Save the Date: May 17 - 23 is Hemp History Week!

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Save the Date: May 17 - 23 is Hemp History Week!

U.S. farmers are prohibited by law from growing a low-input, sustainable crop (common in Europe and Canada) with tremendous economic potential: industrial hemp.

Hemp cannot be commercially grown in the United States because it is erroneously confounded with marijuana. In fact, industrial hemp and marijuana are different breeds of Cannabis sativa! Hemp has a long history in America, from the first plantings in Jamestown, where growing hemp was mandatory, to the hemp sails of 19th-century clipper ships and the hemp canvas covers of pioneer wagons, to World War II's massive "Hemp for Victory" program. Hemp is a major part of humanity's agricultural and commercial heritage, having been used extensively for millennia in cultures around the world. In fact, Pennsylvania was once one of our nations top hemp producing states!

Hemp is a versatile and sustainable crop with the ability to provide:

Hemp Textiles - Hemp fiber offers greater durability and breathability than cotton (which accounts for 25 percent of the pesticides sprayed on the world's crops!)

Hemp Paper - The low impact of the farming and processing of hemp stalks and the high strength, length and yield of the bast fibers make hemp, a traditional source of high-strength specialty paper, a favorite in today's ecologically aware market. Perhaps this is why both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew hemp & Ben Franklin owned a mill that made hemp paper. Thomas Jefferson even drafted the Declaration of Independence on hemp paper!

Hemp Foods - Increasingly found on store shelves, shelled hemp seeds ("hemp nuts") and cold-pressed oil have exceptional nutritional benefits and rich flavor. They are used in salad dressings, nutrition bars, flour, breads, cookies, granola, meatless burgers, nut butter, protein powders, chips, pasta, coffee blends and frozen desserts. Virtually all hemp nut and oil in U.S. foods are imported from Canada - this is a market that U.S. farmers should have the freedom to enter!

Technical Hemp Fiber and Core Products - Hemp fiber is also used for insulation and horticultural growth mats, and hemp core is used in animal bedding, mortars, and horticultural mulch. The most successful emerging industrial use of hemp fiber is in the automobile industry. "Biocomposites" of nonwoven hemp matting and polypropylene or epoxy are pressed into parts such as door panels and luggage racks, replacing heavier and less safe fiberglass composites. Take a look at Henry Ford's prototype Plastic car made from Hemp! <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rgDyEO_8cI>

The list of valuable products that can be derived from Hemp goes on and on...

Vote Hemp and the Hemp Industries Association, America's leading hemp advocacy organizations, has launched Hemp History Week featuring events (all around the U.S.) as part of a national grassroots, media and public education campaign. Vote Hemp hopes to collect at least 50,000 signed post cards urging President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder asking them to end the status quo and let farmers grow versatile and profitable industrial hemp.

The Eastern Pennsylvania Permaculture Guild is partnering with Kimberton Whole Foods to bring you a Hemp History WeekTown Hall meeting on May 15th from 230-330pm. This event will feature a presentation on the history of hemp farming in Pennsylvania prior to its prohibition, a discussion about the many uses of industrial hemp as a sustainable crop in the U.S., samples of hemp products, and information about how you can help pass legislation that will allow U.S. farmers to grow hemp.