Hemp is Hip, Hot and Happening

SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2004 | S47 | Utne

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

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HEMP

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American Farmers

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Hemp cannot be commercially grown inthe United States because it is erroneouslyconfounded with marijuana. In fact,industrial hemp and marijuana are differentbreeds of Cannabis sativa, just asChihuahuas and St. Bernards are differentbreeds of Canis familiaris. Smoking largeamounts of hemp flowers can produce aheadache but not a high, or as RuthShamai of Ruth’s Hemp Foods says, “I’vepersonally stood in a burning field of hemp,and if you wanted a buzz you’d have todrink a beer.”

Most Western countries distinguishindustrial hemp from marijuana on the basisof THC (the chief intoxicant in marijuana)content and permit the growing of non-psychoactive low-THC hemp for fiber andseed. Straightforward European Union andCanadian regulations prevent attempts tocamouflage marijuana in hemp fields andlimit THC levels in hemp flowers to 0.2percent and 0.3 percent, respectively; THClevels in marijuana flowers are generallybetween 3 percent and 15 percent.

But the U.S. Drug EnforcementAdministration (DEA) lumps low-THC hempwith marijuana. As a result, although theUnited States permits trade in nonviablehemp seed, oil, and fiber, it is the only major

industrialized nation that prohibits thegrowing and processing of hemp.

It is time to clear up themisunderstanding, change the law, andclear the way for ecologically sustainable,economically viable opportunities forAmerican farmers and businesses.

Why Industrial Hemp?

Notoriety obscures the history and value ofhemp. Hemp has a long history in America,from the first plantings in Jamestown,where growing hemp was mandatory, to thehemp sails of 19th-century clipper shipsand the hemp canvas covers of pioneerwagons, to World War II’s massive “Hempfor Victory” program. Hemp is a major partof humanity’s agricultural and commercialheritage, having been used extensively formillennia in cultures around the world.

Hemp seed was known long ago for itshealthy protein andrich oil. The stalk’souter fiber wasused for clothing,canvas, and rope,and textile ragswere recycled intopaper pulp. TheDeclaration of

Independence was drafted on hemp paper,and the finest Bibles are still printed onhemp-based paper. The woody core fiber ofhemp stalks was used for construction andfuel. In the early 20th century, hemp-derived cellulose was promoted as anaffordable and renewable raw material forplastics; Henry Ford even built a prototypecar from biocomposite materials, usingagricultural fiber such as hemp.

Beginning with the passage of the“Marihuana Tax Act” of 1937 and continuingafter the World War II “Hemp for Victory”program, misplaced fears that industrialhemp is marijuana and harassment by lawenforcement discouraged farmers fromgrowing hemp. The last crop was grown in


American farmers are prohibited by law from growing a low-input, sustainable crop common inEurope and Canada with tremendous economicpotential: industrial hemp.

Cutting Hemp by HandU.S. Dept. of Agriculture1901 Yearbook (above),Modern harvesting ofCanadian hemp (right).

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Wisconsin in 1958, and the ControlledSubstances Act (CSA) of 1970 formallyprohibited cultivation.

Today, driven by entrepreneurial spiritand the desire to build a new industry for anew age, hemp has reemerged. A diversebut increasingly unified and politicallyinfluential group of interests supports thecommercial growing of hemp, includingfarmers, businesses, nutritionists, activists,and green consumers.

Hemp is not a panacea for the world’ssocial, economic, and environmental woes—no single crop can do that. But withfocused and sustained research anddevelopment, hemp could spur dramaticchange. Renewable, fast-growing hempcould allow major industries to reduce theirdependence on nonrenewable, fast-disappearing resources and move towardsustainable production.

Hemp Textiles

Today’s hemp-based fabrics are nothing like18th-century canvas sailcloth (canvasderives from the Latin cannabis). Hempfiber, blended with everything from Tencelto organic cotton, can be used to createtextiles as different as terrycloth, flannel,and luxurious satin brocades. Hemp fiberoffers greater durability and breathabilitythan cotton, which accounts for 25 percentof the pesticides sprayed on the world’scrops. Hemp-based textile products on themarket include apparel and accessoriessuch as T-shirts, pants, dresses, babyclothes, bathrobes, and shoes; housewaressuch as blankets, shower curtains, and rugs;and sundries such as hammocks and petsupplies.

More Trees Hemp Clothing Companyoffers high-end fashions, like this handpainted Hemp/Silk Skirt, as well ascasual, yoga, and streetwear.



