Save Herbal Medicine demonstration, 2 Nov

Demonstration and mass lobby at parliament to save Herbal Medicine.

in April 2011 new EU rules come into force regarding medicinal products, covering herbs. These EU rules, once applied would outlaw access to 95% of herbs, not only over the counter but also those prescribed for patients by professionals. Only herbal preparations that have been licensed will be marketed. The issue for the UK is that the government is planning to abandon it's committment to statutory regulation of this sector (due to costs) and leave it to be all but destroyed from May 2011. Such a move is likely to have severe effects on the accessibility to herbal medicine. Join in the demonstration outside Parliament, led by the National Institute of Medical Herbalists, against the government’s decision. Show your support and join in the demonstration.

The demonstration is in conjunction with a mass lobby of MP’s from 2-4 pm. Arrange a meeting with your MP to inform them of the importance of statutory regulations.

RSVP afifah.hamilton@ukonline.co.uk

For more information click here.

Herby Event: Feast on the Bridge

Living Medicine is running a Herb Tea stall on the Feast on the Bridge event this Saturday 12th September.

This is a wonderful event on Southwark Bridge, part of the Thames Festival which is celebrating local food, foraging, school children growing food in reclaimed supermarket trolleys, preparing and eating good food including the sacred mayonnaise!, and a host of other activities for children and parents.

At the Living Medicine stall, which is on the north side of the bridge, medical herbalists and some generous volunteers will be serving various herb teas, free to all, to taste and take away. People can find out both how simple and delicious fresh and dried herb teas can be, as well as discover more about their many medicinal uses.

http://www.thamesfestival.org/weekend/detail/feast_on_the_bridge1/

Herby Event: Distinguished Ethnobotanist Lecture 2009

Bringing the food back home: indigenous foodways, nutrition and biodiversity in western Canada

Nancy J. Turner, University of Victoria, Victoria, B.C., CANADA

Nancy J. Turner says:
Indigenous peoples of northwestern North America are identified by anthropologists mainly as fishers and hunters. Yet, their traditional food systems include many, diverse plant species, as well as some marine algae, lichens and fungi. Plant foods include roots and other underground parts, green leaves and stems, many fruits, inner bark of trees, and a range of beverage teas. These foods collectively provide essential nutrients and have been part of a healthy Indigenous diet over thousands of years. The knowledge required to use these nutritional resources effectively and sustainably is part of an overall system of knowledge that incorporates ecological understanding, taxonomic, and biogeographical expertise, specialized practices of harvesting, processing, and maintaining resource populations, and belief systems that guide their use and management. Women have been the holders and practitioners of much of this plant-based knowledge.

In recent years, for a variety of reasons, many of these important Indigenous foods have been declining in use, a dietary trend known as the nutrition transition, that is occurring with local and Indigenous Peoples' food systems worldwide. People who once gathered and prepared healthy local food are turning towards more processed and marketed foods many of which are high in unhealthy fats and refined carbohydrates. The result is increased risk of diabetes and heart disease and other health problems. Today, Indigenous communities are using a range of strategies to maintain and strengthen their use of their original foods, and have found partners in universities, NGOs, and government agencies to support this endeavor.

In this presentation, I will describe some of the diverse Indigenous wild foods of the Cascadia Region, including Angiosperms, Gymnosperms, and some Algae, Lichens and Fungi, and discuss the ways in which Indigenous Peoples have maintained and enhanced these resources, what has happened to these food species, and how they are now being reclaimed and re-incorporated into Indigenous Peoples' foodways.

Admission is free but must be prebooked - visit the website.

The Jodrell Laboratory is accessed via the Jodrell Gate on Kew Road, more or less halfway between the Main Gate (Kew Green) and the Victoria Gate. The Jodrell Gate is 10 minutes walk from Kew Gardens and Kew Bridge stations. Please be sure to arrive in good time - any seats unoccupied at 16.50 may be redistributed to the wait list. After the talk, audience members are welcome to join the speaker in "The Botanist" pub on Kew Green.

This talk is sponsored by the Global Diversity Foundation and the Centre for Economic Botany at Kew

Queries: erin@globaldiversity.org.uk

Herbal Medicine Conference in Lampeter and Herbal Medicine Regulation in the UK

In this post:

1. The programme for a fascinating conference, Western Herbal Medicine: Ancient Heritage and Modern Practice, due to take place in Lampeter, Wales later this month. I gather there should still be some space left (I hope). I'd love for it to be a success so that such events might be put on more regularly (and then maybe I can go too sometime).

2. Public consultation on alternative medicine regulation in the UK was recently announced. I can't stress just how important it is that we all educate ourselves as to the pros and cons of this kind of healthcare regulation and then make our views heard before it's too late, please have a look at the bottom of this post for a variety of resources and thoughts on this matter.

