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When
Drake Sadler co-founded Traditional Medicinals with Rosemary Gladstar in 1974, Gladstar
was eager to educate the public on the benefits of herbal medicine and Sadler
was interested in applying the the Buddhist precept of Right Livelihood to
re-invent the business of plant-based medicine. Decades later, Traditional
Medicinals is a leading seller of wellness teas in the United States, and
Sadler, having stepped down as CEO of Traditional Medicinals in 2007, is
focused on the Traditional
Medicinals Foundation (TMF) he co-founded with his wife Nioma.
Guided
by the Sadlers’ vision, the Foundation is unique in that it works in partnership
with Traditional Medicinals to advocate for social sustainability in herbal-sourcing
communities. Using a portion of the company’s profits and resources, TMF goes
to the sources of the company’s raw materials, many of which are remote and
indigenous communities that rely on income from collecting or cultivating
botanicals. Using a disciplined community-engagement strategy, TMF focuses on
building schools, training village health workers, improving water and food
security, providing women with opportunities for empowerment, and preserving
culture and ancestral herbal knowledge.
“The
Traditional Medicinals Foundation is the product of the Sadlers’ shared vision
and a profoundly strong commitment to empowering people at the very beginning
of the value networks producing high-quality botanical ingredients,” said Mark
Blumenthal, founder and executive director of the American Botanical Council
(ABC). “The Foundation is an integral part of Traditional Medicinals’s mission,
as well as a meaningful, evolutionary step in the company’s purposeful history.
Serving as a social business model, it is destined to become a highly positive
and constructive force in the global herbal community.”
One
example of this model is The Revive! Project, which seeks to reduce poverty
among senna (Senna alexandrina,
Fabaceae) farmers in the northwestern Indian state of Rajasthan. Senna is a
popular ingredient because of the laxative properties of its leaves and fruits.
In keeping with its sustainability commitments, Traditional Medicinals
introduced the first organic senna farming practices in Rajasthan. Since 2009,
the Foundation has sought ways to improve the quality of life for these smallholding
farmers by focusing on the greatest threats to their well-being and security:
food and water scarcity and lack of educational opportunities. To date, Traditional
Medicinals has invested more than $1 million in The Revive! Project, impacting
more than 12,000 people in six villages in Rajasthan.
In
partnership with Traditional Medicinals, as well as global botanical supplier Martin
Bauer Group, Indian herb extract manufacturer Umalaxmi, and California-based
non-governmental organization WomenServe, TMF has built rainwater catchments
for household, agricultural, and livestock use in Rasjasthan. This allows the
villagers to make better use of what little rain falls in this hot, desert
climate, and reduces the labor needed to fetch water. Collecting water sometimes
requires a 10-mile journey in extreme temperatures, and is a chore that usually
falls to women and girls in the community. In addition, the Foundation has
assisted in the construction of family gardens and communal grazing areas to
help ease the burden of food scarcity for both the people and their livestock.
To
help cultivate a sustainable future, community self-help and decision-making groups
have been organized in Rajasthan, giving the villagers — including women of all
ages and castes — the tools, education, voice, and confidence to foster
permanent change in their communities. Martin Bauer Group has also constructed
Community Resource Centers in the communities, which serve as meeting places,
schools, medical clinics, and training facilities, as well as clean, dry
storage sites for the senna during harvest periods. As a result of this
investment in the people, the Revive! Project villages now produce annually several
thousand tons of very high-quality organic senna with high sennoside contents,
demonstrating the long-term value of these community, social investments.
The
Foundation will continue to expand its outreach, and incorporate the
traditional knowledge of the company’s supply communities with progressive
social programs to reduce poverty and improve the quality of life of the people
at the very beginning of the botanical supply chain.
—Hannah
Bauman
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