Nutritional Herbalism: Correspondence Course
Nutrition is the root of physical wellness; every living cell depends on it!
Nutritional Herbalism is a course in deepening your understanding of nutritional plants and the wild edibles that abound all around us. The purpose is to provide a context for exploring the study of nutritional plants.
You will discover the full range of plant medicine, from the soil to the plant to the total effect on the human body. Nutritional Herbalism offers powerful tools and wisdom to help anyone seeking to be healthier, stronger, more fluid, joyful and passionately alive. Nutritional Herbalism teaches the connection between plants, people and planetary peace. The various processes you will learn will attune you to your inner nature to know plants as an extension of yourself. This course goes well beyond plant chemistry and micro and macronutrients.
Nutritional Herbalism is founded on the premise that deepening our connection to living plants and the wild world of nature can foster personally, culturally and environmentally empowering values. This plant medicine course will help you uncover your creative capacity to work directly with plants to make a difference.
What is Nutritional Herbalism?
Nutritional Herbalism is the oldest form of medicine on the planet. This medicine originates before the science of modern-day nutritional chemistry. This course will take you from soil chemistry and understanding to applying plants to create health and peace for yourself and your family and friends.
Nutritional Herbalism is also a science of bringing awareness to our actions: how and what we grow our food and herbs, how we eat them, how we live, what we think, and how we relate intimately with the plant world and ourselves.
In a practical format, we will explore the influence of the vital energies of foods, spices and herbs on our well-being. Plant medicine is a compassionate journey of self-discovery, providing the tools to become your own healer. Every plant we take into our bodies influences who we are and what we will become.
Through this study, you will learn that all plants are carriers and balancers of Prana, the Vital Life Force. Every plant has unique qualities of vital energy and essence, specifically affecting your overall health and consciousness. We will explore these original teachings of the ancients, along with a modern understanding of plant medicines. Herbal nutritional understanding is the art of conscious living with the world of plants. Using the most natural, wholesome, alive plant is not new for treating and preventing disease. It is the original way of living ~ the original approach to using plants according to what Mother Earth has gifted us with since the beginning of time.
During this course, you will discover the following:
How to Deepen Your Connection to Plants
Methods to Optimize Your Health
Ancient Practices to draw the Life-Force & Life-Essence from your herbs
Learn the Lost Art of Foraging for the Superfoods of the Wild
The Kitchen Pharmacy: Usage of Kitchen Herbs and Spices
Rejuvenation Cleansing Regimes
A Dietary Approach for Spiritual Health & Social Harmony
Integrating the Full Spectrum of Nutrition
How to Use Plants for Higher Consciousness
Plant Antidotes
The Art of a High-Octane Living Cuisine
We’ll explore the various realities and perceptions of using wild plant foods and integrating them into our current lifestyle. Our focus of study will include designing a balanced, wholesome lifestyle from the living soil to the living person. We will go through the whys and hows of transitioning through the various levels of becoming a healthy individual, achieving high-level wellness, and supporting the transformation occurring on the planet today.
“The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction.”
~Rachel Carson“The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn.”
~Ralph Waldo Emerson“The part can never be well unless the whole is well.”
~Plato.
Part I
Earth Ecology: Ecological Vision & Theory
A New Scientific Approach To An Ancient Way of Life
Lesson 1 – Introduction: The Incredible Edible Adventure
What is Ecological Medicine?
What is Nutritional Herbalism?
What is Regenerative Living?
What are the benefits of Wild Plants?
The Key Elements of Understanding Nutrition
Nutritional Herbalism Principles
An Ecological Paradigm Shift
From Soil to Plant to Kitchen Skills
The Main Aspects of Being A Nutritional Herbalist
Lesson 2 – Ancient Wisdom of Our Ancestors
Wisdom of the Herbs
Herbalism: Gaia in Action
The Creative Power of the Elements
Plant, Food & Mineral Therapies
Modern Practices of Using Herbs & Nutrition
Going Beyond Treatment Therapy
Practicing True Preventative Medicine
Discovering the Power of Living Plants
The Unique Perspective of the Bioneers
An Exploratory Journey Through the Seasons
Ancient Wisdom from the Elders of the Past
Lesson 3 – Deep Herbalism – Deep Ecology
What is Deep Ecology?
A Lesson in Deep Ecology
Philosophy of Deep Ecology
Deep Herbalism – Deep Ecology
•Ecology, Community & Lifestyle
Gandhi & the Wisdom of Deep Ecology
Earth Activism through Being Connected
Personal. Ecological & Cultural Transformation
The Deep Ecology Movement of Regeneratively
Herbalism – Deeply Rooted in Bioregionalism
Part II
Soil Chemistry & Plant Nutrition
Lesson 4 – Nature’s Superfoods – Superherbs
What is a Superfood?
