As hemp continues to draw attention in wake of the CBD boom and subsequent regulatory confusion, one of the understated aspects of hemp legalization is its uses in clothing and other textile industries.
Recently, one of the biggest names in clothing published a brand new short movie all about the history of hemp in the world America in particular. Patagonia, famous for its popularity among sporty outdoors-minded folks (or those who want to seem that way on Instagram), also offers a range of clothing options made from hemp fiber available for purchase.
You can watch the the short video by following the link below, and learn all about the substance from the people who farm it and turn it into Patagonia’s clothes. [1]
“It’s got 50,000 uses,” one source told filmmakers of the plant, cannabis sativa. Another disputed the claim. His opinion as a hemp farmer was that it might have only 25,000 uses or so. Not exactly a slouch, compared to other crops.
Patagonia is know for their environmental work, and the documentary’s focus on hemp’s benefits to the planet take the forefront alongside the other benefits people get from hemp.
The clothing company also invests in wildlife preservation, with a huge national park to its name within the South American Andes mountains, but their interest in hemp is faced toward another set of problems altogether. [3] [4]
According to the experts in the video, hemp is useful for recycling compounds in the soil that other crops can exacerbate. Fertilizers can throw off the balances of soil and make it yield less after enough harvesting, but hemp can help to bring nitrogen and other observable attributes back into equilibrium. [1]
There’s also a good deal of discussion on the historic industrial uses of hemp within the Americas before prohibition set in during the first quarter of the 20th century. For some time, according to the sources interviewed in the mini-documentary, governments in the American colonies actually mandated the growth of certain amounts of hemp by farmers. [1]
The group interviewed is lively and colorful, and if you’d like to hear more about their explanations of the history and current situation of hemp, check out the full piece with the link below. They also get into the new Farm Bill of 2018 that legalized hemp and united unlikely alliances of political figures in America at a time when polarization feels out of control. [1]
Check out the whole line of their hemp clothing with this link. [2]
And keep an eye out in coming months as Nothing But Hemp joins the hemp clothing market as well, hopefully after the 2019 American hemp harvest. Currently all hemp textiles are imports, as the crop is only being planted for the first time legally this spring.
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