Plant Protectorate

Photo by Eleni Ikanou

United Plant Savers

• a UPS that isn’t the postal service
• in fact it has absolutely nothing to do with mail
• and everything to do with saving medicinal plants
• as you probably know
• the use of medicinal plants isn’t all to common
• because you go to a physician
• and not a shaman
• I don’t know how accurate that generalization is, but I feel pretty good about it

Photo by Achim

• joking aside herbalist revivalism is a legitimate movement
• United Plant Savers is based in East Barre, Vermont and was started by Rosemary Gladstar, along with a group of other dedicated horticulturalists
• it’s is a nonprofit organization that endeavors to preserve Native North American and Canadian medicinal plants
• and to protect their native habitat
• so as to have an abundant supply of healing herbs for our generation
• and for all those who come after
• they curate a list of at-risk healing herbs
• and maintain a 400-acre research sanctuary in Ohio
• and it’s a good thing they do
• as herbalism becomes more mainstream
• there is an increased strain on the world’s supply of medicinal plants
• especially on cultures that have maintained herbalism as a prominent medicinal practice for the entirety of their existence
• those who find themselves in short supply look to America

One can do nothing but applaud those who make it their mission to preserve natural resources, but is it our job to be a mainstay protectorate of medicinal plants?

Open to questioning.