Alisha Conde talks about her internship at United Plant Savers and Equinox Botanicals.
“I grew up in a family that has been pretty much unaware of how important fresh foods, herbal medicines and eastern and alternative medicines are,” says Alisha Conde. “As I get older and gain more and more control over how I live my life, I am constantly choosing to be a healthier more sustainable citizen.”
An Applied Plant Biology major, Conde interned at United Plant Savers and Equinox Botanicals last summer as part of the department’s undergraduate internship program.
She currently works at Fluff Bakery in Athens.
United Plant Savers’ mission is to protect native medicinal plants of the United States and Canada and their native habitat while ensuring an abundant renewable supply of medicinal plants for generations to come. “Where once herbal enterprises were few and far between, it is now a competitive marketplace which has increased the demand on wild medicinal plant resources,” according to the organization’s website.
Equinox Botanicals in Rutland, OH, is part of United Plant Savers’ biology sanctuary network.
Among the “at-risk” medicinal plants are Echinacea, American Ginseng and Wild Yam.
“I have seen past the monetary goals in life and instead reach for goals to better both my environment and my community. I also know that it is my duty to pass any helpful knowledge on to others. I see the politics behind the food and pharmaceutical industries and I know that it will only change for the better if we make changes to the daily lives of citizens worldwide. I want to open the eyes of the blind and spark a motivation in the apprehensive,” says Conde on LinkedIn.
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