Wildcraft vs. Organic vs. non-organic herbs

There are many terms to define how the herbs are cultivated. If we narrow it down, there are wildcraft, organic, and non-organic herbs. Hopeful this will clarify your understanding about the herbs and help you with selecting herbs.

Wildcraft herbs are herbs grown in the wild nature without or minimal human intervention. These herbs may or may not get exposed to the harmful chemicals depend on the surrounding environment. If they grow up in a clean natural habitat then their herbal effect will be the most potent from other two types. The only downfall is that it is difficult to exactly predict where the pollutants would come from. For example, the environment for the herbs may seem clean without any commercial industry near 200km. The air pollution and the chemical pollutants can travel without restriction and expose the herbs to the pollutants. This can alter chemical contents in the herb and possibly dangerous to consume.

Organic herbs are certified by the government to make sure they have minimal harmful chemicals. Often times to increase the product yield the herbs are grown in the indoor facility. This can make herbs less potent compared to the wildcraft. It is a similar idea to the development of venom. If there are not many preys and food is scarce, there has to be a way to guarantee to catch a prey. Thus poison becomes more fatal to make sure even slight dosage will kill the prey. Likewise, chemical substances in the organic herbs can be less potent due to a sheltered environment which the herbs are grown without any competition and harshness of nature.

Non-organic herbs are grown in a normal industrial agriculture environment. This can mean there are lots of harmful chemical residues from the pesticides and herbicides which can damage the health. These herbs in Canada are regulated to make sure consumption is safe and reliable. However, there is no guarantee the positive effects will outweigh the negative effects sometimes.

The safest choice for herbal selection would be organic. If you have a reliable wildcraft herb, it would be also a good alternative to organic. The only issue is that there is no guarantee the environment which the herbs grow from is not affected by any nearby vicinity chemicals and pollutants. It is difficult to predict environmental pollutants will in the herbs.