CRAIK, Sask. – Urban youth met farmers in a unique setting of a field of hemp Aug. 20 on the highway midway between Regina and Saskatoon.
With Field 05, organizers had planned a day “to put culture back in agriculture,” through hemp marketing workshops, environmental displays, music and food. The field of industrial hemp was the site for the event that organizer Roberto Apodaca said drew 250 people.
“In my eyes it’s a success for a first-time event,” said Apodaca.
He said the possibility of a 2006 repeat depends on a decision by one of the promoters of the event, Farmer Direct, an organization that works for North American organic producers.
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Apodaca said the good weather drew older people from the cities as well as young, many of whom camped out. He said the only trouble was an incident at night when a truckload of local youths wanted to come into the site for free to drink beer. Security shooed them off.
“It was a family oriented event. My wife and one and a half year old were there.”
Attending the event was retired farmer Doug Dale of Craik, whose son runs the farm now. Asked whether they would ever grow hemp he smiled and said, “who knows? Somebody has to start these things.”
John Roulac, one of the workshop speakers, bought two million pounds of hempseed oil last year from prairie producers.
He runs Nutiva, a California-based company that produces protein powder and oil from hemp for nutritional supplements and cooking. His products are in 3,500 health food and grocery stores in North America and Europe.
Roulac said hemp oil is high in the essential fatty acids omega 3 and CLA, both of which promote good health.
“It’s the closest to fish of any plant,” said Roulac of the acid content.
He believes hemp will rival flax in the next decade as a healthy oil.
While some groups promote hemp’s fibre for clothing and paper products, Roulac said it has more use for human consumption.
He praised the crop’s sustainability, saying it will resolve some of the overharvesting and ocean pollution caused by those trying to catch wild fish or raise them in pens.
“Twenty years from now middle class people won’t be able to afford to buy fish.”
Hemp will then be in demand to obtain the essential oils that fish contains, he said.
Roulac is a fan of Canadian environmental trends. Before he started his hemp company in 1999, he used to import Canadian blue boxes and compost bins for recycling to sell in the United States.
Roulac said it is still illegal to grow industrial hemp in the U.S., but Canadian farmers can grow it under a permit from the federal government.
His company also recently won a lawsuit against the American government that he said demonized hemp because of its drug cousin marijuana, clearing the way for hemp exports from Canada.
The hemp oil he buys must be processed in Canada as well because of American laws.
