What if there was a plant that could provide a source of food, clothing, shelter and fuel for our societies?
Lucky for us, Hemp offers solutions for each of these specific needs of humanity. Unfortunately for us, this beautiful plant is widely under-utilized as a result of the morass of bone-headed legislation found throughout the United States and across many parts of the world.
In Native American cultures, tribes used each and every part of the buffalo to help support critical aspects of everyday life. From hides that were used as shelter, meat for families, knives crafted from bones and much more, the Native Americans ultizied each and every part of the buffalo in order to better their socieities.
Similarly, the Hemp plant provides our modern societies with both seed and fiber that offer solutions and replacements to common harmful everyday products.
As the Kentucky Hempsters recently outlined on Leafly,
Hemp is most often grown for seed and fiber, each having a multitude of uses. Once harvested, hemp seed can be left whole, hulled (shelled), or pressed for oil. Hemp seeds are nature’s highest botanical source of essential fatty acids. They have the perfect omega-6 to omega-3 balance, providing the body with essential nutrients that it can’t make on its own.
Nothing from the hemp plant goes to waste. The roots, leaves, and chaff that are left in the field break down into the soil and replenish it for the next crop. Along with its minimal need for water, pesticides, and herbicides, this makes hemp an excellent rotation crop for American farmers. All products sourced from hemp are biodegradable, making them environmentally friendly.
Materials like cotton, oil, paper, and plastic that we use everyday do not come from sustainable sources. In fact, many of those industries are among the most detrimental to our health and environment. Hemp can provide a solution to these problems, and it can create a new source of income for American farmers.
Hemp is a worthy and viable solution for many of our country’s greatest demands. Maybe it’s time that we as a society take a look at how we are using non-renewable resources and find replacements to help make our societies more efficient and sustainably cognizant.
Learn more about many of the uses of the hemp plant in the original article on Leafly!
