MedicineCrow Blog
Community Supported Medicine from Farm to Pharmacy
Goldthread Medicinal Herb Farm Pioneering
Grassroots Healthcare Business Model
As a licensed Acupuncturist, Bill Siff was familiar with using herbs to treat his patients. However having exotic medicinal plants shipped from around the world didn’t sit with his idea of sustainable grassroots healthcare. He realized that for a resurgence of botanical medicine, herbs would need to be locally grown and cost-effective. Along with his wife Sarah, he started Goldthread Herb Farm in Conway Massachusetts, which supplies herbs for their associated apothecary in nearby Florence.
With Community Supported Agriculture, famers sell boxes of their products directly to members, who pay in advance to financially support farm operations. Mr. Siff began offering herbs and herbal products in this fashion, and coined the term Community Supported Medicine. Goldthread recently made the news with this feature from WFCR radio:
| Download | Name | Play | Size | Length |
 | GoldthreadNPR |
2.3 MB | 5:02 min |
The Goldthread farm is largely staffed by interns with a desire to learn herbal medicine. The Goldthread Farm to Pharmacy program, co-taught with Floracopeia founder David Crow, takes learners through the entire process of growing and using herbs. The course covers planting, harvesting, and processing herbs for use, as well as basic diagnosis techniques useful for any family herbalist. This program, the first of its kind, is now in the third year of offering classes to both locals and visitors alike.
Grassroots healthcare - locally available, affordable, and non-toxic - is almost entirely missing from the medical industry in the United States. Bill Siff and Goldthread are making progress in filling in the gap. What are you doing to bring grassroots healthcare into your community? Tell us below in the comments.
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