FARMING TODAY

The BBC has a show called Farming Today, and about once a year they discuss hemp. Recently Peter Tat of the BBC contacted me and picked my brain about the state of the industry in the UK, and I gave him a rough history and told him rather candidly what I thought, which is along these lines:

Hemcore, a company started in the '90s, had the monopoly over seed sales, and the gov regluated which varieties, so only about 19, out of 1,000, could be sold. Basically Hemcore farmers produced low grade fibre for insulation and/or seed for oil. Paper and textiles did not catch on. I know a few people who would like to start these up, notably Jane Pasquill in Cornwall, but this takes more commitment than just chopping up bast for car door insulation. Paper would be easier, but even when I made 3 tons, or rather commissioned 3 tons under the aegis of the well known and colourful character John Hanson of Lyme Regis, we bought French (they are the largest EU hemp growers) hemp and had it pulped in Spain. It got made in Scotland, that was a decade ago. I still have a bit left.
So why are there not more? Most hemp businesses can buy processed goods from China, and most companies in the UK are low budget affairs, I believe Sativa is the most well funded and well run. Two brothers in West London, which became the hub of the hemp industry, with them and THTC, myself and my co-authors, and Bobby Pugh who lives and now warehouses his stock in West London. So Hemcore sold seed, dealt with farmers, did some of the middleman bit, and then went bust I understand, though I cannot in all fairness speak for them. We are sort of on other sides of the fence, as the Guardian article pointed out. We talked and got along, but they did their thing and I did mine. Obviously the issue of farmers not getting paid recently has caused a dent in the overall confidence in the hemp industry, and caused others to state that there ought to be more companies that sell seed. I understand there was a company that did, but it was not well funded.

The future holds a bright possibility - as hemp, without human bickering, politics, etc., is a simple crop - 80-100 days, easy to harvest, etc. My suggestion has always been grow it for seed, as there is a proven market (over 12 seed/oil bottlers in the UK, they seem to do well) and then use the stems for paper, then rough textiles.

Why? Because then a proven product can make the money while other products which require experimentation, milling, etc. can be worked out. Years ago BioRegional made field trials and only went for textile hemp, which as I told them, would not work out. The UK is not a milling country. They could, however, have made coarse matting, rugs, etc., and/or paper.

Peter asked about the future of the hemp industry in the UK, and I told him the future is what we make of it. With greater understanding, and a more realistic and gradual approach, we can make of it an industry that will provide much needed jobs in the UK. I recall also mentioning that there was little support from the Labour government! I got more from the Lib Dems, people like Baroness Jenny Tonge for instance, and the Tories - Boris Johnson took my book and even sent a copy to his illustrious dad, Stanley. Are the Tories going to get in and grow more hemp? I hope so, but we will see. Some of the BBC's questions remain to be answered.

CLIMATE CHANGE OUTED

On this blog I have questioned the climage change camp many times. From firsthand experience, it was easy to see that many in it were dishonest and had no clue about anything scientific. If I had any doubts, they were removed when the Green Party UK delegate told me I could not expect them to be scientists. No. He was right. Not sure if I can expect anything at all from them.

The latest revelation about them comes from emails proving that they were hiding relevant data. Tree rings, for instance, showing patterns of global cooling. Today' s piece by Kenneth Green in The Epoch Times (NY) lays it bare when he notes that the Climate Research Unit (UK) has not been able to deny its data manipulation as manifested by the hacked emails. They consistently denied Steve McIntyre's requests for information, acting like some dodgy government agency with something to hide. Like the facts. Phil Jones, former head of CRU's climate change group, said he'd rather destroy data rather than show it. Maybe his new job will be at the CIA, where they are in need of a paper shredder.

Green (ironic surname...) notes: "What the Climate Change documents reveal is that this small group of scientists, who often peer-review each others' work as well as skeptical articles, have discussed ways of keeping findings they don't like out of the peer-reviewed literature as well as the IPCC reports, even if it required trying to oust editors, boycotting certain journalists, or to reclassifying a prestigious journal that publishes skeptical articles aas a fringe journal unworthy of consideration."

In other words, a gang of green nazis. Stupid, arrogant people trying to make a buck off of others' misery. And none are keen to wear hemp or even hear the facts about hemp - which brings me to note another story in The Epoch Times, this one written by Barbro Plogander, in which it is pointed out that cotton is a "thirsty crop." Yes indeed, but go tell that to the green nazis. I tried and they turned on me like swine, before whom you cannot cast your pearls.