Western Herbal Medicine:

Ancient Heritage and Modern Practice

August 25th to 29th 2009

University of Wales, Lampeter

This three-day conference will explore various aspects of Western Herbal Medicine from Ancient times, through the Middle Ages and Renaissance, to modern discussions and the dialogues with Chinese and Ayurvedic Medicine. The main focus will be upon the Western tradition of constitutional and energetic medicine. This often-neglected, but rich and vital tradition will be explored from various angles. In addition to scholarly presentations by experts in the field, there will be workshops, exhibitions, and an optional trip to the National Botanic Garden of Wales. There will also be plenty of social and networking opportunities, as well as a closing Twmpath, or Ceilidh. The event is largely aimed at medical herbalists, but practitioners and academics from other disciplines would also be very welcome.

This joint event has been developed by the Body Programme of the University of Wales, Lampeter, in conjunction with the National Institute of Medical Herbalists (NIMH). The University, with its long-established reputation for research in these areas, is now committed to developing academically-informed, humanities-based CPD events for a range of CAM practitioners in careful liaison with professional bodies such as NIHM. Body Programme also supports post-graduate work up to doctoral level (PhD). Its flourishing Master’s programme, The Body: Eastern and Western Perspectives, features related modules such as: Ancient Medicine, The Subtle Body, The Holistic Approach to Healing, The Western Esoteric Tradition, Medical Astrology, Ayurveda, and The Understanding of the Body in Traditional Chinese Medicine (see: www.lamp.ac.uk/body).

The fee for the whole event, including full-board for four nights, is just £240; excellent value, we hope you'll agree. The University offers good-quality en-suite accommodation, as well as a restaurant and a café. It is the smallest University college in Europe, with a small and friendly campus in the heart of the rural market-town of Lampeter. The town itself is set in the beautiful countryside of West Wales, only fifteen minutes from either the coast or the depths of the hills.

Provisional Programme Outline

The final timetable, with further details of our speakers and events, will be available on the NIMH website nearer the time (www.nimh.org.uk).

Tuesday 25th August

• From 4pm - arrivals, registration and afternoon tea.
• 7pm Dinner and Reception

Wednesday 26th August

• 8.00 Breakfast
• 9.30 Paracelsus and the Western Herbal Tradition by Dr Clare Goodrick-Clarke and Professor Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke (Centre for Esotericism, University of Exeter)
• 11.30 Herbs and Hippocrates by Dr David Noy (Department of Classics, Lampeter)
• 1.00 Lunch
• 2.00 Demonstration of Distillation of Aromatic Herbs given by Joe Nasr (Dip Phyt, DO, MNIMH)
• 3.30 Break
• 4.00 Workshop on Traditional Welsh Herbal Medicine (to be confirmed)
• 6.00 Dinner
• 7.30 The Galenic Temperaments in the Writings of Nicholas Culpeper by Graeme Tobyn (Author of Culpeper's Medicine)

Thursday 27th August

• 8.00 Breakfast
• 9.30 Ancient Cosmology and Medical Astrology given by Dr Nick Campion (Sophia Centre, Lampeter University), and Jane Ridder-Patrick (Lampeter University & NIMH).
• 11.00 Break
• 11.30 Optional trip to National Botanic Garden of Wales including lunch and guided tour, taking in the the Apothecaries Garden, the Mediterranean Glass-house, and the Apothecaries Gallery. There will be a buffet lunch in our own dedicated marquee. There is a small supplement to cover travel, entrance, and tour fee (please see booking form).
• For those not wishing to visit the gardens, there will be alternative Lampeter-based activities, or participants may wish to take free time and make independent visits to the hills and coast. There are many local gardens, organic farms and herb growers whom you might also wish to visit.
• 6.00 Dinner
• 7.30 Herbs and Medicine in Medieval Wales, Dr Morfydd Owen (Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies, Aberystwyth). Introduced by the President of the University, Dr Brinley Jones

Friday 28th August

• 8.00 Breakfast
• 9.30 Herbalism in the Ayurvedic Tradition, Anne McIntyre (FNIMH, Ayur HC)
• 11.00 Break
• 11.30 A Comparison of the Principles and Practices of Chinese & Western Medical Herbalism, Michael McIntyre (FNIMH, MBAcC, FRCHM).
• 1.00 Lunch
• 2.00 Holism in the Western Tradition by Vicki Pitman (M.Phil, MURHP, MIFA)
• 3.30 Break
• 4.00 Panel Discussion on Modern & Comparative Herbalism
• Dinner
• Twmpath (Ceilidh) featuring local Welsh musicians

Saturday 29th August

• Breakfast
• Open Day from 10.30 till 4pm featuring stalls, exhibitions, presentations, and workshops
• Regional Meeting of Welsh NIMH Herbalists at 11am in University

Exhibitions and bookstalls will be on display throughout the week. This will include an exhibition of exquisite ancient herbals, dating back as far as the fifteenth century, from the University’s collections.

I have an extensive price list with details for full board and single day attendance and everything in between. It's too long to include here so if you're interested I can forward it to you. Please e-mail me at kpatmore@care2.com

Public consultation on alternative medicine regulation:

Consultation on the regulation of acupuncture, herbal medicine and traditional Chinese medicine was launched on the 3rd of August. Please visit the Department of Health press release for an explanation of the aims of the consultation process.

