NEW TRACK FORMED at MHG&MC - Herbal CSAs – Community supported Herbalism

A CSA farm (community-supported agriculture) is the popular farmer-to-consumer marketing system in which customers pay the farmer upfront for food they receive in weekly boxes (mostly vegetables) during the growing season.  There were two CSA farms in the US in 1986 and thousands in 2015. Herbal CSAs are now beginning to pop up around the nation and are sometimes referred to as CSHs (community supported herbalism). The panel will explore how to create viable businesses based on CSHs. CSHs are often based on products available year-round and oftentimes are a sideline to other marketing avenues.  Will CSHs sweep the country like CSAs? Probably not to the same extent, but here they come. This Track is related to the Marketing Track, Radical Herbology Track and the Small-scale Medicinal Herb Farming Track.
 
Presenters include Angela Levan, Alquimia Botanicals, Portland, Nora Harrington of The Medicine Chest, Bainbridge Island and others.  There will be a panel. We are seeking other CSH presenters.
 
The Community Supported Herbal Medicine Movement
Here is a great article on The American Botanical Council website which outlines the formation of herbal CSAs around the US, which it says is strongest in the Northeast US. It includes a list of 15 Herbal CSAs from around the US.

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