Technical Hemp Fiber and Core Products

The most successful emerging industrial use of hemp fiber isin the automobile industry. “Biocomposites” of nonwoven hempmatting and polypropylene or epoxy are pressed into partssuch as door panels and luggage racks, replacing heavier andless safe fiberglass composites. European hemp fiber madeinto biocomposites by Flexform in Indiana has been used inmore than a million cars and trucks in North America.Automotive applications alone are expected to push Europeanhemp cultivation to over 100,000 acres by 2010. Emergingtechnology for injection molding of natural fibers is expectedto accelerate growth of this sector. Hemp fiber is also used forinsulation and horticultural growth mats, and hemp core isused in animal bedding, mortars, and horticultural mulch.

Hemp Paper

The low impact of the farming and processing of hempstalks and the high strength, length and yield of the bastfibers make hemp, a traditional source of high-strengthspecialty paper, a favorite in today’s ecologically awaremarket. Pulp made from hemp’s bast fiber is superior toshort-fiber wood, and is an ideal additive to strengthenrecycled post-consumer waste (PCW) pulp, thus expandingPCW’s use. Tough and durable, hemp content paper can befinished to a smooth-surfaced sheet with as good as or


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better print qualities than virginwood-based paper. The marketsfor hemp content paper aregrowing, including not only high-qualityPCW printer paper, but also ecologicalproduct packaging, brochures andpromotional materials for progressivebusinesses.

Hemp Biofuels

Ethanol—ethyl alcohol, currently produced byfermenting cornstarch from kernels—isgradually replacing toxic Methyl TertiaryButyl Ether (MTBE) in the United States asa high-octane, pollution-reducing gasolineadditive. As a source for ethanol, cornkernels are economically viable onlybecause of high federal subsidies. In thenext two to five years, the energy-efficientproduction of ethanol from cellulosicbiomass such as wheat and rice straw,hemp, flax, and corn stalks will becomecommercially viable. This process alsogenerates much lower overall emissions ofthe greenhouse gas CO2, and becausemost automobile engines can run on 15:85ethanol:gasoline blends without modification,ethanol will help nations worldwide meettheir greenhouse gas reduction goals. Hempgrown for both seed and biomass has astalk yield of up to 3.5 tons per acre, whichwould make it an economical source ofcellulose for ethanol production. Farmers inthe Midwest could welcome hemp as aprofitable addition to their marginallyprofitable soybean and corn rotations.

Hemp Foods

Increasingly found on store shelves, shelledhemp seeds (“hemp nuts”) and cold-pressed oil have exceptional nutritionalbenefits and rich flavor. They are used insalad dressings, nutrition bars, flour, breads,cookies, granola, meatless burgers, nut

butter, protein powders, chips, pasta, coffeeblends and frozen desserts. Virtually allhemp nut and oil in U.S. foods are importedfrom Canada.

An impressive 33 percent of the hempnut is high-quality protein, providing allessential amino acids in a reasonablebalance, making it an attractive componentof a meat-free diet. Hemp also containssignificant amounts of the vitamin Ecomplex and trace minerals such asmagnesium, iron, and manganese.

But hemp seeds are valued primarily forthe exceptional fatty acid composition oftheir oil, which makes up 30 percent of thewhole seed and 44 percent of the nut.Studies link many common ailments to animbalance and deficiency of essential fattyacids (EFAs) in the typical Western diet: toomuch omega-6 and not enough omega-3.Consuming sufficient omega-3 in the rightEFA ratio has impressive benefits, including:reducing cholesterol, reducing the risk ofatherosclerosis and sudden cardiac death,reducing the need for insulin amongdiabetics, decreasing the symptoms ofrheumatoid arthritis, promoting moodimprovement in bipolar disorders, andoptimizing development in infants.

Hemp oil contains the most EFAs of anynut or seed oil, with the omega-3 andomega-6 EFAs occurring in the nutritionallyoptimal 1:3 ratio. As a bonus it offers thehigher-potency omega derivatives GLA andSDA. Fish and fish oils are recommendedbecause they provide the omega-3derivatives SDA, DHA, and EPA. Butconcern over the contamination of fish bymercury and other environmental toxins hasled the FDA to warn pregnant women andnursing mothers to restrict their fish intake.


“European hemp fiber

made into biocomposites

by Flexform in Indiana has

been used in more than a

million cars and trucks in

North America.

”

French MeadowHealthy Hemp Bread

is packed withflaxseed,

hempseed& pumpkin seed.

