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december 2014 newsletter
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Vital Ones, It is with a hopeful and full heart that we celebrate December. This afternoon, after hemping out a young man who is heading to India, I saw him to the door and suddenly was aware of this magnificent sunflower, probably ten feet high, growing in the community garden across the street. I hadn’t noticed it before. How did I miss something so magnificent? I suppose a lot of things are like that. One minute, we think we’re living in a literal or metaphorical desert; the next, we see a flourishing. And yet, both may be true, and that’s the miraculous paradox. We’ve worked a long time to see the re-legalization of industrial hemp in this country. People who enter the vital hemp store from around the world are mystified that our nation still demonizes and criminalizes the cultivation of such a useful, profitable crop, one that can re-vitalize so many industries, create jobs, and sequester a lot of carbon too, all the while lessening the impact of humanity’s effect on global warming. Fortunately, the currents of change are moving in the right direction. This year, the federal government allowed states to grow industrial hemp under the auspices of universities, to “study the growth, cultivation and marketing of industrial hemp.” In effect, the universities are tasked with verifying that hemp is a viable crop—as though our own history wasn’t inextricably intertwined with hemp, from Ben Franklin’s first paper mills, and our Declaration of Independence to the oil that lit the lamps of Lincoln as he wrote, the works of Mark Twain, the fabric of covered wagons, the stitching of our soldiers’ shoes, the lines of parachutes, the body panels of Ford’s most durable autos and the fuel he promoted, and on and on and on…. We can be cynical about the changes, thinking maybe they’re only happening to give big multi-national corporations a chance to retool and monopolize the space. Or we can be thankful that as a country, we’re moving beyond antiquated laws that never served us in the first place. Either way, the hemp revolution is happening now: Marks and Spencer made a 148,000 square foot department store in England using hempcrete; Audi and BMW manufacture with hemp bioplastics – huge advances. It’s enough to yell, “Hemp, hemp hooray!” So with a cheer, we wish you all hempy holidays and a hempy new year. Please consider giving the gift of hemp this year. We have so many yummy styles that we made right here in LA for you, including hemp hoodies, hemp t-shirts, hemp pants, hemp shorts, hemp dresses, and even a couple of hemp beanbags, which little kids (and big kids like me) looove~! You can find them all in the store or online, so check us out, put in your loved ones’ shipping address and let us do the rest. On another local note, we’ll be collaborating with one of our favorite superfood companies, Imlak’esh Organics, on this year’s holiday party, next week, December 17that the vital hemp store: 2305 Main St., SM, CA 90405. As you may know, not all hemp clothing is the same, and not all golden berries either. We love to collaborate with companies whose products we love, and who manifest their ideals of respect, love and integrity, from sources to you. Nutiva will, generous as ever, provide the sweetest hemp seeds for our healthy delight; we’ll brew hot Tulsi teas from our friends at Organic India; and raise bottles of hemp ale from the Humbolt Brewery. Come join us for superfood, music, tea and ale. Then we’ll turn down the lights, turn up the volume and dance!!! --Feeling grateful to be celebrating with you in good health. Thanks for being vital, Ron and the vital hemp crew ~satisfy your hemptations~ {{block id="social_links"}} |
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