<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">
Dr Emery conjures up a benign picture of nature-lovers out for a Sunday stroll, plucking and cherishing their little nature token. While this picture no doubt accurately describes some of the wild-gatherers, it misses the main point.<div><br></div><div>Global trade in medicinal plants (and perhaps other NTFPs) relies on paying people very low wages for goods extracted from nature. This happens worldwide but also right here in eastern North America, exacerbated by increasing poverty. (For those of you with good government jobs -- hello -- yes, more of us are forced to scramble frantically for cash these days.) </div><div><br></div><div>Meanwhile, production costs for those of us trying to wild or ecologically cultivate medicinals on owned or leased properties are something like ten times the going rate for extracted goods. This wage gap is thoroughly documented here:</div><div><br></div><div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font style="font: 24.0px Arial"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;">Burkhart, Eric P. and Michael G. Jacobson, 2008. “Transitioning from wild collection to forest cultivation of indigenous medicinal forest plants in eastern North America is constrained by lack of profitability,” </span></font><i><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;">Agroforestry Systems Journal </span></font></i><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;">(Springer Science+Business Media).</span></font></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial"><br></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial">I'm losing patience with the tactic of begging the Forest Service to acknowledge value in natural resources, all the while handsome trade profits are being made on the backs of rural people for whom an extra $1000 means avoiding the repo man. The only solution I can figure out is along the lines of the "local food" strategy. That is, getting the message out to the general public: if you don't know exactly where your medicinal plants come from -- the entire value chain, from site or farm, grower, herbalist or product maker -- they're probably stolen from your children.</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial">Also, we need to go way beyond Fair Trade to price parity. Growers/wild-cultivators need to organize, support each other, get certified to the max, and watch out for our own interests.</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial"><br></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial">Jean</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial"><br></font></div></div><div><div><div>On Apr 22, 2009, at 10:08 AM, Marla Emery wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><br><font size="2" face="sans-serif">Hello Patricia and all,</font><font size="3"> </font><font size="2" face="sans-serif"><br> <br> Thanks for sharing the article on NTFP trade in Scotland. I must say, having done research on NTFPs in Scotland, I'm going to have to check the sources and reliability of the information reported in the article. </font> <br> <br><font size="2" face="sans-serif">Re. NTFP values in the United States, so often nonmarket activities, which constitute the majority of gatherers -- if not of biomass -- are ignored. These include creating and reinforcing direct, intimate connections between nature and humans (there's nothing more intimate than putting something into your mouth and literally having it become a part of your body). Because foraging requires careful attention to ecological characteristics such as weather, habitat, and phenology, especially when engaged in over time, it leads to a kind of awareness that can be a strong basis for ecologically motivated behavior and attachment to place.</font><font size="3"> Foraging can also promote </font><font size="2" face="sans-serif">human health by promoting exercise and access to fresh food, often with high nutritional value. Interestingly, the latter point was brought home to me most strongly by my research in Scotland. <br> <br> All of this is not to say that there are not significant social and ecological issues raised by large-scale commercialization of NTFPs, such as the terms of compensation for landowners. But I do think it is important for those of us who work in this field to remember that the vast majority of people who go out to gather nontimber forest products do so for use by themselves and their immediate social networks. That activity contributes to development of the kinds of knowledge and attitudes that are recognized as foundational to support for conservation -- provided we do not alienate people by demonizing their activities.</font><font size="3"> </font><font size="2" face="sans-serif"><br> <br> Cheers,</font><font size="3"> </font><font size="2" face="sans-serif"><br> Marla</font><font size="3"> </font> <br><font size="2" face="sans-serif"><br> Marla R. Emery, Ph.D.<br> Research Geographer<br> US Forest Service<br> Northern Research Station<br> 705 Spear Street<br> Burlington, VT 05403-6102<br> (802)951-6771 ext. 1060<br> </font><a href="http://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/people/memery"><font size="2" face="sans-serif">http://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/people/memery</font></a><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">_______________________________________________</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">PCA's Medicinal Plant Working Group mailing list</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><a href="mailto:MPWG@lists.plantconservation.org">MPWG@lists.plantconservation.org</a></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><a href="http://lists.plantconservation.org/mailman/listinfo/mpwg_lists.plantconservation.org">http://lists.plantconservation.org/mailman/listinfo/mpwg_lists.plantconservation.org</a></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to <a href="mailto:MPWG-request@lists.plantconservation.org">MPWG-request@lists.plantconservation.org</a> with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject line.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Disclaimer</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Any advice given on this list regarding diagnosis or treatments etc. reflects ONLY the opinion of the individual who posts the message. The information contained in posts is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice relative to your specific medical condition or question. All medical and other healthcare information that is discussed on this list should be carefully reviewed by the individual reader and their qualified healthcare professional. Posts do not reflect any official opinions or positions of the Plant Conservation Alliance. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div> </blockquote></div><br><div> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: auto; -khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: none; text-indent: 0px; -apple-text-size-adjust: auto; text-transform: none; orphans: 2; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: auto; -khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: none; text-indent: 0px; -apple-text-size-adjust: auto; text-transform: none; orphans: 2; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; "><div>Jean Giblette, Director</div><div>HIGH FALLS GARDENS</div><div>Box 125 Philmont NY 12565</div><div>518-672-7365, <a href="mailto:hfg@capital.net">hfg@capital.net</a></div><div>www.highfallsgardens.net</div><div><br class="khtml-block-placeholder"></div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></span></span> </div><br></div></body></html>