Our Values

• Chinese medicinal herbs are important for public health, particularly under conditions of widespread chronic degenerative disease. Cooperation helps ensure that all people, regardless of economic status, have access to this medicine.

• Chinese medicinal herbs are agricultural products, not manufactured products. Traditional means of use are water decoctions, simple powders or tinctures, which preparations are managed by certified, licensed practitioners. Rewards for quality go to the farmer, not the manufacturer.

• Certified and licensed Chinese herbal medicine practitioners, those who are well-experienced in handling imported herbs, are the best judges of the quality of domestically grown herbs. Consensual agreement regarding acceptability of the products can be achieved using existing protocols.

• Ecological production practices result in cultivated herbs that are as efficacious as their wild counterparts.

• Highly distributed production – on diversified, ecological small farms as opposed to monoculture settings or plantations – provides the best stewardship and stabilizes supply in the age of climate change.

• Independent farmers and landowners, not tenants or serfs, are the ideal stewards. Especially for those Americans whose ancestors came to this continent as indentured servants or slaves, we know what it means to be displaced and to lose ownership of our own labor. Therefore, we patronize the local farmers who grow our food and herbs out of respect for their independence, as well as their stewardship.

• Cooperation makes us strong and grows our economy. We put our money where our values are, prioritizing the local but also cooperating at the local, regional, nation and international levels using basic principles of democracy. We supply local needs first then trade out of surplus. Regions and biomes grow different herbs; variety promotes trade.