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Dear Reader,
The latest issue of the
Vote Hemp Report, our email newsletter
that goes out to our entire list, just came
out last week and covered our legislative efforts on the
state
and federal levels, but there is more general hemp
news
out there. Many of you want more than
just an occasional Action Alert or
update during the legislative season.
One of the most important things you can do
is to help us
grow our mailing list. The more people we can
reach, the more we can educate. Through your
interest and efforts, we have added thousands of
subscribers to this news list since we launched it
more than
three years ago. Thank you all very much!
Our educational efforts have been quite
successful. An excellent example comes from
White County, Illinois where the local County
Sheriff knows the difference between
commercially distributed hemp
brownies and the more infamous ones. We
have come a long way in the last decade.
We have a ways to go, though. The Farm
& Ranch Guide reports that NDSU
is still looking for funding for their
industrial hemp research site. NDSU has a
"Memorandum of Agreement" with the DEA to grow
hemp, but they need funding to meet the stringent
requirements — and you can help!
Please make a donation today to our
Farmer Support Fund to help NDSU and would-be
North Dakota hemp farmers. If everyone on
this list donated just $5.00 each, we
could fund their research and have hemp in
the ground.
We need and truly appreciate your support!
Best Regards,
Tom Murphy
Hemp News Update Editor
| Hemp Couture |
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Two Jupiters Space Maven Hemp T-shirt. Photo
credit: The Santa Barbara Independent.
By Shannon Kelley
The Santa Barbara
Independent
April 16, 2009
If you're as eco-conscious as you are
style-savvy, lately you may have found
yourself wondering: Whatever happened to
hemp? It was, like, the fabric of the future,
man ... 20 years ago. The hemp crop was going
to save the world. Then cotton went organic,
bamboo came on the scene, and hemp took a
backseat. But recent Santa Barbara transplant
Rob Jungmann is ready to take back the wheel,
and with more than 15 years of experience in
the world of hemp attire, he knows wherefrom
he speaks.
For Jungmann, it all started back in 1993's
grunge-happy Seattle, when he decided to
design an outdoor line of hemp clothing with
the goal of getting it carried by none other
than the big daddy superstore of adventure
gear itself, REI. He and his partners were
told their best shot would be to hit up the
Outdoor Retailer trade show. They did.
"We did great," Jungmann said, with a pause
for dramatic effect, "in Japan."
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| Unusual Crop for Waterloo Farmer |
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Waterloo hemp farmer Merv Robinson. Photo
credit: Bunbury Mail.
By Kaitlyn Offer
Bunbury
Mail
April 15, 2009
A controversial new industry is budding in
Bunbury.
Hemp grown to make anything from paper and
clothes to biodegradable plastics and
stronger concrete blocks could be a new major
industry for the city and outer regions.
Waterloo hemp farmer Merv Robinson is set to
harvest his first crop of the versatile plant
in the next month.
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| HIA Featured Member - Hemp Traders |
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Hemp Traders began in 1993 selling
both wholesale and retail hemp products such
as fabric, twine, rope, oil, clothing and
more.
Lawrence Serbin, President and Owner of Hemp
Traders, began envisioning the amazing
possibilities of hemp as far back as 1990,
when he was just about to graduate from the
University of Southern California.
Lawrence looks back many years to the
beginning of Hemp Traders: "After graduation,
my entrepreneurial spirit began to kick in.
Having a firm commitment to nature, I wanted
to start a business that emphasized my
environmental concerns. One morning I woke
up, and it hit me like a ton of bricks! I
would start a company that would utilize hemp
as a natural resource to help the planet. My
optimism soon turned to frustration when I
realized that there were virtually no
suppliers or markets for hemp products at
that time. I soon realized the difficulty of
selling a new material to buyers who had
never heard of hemp. Fortunately, people's
concerns about their health and the
environment are now leading them to choose
products which address those issues."
Currently hemp textiles occupy a small but
growing market. About 45% goes into apparel,
another 45% goes into home furnishings, and
the remaining 10% goes into accessories and
footwear. Demand has been growing due to the
general rise in demand for environmental
products, the increase in quality and
selection, as well as the lowering of costs.
Lawrence recently wrote an article for The
HIA Member Newsletter, entitled "The
Modern State of Hemp Textiles," which goes
into much more detail. You can read it here.
Please contact Hemp Traders to see how they
can help you with your hemp-related needs.
They keep all their products in stock for
immediate delivery.
[If you are a member of the HIA and would
like to have your company featured here,
please submit a small selection of graphics
and a profile of no more than a few
paragraphs to tom@thehia.org,
or call 207-542-4998 for more information.
Space is limited and is first-come,
first-serve. Your member profile will be seen
in The HIA Member Newsletter, as
well as here in
The
Hemp News Update which is read by
thousands of subscribers.]
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NDSU Still Looking for Funds for Industrial Hemp Research Site |
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D.C. Coston of NDSU. Photo credit:
NDSU.
By Sue Roesler
Farm & Ranch
Guide
April 22, 2009
Time is running out on North Dakota State
University (NDSU) having time to plant and develop
industrial hemp varieties this spring, but
the university continues to work toward that
goal.
D.C. Coston, Vice-President for Agriculture
and University Extension at NDSU, said they
haven't found the funding yet to start a
research plot.
"We're searching for a sponsor to get the
structure built," Coston said last week. "I
don't know if we'll be able to find funding
sources in time to get it up this spring."
He estimates it would cost from $80,000 to
$90,000 to put in a couple acres of field
plots surrounded by the type of security the
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) requires.
[More...]
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