By organicandhealthy.org
After many decades of prohibition, hemp is becoming an agricultural commodity in America.
Hemp is from a variety of Cannabis that has no THC (psychoactive component in Marijuana), so hemp is not a recreational drug. Real Farmacy explains that hemp was first grown in Kentucky, in 1775. Nearly all of hemp production during Post Civil-War times, originated from the Bluegrass state.
Currently, about 25% of the nation’s 9,650 acres of hemp are produced in Kentucky. Tobacco production still outranks hemp production, with 72,900 acres cultivated in 2015. However, there is change in the air growing around the state. Real Farmacy attributes that change to acceptance of Cannabis nationwide, with more states legalize/decriminalize medicinal and recreational use.
Quoting from the website,“There were strict controls on hemp for many decades amid anti-drug sentiments, making it illegal to grow without a permit from the government. In 2014, the U.S. farm bill authorized state agriculture departments to create industrial hemp research pilot programs, reopening production opportunities. Only 33 acres were planted in Kentucky that year. By 2015, seedings rose to 922 acres, and jumped to 2,350 acres in 2016, according to the state’s agriculture department.
As the tobacco market continues to decline and prices for grains and commodities remain depressed, farmers are looking for alternatives. The industrial hemp business will only grow stronger as the years go by and this seems promising to a lot of Kentucky farmers.
Total retail sales of hemp products in the U.S. reached $573 million in 2015, according to the Hemp Industries Association. Sales by conventional retailers are growing. Products can even be found in stores like Costco and Target, in addition to specialty retailers.
Hemp is one of the most useful plants on the planet
Our ancestors including our founding fathers, utilized hemp foe rope, ship-rigging, canvas sails and caulking for the wooden hulls of ships. In Colonial American times, the British Crown, as it was defined as indispensable and a strategically awesome crop. Hemp can produce a high-quality cloth (often labeled as linen) sand paper (the U.S. Constitution was written on it). Hemp has many uses that are diverse. A popular use of hemp went all through WW II, to help in war efforts.At the end of the war, production had stopped completely.
A hundred years and more ago, Cannabis was in America’s pharmacopeia (official list of medicines) and used for thousands of various different products. Later on, it became stigmatized and illegal, due to its psychoactive properties. It received less support in the 20th century, as petroleum took over Hemps dominance as an industrial raw material.
Hemp is nature’s gift to mankind
Hemp is found to have nutritional value, as its leaves can produce liquid and be drunk for its nutrients. Hemp seeds are a superfood believe it or not. It has 20 amino acids, 9 important amino acids required for optimal metabolism. It’s a rare source of protein for vegetarians. Hemp seed are one of the top abundant source of oil in the world of plants.
These seeds are abundant in essential minerals and vitamins. Its said they contain a 3:1 balance of omega-6 fatty acids and omega-3 fatty acids.
They are a perfect source of gamma linolenic acid (GLA), which is a fatty acid that is useful in a variety of treatments for illnesses. In the future, it will be hemp that will be increasingly manufactured to benefit the US economy.
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