[MPWG] Fwd: PRESS RELEASE: American Botanical Council Publishes 100th Issue of HerbalGram

Fri Nov 29 10:49:41 CST 2013

American Botanical Council's twenty five-year history tracks major issues
and advances on U.S. medicinal plant topics through 100 issues of
HerbalGram!

Patricia S. De Angelis, Ph.D.
Botanist, Division of Scientific Authority-US Fish & Wildlife
Service-International Affairs
Chair, Medicinal Plant Working Group-Plant Conservation Alliance
4401 N. Fairfax Dr., Suite 110
Arlington, VA  22203
703-358-1708 x1753
FAX: 703-358-2276

Promoting sustainable use and conservation of our native medicinal plants.
<www.nps.gov/plants/medicinal>

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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: ABC Public Relations <publicrelations at herbalgram.org>
Date: Fri, Nov 29, 2013 at 11:10 AM
Subject: PRESS RELEASE: American Botanical Council Publishes 100th Issue of
HerbalGram

News Release

American Botanical Council Publishes 100th Issue of HerbalGram

Publication Milestone Coincides with Nonprofit's 25th Anniversary

(AUSTIN, Texas, Nov. 29, 2013) The 100th issue of the acclaimed
magazine HerbalGram hits mailboxes and select retailers around the
world this month, and debuts online
http://abc.herbalgram.org/site/R?i=bdeU1y2kNe22djd0Xe6PCQ

. Thirty years in the making, the magazine has grown in tandem with
the herbal community and the American Botanical Council
http://abc.herbalgram.org/site/R?i=w2LpVzZIJdpNDQTGrNFp8g

(ABC), which was created to support the publication and thereby
further herbal education.

HerbalGram is the quarterly journal of ABC, a nonprofit organization
dedicated to providing education using science-based and traditional
information to promote responsible use of herbal medicine. ABC
achieves another landmark accomplishment this November - its
25th anniversary. While HerbalGram's first issue was printed in
1983, ABC was founded in 1988 to help the publication make the
transition from newsletter to magazine. Since then, ABC has become an
award-winning nonprofit with members in more than 80 countries around
the world, and HerbalGram - once a black-and-white newsletter
- is now a full-color magazine filled with peer-reviewed
articles on herbal medicine and colorful botanical photography,
available both in print and online
http://abc.herbalgram.org/site/R?i=LkSXgz46csKUOxtUp2TUKw

, in high-definition color and detail.

 "When Rob McCaleb and I first started writing HerbalGram
as a quarterly newsletter back in 1983, it never occurred to me how it
would look and what impact it would have 30 years later," said
ABC Founder and Executive Director Mark Blumenthal.

"After working on it as a volunteer labor of love on nights and
weekends, I eventually wanted to see it evolve as sort of a Scientific
American of herbs, replete with color photography, authoritative
articles, and other aspects of the publication that could provide
credibility to the proposition that the emerging scientific research
was frequently able to document and support the general safety and
many health benefits of numerous popular and yet-to-become popular
herbs," continued Blumenthal. "HerbalGram was the kernel
of the founding and development of the American Botanical Council, and
its many unique educational publications and programs. I truly love
producing HerbalGram and, with ABC's great staff, I hope to live
long enough and be active enough to help produce another 100
issues!"

More than 30 years ago, Blumenthal produced the very first
HerbalGram - then titled "Herb News" and
subtitled "Herbalgram" - which eventually matured
into the magazine currently read around the world. Blumenthal wrote
and edited articles for the HerbalGram newsletter in what spare
time was available while running his former herb distribution
business, Sweethardt Herbs. Originally published with the financial
support of the newly formed American Herbal Products Association, of
which Blumenthal was a founding board member, the first
HerbalGram was an eight-page, black-and-white,
stapled-at-the-spine newsletter. The contents included "herb
blurbs" on herbal scientific happenings, herbal-related news
articles, a handful of paragraph-long "Rob's Research
Reviews" - authored by then-Associate Editor McCaleb (who
was head of research at Celestial Seasonings at the time) -
along with listings of herbal information resources and schools, and
more.

