Herbalism 101

Food & Culture Conference Report – by Haley McKendy

This workshop took place on Tio’tia:ke (a.k.a Montreal), unceded Kanien’keha:ka (Mohawk) territory.

Herbalism 101 was a workshop was held at Coop La Maison Verte in Montreal. The space as warm and welcoming and everyone was encouraged to ask questions. It was held as an anti capitalism community workshop and the charge for participating ($14) was in place to help Pamela, who ran the workshop, cover costs. The workshop started with Pamela asking everyone what they hoped to gain by taking this workshop. Responses were varied but made everyone as a whole feel included and a part of a larger community. As the workshop went on, we learned about various methods of folk, or kitchen herbalism. Included within that were different ways to make a variety of salves, tinctures and infusions. We learned what each one was and why it was important to differentiate between mediums to gain the full benefits of the herbs. We were also given herbal alternatives for dietary restrictions. Everyone received a workbook detailing what was learned in the workshop, as well as a jar of fire cider (a herbal tincture to help the immune system and increase body heat.). The workshop from start to finish was about an hour and a half, with a question period after. It was a lot of fun and I walked away feeling inspired to do my own herbal remedies at home. It was an interesting and engaging experience and if a Herbalism 102 workshop were offered, I would definitely take it. For those who are interested in taking Herbalism 101, you can contact Pamela about upcoming events through Facebook ( @blueberryjams ) to find out about upcoming workshops. Coop la maison verte is also a community space that has many free and at cost events throughout the year. To find out about these events or volunteer at coop la maison verte, their website ( http://www.cooplamaisonverte.com ) has all the information, as well as the possibility of signing up for the coop newsletter.