This is part of the reason why if you buy champagne, for example, you are buying a sparkling wine that specifically comes from a region in France. If you buy a San Marzano tomato, it means you are buying a tomato that was exclusively grown around Naples and Mount Vesuvius area. Kona coffee means that a certain percentage of the coffee must come from a coffee bean grown near Kona, Hawaii.
So when our instructor shared that the same herb grown in the USA does not necessarily produce the same results as an herb grown in China, I immediately thought of “terroir”. Here again we were seeing the affects of soil, climate, and geography affecting a plant. And just as these environmental conditions can affect the flavor of a grape, or a tomato, or coffee, I was now learning the same principle holds true for herbs, too.
The same herb grown in both China and the USA, doesn’t necessarily mean both will produce the same results and affect a persons body in the same way!
So it isn't just the flavor of something that is different based on where it is raised. It also means the outcome and the affect on our bodies can even be different!
Kind of amazing, huh?
It reminded me of an experience I had when my pharmacy was giving me the generic brand of migraine medication and I told them I had tried the generic brand and it didn't work. I needed the name brand med. I know that logically and chemically it is the same med, but for whatever reason, the generic brand didn't work. Apparently my body knew the difference. It was as if I was taking the American version of an herb and my body recognized I needed the Chinese version. The chemical was the same, but somehow the results were very different and my body could tell that subtle difference.
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