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Foi bom ver o secretário de agricultura dos EUA Tom Vilsack fazer uma visita ao nosso estado na semana passada, mas ele está perdendo uma grande oportunidade para ajudar os fazendeiros do país.Digo isso porque quando passei emails perguntando se ele iria públicamente apoiar o Ato de agricultura do canhamo que está em revisão no congresso, seu escritório respondeu NÂo e me informaram de um estudo de mais de noventa anos: "Incertezas sobre uma demanda de longa data para produtos feitos a partir do canhâmo e uma potecial super-produção descontam as perspectivas para o canhâmo como uma alternativa de plantação para os fazendeiros norte-americanos." Como importadores de derivados de alimentos, vejo os canandeses tomarem o mercado expandindo seus fornecedores e suas fabricas em resposta a uma crescente demanda - demanda que tem sua maioria nos EUA.Estudos de mercado mostram que derivados alimenticios do canhâmo seriam a mina de ouro dos anos 90'.Esse ano seis estados aprovaram leis concernindo o canhamo (17 leis), mas nenhuma semente pode ser plantada até que o canhâmo possa ser reavaliada como uma variedade sem psicotropico da Cannabis Sativa. A administração do presidente Obama nos diz para abraçarmos nossos espiritos empreendedores e ainda há legiões de auto-confiantes, fazendeiros rurais empreendedores que devem esperar por uma ação federal no quesito canhâmo. Sr.vilsack, O que a USDA pode fazer é novamente dar o direito aos nossos fazendeiros de plantar canhâmo, e então pedir ao presidente para anunciar que canhâmo NÂO é Maconha.Faça isso, e mostraremos o que um crescimento na indústria é de verdade.

Vou desistir sim, antes de cultivar a erva, eu já cultivava a confiança que todos aqui tem em mim. Muitas vezes pensei em abrir o jogo com o pessoal, não gosto de ficar de segredo com as pessoas que eu gosto. Mas fiquei preocupado com a reação e fui adiando. Até hoje... Então não vou botar a relação com a minha familia em jogo, pois eu dou muito valor a ela. Hoje ela sofreu um baque, mas vai se recuperar.

Semente não é droga. Não é tóxico, entorpecente, o porte não é ilegal, o cultivo que é. Criadores de aves geralmente compram muitas sementes de canhamo legalmente para alimentar galinha ou passarinho. Então acho que não violei lei alguma ao oferecer as sementes. Caso esteja errado, me desculpem.

Pelo jeito minha época de grower não durou muito. Descobriram 13 plantas minhas crescendo aqui em casa, as 13 já foram descarga abaixo assim como todo meu prensado, seda, tritubarão e até mesmo o isqueiro. Fim de jogo pra mim =[. Como não to afim de brigar com familia e nem ficar passando perrengue, abri mão de tudo. Então aqui vai minha última contribuição com a galera grower. Fiquei com pena de me desfazer das 5 Ak48(Nirvana) e 5 Leda Uno(Kc Brains) que eu ainda tinha, se alguem no RJ quiser, só avisar, a gente marca um local e eu dou de boa. Quem quiser me manda Mp, a gente combina direitinho pelo Msn. Boa sorte a todos ai, espero que não tenham a mesma sorte (e inocencia) que eu. Dei mole, rodei e abri mão. Agora é só reconquistar a confiança que todos tinham comigo.

