Industrial hemp is a crop that is good for many things and can be used to help create tens of thousands of different products. Not only is hemp good for things like making rope, soap, clothing, paper, and many other items, but it's also a great source of food.
Today there is still a lot of confusion surrounding hemp and many folks believe that consuming a hemp food product, like hemp seeds, is going to get them high, but hemp food products that are sold in countries like the US and Canada, don't contain the THC needed to produce an intoxicating effect; that you would expect to experience if you had consumed cannabis.
When it comes to hemp food products, hemp seeds are commonly what most consumers are familiar with.
Hemp seeds are regarded by many to be a superfood and are said to be a great source of planet-based protein and Omega-3 fatty acids which are said to have beneficial effects related to cardiovascular health. They are also a great source of vitamin E, iron, and calcium. It's also been alleged that hemp seeds might help to provide other health benefits like improve skin disorders, help to aid digestion, and more.
It isn't that hard to find hemp seeds, depending on where you live, you might find them at a local cannabis dispensary, or you might find them being sold on the shelf at your local grocery market. Many hemp food items are also sold online and delivered around the US. There are a great deal of options in the hemp food space: hemp seeds, milk, hemp ice cream, hemp protein powder, hemp oil, and more. The nutritional benefits to be derived from hemp seeds and other hemp food items, have been compared to that of other superfood items like flax or chia seeds.
Hemp retail sales continue to grow steadily.
When it comes to the overall hemp food market in the US, retail sales for 2016 were estimated to be around $292 million, but that also includes sales of supplements and hemp body care products (lotions etc). But a great deal of sales were excluded from establishments (like Whole Foods) which didn't provide data to be considered in that estimate, therefore it could be generously underestimated.
It's estimated that hemp food sales grew in the US last year by at least 44 percent.
Farmers and hemp advocates are working hard to try and educate the public on the different varieties of food that can be produced from hemp and one of the prominent farms doing that work is JD Farms which operates in New York. They want to see hemp removed from the Schedule 1 list of Controlled Substances, so that farmers have more freedom to produce things like hemp greens for salads and other hemp food items.
To try and educate the public, JD Farms has been distributing hemp leaves that can be eaten as baby greens in a salad, they are being given to some of the restaurants in the city. They are also marketing hemp to be used for protein bars, toasted seed snacks, and other items.
The hemp market is expected to grow in years to come and more farmers around the nation are becoming interested in growing this crop for the potentially vast economic benefits that can be reaped. It might be only a matter of time before hemp is further embraced and looked at as more of a positive agricultural product, rather than something that should be prohibited. Some industry experts suggest that this is easily going to become a billion-dollar market.
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The information that is posted above is not intended or implied to ever be used as any substitute for professional medical advice, or diagnosis or treatment. The above is posted for informational purposes only.
Sources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2868018/
https://authoritynutrition.com/6-health-benefits-of-hemp-seeds/
https://www.naturalproductsinsider.com/news/2017/04/2016-annual-retail-sales-for-hemp-products-estimated-at-688-million.aspx
https://hemptoday.net/hemp-food-surges-us-market/
http://www.grubstreet.com/2017/07/this-small-new-york-farm-is-dominating-the-hemp-food-trend.html
http://www.well-beingsecrets.com/hemp-seeds-benefits/
http://wrvo.org/post/madison-county-farmers-want-industrial-hemp-legalized
http://www.thepacker.com/news/ready-pac-hemp-salads-poised-meet-munchies
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-11/hemp-could-be-a-billion-dollar-business-finance-guys-are-betting
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