The American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) recently awarded individuals and organizations the 2022 AHPA Awards at its annual member meeting, taking place at Natural Products Expo West on March 9.
 
The Herbal Insight Award was received by Cassandra L. Quave, PhD, the Herbal Diversity and Inclusion Award was received by Planting Justice, the Herbal Hero Award went to Marc Allen, the Herbal Industry Leadership Award was received by Celestial Seasonings, and the Environmental Impact Award was granted to Rodale Institute.
 
Herbal Insight Award
 
Cassandra L. Quave, PhD, is a medical ethnobotanist whose work is focused on the documentation and analysis of botanical remedies used in the treatment of infectious disease.
 
“Her passion for ethnobotany and the healing power of plants is a personal one: born with multiple congenital defects of her skeletal system, she has traversed the world with just one leg on her quest to develop new ways to fight illness and disease,” AHPA said.
 
As the herbarium curator and associate professor of dermatology and human health at Emory University, Quave leads anti-infective drug discovery research initiatives and teaches courses on medicinal plants, food, and health. She is also the co-founder and CEO/CSO of PhytoTEK LLC, a drug-discovery company dedicated to developing solutions from botanicals for the treatment of recalcitrant antibiotic-resistant infections.
 
Quave has authored more than 100 scientific publications and has been featured in New York Times Magazine and BBC Focus, as well as on PBS, NPR and the National Geographic Channel. In her recently published novel, The Plant Hunter: A Scientist’s Quest for Nature’s Next Medicines, Quave takes readers on a journey of her field research spanning flooded forests in the remote Amazon, the rolling hills of central Italy, isolated mountaintops in Albania and Kosovo, and volcanic isles arising out of the Mediterranean, all in search of natural compounds that could help save lives from the looming crisis of untreatable superbugs.
 
Quave also shares her knowledge of ethnobotany on her Foodie Pharmacology podcast and Teach Ethnobotany YouTube channel.
 
Herbal Diversity and Inclusion Award
 
Planting Justice seeks to empower people to grow their own food. Since 2009, the nonprofit organization has built over 550 edible permaculture gardens in the San Francisco Bay Area, worked with five high schools to develop food justice curricula, and created over 40 green jobs in the food justice movement for people transitioning from prison, AHPA reports.
 
The organization also seeks to address the systemic exploitation of food system workers, lack of access to fresh, nutritious food in low-income communities of color, and over-reliance on packaged, processed food that is harmful to human health and the environment.
 
The organization also operates a local, organic nursery with rare and heirloom varieties, along with other programs such as food justice education, prison re-entry programs, a permaculture landscaping team, urban farms, and training centers. Planting Justice collaborates with marginalized communities to provide equal access to nutritious affordable food, dignified jobs, education, green space, safety, and mobility.
 
Herbal Hero Award
 
Marc Allen has been on the AHPA Board of Trustees for many years, including two years spent as chairman. He has also served as a member of the executive committee and chair of the finance and governance committee for the trade association.
 
In thse roles, Marc brought personal experience in corporate governance and business practices to help update AHPA’s operations. According to AHPA, Allen started and led the financial audit committee, participated in the formal development of the president’s review process, initiated appropriately-timed reviews of dues levels and structure, and helped to launch AHPA’s strategic planning process. Allen has also led Herb Pharm’s participation and continued support of the AHPA ERB Foundation and many AHPA projects that benefit the herbal products industry.
 
Herbal Industry Leadership Award
 
As a founding member of AHPA, Celestial Seasonings was at the table for AHPA’s earliest board meetings and remains an active member today. Celestial Seasonings’ goal is to provide high-quality teas that are good for tea drinkers while also sustainable, and have been an important part of the discussion on GMO labeling, sodium and sugar intake, and animal welfare.
 
Celestial Seasonings sources over 100 botanicals from 35 countries around the world, with 70% of ingredients purchased directly from farmers and local communities. The company’s natural fiber teabags also do not need string, tags, staples, or individual wrappers, saving more than 3.5 million pounds of waste from entering landfills each year. The company also uses carriers that participate in the Environmental Protection Agency’s SmartWay program, aimed at advancing supply chain sustainability and helping companies save fuel, lower costs, and reduce adverse environmental impacts.
 
Environmental Impact Award
 
Rodale Institute is a company leading the regenerative organic agriculture movement, since its founder, J.I. Rodale, bought a rundown farm in 1940 and began to grow food without chemicals, a practice he coined as ‘organic.’
 
The nonprofit organization is dedicated to growing the organic movement through research, farmer training, and consumer education. For more than 70 years, the organization has researched the most effective, efficient, and regenerative organic farming practices, with a study portfolio including the 40-year-old Farming Systems Trial. This is the longest-running side-by-side comparison of grain cropping systems in America. The institute has also invested in research on industrial hemp and the crop’s potential to heal soil and provide opportunity for American Farmers.
 
Rodale Institute also conducts research on nutrient management, improved techniques for composting, soil carbon accrual, pest and disease prevention, and more as part of their continued commitment to developing best practices in organic agriculture.