Nature’s Living Superfoods – Superherbs
The Superfoods Everyone Needs
Where have all the Enzymes Gone
Superior Nutrition for Optimal Health
Discovering Nutrient-Dense-Enzyme-Rich Herbs
The Criteria of Finding Superfoods in Your Region
Life-Force: Enhanced Health & Longevity
Lesson 5 – The Nutrient’s the Many & the Few
Essential Plant Nutrients
Identifying Nutrient Deficiencies
Comparison of Protein Values from Seven Wild Edible Plants
Mineral Nutrient Composition of Edible Wild Plants
Studies on Nutritional Values of Some Wild Edible Plants
Food Value of Common Edible Wild Seeds & Plants
Perennial Vegetables
Lesson 6 – The Seeds of the Future
Seed: The Miracle of Nature
The Forgotten Potential of Alive Seeds
Unlocking the Secret of Seeds
Sprouts: A Power Food
Swapping Seeds
Planting the Seeds of Recovery
Tapping into the Seeds of Tomorrow
Seeds: Our True Hope of the Future
Lesson 7 – Conventional vs. Organic vs. Wild
The Tame and The Wild
Organic vs. Conventional Grown Food
Cultivated vs. Wild Berries and Fruit
Farming and the Fate of Wild Nature
Soil pH & Plant Nutrients
Making Organic Wild
Foraging for Optimal Health
Short–Term Priorities
The Future of Forest Gardening
Lesson 8 – The Organic Living Soil
The Organic Path
The Organic Exposition Trend
Select Plants That Will Thrive
Can Organic Farming Feed Us All
Minerals the Spark of Life
The Essential Trace Elements
The Oil We Eat
Organic Plant Chemistry
Human Biological Chemistry
Organic Lifestyle of Prosperity
Towards a Sustainable Future
Lesson 9 – Beyond Nutrients & Superfoods
Seeing Past the Traditional Nutrients
Towards A Truly Wholistic Perspective
The Great Beyond of Superfoods
Research is Stepping Beyond the Nutrients
The Superfood Lifestyle Solution
Part III
Edible Wild Plants & Plant Nutrition
Lesson 10 – A Walk on the Wild Side
A Forest’s Last Stand
Common Edible Plants
Wildwood Survival
Walking on the Wild Side
The Resilience of Nature
Principles of Sustainable Harvesting
Rules for Foraging Edible Plants
Gardening into the Wild
Enhancing Biodiversity in Our Gardens
Universal Edibility Test
Lesson 11 – The Six Tastes
The Six Tastes in Nature
The Six Tastes & the Five Elements
Actions of the Tastes
Heating and Cooling Effects
Relationships Between Tastes
Effects of Overuse
Effects of the Six Tastes
The Art of Creating a Nutritious Wild-Food Cuisine
The Six Taste Formula
Lesson 12 – The Bioregional Way of Eating
A Taste for Conservation
What is Bioregionalism?
Bioregional Plant Allies
The Bioregional Movement
The Biodiversity Challenge
The Value of Bioregional Eating
Living Bioregionally
Why go, Native?
Enhancing Local Food Security
Community Supported Agriculture
What Would a Bioregional Community Look Like?
Lesson 13 – Biodiversity & Deep Ecology
Reclaiming Our Power to Choose
Expanding Foods Choices
The Power of the Elements
Diversity & Ecological Balance
Biodiversity of Sustainability
Human Potential Connection
Manifestos on the Future of Foods & Seeds
Seeing the Big Picture
Part IV
The Ecological Future – Now!
Lesson 14 – Putting it All Together: The 12-Keys
Whole Foods
Eaten Fresh
Sun-Ripened
Enzyme-Rich
Alkalizing Alive
Organically Vibrant
Low-Glycemic
Highly-Mineralized
Well-Hydrated
Locally-Grown
In-Season
Tranquil Educing
Lesson 15 – The Lifestyle of the Now!
Staying Connected to What is Alive
Ending our Food Addictions & Eating Disorders
The Eating Clean Way of Vibrant Living
Going Beyond A Scientific Approach of Nutrition
The Way We Live Now
The 100-Mile Way of Life
A Lifestyle for Peace: Eating for Spiritual Health & Social Harmony
Bringing in the way of Peace
Making Peace with Food
Being the Change You Want to See ~ Now!
Lesson 16 – The Future of Regenerative Living
Integrating the Full Spectrum of Nutrition
Plants, People & Planet
Environment, Sustainability & Peace
The Full Piece of Wholeness
The Regenerative Living Challenge
A Manifesto for Earth Spirituality
Practicing the Sevenfold Path of Peace
Creating & Nourishing Healthy Communities
Solutions for Achieving a Regenerative Tomorrow
The Future Will Be What You Contribute To & Create Today
About the Author & The Living Centre & Living Arts Institute
Supplements
Glossary
Bibliography
This course is designed to provide a solid foundation in understanding Nutritional Herbalism as a natural healing art and science.
The following information will answer your questions about how to use these lessons.
Textbooks for the Course
Part I ~ Earth Ecology: Ecological Vision & Theory.
