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-- WITH PHOTO -- TO NATIONAL EDITORS:
Herbal Advocate Sara Katz to Receive American Botanical Council Mark
Blumenthal Herbal Community Builder Award
AUSTIN, Texas, March 3, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The nonprofit
American Botanical Council (ABC) announces that herbalist and educator
Sara Katz has been selected as the second-ever recipient of its Mark
Blumenthal Herbal Community Builder Award. The award is granted to
persons in the herbal medicine community who have played a significant
role in creating a sense of community among herbalists, researchers,
members of the herb and natural products communities, and related
groups who work in the area of medicinal plants. It was created in
2013 and is named after ABC's Founder and Executive Director, Mark
Blumenthal.
Among her many noteworthy accomplishments, Katz is co-founder of the
herbal products company Herb Pharm, a founding member of the American
Herbalists Guild, and board president of United Plant Savers (UpS), a
nonprofit organization dedicated to conservation and sustainable
production of indigenous American medicinal plants. She has served on
numerous local and national boards - including that of the American
Herbal Products Association - and she has organized and co-organized
multiple herbal conferences throughout the United States, notably five
UpS conferences at Herb Pharm between 2000 and 2012, with proceeds
benefiting the conservation nonprofit.
Along with strong support from others in the herbal community, Katz
received a nomination for the honor from the recipient of the
inaugural Mark Blumenthal Herbal Community Builder Award, celebrated
herbalist, author, and UpS Founder Rosemary Gladstar. "[Sara] is a
driving force in the herbal community and is involved in so many
herbal ventures. In fact, there's very little Sara's not involved in,
or [hasn't] supported in one way or another," said Gladstar. "The
thing is, she does it quietly, often behind the scenes . but she's
always speaking out, doing, helping, being involved in the greater
circle."
"I am so humbled, floored, and surprised. To be in the same teacup as
Mark and Rosemary - I cannot imagine a more meaningful award.. I
couldn't be happier and I am over-the-moon honored," said Katz. "The
herbal community is international, ranging from scientists to
herbalists to farmers," she observed. "There is a spirit and a spark
and an understanding that unites all of us, and that's a lot of
people."
Katz grew up in south Florida without much exposure to herbs or the
natural-living culture. "In my early 20s, I chose to break away, and I
went about as far as I could - to Portland, Oregon," recalled Katz. In
search of a career and drawn to natural healing, Katz enrolled in
Western States Chiropractic College (now the University of Western
States). Though bodywork ultimately was not Katz's calling, her
chiropractic training did connect her with a group of like-minded
individuals endeavoring to establish an herbal medicine-centered
naturopathic college. The start-up funding for what became the Pacific
College of Natural Medicine was raised through conferences Katz
co-organized.
Shortly thereafter, Katz and herbalist Ed Smith chose to diverge from
that path, forging a trail that led to their 1979 co-founding of Herb
Pharm - today an award-winning herbal extract manufacturing business
and certified-organic farm. "We packed up our bags, found a rental,
and moved to Williams, Oregon, where we started making extracts in our
kitchen. Ed traveled the country teaching herb classes, and people
were fascinated by our extracts, so we joined forces and started doing
everything about herbs," said Katz. She added: "It was the most modest
home business that you can imagine, the way it started."
Katz and Smith's "Pharm Farm" in southern Oregon grew simultaneously
with their Herb Pharm Herbaculture Intern Program, which currently
offers three 10-week sessions per year. During that time, the interns
live on site, spending weekdays learning medicinal plant cultivation
and harvest, and evenings and weekends in classes devoted to topics
ranging from plant identification to therapeutic herbalism. Over the
past 35 years, the program has provided training to thousands - many
of whom have gone on to pursue careers in natural medicine. It stands
among Katz's proudest and most passionate efforts, along with her
"completely gratifying" work to conserve and protect indigenous
medicinal plants with UpS.
"What motivates me is working toward purposeful goals with a
dedicated, passionate, intelligent group of people," said Katz. "The
role I find myself in now is as a mentor in the various nonprofit
organizations that I'm involved with. In many cases, the way is being
led by remarkable young women, and I am absolutely thrilled to be able
to help them navigate the world of business and organizations with all
I've learned through the years."
"Herbs lead the way," she continued. "For me, it's a spiritual path;
it's what connects me to the unknown and the world of nature, and I
think it's that way for many of us. When you get that spark of the
medicine plants, it's forever."
"Sara is a truly amazing person, perhaps a proverbial 'force of
nature,'" noted Blumenthal. "I remember, back in the late 1970s or
early 1980s, her working in her home late at night, packing orders for
the line of 'home-made' herbal extracts that she and Ed made, sending
them to herbalists and alternative healthcare practitioners all over
the United States. She was like three people in one - her energy and
enthusiasm seemed boundless. And, she's taken that high level of
energetic commitment beyond the business to educational activities and
organizations across the United States, particularly with her
dedicated volunteer work as president of United Plant Savers."
The ABC Mark Blumenthal Herbal Community Builder Award will be
presented to Katz at the 9th Annual American Botanical Celebration and
Awards Ceremony on March 6 in Anaheim, California. The ABC event
occurs during the NEXT Innovation Summit (formerly Nutracon)
nutrition, natural products, and dietary supplements conference and
Natural Products Expo West.
The American Botanical Celebration and Awards Ceremony is underwritten
by generous contributions from the following members of the herb,
dietary supplement, and natural products industry (i.e., raw material
suppliers, supplement and tea manufacturers, analytical laboratories,
a law firm, an insurer, a media company, and a trade organization):
Alkemist Labs Amin Talati Christie Communications ChromaDex EuroPharma Grifcon Enterprises Horphag Research Indena USA Martin Bauer Group MegaFood Natural Factors Nutritional Products New Chapter New Hope Natural Media PlusPharma RFI Ingredients Traditional Medicinals United Natural Products Alliance
About the American Botanical Council Founded in 1988, the American
Botanical Council is a leading international nonprofit organization
that addresses research and educational issues regarding botanicals,
teas, medicinal plants, essential oils, other therapeutic
plant-derived materials, and beneficial fungi. ABC's members and
stakeholders include researchers, health professionals, consumers,
nonprofit organizations, libraries, universities, herb and cosmetic
industry members, and others in more than 80 countries. The
organization occupies a historic 2.5-acre site in Austin, Texas, where
it publishes the peer-reviewed quarterly journal HerbalGram, the
monthly e-publication HerbalEGram, the weekly e-newsletter Herbal News
& Events, HerbClips (summaries of scientific and clinical
publications), reference books, and other educational materials. ABC
also hosts HerbMedPro, a powerful herbal database, covering scientific
and clinical publications on more than 250 herbs. ABC also co-produces
the "Herbal Insights" segment for Healing Quest, a television series
on PBS, and manages the ABC-AHP-NCNPR Botanical Adulterants Program,
an international consortium of nonprofit and industry trade
organizations, analytical laboratories, industry members, and other
parties committed to increasing educational information on the quality
and authenticity of botanical raw materials, extracts and essential
oils in the global marketplace.
ABC is tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the IRS Code.
Information: Contact ABC at P.O. Box 144345, Austin, TX 78714-4345,
Phone: 512-926-4900. Website: www.herbalgram.org. Contact: Public
Relations.
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SOURCE American Botanical Council
-0- 03/03/2014
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/Web Site: http://www.herbalgram.org
CO: American Botanical Council
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