In the years that followed, ABC was founded,
HerbalGram introduced color illustrations to its pages, and staff
grew beyond the duo of Blumenthal and McCaleb. In 1992, HerbalGram #28
http://abc.herbalgram.org/site/R?i=KmUDIjbmB_xJZqTzMPB6zA

became the first full-glossy, four-color issue, and showcased the
first botanical photograph to grace the magazine's cover:
Harvard's glass flowers. By 1999, HerbalGram had expanded to 82
pages with an additional 32-page book catalog, closely resembling the
magazine as it is produced today.

HerbalGram is now a leading publication in the botanical community.
Its staff includes an art director and three full-time editors, plus
Blumenthal as editor-in-chief. In addition to its in-house writers,
botanical experts from around the world write and peer review articles
for the magazine. HerbalGram is read by thousands of individuals
in more than 80 countries, representing a range of diverse professions
from research scientists (e.g., pharmacognosists, ethnobotanists,
etc.) and health practitioners (e.g., herbalists, naturopathic
physicians, pharmacists, conventionally trained physicians, et al.),
to industry members and government regulators, as well as
health-conscious consumers. Digitally archived issues of HerbalGram
dating back to the spring 1990 issue #22 are available through the ABC
website
http://abc.herbalgram.org/site/R?i=h-9MgJ_nphRshFpyC-U81w

.

"I came late to the HerbalGram party with the summer 1987
issue No. 13, the first in my archived collection," said Francis
Brinker, ND, a clinical assistant professor in the Department of
Medicine at the University of Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine
and author of several renowned books on herbs. "It has been a
joy to be in on the birth of ABC and to be celebrating it through 25
years. It has served as a bedrock of reliable information, entertained
with the obscure, and dazzled with the colorful world of global herbs
and herbalists. From herbal society news to the context of science to
commercial and political concerns to enrichment from cultural
traditions, I have grown in my knowledge and appreciation of all
things herbal through the help of HerbalGram and the other channels
that ABC has made available."

It may be impossible to quantify the impact that 100 issues of
HerbalGram have had on the herbal community and the world at large,
but noted photographer, author, and ABC Board of Trustees President
Steven Foster attempted to do just that in his retrospective,
"Reflections on 100 Issues of HerbalGram

http://abc.herbalgram.org/site/R?i=PAIGJniGTHn4ymVGyEobzQ

." In his thorough examination of all 100 issues of the
magazine, Foster highlighted many of the seminal articles published in
HerbalGram's annals. Among them are herbalist Chris Hobbs'
1989 review of St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum), published
nearly a decade before the herb came to prominence in the United
States; breaking news coverage of the Dietary Supplement Health and
Education Act
http://abc.herbalgram.org/site/R?i=-5PShAWxWpJjjgwOCMqvIg

 (DSHEA) of 1994; the FDA's ban of ephedra
http://abc.herbalgram.org/site/R?i=SA8T8Yrcr3PiM3YZuXwZ3g

(Ephedra sinica) in 2004; the effects of climate change on medicinal
plants
http://abc.herbalgram.org/site/R?i=IYNGzsKFUoqgLkygEfkLvQ

; and many more.

Thanks to the timing of both the 100th HerbalGram and ABC's
25th anniversary, this issue includes 24 bonus pages highlighting ABC
and its history as well as the journal's signature peer-reviewed
herb profiles, features, news, research reviews, and more. A timeline

http://abc.herbalgram.org/site/R?i=5nr0luxXmviu40gS6kksWg

of the organization's growth is interspersed with landmark
events in the herbal community; the story of ABC's headquarters

http://abc.herbalgram.org/site/R?i=1cnatQGUfrFIca6z22xS1Q

 - which dates back to the mid-19th century - is
paired with a series of wet plate collodion photographs of ABC's
grounds, buildings, and medicinal plant gardens, captured by
HerbalGram art director Matthew Magruder.

"HerbalGram and ABC have been vital links between the
scientific world, herbalists, and consumers thanks to Mark's
persistent networking with everyone involved," said John
Beutler, PhD, associate scientist for the National Cancer Institute.
"In an arena with plenty of nonsense, HerbalGram has brought
good information to people in an appealing format."

