Is Herbalism a Trend — or a Return?

We live in a world of overnight shipping, constant notifications, and fifteen-step routines. Everything is faster. Everything is optimized. Everything promises results immediately.

And yet, more and more people are stepping back.

They’re planting gardens. They’re reading ingredient labels. They’re brewing loose leaf tea instead of tearing open a packet.

So the question becomes:

Is herbalism a modern trend — or something we’re rediscovering?

The Pace of Modern Wellness

Wellness today can feel overwhelming.

A typical skincare routine may include a cleanser, toner, serum, retinol, moisturizer, eye cream, exfoliant, mask, and sunscreen — often with ingredient lists that span half the bottle. Supplements line store shelves in endless combinations. “Biohacking” promises optimization.

There is nothing inherently wrong with innovation. Modern medicine has extended life expectancy and reduced suffering in extraordinary ways. Antibiotics, vaccines, and surgical advances are not small accomplishments.

But speed and complexity have also shaped how we think about health.

Somewhere along the way, simplicity became outdated.

And that’s where herbalism quietly reenters the conversation.

Herbalism Before It Had a Name

Long before pharmacies existed on every corner, families relied on plants for everyday concerns.

In early American households, home apothecaries were common. Settlers carried herbal knowledge from Europe, and Indigenous communities across North America maintained deep botanical traditions long before colonization. Plants such as mint, chamomile, willow bark, and lavender were used for digestive support, calming teas, and topical preparations.

Historical records like Nicholas Culpeper’s Complete Herbal (1653) catalogued medicinal plants in accessible language for ordinary people rather than physicians alone.¹

In early America, herbal knowledge was passed down through midwives, farmers, and community healers.²

This was not mystical thinking. It was practical. People used what was available.

The shift began during the 19th and early 20th centuries as pharmaceutical chemistry advanced. The isolation of active compounds — like salicylic acid from willow bark (the precursor to aspirin) — marked a turning point.³

Industrial medicine did not appear out of nowhere. It evolved from botanical roots.

What Changed?

The Industrial Revolution reshaped not only manufacturing but medicine.

By the late 1800s and early 1900s, synthetic drugs became easier to mass-produce. Standardization improved dosing accuracy. Hospitals expanded. Regulation increased with legislation like the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 in the United States.⁴

Modern medicine brought undeniable benefits:

• Reduced infectious disease mortality

• Standardized pharmaceuticals

• Emergency surgical care

• Improved sanitation practices

But something else happened too.

Healthcare became institutional.Wellness became commercialized.Home herbal knowledge faded from common practice.

Herbalism didn’t disappear — it moved to the margins.

The Modern Return

Today, we’re seeing a resurgence of interest in:

• Small-batch goods

• Ingredient transparency

• Local sourcing

• Traditional preparation methods

This isn’t about rejecting hospitals or science. It’s about participation.

People want to know:

• What’s in their moisturizer

• Where their tea was grown

• How their soap was made

Research institutions like the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) continue to study botanicals such as chamomile, peppermint, and turmeric for potential benefits and limitations.⁵

In other words — herbs are not being ignored by science. They are being examined more carefully.

The return isn’t rebellion.

It’s curiosity.

A Personal Thread

For me, this question isn’t theoretical.

There’s a clear difference between the pace of life inside a truck cab — miles ticking by, deadlines ahead, engines humming — and the pace of tending a garden or blending a batch of soap.

One is speed.The other is intention.

When I’m drying herbs, pouring oils, or stirring melted butters, time moves differently. It demands attention. It invites patience.

That rhythm feels older than trends.

It feels like memory.

Earthbound Crafted was never about escaping modern life. It was about reconnecting with something steady inside it.

So… Trend or Return?

Herbalism today exists in a different context than it did 200 years ago. We have modern research tools. We have regulatory oversight. We understand biochemistry in ways our ancestors did not.

But the instinct behind herbalism — using plants thoughtfully and responsibly — is not new.

It may be less about going backward and more about integrating forward.

Not rejecting modern medicine. Not idolizing the past.But remembering that not everything needs to be complicated.

Maybe herbalism isn’t a trend at all.

Maybe it’s a return.

References

1. Culpeper, N. (1653). The Complete Herbal.

2. Stage, S., & Vincent, V. B. (1997). Rethinking Home Economics: Women and the History of a Profession. Cornell University Press.

3. Mahdi, J. G. (2010). Medicinal potential of willow: A chemical perspective of aspirin discovery. Journal of Saudi Chemical Society, 14(3), 317–322.

4. U.S. Food & Drug Administration. (2018). The 1906 Pure Food and Drugs Act and Its Enforcement.

5. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH). Herbs at a Glance Series. https://www.nccih.nih.gov