Herbalism is not science “lite.”

It’s also not an alternative therapy.

It’s a sophisticated healing system unto itself that has played and continues to play an essential role in the care and survival of the human race.

This is a talk that David Hoffman gave to the American Herbalists Guild Symposium in Portland, Oregon on November 5th, 2005.

In it he addresses the subversion of herbalism by Big Business and how herbalists can best pay a positive role in what for many people is a worldwide health crisis, one that unfortunately is only likely to get worse.

Hoffman’s talk is in three parts.

Because it’s rather long (nearly an hour and a half), we’re leading with the final part of the three parts in which he sums up many of his main points.

Here’s his bio from the

David Hoffmann has traveled the world, run for Parliament on a Green Party ticket (yes, he’s English), and has been an activist in the Green and Peace movements for longer than he cares to remember. He is the author of 17 books, his latest is a textbook on science and clinical skills for phytotherapists entitled Medical Herbalism, published by Inner Traditions. These accomplishments aside, David, a Fellow of Britain’s National Institute of Medical Herbalists, has been a phytotherapist (that’s a practitioner of herbal medicine) for over 30 years.

Conclusion

Part One

Part Two

– Ken McCarthy
PlantWisdom.org