You can’t patent nature - a story of fire cider and protecting the nature of herbalism

Fire Cider is one of my favorite herbal tonics to keep stocked in my house, all throughout the year but especially coming into the cooler seasons.

This warming, immune stimulating herbal tonic is incredible for soooo many reasons, and it tastes delicious. But before we dive into all the goodness it holds, I want to share the story of how one corporation tried to take away this household staple from the hands of herbalists all over the states.

Back in 2012 a company successfully trademarked the name Fire Cider, which is odd considering it is a traditional herbal recipe, passed down through many generations, and not something invented by that company. Somehow they got it trademarked, and everyone missed the public comment period because no cease & desist letters went out during that window either, also odd. In 2014 businesses started receiving their C&D letters, and that's when the battle to protect this traditional recipe, and herbalism as a practice, began.

Three incredible women and their lawyer set off to defend fire cider, and essentially set precedent that nature cannot be patented, which is HUGE in this line of work. It's also part of why pharmaceutical companies like to extract one part of a plant and synthesize it to create medications: that can be patented, a whole plant cannot.

This infused apple cider vinegar recipe was protected by the "fire cider three," Nicole Telkes, Kathi Langelier, and Mary Blue, along with Rosemary Gladstar, who spent four years preparing for this seven day trial in federal court, supported pro bono by their lawyers Seth Coburn and Kim Goggin. All in the name of protecting folk herbalism and the recipes that should be for all, not for one.

Thank goodness these ladies stood up for this recipe and herbalism as a whole, because not only did they stop a company from taking over a passed down herbal tradition, they stood up for what it means to be an herbalist. Something I hold onto dearly in my practice of working with the plants. Sharing the medicine we love so dearly, and my first fire cider workshop kick started my entire journey that is now Pluripotency.

I will never forget the day at California School of Herbalism, where the first widespread teaching of this remedy spread around the 1980s. We stood around a table in our outdoor classroom chopping up our spicy ingredients and herbs, chatting about what else might be tasty in the mix. Then we poured the apple cider vinegar over our chopped up goodies, covered the jar with some parchment paper and a lid, and went to bury it in the garden to bring it back to the root energy where most of the medicine came from. This is where it hit me: that's it? You just chop everything up, throw it in a jar, and cover it with ACV? I'd thought it was so difficult that I never even attempted to make it until that day at school. From there I was fired up. I wanted everyone to know how easy it is to make this incredible herbal remedy. I came home, told the owner of a local health food store, Nature's Whole Food Depot, that I wanted to teach a Fire Cider Workshop. The very next month we had one set up, and I had a full class, everyone making their very own fire cider with me. That same thread ran through the crowd: wow, it's really that easy??

I love the beauty of everyone’s different creations, this was from my second year hosting this workshop at Nature’s Whole Food Depot

Now I still make fire cider to share with my community, but I absolutely love sharing my recipe and encouraging people to get creative with their own recipes, to make a fire cider tonic they LOVE to drink and share with their families. One of my biggest beliefs, and why I love to share my sliver of herbal wisdom, is that the person creating the remedy is infusing it with their energy. We all carry a unique energetic signature, as unique as our own fingerprints, that infuses something their body needs that I may not have in a way that makes your own remedy more powerful. While I love creating the remedies I do, I find the feeling I get in helping people connect to their herbal roots nourishes my soul in a way that nothing else quite touches.

From this one workshop I realized how many people in my community are craving a return to nurturing their bodies and minds with nature, and I wanted to help people reconnect in whatever way I could. At this point I had made a few small batch products and begun selling on a small scale, and the combination of these two paths converged into what is Pluripotency: where I offer my organic, intentionally formulated, handmade herbal products along with herbal education to those searching for a way to work with nature instead of against it.

So go check out my last blog post for my Fire Cider recipe, but really look around, have fun with it, get creative, and add your own spin on your recipe! One of my favorite resources for doing this is Rosemary Gladstar & friends' recipe book on 101 Fire Cider recipes, which really makes you excited to start getting creative with this process!

I hope you learned something exciting from this read, and it is with my deepest gratitude that I share the story of the "fire cider three," Rosemary Gladstar, and everyone involved in the protection of herbal folk remedies and beyond. Have fun getting creative with your own fire cider recipe this year, and if kitchen herbalism isn't for you, ask one of your herbalist friends for a bottle. I'm sure they'd love to share!

Throwback to my very first herbal workshop, so grateful for everyone who showed up to learn and support <3