Meet the Maker: Melany Dobson of Treaty

This week, The Alchemist’s Kitchen was fortunate enough to speak with Melany Dobson, founder of Treaty, whose herbal offerings tap into the power of nature: “the effects of each Treaty formula evoke our senses in ways that mimic the feeling of actually spending time in nature. The aromatics, flavor, and efficacy result from broad spectrum hemp extract combined with active compounds informed by ingredients that grow within four healing landscapes.” Check out what Melany had to say about cannabis and founding this company!

Tell us a little bit about yourself!

Melany Dobson: I am inspired by cannabis as a way to shift the paradigm. I grew up with agriculture and poetry. My father had an organic mesclun and heirloom tomato farm in Massachusetts–– pioneering the farm to table movement in the northeast; while my mother spent her days writing, enchanting my childhood with reverence for all that is.

When I moved to Humboldt California, and found myself thriving within the cannabis industry, I knew that this plant was and is my higher purpose. I co-founded a cannabis human resources business within the first 6 months of being there, and worked between Humboldt, Mendocino, and the Bay area. I came to know the grassroots community of people in northern California who had risked their lives and freedom for cannabis plant. This had a profound effect on my coming into myself personally and professionally.

Currently, I am motivated by design that reflects the intelligence of nature and humanity –– and finding connection between the two.

How did you come to create Treaty?

When my brother, Ben Dobson called me to tell me he had harvested 10 acres of hemp in New York, and that I should come back to work with him, I was with my sister, Freya, and her partner Brandon. We were in the hills of Mendocino, where wild horses roam and cell phone service is sparse. It was in this landscape, that Treaty came to life phonetically with  the the word “Tree” and the word “Tea.”  Tree references the Tree of Life, bowing to the versatility of hemp, a plant that provides, feed, fuel, medicine and shelter; and Tea references the ritual and culture of tea time, and the ceremonial aspects that relate to hemp. Treaty is about finding peace between nature and humanity.

Upon returning we founded Hudson Hemp and Treaty alongside each other.

How do you source your ingredients for your products? Can you tell us a little bit about Hudson Hemp and the farm?

Our broad spectrum hemp extract (CBD) is grown by our parent company, Hudson Hemp. Hudson Hemp uses regenerative farming techniques for the betterment of our planet, people, and society. Innovation is learning to work with the intelligence of nature, not against it. When we do this, we wholly benefit.

The products are bioregional by design; meaning, the selection of botanicals in the formula grow wild or can be cultivated in the Hudson Valley. The intention behind this is to create local supply chain that has a positive impact on our ecosystem and community.

How do you see these products in relation to forest bathing? Why is it that we go to nature when we’re unwell?

Plants that thrive together in certain ecologies have a unique synergistic intelligence; “Plants That Grow Well Together Go Well Together.” We as humans benefit by tapping into this. Formula recipes are distilled, ingestible versions of distinct landscapes in the Hudson Valley bioregion.

The Japanese tradition of shrin-yoku or forest bathing elucidates that exposure to nature, especially under the green forest canopy has comprehensive health benefits; noting that the sounds of nature along with the chemicals emitted from trees, phytoncides have physiological effects on our stress levels.

Anyone that has gone out into nature can attest to the body/mind/spiritual health effects of hiking through a dense, crisp forest, taking in the breeze from a rocky or sandy coast, laying in a meadow surrounded by wildflowers.

What does Melany Dobson hope people experience while using Treaty products?

Connection to place and to self. Recognizing that these two are one in the same.

Check out Melany’s amazing products here! And check out more herbal offerings with CBD from The Alchemist’s Kitchen here!