Monday, March 28, 2011

My response to hemp foods Interview - attention Leon Byner 5aa

Dear Leon,

Congratulations firstly on your ‘Don’t sell Australia Short Campaign’ - as a Small Business Owner here in South Australia there is a key industry I would love to see built in our state to support our struggling farmers.

I read with great interest your interview with Andrew Southcott MP and Dr Craig Raeside. As an Industrial Hemp Advocate I would like to raise some points in relation to this interview and your campaign.

I must point out I am not an advocate for Marijuana and my interest and career relies purely on the benefits of, and the multitude of uses of, Industrial Hemp.

Industrial Hemp is NOT Marijuana (Cannabis Indica) – they are from the same botanical species however Industrial hemp (Cannabis Sativa) does not have enough THC content to cause any hallucinogenic effects. For the minister to say that the promotion of hemp foods would send mixed messages to consumers about the acceptability and safety of Cannabis is unfortunately a very ignorant comment and suggests that consumers are less than able to distinguish between a health food and an illicit drug. Can I make the very real comparison here of the poppy seed and heroin. Does having poppy seed cake and buns send mixed messages and create a booming drug trade – I think not.

Hemp seeds used in food are also de-hulled rendering them useless for re-planting so people ‘possessing seed’ as Mr Southcott states would obviously be storing them in the refrigerator along side their chia seeds and nuts etc. Anyone stock piling seeds for drug purposes would be easily distinguishable in the eyes of our law surely.

Back to your ‘Don’t sell Australia Short Campaign” - I currently source my pure organic hemp oil (for use in skin care manufacturing) from farmers in Tasmania. The seeds are Cold pressed at Stoney Creek Oils in Victoria then shipped to me in 20lt drums. It is my wish to one day in the not too distant future contract local farmers here in South Australia to grow this rotational crop for me. The benefits to farmers are many and varied ranging from supplementary income to soil regeneration and the chance to build a thriving alternative industry. The positive reasons for growing an Industrial Hemp Industry are too numerous to mention in this email however can I just point out that it would be very disappointing to deny our citizens on the land the opportunity to diversify and expand into an exciting, economically and environmentally viable future. Our business has grown from a home based business to now occupying a production warehouse in Mount Barker, distributing our products across Australia, Exporting to the US with a distributor and global sales online via our website.

The unfortunate misinformed hype around hemp foods is only lingering here in Australia, in the bowels of the political domain, as we are the LAST western country to allow hemp foods. Surely our young, forward thinking nation can see common sense and not buy into the outdated fear campaigns of the 1930’s linking Industrial hemp to Marijuana – such a miscarriage of justice.

Finally can I just point out in the words of Hippocrates (the father of modern medicine) …. ‘let food be thy medicine – medicine thine food’.

With all due respect to Dr Raeside and his comment - “I don’t see what the point is in adding a substance that is not currently available versus the potential to do harm. I’m not fully aware of what the potential to do good is, but it doesn’t seem to me to be a strong argument, that this is a food that must be introduced for the wellbeing of mankind”.

He is not aware of the potential to do good because unfortunately Doctors aren’t trained in the area of nutrition, nutrition is not a part of physician’s core competencies and physicians rarely provide nutritional counselling. Here are just a few of the health benefits/facts regarding hemp foods.


* The essential fatty acids (EFAs) contained in hemp seed oil are required in our diet more than any other vitamin, yet our bodies do not naturally produce them. EFA’s are vital for normal human cell growth.

Hemp seeds and oil are rich in EFA’s (essential fatty acids) Omega 3, Omega 6 & Omega 9.

* Hemp seed oil has been dubbed "Nature's most perfectly balanced oil", due to the fact that it contains the perfectly balanced 3:1 ratio of Omega 3, 6 & 9

Many people suffering from skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis and dermatitis are lacking in these EFA’s due to highly saturated fat diets and having hemp foods would greatly help to improve these conditions.

* Helps lower blood LDL cholesterol levels

* Improves cardiovascular circulation & function

* Reduces inflammation and the symptoms of arthritis

These are but a few of the benefits of including hemp foods in our modern diets.

Leon I thank you for your time and trust you will take a moment to contemplate the very positive reasons for allowing the application of hemp foods in Australia. The time has come for common sense to prevail.

I look forward to your thoughts.

With gratitude, Teresa

1 comment:

  1. a well considered approach - thank-you Teresa, far more subtle than mine :) http://www.hempowered.com/hemp-blog/2011/03/28/49-hemp-foods-ignorance.html

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