 Radherb Health Justice Intensive September 3-5 2010 At Third Root Community Health Center The Health Justice Intensive is a 3 day long cultural competency training geared towards herbalists, health care providers, and educators whose work involves developing an accessible and inclusive health care network. The topics of this year’s trainings are: Mental Health, Medical Racism, Trans Health, Classism, Organizing Accessible Healthcare, and Cultural Appropriation.
The trainings will focus on the history, definitions and terminology of each subject, herbal protocols (if applicable), and resources with the goal of fostering awareness and skills around anti-oppression within healthcare. We will be using popular-education style methods to present these trainings and teach facilitation skills. Participants will leave with a comprehensive manual and will be able to take this information and training to their own communities.
Sliding Scale: Price: $150-$400 based on income (see sliding scale chart) Partial scholarships and payment plans available Applications due by: June 15, 2010.
**Upon acceptance, please send us the fee for the Intensive. Do not include with this application** For more info and application please email radherb(at)gmail.com
______________________________________________________________________________ Past News: Rhizome Collective Sounds International Call: Code Violations May Force Eviction
Austin, Texas – March 11, 2009 - The Rhizome Collective is a consensus-run 501c3 nonprofit organization that has operated a center for community organizing and urban sustainability in an East Austin warehouse since 2000. This warehouse was inspected on March 3rd by officials from the Building and Standards Commission of the City of Austin. On Thursday, March 5th The Code Enforcement Division of The City of Austin delivered a letter outlining a list of code violations to the Collective. The City mandated that the residents and organizations based in the warehouse must vacate before March 16th. The Collective is l ooking into all options, but is preparing to vacate the warehouse by the deadline. Before this inspection, the Collective was in negotiations to buy the warehouse from its current owner.
Contractors are currently completing an estimate of the cost
required to bring the building into compliance with city building codes. Given the breadth of the reported violations, the contractors do not believe it will be possible to give an estimate and obtain permits by the City’s deadline.
The Rhizome Collective including Inside Books, Bikes Across Borders and Food Not Bombs is making an international call to supporters. The Collective is seeking monetary donations, in-kind donations, funding sources and statements of solidarity. Donate through the link below and earmark your donation for one of the organizations above.
In 2004, the City of Austin donated a 9.8 acre brownfield in the Montopolis neighborhood to the Rhizome Collective. The property served as a legally operated municipal landfill from 1967 to 1970, and was illegally dumped on for approximately fifteen years following the closure of the landfill. In the same year, the EPA awarded the Rhizome Collective with a $200,000 Cleanup Grant as part of their Brownfields Program. From January 2005 to July 2006, 680 tires, 10.1 tons of trash, and 31.6 tons of recyclable metal were removed from the brownfield. This property is not being affected by the code violations on the warehouse.
The Collective is an internationally recognized model for intentional communities that comprise a massive movement focused on justice and autonomous sustainability.
In the nine years of its existence, the collective has collaborated with many local, national and international organizations by providing free or low cost space and through direct participation in their initiatives. The Collective has provided space to people working with the organizations mentioned above and, to name a few others: The University of Texas, Campaign to End the Death Penalty, Acción Zapatista, Rosa Clemente and Monkey Wrench Books. Members of the Collective have supported initiatives including projects of Indymedia, PODER, El Comite Obrero Fronterizo, Pastors for Peace, The American Friends Service Committee, The Student Farmworker Alliance and communities in both Mexico and Cuba. Inside Books sent over 18,000 books to Texas prisoners last year. Bikes Across Borders has organized more than fourteen bike delivery caravans since 2001, sending over 700 bicycles to Cuba, Mexico, and Central America. Projects directly benefiting the community have been prioritized at the Collective such as the creation of educational systems for sustainable living in urban areas, workshops on puppetry and street theatre, after-school programs focusing on bicycles, gardening and the arts.