Hemp Hubbub Oregon’s potential as a crop-growing hub excites some By David Steves FonteThe Register-Guard Appeared in print: Monday, Jul 20, 2009 Brian Davies/The Register-Guard Dena Purich owns Earthbound Creations in Eugene, a home-based company that produces clothing from hemp. Newly passed legislation makes Oregon the first Western state and the eighth nationally to legalize the production of industrial hemp. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Purich says she looks forward to one day making clothes from Oregon-grown hemp. Brian Davies/The Register-Guard . -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- News: Local: Story -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SALEM — Oregon is about to become the first Western state to permit its farmers to grow industrial hemp. But there are a couple of problems to be confronted before Oregon becomes a Hemptopia by the Pacific: It’s still an illegal crop, according to the federal government. Oregon wasn’t an ideal place to grow hemp the first time it was legal. And it won’t be the next time, either. That’s not bringing Dena Purich down, though. The owner of a business that makes hemp-based clothing, Purich is excited about the possibility that the supply chain is one step closer to running from Oregon farmers to her Eugene-based Earthbound Creations. Right now, she and her two employees design and assemble men’s sports shirts, women’s skirts and other garments from hemp that’s grown in China, woven or knitted there into 100-yard bolts, and shipped across the Pacific Ocean. “It would be awesome to keep everything in Oregon,” she said. “That would be great not only for our local economy, but for businesses like mine.” Local enthusiasm for hemp’s possibilities also was evident at a three-day Emerald Empire Hempfest, featuring music, speakers and other entertainment, that wrapped up Sunday at Eugene’s Washington-Jefferson Park. A spokesman for Gov. Ted Kulongoski said he plans to sign Oregon’s new hemp legislation, Senate Bill 676, into law. When that happens, Oregon will become the seventh state to allow farmers to grow hemp. And it will be the only one in the continental United States west of the Rockies. Hawaii’s governor signed a similar law this month, and Maine’s governor did the same in June. State Sen. Floyd Prozanski, a Eugene Democrat who championed Oregon’s hemp bill, did the same thing every session going back to 1997. Just as the issue moved from the fringes to the mainstream in Salem, Prozanski said he thinks recent action in statehouses, along with growing public acceptance of hemp as an industrial resource, will help compel Congress and the Obama administration to follow suit at the federal level. “All that will have a very positive impact on getting things shifted and changed at the federal level,” Prozanski said. “I expect to see things change there within the next two years.” A bill introduced this year in Congress with bipartisan sponsorship would make it legal for American farmers to resume growing hemp. An act of Congress would be unnecessary if the Obama administration decided to rule that industrial hemp no longer should be considered a Schedule 1 controlled substance, as it has been since 1970. Advocates of such a move, including Prozanski, say that’s the most sensible approach. Hemp is related to marijuana — both are varieties of the cannabis sativa plant. But industrial hemp contains only trace levels of the psychoactive THC that makes marijuana an effective recreational and medicinal drug. So how well would hemp grow in Oregon? According to a 1998 research paper by an Oregon State University crop and soil scientist, hemp is unlikely to become a major commodity in the Pacific Northwest. For all the precipitation that befalls Oregon, not enough of it rains down during hemp’s summer growing season, wrote OSU’s Daryl Ehrensing. Before federal drug laws and the advent of synthetic materials like nylon and petroleum-based plastics doomed hemp, it flourished in such Midwestern states as Kentucky and Wisconsin. The same pattern has been playing out in Canada, where farmers have been legally growing hemp since 1998. Canada’s breadbasket provinces, Manitoba and Saskatchawan, have produced 81 percent of that country’s hemp crop. Westernmost British Columbia, with growing conditions more similar to Oregon, has produced 2 percent of Canadian hemp. “The old rule of thumb is that you can grow good hemp where you can grow good corn,” Ehrensing said. “Look around the Northwest. How much corn do you see growing? Not much. There’s a reason for that, and the same would be true for hemp.” But Ehrensing allowed that as long as growers in Oregon are willing to test the marketplace, hemp could prove a successful niche crop — especially for those with land with access to irrigation water in the Willamette Valley and in the Columbia River Basin. Eugene’s David Seber, a veteran of Oregon’s industrial hemp movement, said much has changed since he first started working on particleboard, Fiberglas-like composite and other prototypes of hemp-based products in the early 1990s. Seber started out to find an alternative to wood-based products and reduce the need to log Northwest forests. Now, worries about climate change have given hemp even more cache, he said, noting its potential as an alternative to petroleum-based fuel and plastic, as well as the plant’s superior ability to capture carbon emissions, which contribute to global warming. Tom Murphy, spokesman for the Hemp Industries Association, said Oregon may prove an attractive place to grow hemp because, like the rest of the region, it has several hubs of hemp product manufacturing and consumption. Besides Eugene’s Merry Hempsters and Earthbound Creations, similar businesses in Portland and Ashland are contributing to the estimated $113 million in North American annual retail sales by companies affiliated with his hemp trade association. “The West Coast, Oregon, Washington, California, is a huge marketplace for hemp production,” Murphy said. “And having it grown near the marketplace would be a huge advantage over growing it in North Dakota, say.” -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HEMP FACTS George Washington and other founding Americans cultivated hemp. Hemp seed was used throughout history to make paint and varnish. Hemp fiber was used for rope and canvas. Today, it is a source of seed oil for lip balm, biofuel and a nutritious, nonallergenic ingredient in food products, including breakfast cereal and alternatives to milk and ice cream. The long, tough fibers from hemp stalk can be used to make such products as paper, automotive door panels, homebuilding materials and clothing. Hemp is a nonhallucinogenic variety of cannabis sativa. Congress curtailed hemp production, starting in 1937 through the Marihuana Tax Act. Oregon is the seventh state since 1999 to allow farmers to grow industrial hemp, although it is still not allowed by the federal government. Canada resumed the legal production of hemp in 1998. Its hemp exports increased in value from $74,949 to $3.45 million (Canadian dollars) in 2007, according to government figures. The U.S.-based Hemp Industries Association estimates 2008 annual retail sales of all hemp products in North America to be about $360 million. The U.S. imports most of its hemp from Canada, China and Western Europe.

Yum! Hemp Seeds For Victory! 17-julho-09 Fonte Rave Hemp seeds are in the news today – recent research has shown that hemp seeds are a “superfood,” meaning they’re chock-full of omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids. They’re also a good source of fiber and vitamin E. Did you know that the Oregon House of Representatives recently passed a bill that cleared the way for industrial hemp farming? On June 29, the state added its support to legislation aimed at reclassifying viable hemp seeds at the federal level – they are currently banned under the Controlled Substances Act. Isn’t it silly that industrial hemp (cannabis) is a schedule 1 substance, alongside heroin and LSD? Oregon believes that hemp seeds are a recipe for success: the hemp oil and milk manufacturing company Living Harvest was named the third fastest growing Oregon company by the Portland Business Journal. If you like pine nuts and sunflower seeds, you’ll find that hemp seeds are tasty and go well in salads. Try some today! FYI, the YouTube video is the classic “Hemp for Victory” – a government film made during World War Two that explains the uses of hemp and encourages farmers to grow as much as possible.

