HEMP TAKES ROOT

Industrial Variety -- Not The Smokin' Stuff -- Is A Hot Commodity
Among Health-Conscious Food Consumers

Every now and then we run across a food product that summons the
reaction: "I didn't know you could eat that."

Hello, hemp.

In the natural foods aisles, hemp is making headway in breads, oil,
nut butters, granola, nutritional shakes and protein powders. The
tiny white-shelled seeds -- which can also be used in cooking -- have
been hailed by Supermarket Guru newsletter editor Phil Lempert as
"one of the hottest food trends of 2007."

Nutritionists hail hemp as a high protein source (its makeup is about
33 percent) and a solid booster of vitamin E and trace minerals. But
hemp's most impressive nutritional note is its essential fatty acids
profile, which includes omega-3s and omega-6s in an optimal ratio.
(Studies link an overabundance of omega-6 fatty acids and a shortfall
of omega-3 fatty acids as a trigger to a multitude of health woes,
including heart disease). Cannabis sativa in the grocery store?

Before you assume we've been smoking something funny, let's take care
of some botanical clarification.

Industrial hemp, from which edible hemp nuts and oil come, is but a
distant relative of marijuana. Eating it -- no matter what the
quantity or frequency -- won't make you high. That's because properly
shelled hemp seeds contain only microscopic amounts of
tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the stuff that gives that other
Cannabis variety its mind-altering capacity. The difference could be
compared to the two varieties of poppy plants. One plant makes seeds
for your muffins, the other makes heroin.

To assure consumers that eating hemp won't trigger positive results
on drug testing, many companies participate in the Hemp Industries
Association's voluntary TestPledge program, which sets conservative
limits on THC content in hemp foods. Still, hemp cultivation has been
banned in the United States since the 1950s, even though just a
decade earlier, hemp production was considered patriotic -- rope and
other textiles made from hemp were needed for the war effort.

So where is all this edible hemp coming from? Canada, mostly, where
48,000 acres of hemp flourish. Canada is one of 30 countries where
hemp production is legal.

Hemp food sales in the United States were $7.46 million from mid 2005
to mid 2006, a 35 percent jump from the same period the year before,
says Tom Murphy, outreach coordinator for the advocacy group Vote Hemp.

The food industry is only one of multiple outlets for hemp, which
also has applications in body care products, textiles, paper and
biofuel. Many U.S. farmers want to cash in on this eco-friendly crop,
and have convinced lawmakers to draft the Industrial Hemp Farming Act
of 2007, introduced to Congress last week.

Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-Saugerties, Ulster County, co-sponsored the
bill, which would shift hemp regulation from the federal Drug
Enforcement Administration to the state level. North Dakota recently
launched a program that issues licenses to would-be hemp growers.

Locally, hemp food and body care products are available at Wegmans
Food Markets Inc. (in the Nature's Marketplace Department), Lori's
Natural Foods in Henrietta, Abundance Cooperative Market on Marshall
Street and other health food stores.

"I like (shelled hemp seeds) the way I like sesame seeds. They are
very mild. In the tastes spectrum, it's a food you can't really not
like. Nutritionally, they are definitely a standout," says Cyndi
Weis, a registered dietitian and owner of Breathe Yoga & Juice Bar in
Pittsford. Weis sells hemp granola bars at Breathe.

Jessica Rodriguez, grocery manager at Abundance, says hemp products
are "getting more popular as time goes by and health benefits are known."