Meet the Founder – Ryan Wade

A Story of Listening—First to the Body, Then to the Forest

At its origin, RAW Forest Foods was simply a way to remember. To hold space for recovery. To stay close to the plants that offered a way back.

But when something true takes root, it often grows beyond the one who planted it. And what starts as personal becomes a gathering place for others walking their own way back to balance.

Herbalism found Ryan Wade, the founder of RAW Forest Foods, in the quiet way plants often do—through need. As a teenager burdened by chronic migraines, he was introduced to Feverfew. That single leaf didn’t just bring relief. It opened a door.

The plants had something to say, and he decided to listen.

By the time Ryan reached university, he was already walking the path of herbalism, spending hours immersed in Chinese herbal wisdom and acupuncture. His next step was an internship on a permaculture farm, where hands in the soil revealed what tropical herbs were capable of.

But when he was diagnosed with Lyme disease, everything changed. What was once learning became a lifeline.

The Birth of RAW Forest Foods

Though Ryan’s Lyme disease treatment finished in 2009, his body carried new burdens. An endocrine system out of balance. Immunity weakened. Chronic fatigue and pain. Fibromyalgia. He felt like time had stolen decades from his life.

In his search for restoration, he poured over countless pages until one rare, out-of-print book by Stephen Harrod Buhner (1952–2022) revealed Pine Pollen. It’s a sacred, forest-born adaptogen, functional food, and phytoandrogenic that holds the promise of renewal. The science behind Pine Pollen captivated him, but it was the wisdom that truly resonated.

Ryan reached out to Stephen Harrod Buhner directly, discussing how Pine Pollen might aid his recovery. At the time, no one was offering it in the form he needed.

Then came spring, and the forests were alive with pollen. Ryan stepped into that wild abundance, learning to gather and transform it into tinctures and powders by hand. And slowly, the forest began to mend him. This was the first breath of what would become Forest Wisdom.

Writing became his way to hold space for what he’d discovered and endured, shared through RAW Forest Foods. People connected with his story. They were walking similar paths, asking similar questions. Their search inspired him to grow RAW Forest Foods beyond a simple blog.

The intention was never to build a company. The intention was to feel like myself again. To reclaim my strength, my spirit, my life.

That same thread of reciprocity, of listening to the body, and the land still runs through everything we do. RAW Forest Foods remains grounded in those original intentions.

If you wish to walk deeply with us in this path, visit our About page.

Walking the Path of Herbal Wisdom

At RAW Forest Foods, nothing is outsourced. Each product is personally developed by Ryan, our founder, alongside a small team of expert herbalists and clinical practitioners who bring decades of lived experience, study, and reverence for plant medicine into every formula.

Trained under Jeffrey C. Yuen, an 88th-generation Daoist priest, he carries forward a lineage of plant wisdom that spans centuries. He holds certification in Chinese Dietary Therapy from Daoist Traditions College of Chinese Medicinal Arts, and has pursued advanced post-baccalaureate work in Western science and research, earning a Master’s in Library and Information Sciences (MLIS).

But his education didn’t stop there. It continued in the forests, the apothecary, and the breath. Ryan’s personal Qi Gong practice, including training in Yi Jin Jing with Robert Peng, speaks to the living connection between body, energy, and the land.

He’s also a proud member of the American Herbalists Guild and Phi Theta Kappa National Honor Society. But more than all of that, he’s someone who found his way back to vitality through study, through nature, and through a deep trust in the process.

This work has always been about connection. Ryan’s background in ethnobotany and hands-on formulation has taken him all the way to China, where he spent time with wildcrafters and cultivators to learn from them, and to make sure that what we source carries the spirit of where it comes from.

There are some things you can only learn by being there. Face to face, in the field, hands in the soil.

Integrity in Every Product and Formula

Every ingredient at RAW Forest Foods is chosen with intention. Not just for what it can do, but for where it comes from, how it’s cultivated, and the story it carries. Ryan’s sourcing philosophy is shaped by respect for the land, for the people who tend to it, and for the traditions that have carried these plants through time. That means:

• Dàodì-Informed Sourcing – We gather herbs from their true native regions, where they naturally thrive.
• Jūn-Chén-Zuǒ-Shǐ Formulation – Rooted in Classical Chinese Medicine, we ensure harmony, integrity, and deep efficacy in every formula.
• Sustainability & Relationship – We partner directly with wildcrafters, cultivators, and small producers who care for the land they work.
• Process with Purpose – We honor traditional methods while refining extraction for maximum integrity and bioavailability.

Our formulas can’t be compared because they’re not just made. They’re remembered, refined, and rooted in something much older than a trend.

Herbalism’s Place in Modern Wellness

Ryan believes herbalism—and, more broadly speaking, wellness—should feel like coming home, not like being told you're lost. But too often, the wellness world speaks in fear. And fear, when planted deep, grows into its own kind of illness.

The way I see it, herbalism is meant to remind people of their own strength—not sell it back to them. I want to stand as a steward of what came before, of self-trust, of empowerment, of community.

From day one, our promise has been: “What you’re seeking lives within.”

Everything you need lives within you. At RAW Forest Foods, we serve as a bridge to that inner source, guiding you back to your own wisdom. We offer the path, but the power has always been yours.

The Heart Behind RAW Forest Foods

Ryan’s passion for herbalism fills every corner of his life, from the way he works with the forest to the rituals he builds at home.

• He’s a lifelong student of yoga. Not just the Asanas, but the teachings. The practice that happens off the mat.
• He lifts weights the way others practice Qì Gōng. With breath, discipline, and quiet focus.
• He spends time in the soil and the forest, growing, gathering, and listening to the plants he works with.
• He's a sourdough baker, trusting simple ingredients to rise, transform, and become something worth sharing.
• He’s a road cyclist, and when the season calls for it, a long distance runner, approaching endurance as meditation.

I’ve found that working with plants makes me more connected to what it means to be human. It’s like standing among ancestral trees. You don’t try to speed their growth or move them along. You hold space, care for the earth at their feet, and trust their resilience. This kind of tending is a craft that asks for patience and presence.

Walk This Path Alongside Us.

RAW Forest Foods is grounded in more than products and formulas. It’s a gathering of knowledge, roots, and connection. If you’re seeking to deepen your journey with herbalism, you’re exactly where you need to be.

Thank you for showing up—not just here, but for yourself. It means everything to us at RAW Forest Foods to walk alongside you, to share in this path of discovery, restoration, and remembering.