Mode of Program Participation
Community Organizing and Educational Programming
Participation Type
Panel
Session Title
Medicinal Herbs for economic transition, public health, and community organizing
Session Abstract or Summary
Foraging wild plants and mushrooms for both food and medicine has a long history in the region. Generations ago, this was a practice shared by many, but with the advent of modern pharmaceuticals and industrially produced farm products, this skill-set, and the knowledge behind it, has largely faded away.
Currently, a new wave of interest in wild-foraging and wild-simulated cultivation of non-timber forest products is building. This is spurred on by a variety of factors including disillusionment with big ag and big pharma, the necessity of home-scale thrift, and the need to utilize natural assets towards diversifying local and regional economies in the wake of economic woes such as the stark downturn in the coal economy in recent years.
Panelists will discuss four distinct projects through which they are engaging community members to propogate a popular understanding of wild foods and medicines and how to use them, towards the ends of improved personal and household health and resiliency, and as a critical piece of fair, just, and diverse economic development in Appalachia.
Presentation #1 Title
Cultural and Community Organizing with Mountain Music and Medicinals
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
Starting in October of 2015 community members in Wise and surrounding Counties of Southwest Virginia have organized Mountain Music and Medicinals, a series of events featuring herbalism workshops and live music. Originally conceived as simply a fun way to bring people together around common cultural interests, it was observed that many of the individuals these events drew out also held in common ethics of conservation and social justice. Without infringing on the inviting and non-political feel of these spaces, organizers and activists in the area have successfully leveraged these events towards the mobilization of community support for the RECLAIM Act and other post-coal economic transition pursuits, and in opposition to mountaintop removal strip mining.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Willie Dodson was raised in the Piedmont and New River Valley areas of Virginia. He is a musician, a student of herbalism, and a lover of dogs. Willie is a graduate of Berea College with a degree in Appalachian Studies. He lives in Wise County, Va. and works as Appalachian Voices' Central Appalachian Field Coordinator.
Presentation #2 Title
Forming an Appalachian Forest Farmers Coalition
Presentation #2 Abstract or Summary
The Appalachian Beginning Forest Farmers' Coalition seeks to educate, train, and support beginning forest farmers, and to improve forest farm inventory and medicinal plant habitat management services for beginning forest farmers from Georgia to Pennsylvania. With a 3 year funding commitment from the USDA, a consortium of universities, governmental, and non-profit organizations are collaborating to expand the cultivation and conservation of medicinal non-timber forest products and equip Appalachian forest farmers to supply verified and organic forest grown raw material to nutraceutical and herbal product industries - with some of those key industry partnerships already forged.
Abingdon-based Appalachian Sustainable Development is a partner in this effort implementing projects in Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee, including NTFP riparian restoration with farmers to mitigate lost income associated with fencing livestock out of creeks, and a series of Forest Farming conferences, the next of one to be held in or near the coalfields of Virginia in August of 2017.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #2
Emily Lachniet serves as the agroforestry program manager for Appalachian Sustainable Development. She lives on a small farm in Glade Spring with her husband and young daughters. A graduate of Michigan State University with a Bachelor’s in Professional Forestry, Emily has made SWVA her home since 2001.
Presentation #3 Title
Herb Clinics for uninsured and under-insured Appalachians
Presentation #3 Abstract or Summary
The Aurora Lights Herbal Medics Chapter seeks to provide self-sustainable, botanical and integrative health care answers to under-served populations in the region. The chapter hosts mobile, sliding-scale herbal clinics and offers trainings in herbal medicine. This project is a collaborative effort of the Morgantown WV-based environmental non-profit Aurora Lights and the Texas-based non-profit Herbal Medics University, among other community partners.
In September of 2016, the chapter held its first free clinics in Naoma and Whitesville, in the heart of the southern West Virginia coalfields. The group also held the first of it’s educational workshops in the summer of 2016 called “The Weeds Can Heal”, and began recruiting its core members in this way. This season also saw the start of medicine gardens around the state, from Morgantown to the coalfields, which will provide plants that will make medicine for future clinics.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #3
Maureen Feral is an activist, herbalist, and forest farmer. Along with her partner Ivan and their little bear cub of a child, she derives her livelihood from Feral Mountain, an off-grid wild-crafting, forest-farming, and educational venture located near Beverly, WV.
Presentation #4 Title
Every Link in the Chain - supporting herb growers in a budding economy
Presentation #4 Abstract or Summary
Taproot Botanical Alliance was established in 2016 to create a link between small-scale farmers and the high-demand medicinal herb industry. While this is a great opportunity for crop diversification, farm sustainability, and community development, farmers can only be successful if every link in the chain is secure: from production, to processing, to procurement. A failure in any one of these steps would result in an inferior product with a lower return for the farmers. Taproot’s consulting services offer assistance every step of the way from growing, to record-keeping and certifications, to connecting growers with markets.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #4
David Grimsley is a farmer, consultant, and community organizer focused on building an economy around medicinal herbs in Appalachia. For the past decade, he has been the co-owner and operator of Rolling Fork Farm in Floyd County, Va. He served for 2 years as the director of the Appalachian Herb Growers Consortium, and he is the current director of the Taproot Botanical Alliance.
Cultural and Community Organizing with Mountain Music and Medicinals
Starting in October of 2015 community members in Wise and surrounding Counties of Southwest Virginia have organized Mountain Music and Medicinals, a series of events featuring herbalism workshops and live music. Originally conceived as simply a fun way to bring people together around common cultural interests, it was observed that many of the individuals these events drew out also held in common ethics of conservation and social justice. Without infringing on the inviting and non-political feel of these spaces, organizers and activists in the area have successfully leveraged these events towards the mobilization of community support for the RECLAIM Act and other post-coal economic transition pursuits, and in opposition to mountaintop removal strip mining.
