Hempseeds are getting more and more recognition as an alternative source of nutrients, and Dr. Oz stepped up to the plate to announce his own love for hempseeds this week on his celebrated TV show!  Click the image above to view the segement.

This article comes to us from the Progressive Party blog.

By Rep. David Zuckerman

This week a Vermonter, Will Allen, joined others from around the country in an act of civil disobedience in order to get attention to the laws governing hemp cultivation. By attempting to plant help seeds on the lawn of the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) they clearly were pushing the envelope to generate this discussion.

To put this in context, North Dakota and Vermont are the only two states that have adjusted their laws (We did this while I was chair of the Agriculture Committee) to allow farmers to cultivate and harvest hemp. However, both states laws are trumped by federal law due to the interstate commerce clause of the US constitution. This section has been interpreted widely by the US government to take control of many policy areas that used to belong to the states. It does this by the idea that any product that can cross state borders for commercial purposes is to be regulated by the federal government.

Hemp was brought into the federal law jurisdiction back in the 30’s and 40’s when it competed with trees as the main ingredient in paper as well cotton as a fiber. The paper and cotton industries went after it with false media claims and corporate propaganda to tie it to marijuana use as well as to the latino/a culture (racism). While the general public had used and known hemp as a very good product (as both paper and fiber) public opinion was swayed over a very short period of time. Soon, through an act of Congress, it was made illegal to grow by categorizing it a schedule 1 drug under our drug laws. Thus becoming the only drug that has been classified by Congress instead of through the regulatory process (Crack, Cocaine, Morphine, Heroine, all classified by the DEA, not Congress). As a schedule 1 drug, it is deemed to have no useful purpose to society whatsoever.

Click HERE to read the rest of this article at the Prog Blog.

The old adage “You are what you eat” is one to live by. Today, more and more people are making healthy dietary choices—not only for their own health, but also for the health of the Earth.

Hempseed is known by researchers and physicians to be one of the most nutritious food sources on the planet. Its 33 percent protein content is well-balanced, easily digestible, and also rich in iron, zinc, magnesium, vitamins B and E, Omega-3, and GLA. A Canadian government report says that hemp protein has 66 percent high-quality edestin protein—the highest percentage of any plant source. And hemp has the ideal 3:1 ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3.

No wonder the hemp foods sector is booming! Walk down the aisles of a good store and you can now find hemp oil, hemp seeds, hemp protein, hemp bars, hemp bread, hemp butter, hemp milk . . . even hemp ice cream!

The Origins of Hemp Foods

More than 6,000 years ago, hemp was cultivated in China from a wild plant that grew in central Asia. The Chinese recognized the nutritional value of the hemp seed, and used it as a food source long before they used soy. About 1,000 years ago, hemp traveled to Europe, where one of the most popular ways that peasants used the plant was to make hemp butter by grinding the tasty seeds.

Health and Eco Concerns Regarding Soy Foods

Soy foods stand in marked contrast to hemp foods. Since the 1970s, the soy-food industry has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to convince the public of soy’s supposed “health benefits.“ Consequently, the average American diet includes about 10 percent soy—in dressings, butter spreads, cooking oils, shakes, desserts, etc. Yet, while the mainstream media has long promoted soy, a growing number of health professionals now caution people to think twice before consuming it in large quantities, due to potential allergic reactions, soy’s impact on thyroid health and mineral absorption, its poor fat ratio, and its estrogenic properties.

We should also be concerned about the environmental impacts of soy foods. First, most soybeans grown today are genetically modified, and even organic soy is often contaminated with GMOs by wind drift or processing. Also, toxic chemicals are applied to conventional soy fields in great amounts, causing damage to ecosystems from South America to America’s heartland.

A July 13, 2009, article, “Study Released in Argentina Puts Glyphosate Under Fire”  stated: “. . . research released by Argentina’s top medical school showed that a leading chemical used in soy farming may be harmful to human health.”

The article explained how soy cultivation is producing deformed frogs and adding untold hardships to small farmers. Do people understand that buying non-organic soy milk, food bars, cereal, and even common soy protein, supports this bitter harvest?

And it’s not only how soy is grown. The toxic chemical hexane, a petroleum byproduct, is used as a solvent to extract soy oil for about 98 percent of all soybeans processed in America. When ordering a soy burger or soymilk, you wouldn’t request a side of petrol solvent. But you get that added serving of hexane—also a major greenhouse gas emitter—anyway! Listen to what leading health researcher Mike Adams, a.k.a. “the Health Ranger,” says about soy protein products.

If you eat only organic soy (a much better choice), please read The Soy Report Scorecard by the organic watchdog group Cornucopia. If you are going to use soy, choose foods that are both organic and fermented, such as miso, tamari, and tempeh. The fermentation process makes soy more bioavailable and reduces its antinutritional qualities. And beware: Some firms claim “made with organic soybeans” even though their products contain hexane-processed soy.

Another issue that medical doctors are watching is soy’s effects on the thyroid.

Also, learn why longtime vegetarian Julia Wey is rethinking her consumption of soy foods.

Hemp Benefits

Unlike soy, hemp isn’t genetically modified, and no company uses hexane to extract its healthy oil. Another plus for hemp is that it’s easy to grow without pesticides or herbicides. It smothers weeds as a rotation crop, and its long taproot helps to restore soil health. Besides the seeds’ nutritional benefits, hemp’s strong fibers are being used to replace unsustainable cotton, petrol, and concrete in everything from clothing to car parts to construction materials.

