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Monday, April 7, 2003 Advocates still high on hemp Peter Geigen-Miller, Free Press When it was reintroduced as a crop in Canada in 1998, commercial hemp was expected to spur an industrial bonanza. Investors were quick to jump into various hemp-related industries with visions of fat profits dancing in their heads. As it turns out, reality has fallen far short of expectations. “Lots of people have lost lots of money,” says Louise Hollingsworth, president of the Ontario Hemp Alliance. It’s not that commercial hemp is a total flop. Companies such as Hempline in Delaware are marketing a range of hemp products. Hempline produces primary fibre used in the automotive, furniture and construction industries, among other applications, as well as a product called HempChips, used for garden mulch and animal bedding. And Ruth’s Hemp Foods in Toronto produces a range of foods sold in health food stores and supermarkets across Canada, including stores in the London region. Among the company’s products are hemp tortilla chips, hemp energy bars, hemp salad dressing, hemp oil and shelled hemp seeds. Company president Ruth Shamai is also working on a hemp burger that will hit the market soon. Hemp food products come from the seed of the plant, extolled by hemp advocates for its nutritional qualities. The seed is a great source of omega fatty acids that help to lower cholesterol, decrease fatigue and increase focus, they say. And they praise the high-quality protein that comes from hemp seeds. Shamai and Hempline president Geofrey Kime will be speaking at a hemp symposium being held Saturday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the Wolf Performance Hall at London’s Central Library. The symposium will examine the history and future of industrial hemp in Canada. Growers have been permitted to grow commercial hemp in Canada only since 1998 and then only under tight controls. The long-standing reluctance to permit hemp production was, of course, because it is a member of the same family of plants as marijuana. The big difference is that the psychoactive element that gives marijuana its kick exists only in minute quantities in commercial hemp. An intensive lobbying effort finally convinced government decision-makers hemp should be grown in Canada. The industry continues to grow, though not as quickly as some have hoped. Growing hemp is not the problem. It’s the need for Canadian processing and manufacturing facilities to handle the plant fibres once they are grown. That part of the industry is coming along slowly, concedes Hollingsworth. But as president of the Ontario Hemp Alliance, she sees positive developments on the international horizon. A serious fibre shortage is developing in a world hungry for the raw materials to spin or weave into an almost limitless range of products. “That’s going to make a big difference to the hemp industry in Canada,” she says. Copyright © 2003, Free Press. All rights reserved. |
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