A complete proteinthat satisfies hunger.

LOADED WITH NUTRIENTS• 5g FIBER• 7g PROTEIN• HIGH IN OMEGA 3 & 6• NO OILS• NO SWEETNERS• YEAST–FREE

So ld Frozen Nat ional ly



Hemp’s omega profile means that usinghemp nut and oil as a staple food is a goodalternative to fish: One tablespoon of hempoil in a shake, salad, soup, or sauce provides3 grams of omega-3, more than the 2grams per day recommended by the U.S.National Institutes of Health.

Virtually all common vegetable oils, suchas soy, corn, sunflower, safflower and oliveoil offer a much less desirable omegabalance, i.e., not enough omega-3. Evenwalnuts, touted in recent media due to theFDA’s qualified endorsement of their omega-

3 health benefits, containsignificantly less omega-3and in a lower ratio toomega-6 than hemp seed.Of the commodityvegetable oils, only flaxseed contains moreomega-3, but flax does nothave hemp’s optimal EFAbalance. Because it is moreeasily digestible with alonger shelf life and a nuttynatural flavor, hemp nutalso offers a greater rangeof culinary options than flaxseeds.

Hemp Body Care Products

Hemp oil’s high and balanced EFAcontent also makes it an ideal ingredientin body care products. The EFAs sootheand restore skin in salves and creamsand give excellent emolliency and smoothafter-feel to lotions, lip balms,conditioners, shampoos, soaps, shavingproducts, and massage oils. RecentCanadian research shows that hemp oilhas potential as a broad-spectrumultraviolet skin protector.




What Can I Do?

Here are two simple ways to help hempblossom in the marketplace: Buy hemp!Vote hemp!

Buy hemp! Hemp foods and body careproducts are carried by large chains suchas Whole Foods, Wild Oats, and TraderJoe’s and by thousands of smallerindependent natural-food chains, stores,and co-ops, and even by some mainstreamgrocery stores. Outdoor retailers, ecologicalspecialty stores, and some departmentstores carry hemp clothing. See the widerange of hemp products, and their makers,listed in the Hemp Industries Association’s(HIA) Members Product Directory athttp://www.hempindustries.org. Search forlocal retailers at http://www.hempstores.com.

Vote hemp! Be informed, talk to yourstate and national representatives, and tellyour friends and family about the benefitsof hemp for a sustainable economy andhealthy environment. Fourteen states havepassed legislation supporting industrialhemp. What’s the status of your state? Seehttp://www.votehemp.com/state_legis.html.

Activists are working to shift federalregulation of industrial hemp back to theDepartment of Agriculture and out of thehands of the DEA. Donations to supportthis effort can be made online at the Website of Vote Hemp, the industry’s lobbyinggroup, where you can also find sampleletters and easy ways to contact electedofficials; see http://www.votehemp.com.


nder the Hemp Industries Association’s (HIA) TestPledge program(www.testpledge.com), U.S. hemp food companies voluntarilyobserve trace THC limits in hemp nut and oil similar to thoseadopted by European nations and Canada. These conservative limitsprotect consumers from workplace drug-testing interference; theyare based on a study, jointly commissioned by a Canadiangovernmental program and industry members, published in theJournal of Analytical Toxicology (Nov./Dec. 2001).

Nonetheless, fueled by drug war ideologues and hysteria, the DEA has attemptedto ban hemp foods. Hemp food manufacturers and the HIA have won a series oflegal battles, culminating earlier this year in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appealsruling that the DEA ignored Congress’ specific exclusion of hemp fiber, seed,and oil in the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), exempting them from theDEA’s control. The court viewed the trace amounts of THC in hemp seedas insignificant and irrelevant, just like the trace opiates in poppy seeds,which are similarly exempted from the CSA and which the DEAhypocritically ignores.

Fighting the DEA’s attempted ban has cost hemp companies over$200,000, but they are prepared to spend what it takes to fight anyfurther appeal to the Supreme Court. “The public and the mediashould question the DEA’s waste of tax dollars in trying to crush thelegitimate hemp food industry,” says Eric Steenstra, president of thehemp industry’s lobbying organization, Vote Hemp. “A Bushadministration appeal will fail and only further embarrass the DEA.Appealing the decision is a last-ditch effort to save face at theexpense of taxpayers and limited law enforcement resources.” Visitwww.votehemp.com for up-to-date information.

TestPledge, DEA and the

Right to Eat Hemp Foods

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Hemp is Hip, Hot and Happening