Fire Cider: Autumn’s accessible immune support
Fire Cider: Autumn’s accessible immune support
BY RACHEL CLARKFire cider might be the most notorious herbal formula.
It is a simple remedy that was unexpectedly catapulted to federal court and national headlines in 2019, when a trademark battle resulting in a precedent-setting federal court ruling ensued.
Fire cider is part of a long lineage of immune-boosting tonics dating back to the 14th century. According to legend, thieves' vinegar, which used many of the same herbs, helped to keep grave robbers from becoming ill with the Bubonic Plague when they were pilfering.
Today, how we make and understand fire cider can be traced back to the California School of Herbal Studies and Rosemary Gladstar. As with all herbal formulas though, fire cider was inspired by those who came before Gladstar and her students at the time. As she writes in her book, “Fire Cider!,” “no herbal formula is truly original or unique.”
Herbal knowledge has been passed down through the ages from one generation to the next, for thousands and thousands of years. It is in the spirit of this tradition that herbalists freely share this remedy to help others stay healthy through cold and flu season.
In 2012, Shire City Herbals, a shop from Massachusetts, trademarked their fire cider, making it illegal for any other herbalist to use the name for their products. Two years later, professionals from the organization Tradition Not Trademark (TNT) filed a petition with the United States Patent and Trademark Office to cancel the trademark. Cease and desist letters were sent from Shire City to Nicole Telkes, Mary Blue and Katheryn Langelier (known as the Fire Cider Three). More letters were sent to at least 30 makers by February 2014. The company then sued the Fire Cider Three for $100,000 in 2015.
The Free Fire Cider movement had begun.
Hundreds of herbalists from around the nation sent photos and videos to TNT as evidence for their case that fire cider is a generic term. The battle came to a head in federal court when Judge Mark G. Mastroianni ruled that fire cider is indeed a generic term and cannot be trademarked. Fire cider was free, setting the precedent for the future.
So what’s the big deal? This case reinforces the spirit of herbalism in the law — that plants cannot be trademarked, herbal formulas should build on those that came before them and that herbal knowledge should be generously and freely shared. Herbalism is the medicine of the people and is for everyone.
This season, head on down to your favorite natural foods store and get everything you need to make your own fire cider.
