An online trade journal covering the North America hemp industry: agriculture, processing, marketing, research, business and regulatory news, and updates. Strong focus on hemp farming and developments in Canada.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Standing Silent Nation on PBS in July
Standing Silent Nation
By Suree Towfighnia & Courtney Hermann
What does a family have to endure to create a future for itself? In April 2000, Alex White Plume and his Lakota family planted industrial hemp on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota after other crops had failed. They put their hopes for a sustainable economy in hemp's hardiness and a booming worldwide demand for its many products, from clothing to food. Although growing hemp, a relative of marijuana, was banned in the U.S., Alex believed that tribal sovereignty, along with hemp's non-psychoactive properties, would protect him. But when federal agents raided the White Plumes' fields, the Lakota Nation was swept into a Byzantine struggle over tribal sovereignty, economic rights and common sense. A co-presentation of Native American Public Telecommunications.
Broadcast Date: Tuesday, July 3, 2007 at 10PM (1 hour) (check local listings)
Almost five years ago in May of 2002 I started sending out hemp news updates to a Topica list for The Hemp Report. It was a lot of fun, but the list never grew to more than 30 subscribers. In March of 2006 we shut down our Topica hemp news list and partnered with Vote Hemp to put out a new email newsletter, The Vote Hemp Weekly News Update. The first issue was emailed to the 30 subscribers from the shuttered Hemp Report list. I just sent out the latest issue today to 1,003 subscribers as well as posting it to the News Update Archives. Please check it out. If you would like to subscribe and get this timely information in your email In box, please sign up on the Vote Hemp Sign Up page.
The Hemp Report had similar beginnings. The first issue of The Hemp Commerce & Farming Report came out in May of 1999 and helped chronicle the early beginnings of the Canadian hemp industry. Nearly eight years later the hemp food market in the United States alone is conservatively estimated at US $14-$16 million. The hemp industry continues to grow and change.
Over the next week The Hemp Report will be moving to new servers to give us additional capacity and services. If you notice any glitches, please bear with us.
Here is a quick, wonderful, and easy to make bread to go with your corned beef and Guinness this evening. I had a few too many and forgot to take a picture. I will come back and add one to this post when I make soda bread again.
Irish Soda Bread
Ingredients:
1 cup + 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour (5 oz) 2/3 cup whole wheat flour (3 oz) 1/2 cup ground oatmeal (2 oz) 1/3 cup shelled hemp seed, toasted (1 1/2 oz) 1 tsp. baking soda 1/2 tsp. salt 1 Tbsp. brown sugar 3 Tbsp. SACO Buttermilk Blend (1 oz) 3/4 cup water 1 Tbsp. corn meal
Method:
Preheat the oven to 300° F. Toast the shelled hemp seed on a half sheet pan for 3-4 minutes. Raise the temperature of the oven to 375° F.
Put first eight ingredients in a medium bowl. Whisk them together making sure ingredients are distributed evenly. Add water to dry mixture and mix with a spoon or spatula until it is evenly moistened. Form the dough into a ball in the bowl.
Lightly sprinkle sheet pan with corn meal in a six inch circle in the middle. Turn dough out onto the prepared sheet pan. Press down lightly on the dough ball with the spoon or spatula and cut a cross in the top with a serrated knife or a pair of kitchen scissors.
Bake at 375° F for 35-40 minutes.
Notes: SACO Buttermilk Blend is a dried buttermilk powder. For more information please see the SACO Foods web site. You can use 7/8 cup buttermilk instead, just omit the SACO and water.
