At present we are sowing knowledge seeds in local communities through our courses and teach-one, teach-all approach, so that self care food-as-medicine skills are re-rooted across the nation. Our longterm vision is to gather this knowledge and ask the public to grow plants and contribute their skills to co-create the future Living Medicine Centre with its great new World Kitchen & Herb Garden, illustrated above (click on the picture). The Centre will:

  • inspire and educate people about the health benefits of herbs and food in an organic garden and to share these with others

  • encourage intercultural exchange in the world's traditions of herbal medicine and healing foods

  • offer visitors practical knowledge in using food and herbs to improve their everyday health

  • demonstrate a beautiful model of healthy living that gives pleasure and is sustainable, natural and inexpensive

  • show the potential for integrating orthodox and complementary medicine

So, in future we will be seeking a prestigious Central London site with 2.5 acres, ideally using Thames tidal power and water, close to good transport links and a diverse community humming with plant medicine skills they are ready to share with the world's visitors.

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The Living Medicine Centre will complement the traditional botanic gardens like Kew and Chelsea Physic by teaching us how to use herbs and food for our health.
Sketch above by Richard Carman from an original by Carolyn Steel, architect & author of 'Hungry City'.
Broom, a symbol of
romantic love in medieval poetry, is a heart remedy and diuretic. Its alkaloid
sparteine reduces the
heart rate.
Hyssop is used in European and Arabic medicine. Its antiseptic essential oil clears catarrh and relaxes spasm in the lungs and gut. A delicious scented cordial
of elderflowers keeps flu, viruses and fevers at bay. Elder is richly therapeutic, its berries used in Egyptian medicine.