Hemp could be a growth industry Carl Hedberg, Lyndeborough Fonte : For the Monitor July 19, 2009 - 12:00 am It was good to see U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack pay a visit to our state last week, but he is missing a clear opportunity to help farm country America. I say this because when I e-mailed Vilsack to ask if he was planning to publicly support the Industrial Hemp Farming Act being reviewed in Congress, his office said no and referred me to nine-year-old study: "Uncertainty about long-run demand for hemp products and the potential for oversupply discounts the prospects for hemp as an economically viable alternative crop for American farmers." As a hemp foods importer, I see Canadian suppliers expanding their facilities in response to demand - most of which comes from the United States. Market studies show hemp foods are where bagels were in the early 1990s. This year six states have passed hemp bills (17 in all), but not a single seed will be planted until hemp is rescheduled as a non-drug variety of cannabis sativa. The Obama administration is telling us to pick ourselves up and embrace our pioneering spirit, and yet there are legions of self-reliant, enterprising farmers and rural entrepreneurs who must wait for federal action on hemp. Mr. Vilsack, what the USDA can do is give our farmers back the right to grow hemp, and then ask the president to announce to the world that hemp is not marijuana. Do that, and we'll show you what a growth industry looks like. CARL HEDBERG Lyndeborough

Pros, cons of alternative milks — soy, almond, hemp and more In Print: Saturday, July 18, 2009 FonteTampaBay Cow's milk may be the ideal beverage for baby cows, but it just doesn't sit well with some Americans. Dairy allergies, lactose intolerance and an interest in healthier beverages have all sparked a proliferation of alternative milk products. The new "milks," however, are milk only in name. Most come from nuts, seeds, grains and legumes. They don't taste like cow's milk and usually have less protein. The benefits? With the exception of goat milk, they are free of lactose and casein, the protein that causes an allergic reaction for some. In most cases, alternative "milks" have less sugar, cholesterol, fat and calories than whole milk. Nearly all are "fortified or enriched to contain the nutrients to make them comparable to cow's milk," said Orlando registered dietitian Tara Gidus, a spokeswoman for the National Dietetic Association. And most can be stored, unopened, for a year without losing flavor or nutritional value. Still, if you can't give up the flavor of real milk but are one of the approximately 30 million to 50 million Americans who are lactose intolerant, there's another option: Lactaid, or milk that has had the lactose (milk sugar) removed. We've listed some pros and cons of some milklike beverages, which should never be used as a replacement for breast milk or infant formula. And always check labels, because brands vary. SOY Strengths: The most protein-rich nondairy milk; 1 cup contains 30mg of isoflavones, a phytoestrogen that may play a role in lowering disease. More omega-3 fatty acids than 2 percent milk. Most, but not all, are fortified with calcium, riboflavin and vitamins A, D and B12. Weaknesses: Soy is so prevalent today that we're seeing a soy minibacklash. Studies on the effect of isoflavones and cancer risk are mixed. ALMOND Strengths: Low in fat; half the calories of 2 percent milk, rice and soy drinks. Contains vitamins A, D and E, and is free of lactose, a milk protein called casein, cholesterol and gluten. Offers "the health halo of nuts," meaning it has some health benefits of almonds, said Kara Nielsen, a trend analyst with the Center for Culinary Development. Weaknesses: Eating whole almonds gives you more health benefits, said Gidus, also the team dietitian for the Orlando Magic. Just 1 gram of protein per 8-ounce serving, compared with the 8 grams in all varieties of cow's milk. Not an option for those with tree-nut allergies. HEMP Strengths: Contains omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Also has magnesium and manganese. Enriched with calcium and vitamins A, B12 and D, riboflavin and folic acid. Weaknesses: The hallucinogenic reputation of hemp. Eating products made from the hemp nut will not — we repeat, will not — result in a positive drug test for marijuana. About half the protein (4 grams) of all varieties of cow's milk per 8-ounce serving. Separates in coffee. RICE Strengths: Easy to digest, low in fat and enriched with calcium and vitamins A, D, B12. Lactose-, dairy-, soy- and cholesterol-free. Weaknesses: Higher in carbs; just 1 gram of protein per serving. Some don't like the watery consistency. GOAT Strengths: A complete protein with essential amino acids, it's easy to digest and often suitable for those with lactose intolerance. Contains fatty acids. Has 15 percent more calcium and more vitamin A and D, potassium, copper and manganese than cow's milk. Goats are not treated with growth hormone. Weaknesses: Has less folic acid and vitamin B12 than cow's milk; also a little less zinc. People still think goat milk will taste "goaty." Actually, it's similar to cow's milk.