'Herbal Ed' Smith Receives ABC Champion Award

AUSTIN, Texas, (March 4, 2016) — The nonprofit American Botanical Council (ABC) is pleased to announce the recipient of its second Champion Award: Ed Smith, medical herbalist and co-founder of Herb Pharm, an herbal products manufacturing company, in Williams, Oregon. In addition to Herb Pharm’s unwavering support of ABC and its educational mission and programs, Smith recently made a generous personal donation.

The ABC Champion Award was created to recognize an individual or individuals who have been outstanding supporters of ABC, helping the organization promote and achieve its mission. The generosity of ABC’s friends and members is vital to the nonprofit’s continued success and growth.

“I have always appreciated Ed’s strong personal and professional commitment to herb ingredient quality, and I consider him to be one of the best herbal medicine makers in North America,” said ABC Founder and Executive Director Mark Blumenthal. “Ed is a highly passionate advocate for the herbal agenda.”

Smith’s career spans more than four decades of learning and teaching about herbs and their benefits. During this time, he has given countless lectures, held herb classes, and traveled many miles. Smith has studied and sourced herbs in many regions of the world, including Western Europe, northern and eastern Africa, Asia, the Indian subcontinent, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and the South Pacific Islands.

“The things I saw and experienced definitely sparked my passionate interest in herbs and seeded my life and work as an herbalist,” said Smith.

Smith was a founding member of the American Herbalist Guild, taught at the California School of Herbal Studies for over a decade, and co-founded Herb Pharm in 1979. Smith has worked with some of the most highly respected herbalists and teachers in the community, including renowned herbalist John Christopher, with whom he co-founded the Foundation for Natural Living and the Pacific College of Naturopathic Medicine. He has also worked with Ann Wigmore, the founder of the Hippocrates Health Institute.

“I am very happy to be receiving the ABC Champion Award from the American Botanical Council,” said Smith. “I’m honored by this recognition of my and Herb Pharm’s support of ABC and its important work for herbal medicine consumers, the American herb industry, and the herbal academic and sciences community.”

“Ed Smith has been a close personal friend and professional colleague for almost 40 years, since we met at an Herb Trade Association herb symposium at the University of California at Santa Cruz in 1978,” Blumenthal said. “From the very beginning of ABC in 1988, he and his company Herb Pharm have always been at the forefront of companies that have advocated for ABC and its unique nonprofit educational mission to promote the responsible use of herbs and phytomedicines.”

ABC created the Champion award in 2015. The first recipient was Terry Lemerond, founder of Europharma, Inc. and Enzymatic Therapy.

The award will be presented to Smith by Blumenthal at the 11th annual ABC Botanical Celebration and Awards Ceremony in Anaheim, California, on March 10, 2016. The event, for ABC Sponsor Members, occurs during Natural Products Expo West.