Invasive Apothecary

The Invasive Apothecary is both art project & clinical herbal farmacy that takes an intimate look at the “worst of the worst” in terms of invasive plant species to propose very viable effective creative solutions to the current capital-centric, xenophobic, war-like paradigm that is setting up policies for the management of these green beings. 

This project is about the limits of modern relationships with the land being one of resource extraction and colonial notions of ecological restoration which challenge the current “alien”, “thug”, “nuisance”, “noxious”, “nasty” rhetoric of invasive plants by reexamining: 

                 1. their larger ecological role

                 2. the contemporary & historical human relationships to the land

                 3. and the use of invasive species as food, medicine & material resource

Some of the questions being asked by this project:

• Can we produce more caring, vibrant, and creative relationships with land?
• Can we reimagine more creative avenues to land management that don’t involve corporate-driven, toxic pesticide use & other soil-depleting eradication methods?
• Can we begin to reverse the damage done do to the erasure of indigenous land stewardship?
• Can we engage in symbiotic relationships with herbalists & crafts people, who have their ears to the ground & the skills to utilize & understand this abundance; a collaboration that would not only save tax- payer dollars but help us evolve beyond the commonly held perspective that these species are mere “biological pollution.”
• Can we cure cultural plant blindness by holding space to meet & greet these plants? Can we challenge negative projections from the powers that be to bring about positive ecosystems change for all? 
• What would happen if we shed our war-like mentality in managing land & took on one of mutualism & symbiosis? 
• Can we address the negative aspects of a growing herbal market (e.g. problems of access to “the people’s medicine” & the extinction of species due to over harvesting) by pointing herbalists to what thrives in abundance within their immediate surroundings? We care for the land & the land gives back.
• Can we reclaim urban spaces for the public to engage in land stewardship as a path toward biodiversity & a path toward true sovereignty and security over our own health & well-being?

This project is about ecological literacy & resource sustainably which, recognizes that we are experiencing unprecedented health and environmental crises due to the degradation of our sacred relationship with the land. This work turns the mirror on the haters of invasive plants by reflecting how negligent human decision making has been a predominant aspect to invasion. The Invasive Apothecary does not promote the proliferation of invasive plants but instead assert that non-hierarchical, reciprocal re-engagement with our local environment is the solution to a thriving abundant biodiverse ecosystem.

Many restoration ecologists still promote herbicide & other harmful eradication methods as a “necessary evil” in order to manage & control invasive species. Food for thought: How is it that, those in the industrialized world, are able to wipe out or endanger other species in a blink of an eye through extraction & over-harvesting of natural resources for capital gain but can’t seem to figure out how to mitigate a dozen or so plant species without deliberately increasing environmental toxicity & destruction to all life? This is a normalizing of the unthinkable & comes at the cost of both human & ecosystem health. These chemicals sever our relationship with the land while doing irreversible damage to us, the microbial life in the soil & countless other life forms, only promoting 1st succession, “invasive”, ecosystems which increase the need for more & more herbicides every year. Humans are the problem but humans are also the solution. It’s all in how we direct our energy. To see six viable solutions to Japanese Knotweed “invasion” click here.

While genetically modified agriculture is touted as the solution to world hunger, the very same GMO producers market toxic cancer-causing chemicals to spray on viable food & medicine that thrive within our very own neighborhoods. We have surrendered land management & ecosystem literacy to corporate driven “invasion gospel” at the cost of sovereignty & security over our own health & well-being. 

In 2017 alone, 500 gallons of glyphosate were applied to the grounds of New York City parks, schools, hospitals, retirement homes, community centers, & government buildings. Glyphosate has now been proven to increase the risk of Non-Hodgkins lymphoma by 41%. We also know this toxin, & may others like it, contribute to auto-immune, neuro-degeneration, infertility, leaky gut, heart disease and unforeseen others. 

What if these “invasive” plants could actually support the very dis-ease perpetrated by these chemicals?