BOSTON, Feb. 8, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/The new $1 trillion federal farm bill, just signed into law by President Obama, is giving Boston based Hempest.com high hopes. Within the bill is an amendment that relaxes a 75 year old restriction on growing and researching industrial hemp. With medical marijuana's historic progress over the last 2 years, government restrictions are now being eased on industrial hemp as well.
Hempest.com President Mitch Rosenfield, states, "We are very eager to pursue the possibilities of growing Hemp right here in the USA for our clothing production, and are actively seeking capital to procure land and begin research crops. Our current clothing line is dependent on Hemp grown in China, but it could be grown better, and more efficiently right here in the US. For 18 years, we have sought to bring jobs and a cleaner, greener future to the US, and this bill allows for that to finally start."
Hempest.com boasts it has the world's most extensive collection of hemp clothing and accessories. Made from the fibrous stalk of the plant, hemp clothing is organically grown, pesticide free, durable, and comfortable to wear. Hemp paper, made from the pulped stalk, is tree free, durable, higher in cellulose, and has 4 times the lifespan of tree based papers. Hempseed oil is rich in Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids, and the seed is known as a nutritional "superfood". Despite a market price slightly higher than cotton, many see potential for a hemp industry here in the US, and it wouldn't be the first time. Hemp was a popular crop in colonial times due to it's myriad of uses. The industry continued to grow exponentially until the middle of last century, when it was suspiciously shut down by powerful interests that stood to gain from hemp's demise. Federally, it's been illegal to plant hemp since 1937, but the new farm bill changes all that.
The current US Hemp market is estimated at $500 million, which may be small compared to the multi-billion dollar medical marijuana industry, but according to Rosenfield, it could be just the tip of the iceberg."It's a whole new world opening up. Hemp is one of the only industries that is both economically and ecologically viable. It solves many of today's environmental and economic problems and actually creates a cleaner world while doing it. It just makes sense."
CONTACT: Mitch Rosenfield, 1-617-421-9944, mitch@hempest.com
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140208/NE61654 )
SOURCE Hempest.com
