Food Review: Hempmilk
A nice review of Living Harvest's Hempmilk in FitSugar.

Hemp Milk Review
Sheree Welshimer of BellaOnline also has a nice overview of hemp milk products.

Ottawa to Fund B.C. Hemp Plot Trials
The Manitoba Co-operator reports that the District of 100 Mile House is receiving $235,665 for the launch of a hemp production pilot project.

Pass the Hemp
An editorial in the Bennington Banner urges the prompt passage of H.267, the Vermont hemp bill.

Dr. Keith Bolton. Photo credit: The Northern Rivers Echo.

By Luis Feliu
The Northern Rivers Echo
April 16, 2008

The age of hemp is here — or at least returning to its rightful place as one of the most useful plants known to man.

But it's not the much-maligned, recreational variety of hemp or Cannabis which Nimbin is world famous for, but the high-fiber industrial hemp (low in the psychoactive ingredient tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC) which many farmers in NSW have been waiting years to be allowed to grow.

That time has now come, with the state government last week announcing it would introduce a new licensing scheme for the commercial growing of hemp, bringing NSW into line with other Australian states now developing an industrial hemp industry.

Green Building Press
April 25, 2008

Walls built with hemp will be a major feature of a new building at the Center for Alternative Technology (CAT). The innovative mixture of hemp stalks, lime and a small quantity of cement (known as 'Hemcrete') produces less carbon emissions than conventional concrete — cement is fired at high temperatures, a very energy-intensive process.

The walls are part of the new Wales Institute for Sustainable Education (WISE). CAT is building the £6.2million training and conference venue to extend its courses in sustainable technologies, including courses in solar power for electricians right up to masters courses in sustainable architecture.

Builders are spraying the Hemcrete material onto heraklith (or woodwool) boards attached to the inside of the timber frame. The walls on the WISE building will be 500mm thick, providing a high degree of insulation and air tightness whilst remaining breathable. The walls will be finished inside and out with a lime render.

Wilderness Poets founders Mika Kakizaki and John Bannerman have shared a passion for living, nutritious, organic foods for many years. Their favorite food was hemp nuts, and Mika was well aware of hemp's unsurpassed nutritional value. They started grinding and blending other seeds and nuts with hemp in their kitchen. Soon their hemp nut butters were being devoured on fruit, oatmeal and waffles. These butters are also a perfect creamy base for nutritious, raw dips and sauces. Friends and family caught on. Everyone wanted to know what to call it.

As a middle school teacher, John had been using ancient and historic poets in the classroom to inspire his students. Now he uses each jar lid to share the stories of these "wilderness poets." Poets have a special way of whittling things down to their bare essence. The planet is at its highest state in the wilderness. Hemp has the ability to nourish people and return "wilderness" to the planet. Wilderness Poets is thus a metaphor for hemp itself.

Wilderness Poets sold their first jars of Hemp Seed Nut Butter to a local food co-op in Portland, OR and began offering samples at community events and farmers markets. New Seasons Markets (Portland's largest natural food chain) and Whole Foods soon followed. They have recently moved into a certified organic kitchen where they make their nut butters in small artisan batches. Drop them a line, as they would love to send you samples! Wilderness Poets also ships wholesale cases direct to anywhere in the U.S.

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