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Farmers may profit from rising TCM interest in US
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EXPANDING interest in traditional Chinese medicine in the United States is fostering a potentially lucrative new niche market for farmers who plant the varieties of herbs, flowers and trees sought by practitioners.
While almost all practitioners still rely on imports from China, dwindling wild stands there, as well as quality and safety concerns, could drive up demand for herbs grown in the US. Several states have set up “growing groups” to help farmers establish trial stands of the most popular plants.
“As a farmer, I love the idea of growing something no one else is growing, something that's good for people,” said Rebekah Rice of Delmar, near Albany, who is among 30 members of a New York growing group. “This project is seriously fascinating.”
Jean Giblette, a researcher who has set up New York’s group, estimates the market for domestically grown medicinal plants to be US$200 million-$300 million a year.
Traditional Chinese medicine is gaining mainstream acceptance in the US. There are 30,000 licensed practitioners across the country — 46 states issue licenses, often requiring a master's degree and continuing education credits. In 2014, the Cleveland Clinic opened one of the first hospital-based Chinese herbal therapy clinics in the country.
Jamie Starkey, a licensed practitioner of acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine at the Cleveland Clinic's Center for Integrative Medicine, said quality, authenticity and purity are important concerns with herbal products.
“If growers in the US can produce a highest-quality product that is identical to species from China, without contamination from heavy metals or pesticides, I think it's a great opportunity for farmers,” Starkey said.
More than 300 plants are commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine. Giblette and Peg Schafer, an herb grower in Petaluma, California, compiled a list of marketable species for US farmers. They include Angelica dahurica, a flowering perennial whose root is used to relieve pain and inflammation; Aster tataricus, a relative of garden asters said to have anti-bacterial properties; Mentha haplocalyx, a mint used for stomach ailments; and Salvia miltiorrhiza, a type of sage whose roots are used for treatment of cardiovascular diseases.
The National Institutes of Health says traditional Chinese medical techniques — which included practices such as acupuncture and Tai Chi — are primarily used as a complement to mainstream medicine. The agency cautions some medicinal herbs can have serious side effects, and there isn't enough scientific proof to know whether traditional Chinese medicine works for the conditions it treats. Clinical trials are hard because treatments involve combinations of plants customized for each patient.
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