Traditional Medicinals, the leader in medicinal teas and largest Fair Trade Certified herbal tea company in the US, has become the first manufacturer in the US to obtain the new FairWild certification.

The FairWild certification is a sustainability standard, first established in 2006, that sets international social, ecological and quality standards for wild-collected plant species, and provides a fair deal to all those involved throughout the supply chain.

For more than 35 years Traditional Medicinals (founded by Drake Sadler, a good family friend and mentor of mine – he was featured as a Green Bar Profile in my book) has worked with plant collector communities to ensure the most efficacious and highest quality pharmacopoeial grade herbs for its products.  Theirs is a long-standing company commitment to social responsibility, environmental stewardship and cultural preservation.  You may have seen them featured on either of my Discovery Network series Living Fresh or Get Fresh with Sara Snow. I’ve been lucky enough to visit TM at their headquarters in Sebastopol, CA many times.  It comes as no surprise to me that they would pioneer this important and very fitting certification in the US.

“Traditional Medicinals was instrumental in first identifying a critical gap in sustainability certification for wild harvested plants.  Most notably, of the 3,000 total plant species traded globally, only about 900 species – less than one third – are farmed, with the rest being wild-collected.”  Because these wild-collected species are not included under any existing Fair Trade standards, it became evident that a new certification was necessary with a framework for measuring Fair Trade practices on wild collected herbs.

The new certification will be used across all industries that use wild-collected plant species in their products, including medicines, teas, spices, and cosmetics.

Included in the framework is verification of sustainable wild collection including respecting customary rights, fair prices and fair trade premium, preventing negative environmental impacts, maintaing wild resources, and applying good management and business practices.

Traditional Medicinals “Just for Kids” Organic Cold Care and Organic Nighty Night are the first herbal tea products to have the FairWild labeling.  FairWild certified Organic Throat Coat, Organic Licorice and Organic Nettle will be introduced in 2010.

Also on SaraSnow.com