Who Really Feeds the World ~Vandana Shiva, 2016
Part II ~ Soil Chemistry & Plant Nutrition
Whole: Rethinking the Science of Nutrition, ~T. Colin Campbell., Ph.D. 2013
Voices of the Food Revolution: You Can Heal Your Body and Your Body – With Food! ~ John Robbins & Ocean Robbins, 2013
Teaming with Nutrients: The Organic Gardener’s Guide to Optimizing Plant Nutrition, Jeff Lowenfels, 2015
Part III – Edible Wild Plants & Plant Medicine
Edible Wild Plants: Wild Foods From Dirt To Plate ~ John Kallas, 2010
Incredible Wild Edibles: 36 Plants that Can Change Your Life ~Samuel Thayer, 2017
The Wild Wisdom of Weeds: 13 Essential Plants for Human Survival, ~ Katrina Blair, 2014
Invasive Plant Medicine: The Ecological Benefits and Healing Benefits of Invasives, ~Timothy Lee Scott, 2010
The Healing Tastes ~Shantree Kacera, D.N., Ph.D.
The Incredible Edibles Handbook ~Shantree Kacera, D.N., Ph.D.
The Healing Tastes Whole Food & Wild Edibles Recipes ~Shantree Kacera, D.N., Ph.D.
Nutritional Herbalism DVD Reader ~ Includes Lessons, Assignments & Projects (compiled & Researched by Shantree Kacera, D.N., Ph.D.)
This course is designed to provide a solid foundation in understanding Nutritional Herbalism as a natural healing art and science.
The following information will answer your questions about how to use these lessons.
“The question is not ‘can you make a difference?’ You already do make a difference. It’s just a matter of what kind of difference you want to make during your life on this planet. ” ~Julia Butterfly
Part I (The Correspondence Course) Is the home study part of the course. Study the material and do the lessons at your own pace. Send in the lessons through postal mail or email. We’ll check your lessons, comment, and give you feedback on your progress.
Part II (The Advanced Study & Research) Thesis Project allows you to dive deeper into the teachings. Choose an area of study you feel particularly drawn to in the course that sparks your passion, invites your curiosity, and beckons you to explore. Write a 5,000-word thesis and conduct a research project submitted within the course study time. Also, we ask you to offer to your community and document a couple of workshops or lectures to build understanding, expertise and confidence.
One-on-One Sessions
These sessions are available to both support and deepen the learning experience of this course. Three sessions of 40 minutes each can be done over the phone or through Zoom. These are available to guide and advise you on your research thesis project. You must book these sessions in advance once you have submitted your proposed thesis topic.
Your Guide & Adviser: Shantree Kacera
Homework
Homework is sent upon completion of each lesson and is returned to you. We ask that you keep us posted about how you’re doing with your projects and assignments and projects.
Time Completion
You may complete these lessons on your schedule. But to utilize them to their fullest, we recommend you set up a scheduled time to do each class; one evening a week or an afternoon on the weekends will keep your momentum going. The average time to complete the course is about one year. Some students have completed the material in 6 months, while others may take a few years.
We do ask that you complete the course in two years. After two years, if the student fails to complete the course within the allotted period, the time-extension fee is $100 for an additional year.
Questions
One of the specialties of these lessons is the personal attention given to your questions and homework. We invite your comments, favourite herbal and nutrient-dense recipes, and suggestions.
Certificate
Students who complete the lessons and homework will receive a beautiful Nutritional Herbal Certificate. The Certificate awarded states that you are acknowledged for conducting a thorough, in-depth study of Nutritional Herbalism. This course’s objective is integration and bringing forth breakthroughs needed to continue the shift towards personal and planetary transformation.
Lessons 1-16 & An Adobe DVD Reader
The Nutritional Herbalism Correspondence Course comes as a. The Adobe DVD Reader lets you keep your lessons, homework and other course material together. The Adobe DVD Reader and textbooks will be sent out when we receive your tuition.
Textbooks for the Course
Whole: Rethinking the Science of Nutrition, ~T. Colin Campbell., Ph.D. 2013
The Food Revolution: How Your Diet Can Save Your Life & Our World, ~John Robbins, 2021
Edible Wild Plants: Wild Foods From Dirt To Plate ~ John Kallas, 2010,
Nature’s Garden: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants ~Samuel Thayer, 2010
The Wild Wisdom of Herbs: 13 Essential Plants for Human Survival, ~ Katrina Blair, 2014
Who Really Feeds the World: ~Vandana Shiva, 2016
The Incredible Edibles Handbook, Shantree Kacera, D.N., Ph.D.
The Six Tastes Manual, Shantree Kacera, D.N., Ph.D.
The Healing Tastes: Whole Foods & Wild Edible Recipes, Shantree Kacera, D.N., Ph.D.
* Nutritional Herbalism DVD Reader ~ Includes Lessons, Assignments & Ecological Projects (compiled by Shantree Kacera, D.N., Ph.D.)
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For hands-on training, visit our Mentorship Program for dates and details. Click here>
For information about the Visionary Herbalism Educator Course, click here>
“Bioregionalism means learning to become native to place, fitting ourselves to a particular place, not doing business to our pre-determined tastes. It is living within limits and the gifts provided by a site, creating a way of life that can be passed on to future ge
Cost: $1500
Includes:
All Correspondence Course Material
One-on-One Sessions
Taxes where applicable
Shipping is $50 for North America | Shipping is $100 for International
Please read our Commitment & Cancellation Policy.