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1st Annual Hemp History Week
May 17-23 is the 1st Annual Hemp History Week, a joint project of Vote Hemp and the Hemp Industries Association. Through Hemp History Week, Vote Hemp is hoping to accumulate at least 50,000 signed post cards urging President Barack Obama and Attorney General, Eric Holder to allow farmers to grow crops of versatile and profitable industrial hemp. Using hemp for food, fuel, fiber, paper and up to 50,000 products made from industrial hemp; provides jobs, cultivates the soil, preserves the trees, and creates energy which can fuel our struggling economy.
A brief hemp history…
Hemp is an annual plant that grows from seed each year, and therefore it can be brought readily into production. It produces twice as much fiber per acre as flax, the only other fiber that is its equal in strength and durability. In 1619, because hemp was such an important resource, it was illegal not to grow hemp in states like Virginia, Massachusetts and Connecticut. During the 1700′s, subsidies and bounties were granted in Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, North & South Carolina, and the New England states to encourage hemp cultivation and the manufacturing of cordage and canvas.
Hemp was an important crop for George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and thousands of American farmers until it was outlawed completely in 1970 by the Controlled Substances Act. Hemp’s association with marijuana undoubtedly caused reluctance in farmers to grow it, while the bureaucratic red tape surrounding the enforcement of the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 effectively regulated the hemp industry out of existence!
On May 15, Melissa Miles, Organizer of the Eastern Pennsylvania Permaculture Guild, will be partnering with Kimberton Whole Foods to host a Hemp History Week Town Hall Meeting. The meeting will include a presentation on the history of hemp farming in Pennsylvania up until its prohibition, as well as a discussion of the many uses for hemp and its economic potential as a low-input, sustainable crop. The Hemp History Week Town Hall Meeting will take place May 15, 2:30-3:30 p.m. in the Kimberton Whole Foods Cafe.
To find out how you can be involved or to register as a grassroots community organizer, visit their website here.
If you want to learn more and have some free time, definitely check out part one of the video “The Environmentally Sustainable Alternative”.
Written by events on 05/11/2010 in Blog | Events | History | Philadelphia
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