The people affected include those who work at the Collective in order to: furnish books to Texas prisoners, feed the homeless, teach neighbors how to fix their bicycles, run independent media projects and organize workshops on urban sustainability. The work performed here over the past nine years is a point of pride for the Collective, the greater Austin community and communities worldwide.
This is an official communication arrived at by consensus of the Collective.
For more information, please contact Laura Merner.
Contact Info:
Laura Merner
Collective Member
Phone: (201) 739-6341
Email:
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Web:
-DONATE NOW
-rhizomecollective.org/
-insidebooksproject.org/
-bikesacrossborders.org/
-kpwr.org/
-myspace.com/austinfoodnotbombs
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Regulations Concerning Herbs, A Question of Safety or Commerce?
Traditional Medicines Congress Vs. Voices for Traditional Herbal Medicine. by Mary Blue
Over the last 4 years within the Northeast Herbal Community, there have been conflicting stories and rumors about new regulations concerning herbal companies and products. There was talk of a Traditional Medicines Congress (TMC) working with the Health and Human Services to create new regulations for herbal companies. It was said that this would undermine the DSHEA act, the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, passed in 1994. (DSHEA protects our freedom of access to herbs and supplements and addresses public safety.) During this time forums were hosted at the International Herbal Symposium, on Sage Mountain, at The Annual Northeast Community Herbal Convergence, and (after pressure from Voices for Traditional Herbal Medicine), at the American Herbalist Guild Conference in Denver.
I recently interviewed Cascade Anderson Geller and Cynthia Pielggi, two activists and herbalists, along with a group of other well-known herbal activists who cooperatively started a group called Voices for Traditional Herbal Medicine (www.traditionalmedicines.info), who led a well-organized campaign to protect the rights of medicine makers and herbal companies and to keep the Traditional Medicines Congress in check.
Cynthia Pielggi has been an independent consultant for the health food and supplement industry for the last 42 years and in the 90s was actively involved in passing the DSHEA act. Cascade Anderson Geller has been an herbal practitioner for over twenty years. She has been on the faculty of all three naturopathic colleges in the U.S. and has lectured widely throughout North America. She teaches herbal medicine and leads herb walks near her home in Portland, Oregon.
A bit of History:
A pivotal point came in 2001 when the Herbalists Sunrise Review came up in Washington State Legislature. This document proposed to regulate herbalists in order to protect the public. In order to do this they first had to prove that herbalists are causing public harm. Unfortunately, few herbalists were consulted during this time. (The Washington Herbalists Review Document sites that only 3 were asked for comment: www.traditionalmedicines.info, supporting documents are listed in the right bar.)
The outcome of the Herbalists Sunrise Review was that there was no need for regulation because they could not prove that herbalists are a health hazard or a threat. The precedent was set: There has been no proof that herbalists cause harm.
Things were quiet until 2004, when in the spring a group of organizations decided to initiate a cooperative process to exchange ideas about the future of traditional medicines in the United States. The result was the creation of a Traditional Medicines Congress, at the time sponsored by eight national organizations. Each of these either represents or is engaged in standards setting, certification or accreditation for health care practitioners who include traditional medicines in their scope of practice, educational institutions that provide training in traditional medicine, manufacturers of traditional medicines, or growers and producers of traditional medicine ingredients. It was unclear, but it seemed the TMC wanted to be able to state what an herb does for trade purposes and consumer information.
TMC Members were:
* Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Alliance (AOMA)
* American Association of Naturopathic Physicians (AANP) (In 2007, AANP dropped out, from pressure from their members, and herbalists.
* American Association of Oriental Medicine (AAOM)
* American Herbalist Guild (AHG) (The AHG withdrew in Oct. 2006 after controversy in the herbal community concerning the TMC proposal)
Why is the AHG involved? Voices uncovered the fact that their president , Aviva Rom and Roy Upton co-wrote the TMC draft.
* American Herbal Products Association (AHPA)
(APHA dropped out before the TMC “adjourned”.)