More than thirty industrialized nations grow commercial hemp, including England, Germany, China, and Canada. Nevertheless,

United States law forbids growing hemp without a federal license. This has prevented commercial hemp production since the 1950s. Visit VoteHemp.com to learn how you can help to restore hemp farming in America.

Back in 1995, I wrote a booklet on industrial hemp in which these were the opening words:

“Imagine a crop more versatile than the soybean, the cotton plant, and the Douglas fir tree put together . . . one whose products are interchangeable with those from timber or petroleum . . . one that grows like Jack’s beanstalk with minimal tending. There is such a crop: industrial hemp.

“Hemp was once indispensable to world commerce. New World colonists and traders were able to cross the Atlantic Ocean because the hemp ropes and sails of their ships, unlike other natural fibers, resisted salt damage. Not so long ago, it was inconceivable for an economy to function without hemp.”

These words hold true today, and it’s good to see that the world is again acknowledging hemp’s great value. In this era of Google and YouTube, we can all access cutting-edge health information to help us compare hemp food crops to soy. I encourage you to do your own research, and to remember that good health is our greatest wealth. Our lives depend on it.

John W. Roulac is the Founder and CEO of Nutiva, the world’s leading brand of organic hemp foods and coconut oil. A longtime advocate of holistic living, he is the author of four books (with a million-plus copies sold) on hemp and composting. He helped jump-start the modern home-composting movement in the early 1990s, successfully sued the USDEA to keep hemp imports legal in 2001, and has founded three  nonprofit ecological groups. To learn more about John Roulac and Nutiva, visit www.nutiva.com/articles/.

Growing Hemp Food and Body Care Sales is Good News for Canadian Hemp Seed and Oil Producers

WASHINGTON, April 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The Hemp Industries Association (HIA), a trade association consisting of hundreds of hemp businesses, has just released final estimates of the size of the U.S. retail market for hemp food and body care products in 2008. Data supporting the estimates show that retail sales of hemp food and body care products in the U.S. have continued to set records in 2008.

Strong sales of popular hemp items like non-dairy milk, shelled hemp seed, soaps and lotions have occurred against the backdrop of state-licensed hemp farmers in North Dakota fighting a high stakes legal battle against the DEA to grow hemp for U.S. manufacturers. The new sales data validate U.S. farmers’ position that they are being shut out of the lucrative hemp market that Canadian farmers have cashed in on for over a decade now.

The sales data, collected by the market research firm SPINS, were obtained from natural and conventional food retailers, excluding Whole Foods Market and other establishments not providing sales data – and thus underestimate actual sales by a factor of at least three.

According to the SPINS data, hemp grocery sales grew in the sampled stores by 42% over the previous year ending December 27, 2008, or
$2.56 million, to a total of $8.64 million. The SPINS data also show that sales of hemp body care products grew by 19%, or $3.00 million, over the previous year to a total of $19.12 million. Finally, according to SPINS, combined hemp food, body care and vitamin product sales grew by 22%, or $6.11 million, over the previous year to a total of $33.51 million.

Due to significant sales excluded from the SPINS data, such as The Body Shop, Whole Foods Market and restaurants, as well as the fact that many unreported leading mass-market brands of suntan lotion and sunscreen products include hemp oil, the HIA estimates the total retail value of North American hemp food, vitamin and body care product sales to be in the range of $100-120 million for 2008.

“Farmers who want to grow hemp to support the steady double-digit growth are mad as ever about being shut out by our backward federal government,” says David Bronner, who makes Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps and uses hemp oil in all his top-selling products. “The HIA is confident that the total North American hemp food and body care market over the last year accounted for $100-120 million in retail sales,” adds Bronner, who also chairs the HIA Food and Oil Committee.

“We expect double-digit growth in the hemp food sector to continue through 2009, as consumer interest in ‘green’ healthy products grows,” comments Eric Steenstra, HIA Executive Director. “It is amazing that the growth of the sector is as strong as it is, given the stigma of hemp being the only food crop not legal to grow in the U.S.”

A federal bill was introduced in Congress earlier this month that, if passed into law, would remove restrictions on the cultivation of non-psychoactive industrial hemp. The chief sponsors of HR 1866, “The Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2009,” Representatives Barney Frank (D-MA) and Ron Paul (R-TX), were joined by nine other U.S. House members from both sides of the aisle. More information on the bill can be found at: http://www.VoteHemp.com/legislation.

The Hemp Industries Association (HIA) represents the interests of the hemp industry and encourages the research and development of new hemp products. More information about hemp’s many uses and hemp advocacy may be found at www.HempIndustries.org and www.VoteHemp.com.

SOURCE Hemp Industries Association

Copyright (c) 1996-2009 PR Newswire Association LLC.

Nutiva Introduces New Three-Pound Bulk Size Organic Hempseed and Hemp Protein.

The new three-pound bags are certified-organic and vacuum-sealed.

Save $5 on any three-pound Hempseed or Hemp Protein with this coupon code: 3poundersavings

Click here to order.

“The word is spreading fast that hemp is a nutritional powerhouse. By buying it in bulk, our customers can now save money and reduce packaging waste,” says Nutiva CEO and Founder John W. Roulac.

1 tablespoon of Hempseed or Hemp Protein Powder contains 48% of the RDI of magnesium—vital to 300 human biochemical processes.

Nutiva customer Daily Juice of Austin, Texas, serves up delicious Hemp Mate Lattes and Hemp Smoothies at their two locations. Says owner Matt Wahrer, “Nutiva’s Hempseed and Protein are amazing superfoods. Our hemp-based Tropical Transfusion is one of our top three sellers, and a top requested additive to all of our smoothies. We love to support hemp.”