The Asheville Herb Festival and the Power of Plants

Herbs have been used for medicinal and culinary purposes long before recorded history and are still appropriated worldwide for spiritual, healing, dietary, and ritualistic reasons. While many herbs—basil, parsley, cilantro, mint, rosemary, thyme and others—offer robust flavor and fragrances, their true power lies in their polyphenols, plant compounds with potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. Polyphenols are also anti-microbial which protect the human body from harmful bacteria.

Medicinals made with herbs have been coined “nature’s pharmaceuticals.” The West moved away from a homeopathic mindset when big pharma stormed in during the 20th century. Throughout the many years of debacles and issues with addictions and side effects related to synthetic pharmaceuticals, herbs were patiently waiting in the wings, confident their time would come again. Over the past few decades there has been a resurgence in Americans’ faith in herbs.

Andy Reed, director of the annual Asheville Herb Festival, said, “Rediscovering that there are simpler, more natural approaches to our health and well-being, and products that don’t have 38 ’possible side effects that include…’ like you see on TV, is a huge value for herbs.”

Access to and information about an abundance of herbs and herbal remedies, such as teas, oils and tinctures, continues to expand. The Asheville Herb Festival, held on April 26-28, 2024, at the WNC Agricultural Center, is one of numerous such events held across the country that aims to educate attendees and offer a variety of herbs and herbal products. This event, which began in 1990, is touted as the largest herb festival in the United States and Canada.

Reed is flanked by a collective group of knowledgeable and skilled individuals including Jeannie Dunn (Red Moon Herbs); Lori Jenkins (Sisters of Mother Earth); Darsey Driver (Wildwood Herbal); Joel Mowrey (Smoking J’s); and Danni Speight (Bluff Mountain). Originally, the festival was affiliated with the NC Herb Association but eventually incorporated as the nonprofit WNC Herb Marketing Association.

“Our mission is to support herb specialists, farmers, herbal product makers, and related businesses in the WNC region,” said Reed. “That includes some Upstate South Carolina and Eastern Tennessee growers, as well as a few businesses as far east as Winston-Salem and Greensboro.” 

Reed said three factors came together during the late 1990s and early 2000s which helped their mission flourish. First, North Carolina phased out tobacco subsidies. Many tobacco farms, which for so long had been part of North Carolina’s persona, became inactive or were sold. Some were even purchased by younger folks for vegetable and herb growing.

Secondly, there was a movement across the country around this time that resisted corporate farming and supported local agriculture. Restaurants began sourcing their foods on a local level, birthing the term “locavore” and bringing the farm-to-table concept even further into the spotlight.

The third way serendipity swooped in to support the mission of the WNC Herb Marketing Association and corresponding festival was that Asheville became known as a foodie city welcoming droves of people to dine at myriad establishments.

“Restaurants needed food for their patrons. Patrons wanted to eat local, organic produce, and the farms delivered,” said Reed. “And with the popularity of vegetarian and vegan menus, along with hormone-free and free-range meat and fish, it came together in a perfect storm.”

With all these factors at play, the Asheville Herb Festival grew from 10,000 visitors in 2010 to 35,000 in 2019, just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit and stalled momentum. The festival currently attracts around 30,000 visitors each year.

According to Reed there are a number of reasons people from near and far flock to the lively and friendly festival year after year. Gardeners come to buy plant starts of culinary herbs and heirloom vegetables. Herbalists enjoy finding hard-to-acquire herbs for their products. Attendees love perusing the many vendors and purchasing locally made herbal remedies and health products. The festival also offers a slew of workshops on an array of herb-related topics. Three to four dozen visitors will crowd into workshop tents to learn from experts in growing, cultivating, processing, cooking and using herbs.

Herb enthusiasts of all ages are learning more about the fields of herbology and apothecary remedies and self-care products using herbs. While many drugs use a component of a plant, proponents argue that’s not as effective as using the entire plant to support a person’s health and wellness. The plant as a whole offers a synergistic effect more powerful than a single component pulled from the plant.

“I remember 40 years ago knowing, because my body told me so, that I needed citrus. So, I’d go out and buy an orange and gobble it down. Or a cucumber or tomato; my body told me what to eat,” said Reed. “When people in less industrialized societies or people with more traditional knowledge, get a headache or menstrual cramp or bee sting, they know what to do without ordering an online product that warns them they might go blind, or become sterile, or whatever other “side effects” they carry. It’s like walking. I think it’s better—healthier and simply more natural—to walk around the block or down the street than get on a treadmill.”