* Council of Colleges of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (CCAOM)
* Medicinal Herb Consortium (MHC)
* National Ayurvedic Medical Association (NAMA)
* National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM)
The TMC Regulatory Model Proposed to:
* Establish herbs as medicines instead of as dietary supplements — the pharmaceuticalization of herbal products.
* Set manufacturing and labeling standards for traditional medicines that would be financially prohibitive to all but large companies.
* Standardize and restrict criteria for ingredients and formulas classified as traditional medicine.
* Create legal qualifications as to who can dispense traditional medicine products, restricting access to herbs and other traditional medicines.
* Establish an industry advisory body working within the federal government.
* Create a federal regulatory model that is similarly structured to international directives that have damaged practitioners, consumers and especially herbalism in the EU (European Union).
* Undermine DSHEA (The Dietary Supplement Heath and Education Act of 1994)
The document would create costly changes in the way herbs and other traditional medicines are classified. These regulations change herbs from being classified as 'dietary supplements' to 'medicines'. This is significant as it switches the burden of proof from government agencies to the individual manufacturer. The manufacturer must bear the expense which will in turn increase cost to the consumer. The TMC's proposal is an attempt at standardization and conformity that will rob herbalism of its traditional roots and push us towards harmonization with the restrictive regulations of the European Union (EU) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) trade regulations, including Codex Alimentarius. The Codex Alimentarius Commission is an intergovernmental body with over 170 member countries, established in 1963, within the framework of the joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Program established by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) of the United Nations. Its primary stated purpose is “protecting the health of consumers and ensuring fair practices in the food trade.” Please check out these Codex resources and educate yourself, because Codex implementation will greatly impact the natural health community.
http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~comm/int-codx.html
http://healthfreedom.org/
http://www.ianrcrane.co.uk/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmrF9KjlGsc
Herbal Organizing
Cynthia and Cascade along with NEHA founders Rosemary Gladstar, Susun Weed, and a handful of other amazing herbalists/activists founded Voices for Traditional Medicine in 2006 originally because the TMC proposal would greatly impact herbalists. Voices spearheaded a grassroots campaign that was successful in calling for:
* Extension for the comment period on the TMC draft
* Creation of an interactive website for discussion and posting comments about the TMC.
* Open dialogue and communication regarding the TMC proposals and its possible impact on Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) and herbalism in the United States
* Cessation of the TMC.
Voices discovered that throughout the creation of the TMC, there was an element of secrecy between the groups’ boards and their members. They realized through phone contact with the groups that there were discrepancies, and none of the groups’ members knew about the official sign-on to the TMC. Members of the AHG (American Herbalist Guild) were in an uproar after hearing that the AHG was signed on without even consulting members.
What is the outcome?
*TMC has “adjourned”. They have given no reason why they have essentially disbanded, or indication whether they will come together again.
*In 2007 a provision to the DSHEA was made concerning the Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), which is a term that is recognized worldwide for the control and management of manufacturing and quality-control testing of foods, pharmaceutical products, and medical devices. The provision required herbal companies to have tests done on final products and on every ingredient. Many of these regulations came from the abuse and misuse of Chinese medicines, specifically ephedra. Looking back to the results of 2001 Washington State Herbalists Sunrise Review: There is no reason for regulation unless there is a question of public safety. Because of the misuse of ephedra in diet pills, it gave the FDA the go ahead to create strict guidelines on the production of all herbs, vitamins, and natural products. It was decided that the whole herb should be banned, even though it was the overuse of the chemical compound that caused the problem.
* Through Biotechnology, the pharmaceutical industry has figured out a way to patent plant compounds. If this trend continues, herbal medicines will be made out of biotech compounds without ever actually touching the actual plant. One of the first experiments is with chemical compounds derived from artemesia. http://www.artemisininproject.org/
These new pharmaceutical medicines are untested and unlabeled. We have no idea how they will impact the health of our ecosystems or our bodies.
A question of safety?