So I am glad to see some facts, inconvenient ones at that, get out, bravo to the folks at The Epoch Times here in New York. They are sort of a startup paper and it looks like they may bring some fresh reporting to the stage, so have a look at their site at http://www.theepochtimes.com/

NOVEMBER SELECTION

As Americans mull over which chad to punch on that first Tuesday of November this leap year, a real candidate runs for office. Forget the GOP man and his sidekick, hockey mom, who has more experience blowing away polar bears than sitting in Congress (none of the latter to be precise); forget the Obama Hussein donkey candidate, who has at least some experience in DC, and forget the other candidates, especially Ralph. Go for the GREEN.
Cynthia McKinney, with whom I was privileged to spend a week with in London, is a matronly woman with a real sense of what is going on. It was she who asked Rumsfeld about the missing $2.3 trillion...and since that day, she has been made an enemy of, blacked out by the press whores who whitewash the theft that it so rife in Washington.
We can look forward to a US President who is not scamming money, who is not (like 40,41 & 43) the subject of paedophile investigations, who is not a Skull & Bones member, who is not into big business, but who is a real statesman, and has a real agenda.
Even if your vote does not get her in, it sends a message, and that needs to be heard. If the GREENS get 5% of the vote it will mean a serious victory for the party. The change from Nader, a man who never served in public office, to a person who has spent about 20 years in office, was a good move for the party and means that they can be taken a lot more seriously. McKinney's tour in London showed she has real diplomatic and speaking skills. She thrilled the audience at Friends House, the historic venue in North London, and held court well in enemy territory, such as the James Whale show (a particularly unpleasant UK shock jock who has recently had his radio licence revoked by the communications authorities). She also spoke at the Green Party UK festival in Brockwell Park and held a conference at the Friends of the Earth HQ. The people who met her, from Tony Juniper of FoE, to Mark Anslow of the Ecologist to Baroness Jenny Tonge were well impressed with her.
Her stance on the treatment of US soldiers is also a very strong point, she is the only candidate to take a stance on the DU issue. Presciently, she asserts that the people who got us into this mess, referring to Iraq, cannot be trusted to take us out. Or to take care of the soldier who they messed up with DU by giving lucrative contracts to companies that use this nuclear waste product. They make the money, our boys pay the price. That's how it works, but McKinney is vocal about changing this - and her record reflects this - look at this issue in the 109th Congress and see how she stood out from the crowd and stood up for those in uniform. The others betrayed the military on this - look at their voting records. So voting for those who vote against proper treatment of the soldiers is, it could be argued, a step away from treason. A strong military is essential, and we are currently looking at a decline in morale and enlistment. For those who care about this issue, McKinney is the candidate.
And of course, for those who want to see America growing hemp, McKinney is the candidate. She would help the likes of Dave Monson in North Dakota to get his legal rights, which his fellow GOP members have failed to do.
But, sadly, we may get Obama or McCain. I would vote for neither. I fear for America's future if they get in.
For more information on Cynthia, check out her site, www.allthingscynthiamckinney.com or click flags to see previous posts on this blog.

THE REAL THING HEMP

Image left is Helen James of Innocent Oils with her Real Eco Bag - it reads: "REAL ECO BAGS ARE MADE FROM HEMP". It was made from 100% organic Romanian hemp and produced in the UK by The Hemp Shop.

VANDANA SHIVA VISITS THE UK

Hampstead Town Hall was our destination Monday evening, as we had a very special guest, author and activist Vandana Shiva, India's leading environmentalist. Sagar Shah brought our attention to this event, and it was well worth the price of admission. The Gaia Foundation and the Soil Association were largely behind it, and they certainly picked a top notch speaker. I might note that there was also a very good spread of food, not only organic delicacies, but real food, which means it tasted good. Baby beets with soured cream, falafel wraps, Welsh Brie, and, to my surprise, a tofu canape which rose above the usual bland tofu disasters using trendiness as an excuse for blandness. However, no hemp was on the table, but there was plenty of hemp hearts and oil at home to feast on later.

The real meat of the event was, however, hearing Vandana. She hails from Dehra Dun, a city in the north, where she runs a farm. Sagar Shah had visited last year and poked around making notes for future hemp coops in India. At present, there is very little hemp grown there, though hemp was once grown extensively, especially in the north.

