Forced Limitation of Natural Supplements in the U.S.?

As I'm a part of several herb networks, I get an abundance of e-mails on a regular basis, outlining everything from drying and packaging to governmental issues. This morning, someone posted a link to a scary article that stems from NaturalNews.com:

FDA Running Extortion Racket: Natural Supplement Companies Threatened with Arrest if They Don't Pay Up

Now, I always take these kinds of articles with a grain of salt; there are extremists in every industry -- though I will say when it comes to drugs and natural remedies, there are plenty at both ends of the spectrum -- and today especially, claims of governmental conspiracy no matter where you turn. But what I have continuously found interesting since my heightened awareness in this area (which basically began around the time I had the brainstorm to start this business) is that there are little reports here and there that are starting to show a much bigger, much scarier picture as to the state of things today.

Even though there is years and years of research on natural supplements in Europe, it is all but disregarded because those trials weren't run through our FDA's guidelines. And since natural supplements are typically not patentable, there is little interest in the U.S. to run large-scale trials on these supplements because of the development costs to gain FDA approval. So instead, there has been a persistent campaign against them, and the mainstream media has been brainwashed to in turn brainwash us into believing what's chosen to be told, skewing the facts as are convenient to "convince" us that they are simply midwivery, superstitions, and useless.

I can quote you tons of different examples of this, and spend an inordinate amount of time telling you about the misinformation that's been put out there to "disprove" effectiveness of everything from stevia as a sweetener to St. John's wort as a mild to moderate anti-depressant and kava as a calmative, but all I'm going to tell you right now is what I've told my children from the time they could speak: Keep your eyes open. Keep your brain open, and question, question, question everything! If you see an excerpt from a clinical trial, the Internet is a great tool to allow you to research to find the full report, which many times looks very different from the way it's been summarized. Also, the media always seems happy to report negative side effects from herbs and other naturals, but articles on the negative effects of lab-manufactured pharmaceuticals are few and far between -- even though there are many, many more than the other (look at how much it took for the problems from PhenPhen to reach the public eye)!

These are bizarre and subversive times. We have a lot of panic going on at many levels, which has borne a lot of conspiracy theories. However, resistance to holistic, preventative, dietary, and natural methods of health care is a reality, and it is up to us to be properly educated... without simply believing what's fed to us.

So is this real? I don't know, but I find it interesting that it's already been spread all over the place. I will definitely keep my eyes open to see how/if this progresses, or simply gets snuffed out!

Is it Really Fall Already?

First of all, I want to apologize for not writing here for, oh, 10 months now. Moving forward, I will try to be more regular, as I am determined to get back on track this week... including writing a much-delayed newsletter, as well!

Anyway, spring and summer have (as usual) come and gone in the blink of an eye, and instead of lamenting about what I DIDN'T get to do this year, I'm trying to focus on what's going on next year. But before I can even do that, I'm really, really stressing about this winter. If this month is any indication, I'd prepare myself for a cold one, folks. Though a friend of mine noted several weeks ago that EVERY year we seem to get a cold snap right around the State Fair (which is this week here in NC), and then it deviates greatly from week to week until sometimes January, I don't buy it. A "cold snap" in October here means 1-2 nights of 40ish weather; however, it seems that Mother Nature is going to tease us with these for at least another week or so; or so the forecast predicts (with some areas actually dipping down into the 30's on a few nights - YIKES!).

This year, I think I'm stressing about it a bit more, too, because of the increase in the cost of propane. Two years ago, when we put in that 1000-gallon tank for the greenhouses, propane was running about $1.38/gal. Now it's easily twice that, so now we're talking about somewhere in the vicinity of $3,000 per fillup (and last winter, I had to do that 3 times). $9,000 for fuel over the winter just isn't feasible; so I'm trying to work with cool-weather plants over the winter, and MAYBE I'll even try to stay as cold frame as possible. We'll see; I have to balance loss of revenue w/the "warmer" weather plants vs. cooler weather ones, because even though the potted plant (and Farmers' Market) season is over, I do have restaurant/retail delivery all year! So I'm reading up; apparently, there are growers as far north as Maine who grow throughout the winter in cold frames (!!!), so if they can do it, I sure should be able to do it here in North Carolina!

Another option we've been exploring to help maintain/grow revenue over the winter is the retail marketing of our pestos. We've developed quite a few fans at the Holly Springs Farmers Market, and when I had some at Whole Foods with recipes next to the bunched herbs they'd purchased, most people didn't want to buy the herbs and make the pestos themselves; they just wanted to buy them in tubs! So, we're actually hoping to start shortly with A Southern Season in Chapel Hill, and then Cary Whole Foods is next. We'll keep you posted!

Anyway, with this week+ of unintended cool weather, I think it's time to break down and cover up the fussier plants -- especially basil, lemongrass, sage, lemon verbena, and pineapple sage -- because once the nighttime dips below 40 degress F, the leaves will brown from the edges inward. I always get so sad when it's time to do that; that means that Winter is on its way soon... my least favorite time of the year. If it turns out like last year, it won't be so bad, but we haven't had a REAL winter here for at least 3 or 4 years, so I'm getting rather leery. We'll see!

In the meantime, before it gets too cold, make sure you harvest your herbs to dry them, and/or use them in any Fall/Winter arts and crafts. At least that's a way to bring in the fresh smells of outside with the windows closed up tight!