Who isn’t concerned about health and safety? Isn’t that why most herbalists use herbs, because they cause less side effects than pharmaceuticals? Unfortunately, these regulations don’t match the level of danger that whole herbs on the market present. What are the true safety issues concerning healthcare? An article in Newsweek magazine (April 27, 1998) stated "a new study says some medicines, even if properly prescribed, may kill as many as 100,000 Americans a year." This study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. It described the deaths as the result of "toxic reactions to medications that were administered properly with more than two million suffering serious side effects." That places death from prescription drugs as the number four killer, behind heart disease, cancer and stroke. This is twice the number that are killed in motor vehicle accidents - an average of 275 per day. No other industry kills and maims more people annually.
What do these provisions mean for herbal companies?
Companies will need to test for substantiation of particular nutrients and purity of botanical species. Herbal companies will be required to keep a sample of every batch made and buy the equipment needed to test for these particular nutrients or send them off to testing companies. These new provisions must be implemented by June 2010 (interestingly enough when the WTO’s Codex Alimentarius standards must be implemented). The provisions will ensure that all production of dietary supplements and herbs must comply with current good manufacturing practices, and be manufactured with controls that result in a consistent product free of contamination, with accurate labeling. In addition, the industry is now required to report to the FDA all serious dietary supplement related adverse events.
These 2007 provisions to DSHEA make it very hard for herbal companies. The tests and testing equipment are very expensive, leading to smaller companies being sold to larger companies, which results in plant medicine no longer being a do-it-yourself, or learn-from-a-local-herbalist kind of medicine. It becomes standardized, processed and inaccessible to most people. Another facet of this is that the EU (European Union) has strict laws and there is a lot of talk about harmonization between our regulations. (Codex Alimentarius) If our regulations were “harmonized” trade would be a lot easier. Do we want the world to be about trade? What about the smaller companies supporting their communities? These regulations make it impossible for them to flourish. We are trading our freedoms in the name of commerce, and disguising it as “consumer protection”.
Big business gets its way.
All throughout this fight, and whenever Congress is in session, big business and lobbyists are constantly playing a role. For every day Congress was in session in 2007, the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics has calculated industries and interests spent an average of $17 million per day to lobby lawmakers and the federal government at large. Looking more specifically within the larger sectors the Center tracks, the pharmaceuticals/health products industry outspent all other industries by shelling out $227 million for lobbying services, or an average of $1.4 million each day for the 164 days that the 110th Congress met in 2007.
How can I proceed as a community herbalist as the regulations start to favor large companies and worldwide regulations?
1. Resist the Corporate Takeover of Herbal Medicine! Make plant medicine the traditional way. When there are many small herbalists making products, it becomes harder to regulate.
2. Be aware that the biotechnology industry is working to reproduce isolated compounds in herbs. Ask your local representatives questions about labeling, safety and how this will effect whole herbs on the market.
Get together a group of herbalists in your region to support each other in learning about these complicated issues.
3. Teach! Offer classes at an affordable rate and spread herbal knowledge in your community! The more people that hold this knowledge, the better chance we have at preserving it.
4. Companies and herbalists can start by doing everything they can for their own due diligence. Make sure labels are legal, keep samples, lot numbers, common names, botanicals, place of origin, keep records of anybody that you buy bulk herbs from (botanical species, country of origin, part of plant, date of when it was harvested, date of shipping). The USDA controls the organic certification process and it can be prohibitively expensive for small producers. Many small farmers can’t afford the organic stamp. Some farmers are skirting around it by just being herbicide- and pesticide-free.
5. Sell local. The laws and regulations become much more complicated from state to state, country to country. Sell at farmers’ markets, food co-ops, yoga and holistic health centers.
6. If you are growing herbs yourself keep track of seed supplier, compost supplier, garden plans and crop rotations.
7. Check into local health freedom groups and The Northeast Radical Healthcare Network, Radherb (radherb.org). It is important to get involved on a state and community level. Know the laws in your state regarding unlicensed practitioners.
Know your allies in your community and region!
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