Over the course of HerbalGram and ABC's shared existence, each
has influenced the shape and scope of the other. ABC has grown from
producing one publication to four - including HerbClip(TM)
http://abc.herbalgram.org/site/R?i=I095TK2e_T_oH_1ZihA2Tw

, HerbalEGram
http://abc.herbalgram.org/site/R?i=o2doehWzd4hmeMcIcXtvmQ

, and Herbal News & Events - and now offers eight databases
of research on herbal medicine and beneficial botanicals through the
ABC website
http://abc.herbalgram.org/site/R?i=XhuFmWiA9xFZa1zIase97g

. Reaching far beyond its original network of friends and compatriots
in the herbal community, the organization now has thousands of members
and an additional 28,000 supporters who receive some of ABC's
electronic publications and have free access to a portion of
ABC's online resources.

The potential impact and importance of HerbalGram's content has
increased over the years as well. The magazine presents groundbreaking
research on botanicals from the far corners of the world, timely
updates and perspectives on legislation that affects the herbal
industry, Foster's distinctive plant photography, and more. In
November 2011, HerbalGram became the primary outlet for the
publications of the ABC-AHP-NCNPR Botanical Adulteration Program
http://abc.herbalgram.org/site/R?i=7k0CmwFC2wO6c6_uAqvEXA

, one of ABC's most significant projects to date. Issue 92
introduced the first in a series of adulteration pieces, titled
"A Brief History of Adulteration of Herbs, Spices, and Botanical
Drugs
http://abc.herbalgram.org/site/R?i=mWyFeo52j7Pw7sOFlWhRfQ

," written by Foster. Thus far, HerbalGram published four
extensively peer-reviewed feature articles on the adulteration of
specific botanicals: skullcap
http://abc.herbalgram.org/site/R?i=c8EekuHuvVzv_l3sGOURcg

(Scutellaria lateriflora), so-called "grapefruit seed
extract
http://abc.herbalgram.org/site/R?i=4bUmgcL9Ai22MqqwyqjwyA

," bilberry
http://abc.herbalgram.org/site/R?i=MeVf-CsRu-BDCIA6OabC6A

(Vaccinium myrtillus) extract, and black cohosh

http://abc.herbalgram.org/site/R?i=DjR6peARNqzZW3FKGZ-J-w

(Actaea racemosa syn. Cimicifuga racemosa). All are available
for free on ABC's website
http://abc.herbalgram.org/site/R?i=-kxHS6jQCfxcM0p7ygsyAA

.

If the initial mission of HerbalGram was to become a reliable,
trusted source of information on herbal medicine, then at 100 issues,
the magazine appears to have not only met, but exceeded that goal.

About the American Botanical Council

Founded in 1988, the American Botanical Council is a leading
international nonprofit organization that addresses research and
educational issues regarding botanicals, teas, medicinal plants,
essential oils, and other beneficial plant-derived materials.
ABC's members include individuals, companies, and organizations
in the herb, dietary supplement, and cosmetic industries; journalists;
consumers; and others in more than 80 countries. The organization
occupies a historic 2.5-acre site in Austin, Texas, where it publishes
the peer-reviewed quarterly journal HerbalGram, the monthly
e-publication HerbalEGram, the weekly e-newsletter Herbal News &
Events, HerbClips (summaries of scientific and clinical publications),
reference books, and other educational materials. ABC also hosts
HerbMedPro, a powerful herbal database, covering scientific and
clinical publications on more than 250 herbs. ABC also co-produces the
"Herbal Insights" segment for Healing Quest, a television
series on PBS.

ABC is tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the IRS Code.
Information: Contact ABC at P.O. Box 144345, Austin, TX 78714-4345,
Phone: 512-926-4900. Website: www.herbalgram.org
http://abc.herbalgram.org/site/R?i=_zVVHEZNJRI-ZBCePU955A

. Contact: Public Relations
http://abc.herbalgram.org/site/R?i=m-OQdEYmqt8lRCqP6QQ_Zg

.

Donate - http://abc.herbalgram.org/site/R?i=pYvtDwBM0FC1l_hSCBgFag

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Visit Our Site - http://abc.herbalgram.org/site/R?i=h0CS6YIXus3SVtJQA_l5Ug

Calendar - http://abc.herbalgram.org/site/R?i=0wGtoVaVaharD_Sd-_VI1Q

Tell a Friend - http://abc.herbalgram.org/site/R?i=hK9rqBYYLs8g6viFYZa-MA

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American Botanical Council, 6200 Manor Rd, Austin, TX 78723
Phone: 512-926-4900  |  Fax: 512-926-2345  |  web: abc.herbalgram.org
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