Instead of hemp, there are millions of acres of cotton, which Vandana notes is a major threat to people's lives. In one area in Orissa state, there is a farmer committing suicide every eight hours. The suicide rate stands in the tens of thousands (related posts on this blog can go into more detail). Not only does the cotton use tons of pesticides, but is depleting India's water. This is starting to be noticed by the more observant journalists, such as Louisa Pearson of Scotland on Sunday (previous post has link to her article), but so many trendy do-gooders in the green movement just ignore this inconvenient fact as they shop for 'organic' cotton, which actually uses more of India's precious resource, water. Vandana posits that we may be in big trouble in the near future over the diminishing water resources.

Not only is there too much cotton, but there is in her opinion too much of another plant, jatropha. Ealier this month we blogged about how D1 Oils is in a bitter controversy about jatropha, and we left it open as to whether this crop was bad or not. Vandana did not leave anything open to doubt, she cut down the jatropha as a reaper swings a scythe. Jatropha was rammed down the throats of Indian farmers who were forced by government officials to grow this plant for its oily seed to be used for biodiesel. Up to 11m ha of it were planted all over India, at times replacing rice fields and grazing land, especially in the desert state of Rajasthan, where only 11% of the land is arable (as opposed to the national average of 56%). Another aspect of jatropha cultivation is the fact that it is poisonous to man and beast; ironically, the jatropha fans put up hoarding exhorting farmers to grow lots of it: "No one can eat me, wouldn't you like to grow me everywhere?"

Apparently, no one wants to grow anymore of this unfriendly plant, even the farmers who were supposed to receive a subsidy of 18 rupees per plant; which they never did get in full, and are now regretting pulling out other plants to make way for this little crop of horrors.

One wonders why they did not plant hemp? There were lots of wanna-be environmentalists beating the drum for the poisonous little fiend, but none would mention hemp; the truth is that a few years ago jatropha was trendy and there was money behind it. So those of us talking sense were drowned out, and India lost out.

Other ways in which India loses out in include the influence of companies pushing GM crops, including Bt cotton. Vandana explained that this was pushed through use of statistics showing that after GM crops were introduced, exports increased. This statistic was due to the fact that farmers were too poor to buy local produce after using GM seeds, and so their crops were sold off to foreign lands more than in the past. Again, they could have made money on hemp, but there are too many parties pushing false environmentalism and globalism, with profits going to foreign companies. By the way, there is still an arrest warrant in place for those responsible for Bhopal, including Warren Anderson, who lives in NY.

While there was much agreement with her message, I had some question at the end when I realised there was much talk against various energy forms; nuclear, coal, petrol, diesel and even bio-ethanol were definitely not in style. Vandana runs her farm with four bullocks. That is great, but realistically, can we run the world on that model? Too often enthusiastic environmentalists get on to an idea and try to push it on everyone, tested or not; that is why we have destructive palm oil plantations and jatropha. There is often a debate as to which energy we ought to use, and I think that putting all one's eggs in one basket is wrong; as Vandana pointed out, diversity is a safer approach. With that in mind, while she might not completely agree, I support some amount of bio-ethanol, especially as this can be made from waste material - which brings me to a point on which I disagree with many so-called 'activists'. It is often stated at these meetings, especially by the more zealous and ignorant in the camp, that we ought to return all wastes to the soil and not use cellulose as a raw material for ethanol. If this lot, including Andrew Boswell, would spend time listening rather than bashing biofuels, they would realise that cellulose is only a carbohydrate, and that taking carbon, hydrogen and oxygen away does not deprive the soil of nutrients, but that these are common elements the soil can get lots of. Many of those handing out leaflets at rallies have not studied any of the science, and are well on the way to creating the next overzealous craze, following in the footsteps of the palm oil and jatropha fanatics.

On the subject of diversity, I came across a recent article in Positive News (whose editor, Jane Taylor, was in attendance) which highlighted a solar tower in Spain. Large mirrors reflect the light up to the top of the tower, where temperatures reach 250 centigrade. This heats water, making steam, and energy is produced with no carbon emissions. For India this would be good news! A second article in the same paper talked about tidal turbines supplying almost all the energy for Samso, an island with 4,000 inhabitants off the coast of Denmark. This too could be of use in India, with all its coastline and major rivers.

Also in attendance was Stanley Johnson, who looks just like MP Boris Johnson; due to the fact that Stanley is Boris' dad, no doubt. Stanley had some very positive news for me, as he related the recent Law Lords' decision to throw out the US request for extradition of Ian Norris on all but one count, which has been passed back down to the lower courts, and one would expect common sense to prevail after the senior jurists set a tone. That fact, however, diverges from the main train of thought, but it is certainly good news that deserves passing on. Returning to the subject of this blog, let me note that both Stanley and his look-a-like dad will be getting copies of Hemp for Victory soon, especially as Stanley has a very interesting environmental site, http://www.stanleyjohnson.com/

Vandana was given a copy of Hemp for Victory so perhaps we will indeed be seeing fields of emerald in India soon. Even if she does not support its use as a crop for bio-ethanol, it has so many other uses that it will surely find a place on her bullock-powered farm.

