GOLDTHREAD FARM & APOTHECARY

Contact: Melanie Jolicoeur, Marketing & Promotions Melanie@goldthreadapothecary.com (413) 238-1712 | www.goldthreadapothecary.com

July 1, 2011 Press Release

For Immediate Release Based on the success of the Farm to Pharmacy program, Goldthread Farm & Apothecary adds a new in-depth Community Herbalist course to their educational offerings. With increasing numbers of Americans turning to complementary and alternative medicine and at least a third of the population using herbs as natural remedies for various symptoms, the seeds of a grass-roots health care revolution are being planted in the fertile hills of Western Massachusetts. Building upon the curriculum of their 7-month long Farm to Pharmacy program, now in its third year, Goldthread Herb Farm & Apothecary is offering an 11-month long, in-depth educational opportunity for those interested in learning to use herbs as the foundation of a cost effective, sustainable health care system at the individual, family, and community level. The new Community Herbalist Program will begin in September, 2011 with classes taking place over the course of eight weekends throughout the year and culminating in a week-long intensive in August 2012. Classes will be held at Goldthreads three-and-a-half acre medicinal herb farm in Conway, MA and at the Goldthread Herbal Apothecary in Florence, MA. Appropriate for health care professionals seeking to expand their knowledge of complementary medicine as well as those without previous experience who have a sincere interest in herbal medicine, participants in the Community Herbalist Program will study herbal theory and philosophy from a traditional Western, Chinese, and Ayurvedic perspective, gaining in-depth knowledge of materia medica, formulation, traditional diagnosis, pathophysiology, herbal therapeutics, and traditional and modern dietetics. The experiential approach to learning that sets Farm to Pharmacy apart from other herbal programs will continue in the expanded Community Herbalist curriculum. Students will have the opportunity to dig in the dirt, plant, harvest, and get to know medicinal herbs firsthand; learn about the distillation of essential oils with Goldthreads on-site 85-gallon woodfired distiller; and participate in the process of making a wide variety of commonly used preparations such as tinctures, salves, infused oils, creams, teas, decoctions, syrups, elixirs, cordials, compresses, poultices, tablets, powders, medicinal ghees, honeys, and more. Sliding scale tuition for the course is $3500-$4200, and details are available at Goldtheads website: www.goldthreadapothecary.com About the teachers: William Siff is an experienced Clinical Herbalist and Licensed Acupuncturist who draws from Western, Chinese, and Ayurvedic herbal traditions. Bill owns and operates Goldthread, a medicinal herb farm, apothecary, distillery, and education center in Western Massachusetts and travels throughout the US teaching about grass roots herbal medicine. Mary Ryan graduated from Oxford University in England with a Masters in Human Biology and a PhD in medical anthropology in 1997. For her PhD she apprenticed in Asian medicine and researched its benefits for broader application in aid work. She maintains her acupuncture license in Europe, and is board certified in Chinese herbal medicine. ###

A Locally-Grown Healthcare Movement

GOLDTHREAD FARM & APOTHECARY 1 N.Main St. Florence, MA 01062 413-587-0620