Hemp is one of the most desirable, industrial plants on the planet. The plant is also one of the most versatile plants known to man, and can be used for the purposes of feed, clothing, paint, paper and plastic, but cultivation is still illegal. More importantly, hemp is one of the most eco-friendly and sustainable resource that can improve people’s lives with minimal environmental impact.
Hemp is more commonly referred to as Cannabis, which is the entire genus. Cannabis sativa is what is grown for industrial/commercial use. Mainly the cannabis stalk and seed is used for products such as textiles, food, fuel, building materials, personal hygiene, paper, and biodegradable plastics. Hemp is different from marijuana, specifically in the THC
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It is evident that farmers and policy makers are finally recognizing that hemp can restore the agricultural economy and have a key role in dealing with climate change. The American farmers have been watching the Canadian farmers making huge profits from hemp. In 2013 Canadian farmers were reporting net profits up to $250 per acre. In comparison, the U.S. corn or soybeans are reporting profits at $365 and $288, respectively (Industrial hemp backers say crop has economic benefit, 2015).
More importantly, hemp has some of the most useful sustainable material nature has to offer. It is evident that humanity is living in an unsustainable fashion; the earth’s resources are being depleted at a rate at which it cannot be replenished. Still, some of these products (paper, plastic, fuel, building material, etc.) are essential for modern day living and therefore practices and processes continue as they are. That is why it is so crucial to explore alternative products to promote a more sustainable world. Hemp has the ability to maintain ecological processes, functions, and biodiversity in the future, which current processes cannot manage.
One of the major benefits of hemp farming is that the hemp plant grows in a short period of time. A plant can mature in 70-90 days, producing very large bulk of plant material. The plant is highly
On of your local grocery stores should carry Hemp Granola. They might even carry other Hemp items. The imported products are extremely popular. Americas inability to produce their own products. Forces local consumers to buy forienge items. Creating a profitable agricultural industry. Will help the local and national economy. It will also create thousands of American jobs. These improvements would decrease our need to import. From other countries and eliminate the need to import Hemp.
One major issue with Industrial Hemp is its use for BioMass fuel. Believe it or not, but the energy that Cannabis stores during its growth can be converted into fuel after harvest. Many plants can be used to make BioMass fuel, yet Cannabis is the top candidate for its supply due to it’s abundance of cellulose and ease of harvesting it. BioMass fuel can be used for absolutely any form of energy, be it fuel to power an engine (car) or to generate electricity. BioMass fuel burns cleaner than petrochemical fuels.
Specific Purpose: To provide my audience with a better understanding of how useful industrial hemp could be for the economy.
Do any of you know the difference between industrial hemp and marijuana? Would you like to? The purpose of this speech is to explain the differences in marijuana and industrial hemp, and to show the need to reform the present hemp laws in the United States in order to make hemp available for industrial purposes. The hemp plant shows its unique versatility by having many uses in industry and hemp has many distinct benefits over its counterpart in industry today. The usage of hemp would result in cleaner and more efficient industry. I will first discuss the differences between hemp and marijuana to avoid confusion, and then state the many ways that industrial hemp can help our economy such as; the use for fiber, the use in foods, and
The benefits of hemp give reasons that farmers should be permitted to grow the crop in the United States. Seed that the plant produces are very high in nutritional benefits when used in food products. The seed is high in both the omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. These fatty acids are important to nutrition because the body can not produce them; they also are used to produce the hormone progesterone, which is found in the body. The plant itself is useful for many different products from clothing to car parts. The pulp from the hemp stalks is used in the place of wood on homebuilding projects. Four acres of hemp produces more pulp than four acres of trees. Trees are a very valuable renewable resource and if farmers were allowed to grow hemp, which is more efficient than trees, they wouldn’t have to timber much of the forests. Hemp is a biodegradable substitute for plastic. Some car manufactures use the hemp-fiber plastic for door panels and trunk panels. The United States already uses products from hemp that is imported from other countries. Why shouldn’t the U.S. farmers be able to grow industrial hemp and partake in economic profit?
It is time that the U.S. policy allows “American family farmers to get in on a hemp market”(Fine 1).
Hemp is essential to your bodily health because of the vitamins and minerals located in these types of products. Industrial farming of hemp should be legal in the United States because of the monetary and physical benefits.
