The nonprofit American Botanical Council is celebrating the 40^th anniversary of its journal/magazine HerbalGram with a year-long project to enhance the organizations international research and educational mission, publications, and programs. The new initiative is called the HerbalGram 40 Project and Fund.
 
The HerbalGram 40 Project and Fund webpage invites comments and insights from supporters to help celebrate the 40-year milestone and identify enhancements to ABC programs, and suggest possible new programs and projects relevant to the herbal community. Donations to fund ABC and HerbalGram’s informative efforts can also be made on the webpage.
 
HerbalGram was created in the early 1980s by Mark Blumenthal, founder and executive director of ABC who was then the owner of an herb wholesale company in Austin, Texas, and Rob McCaleb, then the research director at Celestial Seasonings herbal tea company in Boulder, Colorado.
 
The first HerbalGram issue was an eight-page newsletter printed in the summer of 1983. The lead articles announced the formation of the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA), as well as the Herb Research Foundation. For its first five years, HerbalGram was the official publication of both organizations.
 
In November 1988, Blumenthal, along with ethnobotanist James A. Duke, PhD, and pharmacognosist Norman R. Farnsworth, PhD, founded ABC to support the development of HerbalGram into a four-color, peer-reviewed publication. At that time, other than a few scientific journals, there was very little reliable information available on herbs, medicinal plants, and their products in the market. Over 35 years, ABC has grown into an international organization with members in more than 80 countries, with numerous publications and programs.
 
In the current issue of HerbalGram, Blumenthal wrote a seven-page history of the publication in his “Dear Reader” column, which is usually one page. Blumenthal’s personal and historical narrative documents the evolution of HerbalGram and ABC, with examples of ABC projects based on seminal HerbalGram articles. These include ABC’s translation and publication of The Complete German Commission E Monographs – Therapeutic Guide to Herbal Medicines in 1998, ABC’s summaries of clinical and other scientific research papers, and the ABC-AHP-NCNPR Botanical Adulterants Prevention Program (BAPP), as well as many other educational projects and programs.
 
As part of the HerbalGram 40 Project ABC is reviewing the history of HerbalGram through key articles in a series of four timelines.
 
“There is so much substantial and relevant content in 40 years that we have divided the extensive annotated timeline into four decades, with each decade to be published in the next four issues of our quarterly publication, beginning with issue 138,” Blumenthal explained. The 10-page, annotated timeline of HerbalGram’s first decade (1983–1993)is featured in issue 138, which was published in September 2023.

“The history of HerbalGram’s first 40 years of publication reflects much of the history and evolution of the modern herb and medicinal plant movement in the United States and beyond,” said Blumenthal. “Many of the articles in HerbalGram provided thought leadership to the emerging herb community, in areas of research, clinical practice, industry, and product development.

“Over the past few years, numerous ABC members and various herb community colleagues have stated repeatedly how important it is for those of us who have many years of experience in the herb movement to write its history for the benefit of the younger leaders who are embracing the herbal agenda, and for future generations.”

HerbalGram is peer reviewed by experts in scientific fields related to herbs and plants, such as ethnobotany, pharmacognosy, herbal medicine, and more. Throughout its history, especially in the early years, HerbalGram was a leading publication dealing with the conservation of wild medicinal plants, growing concerns of an industry lacking today’s cornerstone regulations, and other issues that would determine the shape of the natural products industry, such as the publication of market sales data at a time when such information was difficult to obtain.
 
Hundreds of authors of various articles and book reviews will be acknowledged during HerbalGram’s 40^th anniversary celebration.