What is a Community Herbalist?

by | May 4, 2026 | Community Education, Community Herbalism, DIY, Foraging

10 minute read

TL;DR? a briefer version of this blog is available here: Community Herbalism: What do you mean? which is a roughly 3.5 minute read.

This is an extract from our community herbalism course –  Grass Roots Herbal Foundations – sign up for the October 2026 – June 2027 course here  Note there is an Early Bird booking offer before the end of June 2026.

Introduction

Like so many terms relating to plant medicine, “community herbalist” can be defined in a wide range of ways. A simple answer to this question could be “someone who uses herbal medicine in their community” – although that definition is somewhat circular, begging the questions “what is herbal medicine?” and “what is community?” 

Another approach would be to consider community herbalism on a continuum with the idea of a home herbalist. A home herbalist makes and/or gives advice on herbal remedies for those immediately around them, their close friends and family. You’re probably a home herbalist if your friends come over expecting to be experimented on with your latest concoctions and your family members have grown used to a house strewn with plants hanging out to dry, bottles, jars and probably books. A community herbalist is often a home herbalist who has started to branch out to providing remedies and/or advice beyond their immediate circle of close friends and family. Becoming a community herbalist may or may not be a conscious decision. Perhaps a friend of a friend has asked for that ointment that helped with their aching muscles or sore head – that is probably step one to becoming a community herbalist. We also think of community herbalists as grass roots herbalists and tend to use these terms interchangeably. Some nuance to this would be that we think of a grass roots herbalist as being closely aligned with the values of those in their community and, where possible, to be a member of the community / communities they work with whereas this is not always the case for a community herbalist.  

We still have this question though, what IS a community herbalist? 

What CAN a community herbalist do – scope of practice?

What CAN’T a community herbalist do – limitations of practice?

Here we will present our current thoughts on answering these questions. We have tried to consider as wide a range of meanings as possible of “community herbalist”. We acknowledge that there are many community herbalists who work in different ways to us and that your work as a grass roots herbalist will likely take all kinds of twists and turns over time, based on your life and experiences. What is presented here is the framework that we find useful and choose to share with our students and volunteers. As with everything, it is an ongoing learning process that will keep developing over time.

To set the scene, we are going to put forward some foundational principles of herbalism and our thoughts on community herbalism as a political approach. We will also consider the knowledge base for a grass roots herbalist specifically relating to this course, what activities a grass roots herbalist might or might not carry out – thinking about both the scope and limitations of practice for a grass roots herbalist. We will return to limitations later when we consider situations when we would refer someone on to a herbal practitioner, other medical professional or specialist. 

 

Foundational Principles of Traditional Herbalism

In considering community herbalism, we think it is important to ground ourselves in some foundational principles of herbalism in general. These concepts are not unique to herbalism and you may have come across them in other contexts. They do set herbalism apart from allopathic medicine (what some folk refer to as conventional or biomedicine), although again, we definitely know of allopathic practitioners who try to apply some of these principles of holism and ecology, despite working within a system which makes it difficult to embrace these. 

  1. Principles of wholeness and interconnectedness: 

All of life is part of a complex, interconnected web. Our bodies are small parts of a system made up of the same forces and energies that make up the whole universe e.g. Water, Fire, Earth & Air 

         2. Embracing a whole systems approach: 

We treat individuals by focusing on their whole system, and larger systems they are part of, not just isolated parts of them. We focus on physiological function, and not exclusively on disease and symptom control 

         3. Honouring the innate healing capacity of the vital force:

 We support the innate healing capacity of the organism. We work with, and alongside vital forces, not against them 

Grass Roots Herbalism as a Political Approach

At Grass Roots Remedies Co-op, we are all passionate about the relationship between health & the wider social, political & economic & ecological structures, and so consider community herbalism to be necessarily founded upon the principle that health & disease is inherently political. For us, grass roots herbalism follows the holistic health view that mind, body & spirit are all intimately one and the same, but also places that into a wider anti-capitalist & anti-oppression framework where the health of individual bodies is directly related to the health of our communities & environment.  

The likelihood of who gets sick, when and how, is significantly determined by factors like economic status, class, lived environment, race, gender and the patterning of our childhood experiences and family influences. This means the narratives around health & disease are not simply centred on discussion of an individual’s diet, lifestyle, movement, behaviour and so on. 

Community & Grass Roots Herbalists therefore present a critical perspective on popularly presented narratives around so called ‘health & wellness’

Knowledge Base of a Grass Roots Herbalist

Now that we have established the principles behind this work and before we explore the skills and activities of a grass roots herbalist, we will turn to a question that many students have: 

What will I learn on this course in order to become a grass roots herbalist? 

This course covers:

  1. Herbal Allies: 45 plants which can be grown easily, foraged abundantly or bought inexpensively. This includes their actions, energetics, chemistry and safe use
  2. Community Herbalism: working in community, with a focus on inclusivity and accessibility, including the options to support volunteers and offer workshops, with awareness of the social influences on health and our relationships with our bodies
  3. Sensory Herbalism: sensing into your own body, the bodies of plants and the wider world to more deeply experience herbal medicine 
  4. Ecological Herb Gardening: planning a growing space along permaculture principles, growing and harvesting medicinal herbs
  5. Herbal Actions, Energetics & Constituents: a Foundational approach to herbal actions; the ways in which universal forces or energetics connect us and how these both interplay with the chemical make up of plants
  6. Remedy Making: a range of methods of medicine making and applications of herbs and which preparations are best suited to certain situations
  7. Herbal Therapeutics: how key elements of the human body operate in balance or homeostasis, some common patterns of imbalance and the herbal actions, energetics and constituents that can aid in supporting physiological function. 

