110 Handbook of herbs and spices
Wanda Wolf, Lonewolf Native Plant and Herb Farm (Saskatchewan).
Dr Allison McCutcheon, President, Natural Health Product Research Society of Canada,
ethonobotanist.
Edward Fletcher, American Herbal Products Association (North Carolina).
Jan Schooley, Ginseng and Medicinal Herb Specialist, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture,
Food and Rural Affairs.
Al Oliver, Industry Specialist – Horticulture, BC Ministry of Agriculture, Food and
Fisheries.
Dr Ernest Small, National Environmental Program, Biodiversity section, Agriculture
and Agri-Food, Canada.
Dr Robin Marles, Director of Research and Science, Natural Health Products Directorate,
Health Products and Food Branch, Health Canada.
Donna Fleury, Business Development Specialist, Business Development Branch,
Alberta Agriculture Centre.
Bev Gray, Herbalist, Aroma Borealis (Yukon).
Ross Wadell, Native Plant Society of British Columbia.
Michelle Hull, Wildcrafter (Ontario).
Tim Brigham, Centre for Non-Timber Resources, Royal Roads University.
Michelle Schröder, Centre for Non-Timber Resources, Royal Roads University.
Wendy Cocksedge, Centre for Non-Timber Resources, Royal Roads University.
6.4 Future trends...................................................................................
A successful industry that consumers can trust is an industry that practises systems
that include safety, quality and traceability. In a global market where health and
safety scares are occurring at an accelerated pace it is vital to minimize risk and to
isolate problems as they occur. It is, however, daunting for producers who are facing
more and more paper work and more need for several overlapping systems to be
developed on farms. It is also difficult for producers who are having demands made
of them by groups that do not understand how production or wildcrafting works,
often resulting in demands that are not physically possible to meet. On top of this,
producers will rarely get a premium for their efforts.
It is vital then that systems be developed as this one was, with industry developing
the standards and requirements, with pilots to test the feasibility on farms, with
outcome-based standards that recognize other systems and with collaboration of other
systems further up the chain to ensure seamless integration throughout the chain.
6.5 Acknowledgement..........................................................................
We are grateful to the AAFC CARDS program under the Canadian On Farm Food
Safety Program for funding.
6.6 Bibliography
OLIVER, A. et al. A Good Agricultural Workbook for On-Farm Food Safety in the Herb,
Spice and Natural Health Products Industry 1.0, 2005, Canadian Herb, Spice and
Natural Health Products Coalition (www.saskherbspice.(org).