Your Headquarters for Herbal Wellness
Herbal remedies and wellness products are available in a number of places. What makes the Co-op unique, according to our wellness manager Laura Furber, is our local selection.
That is due in part to our community. Laura notes, “We live in a real herbal community. We’ve got the Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism right here. We’ve got all these students who come here from all over the country to learn to be clinical herbalists. Additionally, we have numerous herbalists in our community.”
Among the area herbalists are the folks behind the local brands that dominate the herbal selection in our wellness department. These include Samhain, Grian Herbs and McFarline.
Samhain Birth Herbal Apothecary is based in nearby Plainfield and offers an elderberry syrup Laura describes as “super yummy, it’s got ginger, cinnamon, lime, it has a nice taste.” Grian Herbs Apothecary’s syrup is “a little more medicinal,” she notes, with ingredients including spilanthes, which provides powerful immune support. They are also extremely local, with all their products made right here in Montpelier. Based in Benson, VT, McFarline’s Apiaries makes elderberry syrup using propolis and honey from their own bees.
While those local producers make great varieties of elderberry syrup, that is just one product among the numerous local herbs and herbal remedies we carry, such as wild cherry bark syrup, perfect for coughs or congestion.
Our wellness department also features an impressive selection of herbal extracts, the majority of which are singles, rather than blends or formulas. It’s hard to believe, looking at the numerous small bottles lined up on the shelves, that there isn’t one to treat every ailment. “I wish we had one for everything,” Laura says, “But there are cold remedies, herbal decongestants, wellness tonics, nervous system supports, things for energy, for fever, for allergies, and more.”
She reiterates that our Co-op is unique in that our community is filled with knowledgeable consumers looking for herbal alternatives that are healthy and will support their health and well-being. “I can’t stress enough how much we are unusual in the depth of the knowledge in our community, the fact that we’ve got Jill formulating for Samhain and we’ve got Taproot and Grian…Our community is knowledgeable about herbs, mushrooms, and holistic health.”
Having so many great products nearby makes it easier to source locally, which Laura says she does as much as possible. The wellness department also looks for products that are organic, non-GMO, and have ingredients that are all-natural or as natural as possible.
If there’s something you have a question about or would like to see in our wellness department, contact Laura at [email protected]. Having studied herbs and herbalism for over 25 years, Laura is happy to share her experience and expertise, including from her education at the Vermont Center for Herbalism, with customers, saying, “What I love about my job is I get to combine my love of herbs and plants in a cooperative business environment that supports our community’s health and well-being.”