Green Healing – The People’s Medicine

It is nettle harvesting and drying time! Here is an article I wrote for the Coop Voice about why to choose herbs for health. A question I LOVE to talk about!

By Meghan Breen

February 25, 2018

Why Herbs

Wondering why one may turn to herbs for health when medical clinics and doctors’ offices are at every turn? Aren’t herbs a thing of the past now that we have the knowledge we do of modern medicine? Not at all! The good news is that we don’t have to choose. We can enjoy the benefits of both, knowing that each have their place, and use accordingly. For acute or emergent situations (think:  the need for an emergency room ASAP) modern medicine surely excels at addressing those needs. For life threatening illnesses, modern medicine can be invaluable. But then there are those everyday issues, or chronic illnesses that have not seen improvement with prescription medication, plant medicine can often come to the rescue. Even for use as complimentary medicine in the first two examples, plants have a role.  All of this is to point out that embracing herbal medicine is not rejecting advances in science.  We can happily and harmoniously develop a both/and relationship!

Nettle harvested near our garden (wildcrafted – meaning we did not plant it) and dried for tea and infusions.

The People’s Medicine

Herbal medicine, also called Botanical Medicine has been with us since ancient times.  Plants were in many ways the first medicine of the people. And even today, the World Health Organization estimates that there are “not less than 80% of people worldwide relying on them for some part of primary healthcare.” Kind of a staggering statistic isn’t it? People came to understand the healing power of plants by developing a close relationship with the natural world around them - seeking healing from the very plants that live in their own region. 

 My daughter gathering plantain growing right outside our front door for a salve.

Starting out

If you are looking to introduce plant healing into your life, I am here to help! Whether you want to grow your own herbs, wildcraft them or buy them prepared, there are no shortages of options. If you want to grow your own, consider your space and opt for container gardening if necessary (particularly nice for containing plants like peppermint that spread quickly through their rhizomes, which send shoots up and can quickly take over a garden).  Or you can create a basic garden bed. Below you can see our ‘Tummy’ Tea Garden. The plants within it have many benefits, one of which is aiding digestion and soothing upset tummies. Something a mom of five often has many of at any given time! These plants also make lovely iced teas. The Coop’s garden department is an herbalist’s dream! There are so many options of starts for your garden or seeds if you chose to start your own. And if all of that still feels like too much work, visit the bulk herbs and spices aisle in the Coop for an incredible and diverse selection of dried herbs.

Tummy tea garden: three kinds of peppermint, lemon verbena, catnip and lemon balm

In a time when we are often taught to look outward for answers, it is so empowering to know that these plants are with us, waiting and ready to offer healing to what ails, and to act as a natural balm that soothes us.  In future articles I can begin to discuss various ways of preparing herbs for medicinal use.  Until then, enjoy your journey into seeing plants for more than their atheistic beauty but for the healing potential they offer.

Sources:

Gladstar, Rosemary. The Family Herbalist. Storey Books, 2001.

Martins, Ekor. The growing use of herbal medicines. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 2014. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3887317/

Meghan Breen is a budding herbalist, training to be a Certified Herbalist with Aviva Romm. Meg is the owner and founder of Slánú Herbal Wellness: Healing from the Planet for the People. Meg is also the assistant executive director of the Anam Earth Center, a non-profit Meg and her husband Rob co-created.  She is a former public school teacher and clinical social worker originally from Syracuse, NY.  She homeschools her five children on a small homestead outside of Albany. She has been a member of Honest WeightFood Coop since 2006 and a contributing writer to the Coop Voice since 2016 and feels very committed to supporting member-owned cooperatives. For this reason she chooses to do almost all of the shopping for a family of 7 at the Co-op, even if she could occasionally save a buck elsewhere. Meg is so very grateful for HWFC and its continual and evolving work to give every member a voice!