Meanwhile, I strongly urge everybody to partake in the process and make your views and needs known. The issue is a complex one which has divided the opinions of many of the herbalists I know. In my opinion regulation, as it is currently proposed, would have a disasterously negative impact on freedom of healthcare choices and access to herbal remedies at almost all levels. I have a variety of reasons for believing this, but I am still in the process of understanding the implications of the proposed legislation myself so prefer not to make any grand claims at this point without evidence. I am however happy to share my understanding and discuss the issues if anybody would like to contact me on the matter at kpatmore@care2.com. I hope to say more on the issue here in later posts.

Alternatively, you may wish to visit this Public Consultation on Complementary Therapies discussion thread on the Herb Society website where herbalists and members of the public have begun debating the issue. Feel free to post questions or comments. The friendly people on the forum almost always respond thoughtfully and in great depth. It's a good opportunity to understand how the legislation will affect people at different levels.

Finally, to participate in the consultation itself please visit this Department of Health page. There are several downloadable PDF files full of information and the consultation document itself can be found at the bottom of the page. I am personally not convinced by many of the very leading questions and so aim to consider the document carefully before formulating and sending my own response. I think it would be interesting and useful to discuss what might be the most appropriate and coherent responses to some of the questions either here or on the Herb Society thread mentioned above.

It would also be interesting to know the views of a broad range of people (here and abroad) on this matter so I look forward to hearing from you personally or on the Herb Society forum.

Last Stop London

So much has happened in the last few weeks and inevitably this blog has suffered.

Having left my position at the National Botanic Garden of Wales before Christmas, I was then swept off on my adventure to Washington for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival that I'm sure everyone is sick of hearing about.

Well that feels like a lifetime ago now. The day after my return to Heathrow from America, I boarded yet another airplane for an oh so quick 10 day visit with family in northern Sweden.

Barely a moment was spent in the tranquility of our Swedish home before I found myself returning, not to Wales, but to London to begin a whole new life.

I'm on approximately week 5 or 6 of living out of a backpack. I had my first brief visit in what seems like months to my home in Wales this weekend. But today it's finally official, my partner Cameron and I are moving to London for a fresh start and a new job for me (and hopefully Cameron too eventually).

The job, as it turns out, is a surprisingly exciting one though I doubt it would seem so to anyone without a passion for plants and a somewhat autistic approach to filing systems.

I am now working at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew for a small herbarium team which is currently dedicated to finding and recording for the internet every Latin American "type" specimen in Kews vast (6 million specimens apparently) collection. I might go so far as to explain what that means in a future post, but for the time being you can visit this example specimen on Aluka to see the African equivalent of the kind of database records I should be producing in time.

I've been working here for a week now and the job is certainly an interesting one and includes a very steep learning curve. Living arrangements are a little less inspiring and my access to the internet is utterly sporadic at present.

It is for this reason that I add no photos since achieving a quantity of text seems achievement enough without rigging up my camera and starting to upload photos in the corner of this wi-fi pub in Kew.

I do hope I can find a space of my own and get back on track soon!

What Next?

Thanks to everyone who showed interest in what was going on at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, as well as for all the encouraging comments. My posts felt somewhat chaotic because I didn't know where to begin with describing everything. I hope they weren't too sporadic or repetitive.

I am now in north Sweden visiting family and staying in our beautiful little cottage by the sea. It's pouring with rain and the waves are crashing on the beach so that, unusually, we are all huddled indoors enjoying the warmth of a mostly little-used wood burning stove.

So what should I write about next? I have trawled through a huge pile of photos, most of which struggle to give a sense of either the size or the detail of the festival. But I'm keen to upload some more and just don't know where I should start or stop.

Are there any requests? I have photos of leeches, piles of dyed wool still to be prettyfied and pictured, and endless images of our little show-garden. I also have the odd image of other things happening at the festival though tragically I had almost no opportunity to visit much of it and rely on the experiences of others to get a sense of what was going on.

I'm open to suggestions. If anyone would like to hear more on any part of the festival, I shall endeavour to expand upon it and add what images I have. Please let me know by leaving a comment or e-mailing me.

I will also be adding bits here and there to fill in where visitors to our tent made specific requests.

And eventually, when the sun begins to shine again, I must go out and explore the Swedish verges with my new medicinal flora - it looks so green and lovely, I just can't wait.

Well, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival 2009 is finally over.

I've had an absolutely wonderful two weeks. The atmosphere has been brilliant, the level of interest and engagement from visitors truly astounding.

But there's so much more to tell and I'm looking forward to sharing many of the details I haven't had the time or energy to describe so far. I've also promised a goodly number of people that I would upload more information here about what I was doing at the festival. The number of visitors who asked if they could buy my photo album was a real surprise and, since I had to disappoint them, I hope to provide at least something on the blog to make up for my lack of handouts or marketplace wares.

It will take a little time however. Tonight we fly back to London and won't arrive until tomorrow. The next day I head off to North Sweden to visit family and hopefully spin some of the wool I've been dyeing. If I can, I'll let you know how it goes. And with a bit more free time and an opportunity to reflect, maybe I can share some more highlights from my time in Washington.

Back soon...