About Industrial Hemp in New Mexico

In the recent session of the New Mexico State Legislature, the Industrial Hemp Memorial Bill was passed by an overwhelming majority in both the House and the Senate. This means that test plots of the crop will be grown around the state, this year, and the economic viability of the crop will be assessed at the end of the testing period.

Industrial hemp seeds will be planted as early as May 2009. The test plots of the crop will be the first of their kind to be grown in the United States, legally, since the plant was banned by the federal government in the 1920s. Prior to the federal ban, industrial hemp was an important cash crop across the country, utilized in sailing vessels, military uniforms, and paper production.

Currently, the United States is one of the only industrialized nations on the planet that does not grow hemp. As a nation, we import $96,000,000-worth of hemp fibers and products. As a business, Santa Fe Hemp generates approximately $40,000 in sales tax for the state of New Mexico.

If we grew hemp in the US, specifically in our state, hundreds, if not thousands of jobs would be created and the country would gain a little more economic independence. With the freedom to grow this highly renewable resource and extremely versatile plant, the United States could have the potential to surpass the greenest of nations.

The versatility of industrial hemp is impressive, to say the least. Hemp seed oil is a perfect substance for making celluosic biofuel, as well as petroleum-free plastics. Whole hemp seeds and the hemp seed oil can be consumed by humans and animals, for the nearly perfect balance of essential fatty acids and proteins. The hurd of the plant (what is left over in fiber extraction) can be used to make building materials, car parts and fiber filler. Needless to say, the fiber which is extracted from the stalk of the plant, can be spun and woven into a myriad of fabrics, for clothing and upholstery.

Now, remember, the US imports $96,000,000-worth of hemp products every year. This is only scratching the surface, because what we import is mainly fiber products. At the top of the list is material. There are US companies that import finished hemp clothing items, mainly from China. Then there are US companies that import the materials and have the clothing sewn in this country. We also import twines, ropes and other hemp-fiber materials. There are very few hemp-based food products imported or manufactured in this country, as well as very little paper products. Hemp-based plastics and building materials are also imported, but on a much smaller scale.

If the tables were turned, though, and we were able to grow and process our own industrial hemp, the numbers would be greater. Not only that, but you can bet that environmental standards would start to change, because we would have a naturally environmentally-positive product grown in our own soil. There would also be a greater advantage to the US becoming truly foreign-oil independent!

Unlike cotton, hemp is environmentally-conscious. That is to say, hemp does not require quite as much water as other fiber crops, nor does it require pesticides or herbicides. Certain strains of hemp are more drought-resistant, too. Depending on the climate, some types of hemp will grow more heartily. Some extreme climates in which hemp thrives are the Himalayas and Finland.

Pop culture would have you believe that industrial hemp is the same thing as marijuana. This is bad information, perpetuated for too many reasons to list here. The truth is that they are closely related, but industrial hemp, no matter how hard you try, will not get you "high."

It can be speculated that hemp has a bad rap simply because it has the potential to put a lot of [big] businesses (namely the petroleum, petrochemical and cotton industries) out of business. However, if people would think a little more deeply about the current situation - the need for more environmental responsibility and the need for economic stability - perhaps setting aside misconceptions and old biases would be of benefit to us all.

About Industrial Hemp - Some Factoids

• Hemp was a major cash crop in America's colonial days. It remained so until the invention of the cotton gin. This caused a slight decline in hemp's popularity, for it is a difficult plant to process without efficient machinery. The founding fathers of the U.S. were all hemp farmers or supporters.
• Hemp matures in a matter of months, rather than years. If we grew hemp, there would be no need to cut down trees for paper-making. 
• The hemp plant does not require pesticides, herbicides or genetic modification. It is a hardy plant with many existing beneficial qualities - no need to mess with the genetics. It is a weed, so it chokes out any other encroaching weeds or plants. It has only one known natural enemy to date - the United States government.
• If we continue to refuse conversion to solar power - an unlimited energy source - hemp seed oil can easily be converted to clean-burning biomass fuel. Other crops capable of powering the planet in a clean-burning manner are sugar cane and corn. Hemp just happens to be the most versatile plant known. Hemp seed oil can literally replace all petrochemicals. It can make earth-friendly fuels, plastics, paints, etc.
• Hemp seed oil is replete with essential fatty acids and vitamins, making it very nutritious and valuable as a dietary supplement and cosmetic ingredient. The nutritional value of hemp seed oil is second only to the soybean.
• Hemp producers: Canada, Finland, Romania, China, Thailand, plus many more. America is one of the few industrialized nations of the world that still does not grow hemp.
• Hemp around the world: konopli, chanvre, hanf, kender, cañamo, canapa, canep, cannabis, nasha, ta-ma, asa, ma
• Hemp's Latin name is Cannabis Sativa L. There are over 200 varieties of the cannabis plant. Industrial hemp is only a cousin to the mind-altering plant, marijuana.
• You cannot "get high" from touching, smelling or eating industrial hemp products - no matter how hard you try!
• Canadian researchers have conducted numerous tests that have proven ingesting hemp seeds or the oil will not cause a "high" or a positive drug test.
• Henry Ford recognized the feasibility of using every part of the hemp plant in the production of automobiles. He wanted to use the hemp hurd in the car bodies and hemp seed oil as fuel.
• Hemp was banned in the 1920s. Coincidentally, DuPont had just developed something called nylon, among other petrochemical products.
• A few years later, in 1942, nylon ropes were a great disappointment to our military forces and our foreign hemp supply had been cut off due to the war. The United States Department of Agriculture created a film called Hemp For Victory and quietly lifted the ban on hemp, encouraging Midwestern farmers to grow it. The fibers were used for ropes, uniforms, parachute webbing and many other purposes. When the war ended, so did American hemp farming.

Conventional vs. Organic Cotton

Why choose Organic Cotton?

Cotton is a favorite fiber for many of us. We love it's feel, it's look, and the fact that it's a natural material. There is, however, a darker side to the cotton clothing that we have loved over the years.

Conventional cotton is the second most chemical-laden crop in the world, after coffee and before tobacco. Though grown on only 3-5% of the world's cultivated land, it is soaked with 25% of the world's annual pesticide production. This has resulted in huge fish-kills, and contamination of water tables as a result of the massive irrigation cotton requires as well. 

Conventional cotton farming practices also exhaust soil fertility, which leads to further chemical intervention. (i.e. more pesticides, herbicides, and chemical fertilizers.) On top of the chemicals used during the growing process, conventional clothing manufacturers add more chemicals to the finished products. Harsh bleaches, sizing, softening agents, dyes, and even formaldehyde are added to change the natural state of the fiber. All of these chemicals are put into the fabric we put next to our skin. Skin is the body's largest organ, which absorbs what we put on it.

Organically grown fibers and foods are exactly that - grown without the use of harsh, unnatural chemicals. This is why we also carry fine organic cotton products, in addition to hemp, and this is why we wish to share them with you!

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