Beyond this, Community Herbalism can be aligned with the  principles of Permaculture: Earth Care, People Care, Fair Share, along with a sound Knowledge Base & Skillset in a range of areas associated with community and herbal medicine.

Wider Principles of Community Herbalism 

Earth Care (from the Principles of Permaculture)

A community herbalist has: 

  •  a firm grounding in an ecological approach – centred in relationships with plants, their kin, wider cycles & seasons in nature, and the interwoven connections with our human communities. There is a relational openness to the ‘more-than-human’ kin
  • knowledge of the origin & habitats of commonly used medicinal plants, including their ecological situation i.e. if they are at risk or endangered in the wild and what alternatives could be used instead to practice sustainable plant medicine 
  • a respectful attitude towards growing, harvesting & foraging plants with appreciation for all the life they support  

People Care

A community herbalist has: 

  • a connection with a community or communities of people – this could be a geographical community or a community of interest
  • skills to confidently and coherently share information about herbalism either individually or in group settings such as talks or workshops, in a way that is open to as broad a range of people as possible
  • a non-hierarchical community education perspective that everyone has knowledge to share rather than there being one ‘expert’
  • awareness of how to create spaces that aspire to be inclusive – understanding the ‘mainstreams and margins’ within a community or group; celebrating diversity and honouring everyone’s experiences without shaming or excluding folks who have differences of opinion 

Fair Share

A community herbalist has: 

  • a commitment to inclusivity & accessibility – herbalism is a practice that should be available to all 
  • an understanding of examples of different business models & pricing strategies used to create financial inclusivity 
  • an appreciation of the value of their work, including the potential to be fairly compensated for their time & experience

Scope of Community Herbalism – What can I do?

Being a community herbalist can look very different from day-to-day and from community herbalist to community herbalist. In the main you would be expected to have proficiency in a range of areas of herbalism and to be using that knowledge in service of your family and wider community. This may look like running a small business or co-operative and/or be on a voluntary basis. 

Roles which you may have include:

Education

  • informal skill-sharing, 
  • home education, 
  • teaching workshops to community groups or organisations, 

Remedy Making

  • creating a home apothecary,
  • setting up a community apothecary, 
  • running market stalls,

Herb Growing Or Gathering 

  • growing medicinal plants for community use, education, or as part of a herbal supply chain 
  • foraging herbs for community use, education or as part of a herbal supply chain 

Advice Giving

  • suggesting or making up personalised remedies for simple ailments, without charging for your advice or time 
  • referring on to a healthcare professional where appropriate
  • maintaining clear boundaries, including confidentiality and respect for those who ask your advice 

Limitations of Community Herbalism – What can’t I do?

In general, grass roots herbalists are working alongside people in a non-hierarchical framework, seeking to empower folk to find their own relationships with plants and their own body. In contrast to Medical Herbalists, Community Herbalists are not clinicians, and so it is not appropriate for Community Herbalists to diagnose any health issues, or to work with conditions or situations beyond their level of skill & knowledge. 

While this clearly begs the question, ‘well what is beyond my level of skill & knowledge’ this isn’t as black and white as it seems. It isn’t possible to simply provide a list of what situations would or would not be suitable to be supported by a non-clinical herbalist. There are instead numerous factors to consider in each case including the background, experience & skillset of the herbalist, what the proposed herbal intervention is, and a holistic understanding of safety issues that may be present in the case. 

Broadly, some examples of cases which would likely be too complex would be those where someone’s symptoms could indicate a serious underlying condition requiring prompt medical attention – these are referred to as clinical red flags and it is useful (and potentially life-saving) to be able to recognise them. Other indications that the situation is potentially complex relate to the person’s individual context, such as if they are taking multiple prescribed medications, are very elderly or frail, have a weakened or hypersensitive constitution, are in a disturbed mental & emotional state, are pregnant, or vulnerable in a different way. 

The ability of each individual grass roots herbalist to manage complex situations will differ. We are all coming into community herbalist practice from different backgrounds and will have wide ranging skillsets and methodologies for how to implement our knowledge. For example, students of herbalism often include folk with prior medical training such as midwives, nurses and doctors and also counsellors and other therapists. We would expect these folk to consider complex situations under frameworks offered by their professions as well as with a herbal lens. 

There are also the herbs themselves to consider, and the forms in which we are intending to use them. It is very possible to use herbs in gentle forms and encourage people helping themselves with them without straying into a more clinical context i.e. suggesting a pregnant woman/person tries Nettle tea as a nutritional iron support or Ginger for nausea, or giving a simple topical remedy to someone with aching joints but who is also on a lot of medication. 

We will go into more detail about this in Semester 2, but a useful rule of thumb in all cases is to listen to your gut and if it feels beyond your level of complexity to handle confidently & safely, then it probably is. We would also encourage you to regularly reflect back on your comfort levels with your knowledge and skill level and to always seek additional support or supervision and/or refer on if you are unsure. Even if a case feels too complex, there’s nothing to stop you brainstorming what you think would be suitable in theory to support your learning without actually giving any herbs or advice. It can be helpful to have a short list of medical herbalists and other practitioners to offer people if you aren’t able to advise them more fully. Remember, just taking the time to let someone talk through a health concern without giving advice can be extremely therapeutic in itself, your care and attention freely given in a safe and respectful manner, is also the medicine.  

Sign up for Grass Roots Herbal Foundations 2026/27 here   – course open for bookings May-September for the course from October 2026 – June 2027. Note there is an Early Bird booking offer before the end of June 2026.

Thanks for reading from the Grass Roots Remedies Co-op tutors LtoR Catriona, Rhona, Ally & Soraya