(Ed. note: This is a very good overview.)

NEW VIEWS OF HEMP; A NOD TO ITS HISTORY

George Washington grew it.

So did Thomas Jefferson.

For the founders of the Lancaster Hemp Project ‘98, industrial hemp farming is not a revolutionary idea. They’ve organized a sort of hemp business exposition this Saturday and Sunday at Pequea Silver Mine Park to raise public awareness and showcase the many uses of hemp. Backing the project are local businesspeople who make or sell hemp products.

Lancaster Hemp Project organizers cooked up a smorgasbord of foods made from the hemp seed and its oil as a preview to this weekend’s exhibition. They served burgers, breads, pretzels and pizza made from hemp flour; hemp pesto and hot sauce, hempseed treats and hemp-based ale, which is brewed in Frederick, Md. Hemp paper and clothing also were on display.

"We’re trying to give people a multi-faceted view of hemp," said organizer Shawn Patrick House, owner of Lancaster Hemp Co., a wholesale distribution company.

"The food, the fiber, the fashion, the history. The history is right here in the county," House said.

According to Les Stark, researcher and historian for Lancaster Hemp Project, Lancaster County’s rich limestone soil made it a top producer of hemp from the time of the Revolutionary War until the mid-1800s. Every major waterway had a hemp grinding mill with its distinctive cone-shaped millstone. Hemp produced canvas that covered the Conestoga wagons, and the sails and riggings for many a tall ship. Clothing and paper also came from the plant.

The industrial revolution changed all that.

"The cotton gin made mass-produced cotton cheaper," Stark said. "At about the same time, the invention of the steamship reduced demand for hempen sails, each of which needed 60 pounds of hemp to produce."

The hemp market’s gradual decline ended when hemp was outlawed in 1937 along with its look-alike cousin, marijuana. Hemp contains little or no THC, the psychoactive ingredient found in marijuana. It was briefly grown again during World War II for rope.

Today, hemp production is skyrocketing. A renewable resource, it’s grown all over the world to make cloth, rugs, paper, particle board and seed oil. This fall, Canadian farmers will reap their first hemp harvest in decades after it was legalized last year. Farmers in Kentucky and several other states are lobbying hard for permission to plant hemp again.

"One of our goals is definitely to reach out to the farmers," Stark said.

His brother, Jim, agreed.

"They have the opportunity to get the edge on the market."

Organizers say the Lancaster Hemp Project is a chance to show people the many positive uses of hemp.

"Once people understand, there’s really nothing to be concerned about," said Don Riese, co-owner of No Problem/Hempzels in New Holland, which makes hearth-baked pretzels from hemp flour. After all, he said, hemp production was encouraged during World War II and helped the United States win the war.