"Wildcrafted Herbs" - THE BIG SCAM

On the herbal marketplace, there is a VERY big scam - and it's herbs labeled as "wildcrafted".  First, let's define the true meaning of wildcrafted:

Definitions of wildcrafted on the Web:

• herbs harvested in the wild rather than cultivated.
  www.frontiercoop.com/glossary.php
• The term that refers to herbs and/or botanicals which are grown naturally and gathered in the wild, without the use of any chemicals or pesticides.
  www.rainforestorganics.ca/cosmetic-ingredient-dictionary-wxyz.htm
• A term used to describe the manner in which a botanical material is collected from its natural setting in the wild. ...
  www.sleepybeelavender.com/aromaserve/glossary.htm

 (The following is not "the scam" of which I'm about to illuminate, but we need to be aware of this). There are those that say that wildcrafted herbs are superior to those that are organically grown and/or 'certified organic'.  In some cases, this might be true....IF the plant is truly wildcrafted, and IF we're dealing with poor quality organics.

A plant that is found it's natural environment...surrounded & nourished by it's natural companions; watered by the rain; in undisturbed, nutrient-rich earth (that hasn't been overworked), is generally a plant that IS healthier than those grown by the greedy & unprincipaled "organic rapists" that farm organics only 'to the letter of the law'.  These greedmeisters start with farms/soil that is already dead, poisoned & depleted and do absolutely nothing but meet the bare minimum of organic standards (just enough to be certified) - and this includes many chemicals/substances that you and I would NEVER consider "organic", not going to the time or expense to bring the soil back to life (replenishing the microorganisms on which we ALL depend for life itself, as well as providing them the proper nutrients), and of course, remineralizing and overall healing of the soil...here is a FINE example of true organics: http://www.pacificbotanicals.com/about/farmingPhilosophy.html

Back to the scam.  It would appear that a VERY large percentage of herbs being sold as "wildcrafted" are NOT wildcrafted at all!  Rather, they're farmed in 'who knows' what manner, and sold to herb companies as "wildcrafted" (particularly those that specialize in organic or wildcrafted only).  Several years ago when we began our first attempts at wildcrafting herbs (basically walking around the 'paths' on our 'back forty' here in Iowa (with a field guide to identify herbs & medicinal plants), we discovered something of FAR more worth than herbs...knowledge!  While we were able to identy several herbs/plants, we were hit with the hitherto uncontemplated fact - almost always, each single plant was YARDS away from another plant of the same kind!  We found one mullein plant, one milk thistle plant, several elderberry bushes, one patch of bergamont, and a few groupings of burdock plants - all in (about) a 50 yard square radius...and then the truth hit me like a bolt of lightning!  THERE'S NO WAY FOR MOST COMMERCIALLY SOLD HERBS TO BE TRULY "WILDCRAFTED" (assuming the seller and all the hands they must past through, are going to make a profit!)...because in Nature, there are rarely found an easily harvestable 'fields' of herbs!   Sheesh, you have to cover several hundred yards to come up with 10 of any given type of a plant...yet commercial sellers are selling 100's of POUNDS of these herbs as "wildcrafted" for less than $25 a pound?!?!  Give me a friggin' break - for the most part, "wildcrafted herbs" sold by commercial sellers are a TOTAL scam!!  They HAVE to have "fields worth" to be able to consistently provide hundreds of pounds for sale...and those fields are likely NOT organic in any way, NOT regulated, NOT certified, NOT checked by any known 'certifier' or concerned party....and that would make them FAR less healthy and MORE toxic than any 'certified organic' (no matter how sadly the mass producers of organics These herbs/fields are being grown by anyone and everyone that wants a piece of the 'herbal market'...and all they have to do is claim to the seller that their thousands of pounds of herbs are "wildcrafted", and "bingo!", they're in the money.

And let's not forget, many countries (especially the third world countries where the majority of herbs are grown) still allow the use of even MORE toxic pesticides/herbicides (good word) than we do.  Even though India has limited the use of DDT in agriculture, it's still sprayed everywhere for 'public health' to combate mosquitos/malaria.

What's NOT a wildcrafting scam?  There are certain herbs (particularly tree barks/leaves and things like black walnuts) that can be found prolifically in any given spot or location - and some of the 'root herbs' are also found in large patches in the wild.  Many of the 'root herbs' (particularly the expensive ones, like goldenseal and ginsengs -that must be several years old before being harvested) actually are 'farmed in the wild".  In fact, Rocky & I plan on doing some of that starting next spring...but that's not going to provide large sellers with "hundreds of pounds" monthly, eh?

SO, when buying herbs that are wildcrafted, remember that if it's unlikely you'd stumble upon acres & acres of that certain plant growing naturally in the wild, it's also HIGHLY unlikely what you're buying (and ingesting) is truly wildcrafted - but it's highly LIKELY those are herbs have been doused with poisons, possibly irradiated and are very toxic.

Healthiest of blessings -

Unyquity