NBJ Award 2023: Education

This article originally appeared in the Nutrition Business Journal's Awards Issue.

From the Sustainable Herbs Project to the Sustainable Herbs Program to the Sustainable Herbs Initiative, Ann Armbrecht has been a champion for work that educates industry and consumers about the challenges—and opportunities—around sustainable sourcing of herbal products.

Her journey was inspired by a quote from farmer and writer Wendell Berry: “As a nation, we are struggling with a profound lack of imagination. We don’t see the forests being cut down to build our homes, the lakes being drained as we fill our tub. We live on the far side of a broken connection.”

Armbrecht’s mission has been to rebuild connections, to offer opportunities for collaboration and to provide the necessary insights and education to fuel the journey toward a more sustainable, people-centric botanicals industry. Starting as a storyteller, Armbrecht brought to life the values of how herbal medicine can change the world for the better through her documentary, “Numen: the Nature of Plants,” released in 2014. Making the film ignited a passion to tell the stories of the people and plants behind the finished products on the shelves. The video snippets from her travels across Eastern Europe, visiting FairWild certified projects, formed the foundation of the Sustainable Herbs Project.

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Josef Brinckmann, research fellow at Traditional Medicinals and president of the board for the American Botanical Council (ABC), recalls first meeting Armbrecht during the filming of “Numen.” When she reached out to share her vision for the Sustainable Herbs Project, he sought to facilitate introductions to medicinal plant wild harvesting operations, herb trading companies, NGOs and much more. “From Ann’s background and experience, and genuine curiosity, I knew she could tell the story, which, in my view, hadn’t been told yet,” Brinckmann notes.

Armbrecht’s goal was to bring a consciousness to the supplement community by sharing the connection to the planet. “The industry is focused on consumer wellness but doesn’t connect that to the health of the planet and the people,” she says. “That’s what I wanted to accomplish.”

In the spring of 2018, the Sustainable Herbs Project officially became part of the American Botanical Council (ABC) and was renamed the Sustainable Herbs Program (SHP) to denote its longer-term stability. According to ABC founder Mark Blumenthal, bringing SHP into the organization made sense, given the focus on education and collaboration was in alignment with ABC’s priorities. “We have served as a virtual ‘incubator’ for five years, and SHP has had a remarkable impact on the herb industry,” he said.

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Indeed, in the five years since the SHP found its home within ABC, its focus on telling stories to ignite change while bringing together people with a passion for plants has yielded tremendous results, documented on SHP’s multimedia website that brings the herbal supply chain to life with videos, photo essays and more. The SHP Webinar Series launched during the COVID-19 pandemic to bring together the herbal community to address issues of sustainability, ethnobotany and more. To date,  40 webinars have collectively logged more than 50,000 views. “We had the opportunity to share information about critical issues, but to do so with different voices and people from different regions,” Armbrecht says. “I’m proud that it was available to people who couldn’t afford to go to conferences or aren’t in a position to be on stage.”

The focus on connection also gave rise to the SHP Learning Lab, an online multi-stakeholder initiative based on the practices of the Presencing Institute that explores how to create an herbal industry that enhances well-being and prosperity at every step in the supply chain, from seed to shelf. Three online cohorts of the Learning Lab have evolved into in-person Learning Journeys, taking industry stakeholders to locations such as Appalachia and Nicaragua.

“The Learning Lab/Learning Journey program has been able to bring together different voices from industry and the entire botanical supply chain to dive deep into what is working, what the challenges are, what needs to change and ways to make those changes,” says industry consultant Erin Smith, an advisory board member for SHP. “It is amazing and groundbreaking work, and Ann has a gift for connecting and stewarding a solutions-driven process, even when solutions seem impossible.”

Armbrecht expanded on these insights with her book, “The Business of Botanicals: Exploring the Healing Promise of Plant Medicines in a Global Industry,” which follows herbs from the field to finished product and outlines a vision for an industry rooted in respect for plants, people and the planet. Alison Czeczuga, director of education at Gaia Herbs PRO, originally connected with Armbrecht while she was writing the book and sees the connections between the projects. “Ann’s learning models are not only impacting the way we operate at botanical companies and expanding our consciousness but have been admired by other companies in the CPG space that have expressed interest in duplicating this approach,” she says. “Ann’s vision to bring this reality to the masses is so important.”

Another notable educational resource cited by Armbrecht’s many champions is the SHP Sustainability & Regenerative Practices Toolkit, version 2.0. Released in March 2023, this 86-page, information-rich document includes tools and resources for companies seeking to roadmap their journey toward greater sustainability—from video case studies and discussion questions to self-assessment tools and curated resources.

“The toolkit is an incredibly rich, robust, densely packed treasure chest of opportunities and resources for any company wanting to research and consider ways to manage their supply chain or value network,” Blumenthal says. “It has been Ann’s project, and it is the gold standard in our community and industry for sustainable practices.”

Ajay Patel, founder and CEO at Verdure Sciences, recognizes how SHP brought awareness to the topic of herbal stewardship, whether through guides for consumers to ask questions or developing industry resources that facilitate greater transparency. Her work is vital, he says: “Ann has been a great voice for our industry and … brings the collaboration of industry leaders to an open forum for discussion that betters the industry, and the planet.”

Ultimately, Armbrecht’s work through SHP is having a tangible impact on the future of responsible industry. “Ann’s workshops and sessions are gradually paving the way toward responsible sourcing, improving sensitivity toward the hardships faced by tribal collectors and poor farmers,” says Amit Agarwal, director of business development at Natural Remedy.

In 2024, SHP enters the next phase of its evolution, departing from ABC to join the Sustainable Food Lab (SFL), a nonprofit founded in 2004 to shift sustainability from niche to mainstream in the food system. SFL Director Don Seville says the organization is looking at how to take its work in areas such as learning communities and industry collaboration and apply that to the botanical industry. “The Sustainable Herbs Initiative is really the way of the future, because we’ll act at scale, providing stability and consistency for farmers and finding exciting ways to bring in crop diversification and much more,” he says.

Armbrecht remains optimistic about the future of SHP and bringing the connection of people and plants for the planet. “We’re listening to the edges of the system and looking at the future that’s emerging,” she said. “The next five years will build on SHP’s work to deepen relationships and facilitate collaboration, because we believe this is essential for creating the conditions for long-term change.”

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