Marlene Adelmann, Founder and Director of The Herbal Academy
Name: Marlene Adelmann
Occupation: Founder and Director at the Herbal Academy
Place of Residence: Boston, Massachusetts
Website:TheHerbalAcademy.com
Background and Personal History: Marlene is the Founder and Director of the Herbal Academy, international school of herbal arts and sciences and meeting place for Boston area herbalists. Through the school and online herbal classes, Marlene has brought the wild and wonderful world of plant medicine to thousands of students across the globe. Marlene spent several years studying herbs and learning under some of the most revered, modern herbalists and continues to practice plant medicine through ongoing correspondence courses and teaching others.
Marlene’s passion for herbalism started with her studies in Culinary Arts. In 1989 she opened her own catering company and through her passion for food and good healthy living that she began learning about herbs and how to use them both for food and medicine.
“Using herbs in culinary creations is like applying vibrant color to a black and white portrait. The portrait can be beautiful in black and white but adding color creates a whole new experience. When you use herbs in cooking you are mostly looking for flavor and perhaps color. I don’t think there are too many chefs out there that are considering the medicinal value of the herbs they are using. Low and behold, culinary herbs are packed full of nutrients and healing properties! Learning how to use herbs as medicine in the dishes we prepare as well as in their more traditional medicinal preparations, such as tinctures and teas, is fascinating and health rewarding! Don’t ever settle for just black and white. Open up the box and dip your brush in.”
Marlene has been a vegetarian for 25 years. She teaches vegetarian cooking classes promoting eating close to the source, which is clean eating that eliminates most cans, boxes, and packages. Marlene believes that learning to create health through the foods you eat is life transforming.
“When you truly understand that your food choices are powerful and life affirming, you can exercise control and restraint without deprivation.”
A humanitarian for most of her life, she cares passionately about children and their welfare. When she was raising her own children she also worked as an intern in a social services program helping underprivileged children. One of her goals for the Herbal Academy is to sponsor social programs that help the most vulnerable citizens of our society – our children.
Along with all of her goals for the school, Marlene also envisions starting community projects that create community amongst herbalists and everyone else. “Learning about herbs is like turning a light on that you didn’t know existed. It brings all of nature, the wonder, the beauty and the awe right smack dab into your lap and there it will remain forever. How cool is that? Right there in your lap you have the key to better health, understanding of all of nature and inspiration to do better for the sake of all living creatures and plants.”
About the Herbal Academy: The Herbal Academy is an educational resource offering affordable online herbalist training programs for students at all experience levels. Aligning with its mission, the Herbal Academy celebrates the community-centered spirit of herbalism by collaborating with some of the most brilliant and well-known educators and authors in herbalism.
The Academy works with seasoned herbalists such as Matthew Wood, Anne McIntyre, Bevin Clare, Steven Foster, and Pamela Spence, a bevy of clinical herbalists and folk herbalists, and medical professionals to create curriculum that is rooted in the wisdom of folk and global healing traditions, modern herbal practice, and science.
The course curriculum is strengthened by the contributors’ multiple points of view, extensive experience, and passion for the art and science of herbalism. Cultivating sustainability in herbalism while nurturing students with careful and inspiring stewardship, the Academy strives to bring thorough, ethical herbal education to its students.
Herbal Academy programs offer multiple levels of comprehensive herbal education, ranging from very beginner to the advanced clinical level. Set your foundation in the Introductory Herbal Course, explore herbal therapeutics for body systems in greater depth in the Intermediate Herbal Course, prepare for business endeavors in the Entrepreneur Herbal Course, and delve into complex clinical topics in the Advanced Herbal Course.
Through the Herbal Academy’s training paths, students will gain the knowledge and experience required for careers as professional herbalists, and with additional hands-on training, clinical herbalism. All programs are held online, and designed with an international classroom in mind.
View all herbalist training programs and path packages on the Herbal Academy’s website.
Check in on the Academy blog for articles covering herbalism, real food recipes, and healthy living.
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