Image courtesy of Jennifer Gerrity
You probably recognize by now how important the concept of quality in herbs and spices is. Maybe, its the pharmacist in me or maybe it’s this desire to employ the best materials with respect and care they deserve. You’ve met a number of guests on this podcast who share this sentiment.
Today, I want to take you one step further. Let me introduce you to someone whose passion ensures that herbs you purchase meet all the necessary criteria of quality.
My today’s guest is Chief Operations Officer for one of my favorite herbal companies, Mountain Rose Herbs. Her name is Jennifer Gerrity.
Jennifer’s passion for plants and herbal medicine began during her childhood taking her to Rutgers University during her college years where she received a degree in Plant Science specializing in plant propagation and agro-business management. Some of her interests and research at that time and upon graduation included tropical agriculture, bioremediation, and tissue culture.
Jennifer’s love of plants eventually brought her to Oregon where she lives now working for Mountain Rose Herbs. Over the years Jennifer served as Director of Human Resources, Operations Manager, and growing into the role of Executive Director of Operations. She oversees the staff and production of this vibrant ever-expanding company. In addition, Jennifer takes special interest in procuring high quality organic herbs, spices, and teas.
Through local, national, and international travel, Jennifer is able to collaborate and build relationships with farms worldwide. Later today, she will talk about some of her experiences and projects she has been involved in.
I am super excited about this conversation and hope that by the end of this episode, you’ll understand inner workings of an amazing company and become a better consumer as a result.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
1.
How Jennifer’s interest in plants began
2.
How did Mountain Rose Herbs got started and evolved, types of products they sell and ways in which they built their community
3.
How does the company source their materials, how the relationships with farmers are built, ways of ensuring high quality of botanicals
4.
How to understand the terminology in Jennifer’s world (for example certified organic, wild cultivated, forest farming, wild harvested/collected in the wild)
5.
What large important projects the company is currently involved in
6.
What challenges the company overcame to maintain their high quality
CONTACTING OUR GUEST:
- Mountain Rose Herbs website, their YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter accounts
- Mountain Rose Herbs blog
”We’ve put a lot of energy into our sources. We know where our materials are coming from, we know who is producing them. We’ve hand-selected sources around the world for 25 years. We’ve grown together, a lot of the relationships became symbiotic. This really sets us apart from others.”
“Our main focus has always been on organic, bulk, dried botanicals. The mission of the company to offer a full selection of what a home herbalist might need.”
Jennifer Gerrity
WEB RESOURCES:
- Rosemary Gladstar, Rose Madrone, Julie Bailey
- International Herb Symposium
- National Organic Program (NOP)
- Strictly Medicinal Seeds
BOOKS:
Peterson Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs of Eastern and Central North America, Third Edition (Peterson Field Guides)
”We have a vast library of pharmacopeias that we rely on, reference standards to be able to identify seed and flower structures specific to each species.”
“We are always very upfront with our requirements and our specifications, we get pre-shipment samples and will do pre-shipment lab testing. We give a lot of feedback and this sets both sides up for success.”
“Herbs generally don’t have very long shelf life. Resins or tree barks might have a couple of years, but for flowers or leaves – a year is the most.”
Jennifer Gerrity
BROUGHT TO YOU BY:
Today’s episode is brought to you by the Mountain Rose Herbs.
Mountain Rose Herbs was very gracious in supporting the work done through the Wellness Insider Network. They kindly offered two $50 gift certificates for shopping on their web site.
To get enrolled into a raffle for the gift certificates, please head over to your podcast platform of choice (Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher) and write a review for Wellness Insider Network. This is the best way for us to spread the word about this podcast.
Take a screenshot of your review and send it to support@lanacamiel.com – I will select randomly two winners in a couple of weeks.
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