HEMP IN ESSEX

Yesterday, 4 August, Dru Lawson of the Hemp Trading Co. (www.thtc.co.uk) gave me a ride out to Rochford in Essex to view a hemp harvest, to which Sue Riddlestone and Emily Stott of BioRegional had kindly invited us. We were joined with researchers from Leeds University and Cranfield University and Jane Taylor of Positive News.

Three varieties, Santhika, Fedora and Chameleon stood about 8 feet (2.6metres) high, waving their green buds in the wind. Living emerald is how James Lane Allen described hemp in 1900, and this lived up to his words; Chameleon, in my opinion, in its lovely chartreuse tone, even exceeded them.

The plots were grown to test green decortication techniques and study stem cell structure with a view to facilitating a UK hemp textile industry. The green fibres, stripped from the inner hurds, were quite wet in this state and had to be pressed between two rollers to remove moisture. Further processes will be needed to rend them into cloth.

At present the hemp textile industry is centred in China and Romania. Italy was for some time renowned for producing the finest fibres, grown in the Piedmont region. Hemp is grown in Italy now for Giorgio Armani.

There are economic reasons for developing a hemp textile industry in any country, but there are also ecological reasons, the main one being the fact that cotton, at present the number 1 textile fibre in the world, uses up water and requires pesticides. (see related posts on cotton on this blog with the word search feature).

Sue gave me a copy of a book, Bioregional Solutions: For Living on One Planet, writtten by herself and Pooran Desai (both founders of BioRegional). In it (Chapter 7, "Hemp, Clothes and Fair Trade"), there is a good account of cotton, which the authors assert, is the "world's most water-intensive crop."

Cotton is grown mainly in the US, Israel, Pakistan, Tanzania, and Uzbekistan. This last country is the fifth largest producer, supplying 90% of the UK's demand in the '90s. This industry has turned the Aral Sea and its surroundings into a disaster, shutting down the commercial fishing industry and devastating wildlife, including migratory birds. Local farms are unable to carry on, so there is a shortage of fresh, local produce. Such facts are brought out in their book and are quite enough to show that cotton is an unsustainable crop.

HRH Prince Charles, who graced the book with a foreword, takes an interest in the future of his country and writes: "In a world dominated by the short-term, the need for constructive thinking about our long-term future on this planet, based on wisdom and enduring values, has never been greater."

Hemp cultivation is one part of that wisdom, and it is good to see those lanky, emerald and chartreuse stalks swaying gently in the Essex wind.

CANNABIS TEA IN THE FINANCIAL TIMES

Yesterday's last post mentioned the press given to C-Ice Tea in the Sun and Nutra. There was a lot more, most notably the article by Jenny Wiggins on p. 12 of the Financial Times. The article focuses on the increasing market share of health related drinks, and quotes Harinder Kohli, commercial director of C-Ice UK: "The health angle is by far the most interesting one for us."

This drink is relatively new, having been started in 2003 by a Swiss company, Thurella. It now produces two million cartons a year, and this month was the launch for this product in the UK, where tea is a national beverage.

Checking the Times, which like the Sun, is owned by Rupert Murdoch, there was only to be found another negative quote about the product promoting cannabis. Other papers were neutral in their reporting.

HEMP TEA IN THE UK

In today's Sun, there is piece about tea. Hemp tea, a cannabis containing drink called C-Ice Tea. Cool! However, there are some voices of discontent this summer, coming mostly from The National Drug Prevention Alliance UK. David Raynes, speaking on their behalf, warns: "This is normalisation of cannabis in young people's minds...So many people come off the rails because of cannabis." Good ol' Murdoch!

Well, chill out dude, no one is coming off the rails with this drink, it is THC-free and Her Majesty's government has approved it. In fact, in some recent medical research trials, MS sufferers have found it to be helpful.

It is made from Swiss-grown cannabis and made in Austria. In the UK it is disrtibuted by C-Ice.

A more positive reaction from the press at Nutra, which actually covered the story, not just a remark from a single reactionary. This piece, written by Jess Halliday, (which can be found at www.nutraingredients.com), goes into details about the MS study and what the drink really does contain.

I've had a chance to check this out myself and enjoy it. I predict it will be a hit. Expect to see more reporting on this product in the near future.