Pubdate: Sat, 24 May 2003
Source: Toronto Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2003 The Toronto Star
Contact:  http://www.thestar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456
Author: Cameron Smith
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?330 (Hemp - Outside U.S.)

HEMP GOOD TO EAT, TOO

In many ways, hemp is the poster plant for the environmental movement.

Growing it is easy on the land and it substitutes for commodities that come 
with problems -- such as cotton, which receives heavier doses of pesticides 
than any other crop in North America, and pulpwood, needed for making paper 
and cardboard, which can destroy habitat.

As a food, hemp seeds are nutritious, supplying more protein per hectare 
than any other crop except soybeans. And they have a high concentration of 
essential fatty acids that are in balance, good news in the struggle 
against a number of ailments.

In addition, hemp can be turned into pellets and used as fuel; its fibre 
can be made into rope; and this is what took me to a Renfrew dairy last 
week, its seeds can be turned into an ice cream alternative.

At first, the idea of creating such an alternative from a species of plant 
that makes good rope sounds, to put it mildly, improbable. At first, I 
thought it was simply loopy. But think about it: Corn is a tough, leafy 
plant, too, and we get corn syrup from it.

But the proof is in the tasting. What came off the production line in 
Renfrew was Cool Hemp. It's being sold in about 200 health-food stores 
across Canada and is about to go mainstream. Among the maple, chocolate and 
natural flavours being produced when I was there, I chose maple to sample 
because the flavour comes from real maple syrup.

I liked it. Underlying the maple taste, it had a slightly nutty flavour.

Cool Hemp is the inspiration of Christina and Robbie Anderman, who live 
near Killaloe, on the Canadian Shield between Bancroft and Pembroke. 
They're part of a community of eight households living on Morning Glory 
Farm, sharing expenses, sharing the food produced on the farm and sharing 
meals four or five times a week.

I got to the dairy in the middle of a three-day production run where 12 
people, in oversized hairnets and lab coats, were working in choreographed 
precision to produce 9,000 half-litre tubs of Cool Hemp.

"It's been an amazing learning experience," Christina says. "Now, we're 
starting to learn about the mainstream market, which is way different from 
the traditional health-food market."

One thing they'll be doing is lowering store prices by up to $2, so that 
each half-litre will sell for $4.99 to $5.50. They've been able to cover 
most of their expenses during their two years in business. But they've 
earned no profit.

"We've been able to get by because we live in the country and we grow our 
own food," Christina says. With a bigger volume of sales, they're hoping to 
see a profit, even at lower prices.

And then there's the fun part. Robbie has produced a CD of songs about hemp 
with original lyrics and mostly original music. The songs are in a variety 
of styles: bluesy rock, folk, calypso, rock, bluegrass, jazz and something 
called soundscape.

The musicians, who differ on each track, come from across southern Ontario. 
Interspersed among the songs are reminiscences from a Killaloe old-timer 
recalling the days before growing hemp was banned. His memories are 
captivating.

People can download the songs from the Cool Hemp Web site at 
http://www.coolhemp. There's no charge but a donation is requested. Or they 
can order the CD for $20 by calling 1-800-385-FOLK, or by writing to the 
address listed on the Web site.

"Hemp is a movement," Robbie says. "But it didn't have music."

Now, it does.

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Cameron Smith is a writer and environmentalist living near Gananoque, Ont.
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MAP posted-by: Jackl