Commercial hemp production was relegalized in Canada in 1998 after 60 years of prohibition. Hemp is an industrial crop grown throughout the world for both its strong fibre and nutritious seeds. It is also a particularly environmentally friendly crop, as it requires neither herbicides nor pesticides.
Approximately 6000 acres of hemp were grown across Canada last summer, and the vast majority of this was grown for seed (grain). Hemp seed is valued for its high protein content (22-25%) and its high proportion of essential fatty acids (30+%). Please click here for more hemp seed nutrition information.
Donating hemp seed for famine relief is a way for the new Canadian hemp industry to express its thanks for the changes in legislation which have enabled the development of this new industry. It is also a way of sharing this ground breaking harvest with those in the world who are most in need, while educating the public as to the significant nutritional value of hemp seed.
Hemp Can Help’s focus has since turned to Russia, in particular northeastern Siberia, whose indigenous people have recently issued a plea for assistance to the international community for food assistance. Russia we believe is a much more suitable recipient of food aid in the form of hemp seed since hemp is a traditional food source throughout Russia.
Russians traditionally use hemp seed to make porridge, sweets and a kind of margarine. Hemp production has never been prohibited in Russia, and as a crop which can be grown from the most southern reaches of Russia to north of 60° latitude it has always been a staple of Russian agriculture.
Furthermore, compared to wheat, the traditional source of Canadian food aid, hemp has almost double the protein content, and has the added benefit of being edible in its raw, whole seed form. With fuel being particularly scarce in these famine effected regions, this is a significant advantage since the hemp seed does not require cooking. Alternatively, if these facilities do exist it can be easily transformed into a highly nutritious porridge.
As a result of 60 years of prohibition, Canada no longer has a domestic hemp germplasm, and so all the hemp seed that was planted this past summer had to be imported from oversees. Although no Russian seed was planted (Health Canada regulations currently specify that only OECD certified varieties can be grown), Russia is generally acknowledged as having the most extensive hemp seed gene collections in the world (in particular the renown Vavilov Institute in St. Petersburg).
Canadian hemp farmers have expressed support for Hemp Can Help’s initiative. We have found, however, that because of considerable initial investments in this first year of production, farmers and industry are facing very real financial constraints.
Ideally, in order to maximize donations and effectiveness, we hope to come to an arrangement whereby CIDA would purchase hemp grain from Canadian farmers, based on an understanding that these purchases would be matched by equal donations from the hemp industry . Any financial donations to Hemp Can Help will also go towards purchasing hemp seed for food aid, again with the intention that these donations would be matched by seed donations.
We are also currently looking for other partner organizations to help with the logistics of collecting hemp seed donations from Canadian farmers and transporting them to a central warehouse. Also, depending on the government’s aid distribution strategy, possibly to transport and distribute the hemp seed to famine afflicted areas in Siberia. Several NGO’s with experience in these areas have expressed an interest in cooperating, and we will continue to pursue these opportunities in the hope that they will maximize the effectiveness of this project.
If you believe that Hemp Can Help, and are interested in contributing in any way to Hemp Can Help’s famine relief efforts, please contact:
43 Melville Ave.
Toronto, Ontario
M6G 1Y1
Tel: 416-535-3497
Fax: 416-535-1616
or by email
"Feeding a Future World" from People & the Planet"