My step dad had a pair of hemp jeans in high school. They lasted him over 10 years, until he got too big to fit them anymore. He gave them to a friend who still wears those pants made of hemp. Cotton is much more difficult to grow than hemp because cotton is addicted to chemical elixirs. It requires a lot of artificial fertilizers, insecticides, and herbicides for it to be able to grow well. When cotton is ripe, the leaves have to be knocked off with defoliants before the bolls can be harvested. Hemp is by far a much better alternative to grow. It does not require any herbicides and it actually cleanses the land instead of depleting it of nutrients. Making paper from hemp is far more economical and environmentally friendly than making paper from trees. Wood-based paper pulp is brown from the cooking process thus requiring it to be bleached which releases toxins into the environment. Hemp paper is naturally bright with no bleaching necessary. The nation could reduce unsustainable logging if American farmers were allowed to grow hemp which produces twice as much fiber per acre as an average forest. Hemp is a clean, renewable option that can replace virtually all products made with non-renewable hydrocarbons like oil and coal (Williams).
The economic devastation we endure brings more reason to seriously consider any economic diversification program that would give our citizens a solid chance at prosperity. There are a number of ways we can help restore our planet. Growing hemp and using it as an industrial crop worldwide is one of the most efficient ways. Our ancestors
Many knowledgeable people who know and understand the potential of industrial hemp are convinced that it is one of the world's most perfect products. Its fiber makes rope and cloth which is very strong and resilient and when used to make paper products, the production is far tidier and much more efficient than using wood to make paper. Hemp is indeed considered one of the world's oldest agricultural products and hemp has a history in the United States that includes the fact that the Declaration of Independence and the original St. James Bible are actually printed on hemp paper. The list of practical uses is lengthy and impressive, but due to drug laws in the United States the growing of cannabis for industrial hemp uses is illegal; this has been a source of considerable controversy in the United States. The uses of industrial hemp and the debate as to whether industrial hemp farming should be allowed in the U.S. will be reviewed and critiqued in this paper.
A short list of the many uses of this versatile plant during this era included paper, canvas, and most notably rope. As technology progressed the uses for the plant expanded as well. In the early twentieth century it was used in the production of the earliest plastics and gasoline. The first Ford Model T's ran on hemp gas and many of the car's parts were made from hemp fibers which had an impact strength ten times stronger than steel according to a Popular Mechanics article in 1941. The US government in 1916 predicted that by the 1940s all paper produced in this country would be made from hemp fiber and in its February 1938 issue touted hemp as the world's first “billion dollar crop”. From an environmental standpoint besides the important fact hemp grows in a single growing season, while it takes an entire generation to grow trees. It takes far fewer chemicals and thus creates much less pollution to make paper from hemp than from tree pulp. Hemp grows very fast and tall and will choke out all other plants in the area including weeds so the use of herbicides really isn't required. Oil derived from the seeds of the plant can profitably be used in the production of paints and varnishes. The seeds are also quite healthy, containing all eight essential amino acids and are an excellent source of protein.(1)
Hemp used to be, and can be again, a useful resource for america. It was used to make sails, rope, paper, and clothes. Since marijuana grows faster than trees, would it not be smarter to make paper out of hemp rather than cutting down entire forests. In St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture it is stated that “Presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson advocated a hemp-based economy.” (Tony Brewer. Page 459) If important people like our past presidents prefered a hemp-based economy it would not be
Industrial Hemp is an ancient crop, which has a multitude of diverse uses. The earliest uses of Hemp can be traced back to the Sumerians and probably even earlier in man’s unrecorded history. Industrial Hemp is not Marijuana though the two plants are of the same family and have passing resemblance to one another. Industrial Hemp’s myriad uses are being rediscovered and at the forefront of research in diverse fields. I will be attempting to dispel some of the myth, and providing history and proven uses of this amazing plant.
Hemp is one of the most desirable industrial plants on the planet. The plant is also one of the most versatile plants known to man and can be used for the purposes of feed, clothing, paint, paper, and plastic, but cultivation is still illegal. More importantly, hemp is one of the most eco-friendly and sustainable resources that can improve people’s lives with minimal environmental impact.
Throughout American history our country has come to rely on many different natural resources. With technology and the population increasing, the number of fossil fuel reserves and natural forests are going down. What America needs is a renewable source of fuels and fibers that will meet the growing needs of the future, but will not damage our environment. One of the most promising sources of fiber, fuel, and natural oil is hemp. Hemp, also known as Cannabis Sativa L, has been used in our country since the early 17th century (Schreiber 160). Although hemp is considered an illegal drug, many people forget that it is a part of our country’s history. Despite its negative connotations, hemp has the potential to revolutionize the paper,