between people and plants for a healthier world. Mountain Rose Herbs www.mountainroseherbs.com

Mimi Prunella Hernandez is an herbalist, and author of the National Geographic Herbal. For over a decade, Mimi has served as the executive director of the American Herbalists Guild, where she has worked tirelessly to ensure that herbalists have a strong professional community to support their work. In 2023, Mimireceived a Botanical Excellence Award from the American Botanical Council. Jiling and Mimi discuss: What inspired "The National Geographic Herbal" Mimi's favorite writing spot(s)… including her chicken coop! Mimi's top writing rituals "Getting the call" from National Geographic The surprising plant that became the 100th herb of the book Visit Mimi Prunella Hernandez at: ThePonderland.com Instagram @MimiPrunellaHernandez Facebook @MimiPrunellaHerbal Order "The National Geographic Herbal" at: Penguin Random House Amazon Barnes & Noble Disney … or wherever you purchase your books About Jiling: Jiling Lin is a Licensed Acupuncturist (L.Ac) and herbalist in Ventura, CA. Visit Jiling at JilingLin.com, Instagram @LinJiling, and Facebook @JilingLAc. Get her free Nourishing Life (養生) template, Five Phases (五行) outline, or sign up for her newsletter here. Join our community! Subscribe to the Mountain Rose Herbs newsletter Subscribe to Mountain Rose Herbs on YouTube Follow on Instagram Like on Facebook Follow on Pinterest Read the Mountain Rose Herbs blog Follow on TikTok Strengthening the bonds between people and plants for a healthier world. Mountain Rose Herbs www.mountainroseherbs.com

Today's Herbal Radio episode features Mason Hutchison, a true rising star in the herbalism community and the founder of HerbRally. Mason grew up in Eugene, OR and held the title of Event Coordinator on the Mountain Rose Herbs Marketing Team for over a decade. His contributions and dedication to the herbalism community has left an everlasting impact on Mountain Rose Herbs, and Mason is considered one of the best success stories in our company history. Listen in for a wholesome conversation between Mason and our EVP/host, Thomas Dick, as they dive into Mason's beginnings as a budding plant-lover, and how that his passion for herbalism and entrepreneurial spirit blossomed into his successes in present day. Mason Hutchison is the founder of HerbRally, an herbal community hub that promotes herbalism education and events. He is also the host of "The Herbalist Hour", a podcast and YouTube series where he interviews a diverse array of plant people. Mason is a husband, proud father, avid chess, basketball and ping pong player, spring water gatherer, and an enthusiast in the art of frugal nutrition. Find out more about Mason Hutchison and HerbRally here: The HerbRally website Instagram @HerbRally Facebook @HerbRally The HerbRally Podcast Join our community! Subscribe to the Mountain Rose Herbs newsletter Subscribe to Mountain Rose Herbs on YouTube Follow on Instagram Like on Facebook Follow on Pinterest Read the Mountain Rose Herbs blog Follow on TikTok Strengthening the bonds between people and plants for a healthier world. Mountain Rose Herbs www.mountainroseherbs.com

On this week's episode of Herbal Radio, we had the honor of interviewing one of the greatest living herbalists and world-blended practitioners, Margi Flint. With Margi's 40+ years of experience in herbal medicine, she shares her wisdom on honoring the life force within plants, rather than taking advantage of what plants can offer us. Margi dives into her beginnings as a wild-spirited girl who frequented the forest in her hometown backyard of Weston, MA, and how lightning strikes seem to be a uniquely common theme in her life! After an early-age diagnosis where she was told her life expectancy would continue for a mere year and half, Margi began exploring dance, energy work, and prioritizing her health. This exploration brought her to the front steps of the herbal community, where she found her purpose within bridging the gap between herbal and western medicine. Margi Flint RH, B. Sc. is a professional member of the American Herbalists Guild ~ Herbal Mentor, is on staff at Pacific Rim College in British Columbia, was an Adjunct Professor at Tufts University School of Medicine 1994-1970, North Shore Community College 2003 -2008 and continues to lecture at Bastyr University and Mass College of Pharmacy for their undergraduate programs. She lectures at herbal symposiums as well as medical institutions around the States and internationally. Margi will be teaching a class hosted by the Four Seasons Herbal Guild on Reading the Body in Spokane, WA on October 28th-29th. Please visit the Four Seasons Herbal Guild website to discover more details on this class. Visit Margi's integrative herbal practice, EarthSong Herbals here! Join our community! Subscribe to the Mountain Rose Herbs newsletter Subscribe to Mountain Rose Herbs on YouTube Follow on Instagram Like on Facebook Follow on Pinterest Follow on Twitter Read the Mountain Rose Herbs blog Follow on TikTok Strengthening the bonds between people and plants for a healthier world. Mountain Rose Herbs www.mountainroseherbs.com

Robin Rose Bennett is a storyteller, writer, and herbalist, offering classes in Herbal Medicine and EarthSpirit Teachings since 1986 at herb conferences, festivals, medical schools, and most joyously, outside with the plants. She is the author of Healing Magic: A Green Witch Guidebook to Conscious Living, The Gift of Healing Herbs: Plant Medicines and Home Remedies for a Vibrantly Healthy Life, and A Green Witch's Pocket Book of Wisdom: Big Little Life Tips. Jiling and Robin Rose discuss: What is a "green witch," and how Robin Rose got dubbed the "Green Witch of New York" Rituals for autumn equinox, Samhain, and other seasonal celebrations for this autumnal time of year Robin Rose's newest book, A Green Witch's Pocket Book of Wisdom: Big Little Life Tips Robin Rose's favorite practices for connecting with the plant world on a consistent basis Asking expansive questions Visit Robin Rose Bennett at: RobinRoseBennett.com RobinRoseBennettBooks.com Facebook @WiseWomanHealingWays Instagram @RobinRoseBennett YouTube @RobinRoseBennett Jiling Lin is a Licensed Acupuncturist (L.Ac) and herbalist in Ventura, CA. Visit Jiling at JilingLin.com, Instagram @LinJiling, and Facebook @JilingLAc. Get her free Nourishing Life (養生) template, Five Phases (五行) outline, or sign up for her newsletter here. Join our community! Subscribe to the Mountain Rose Herbs newsletter Subscribe to Mountain Rose Herbs on YouTube Follow on Instagram Like on Facebook Follow on Pinterest Follow on Twitter Read the Mountain Rose Herbs blog Follow on TikTok Strengthening the bonds between people and plants for a healthier world. Mountain Rose Herbs www.mountainroseherbs.com