Amazing Untapped Potential
The National Hemp Association showcased industrial hemp and its Earth-friendly applications at a U.S.-hosted global climate conference.
The tremendous promise of the hemp plant to help feed, shelter, and power the world while also restoring the planet from environmental damage was on prominent display in early May 2023 at an international climate conference hosted in Washington, D.C.
The Agriculture Innovation Mission (AIM) for Climate Summit took place May 8-10, 2023, near the White House. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) supported the three-day event, which featured speakers such as ex-U.S. Vice President Al Gore, UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri, and USDA Secretary Thomas J. Vilsack. There were also breakout sessions with international subject-matter experts discussing topics like soil health, regenerative agriculture, and on-farm weather resilience.
The National Hemp Association (NHA) had a table set up highlighting many uses of industrial hemp and how hemp could play a role in addressing climate challenges and bolster sustainable agriculture, rural development, and economies. This marked the first time that the association was part of this type of high-profile climate event. In fact, NHA was the only organization at the summit representing hemp—which it calls "the world's next natural resource"—and it was one of only 15 organizations with a presence on the exhibit floor where space was at a premium. The hemp table sat in a prominent position.
Takeaways
1. The National Hemp Association showcased industrial hemp at the Agriculture Innovation Mission (AIM) for Climate Summit in early May 2023, in Washington, D.C.
2. The association's exhibit table displayed Earth-friendly, hemp-derived products such as animal feed, biodiesel fuel, bioplastic, building materials, clothing, and paper.
3. The organization's leadership also met with thought leaders on climate from around the world to discuss the role industrial hemp could play in bolstering sustainable agriculture, rural development, and economies.
"We were pleased that USDA came to us and asked us if we would participate in this," Geoff Whaling, chair of NHA's board of directors, told Zygote Nation during my visit to the hemp table on May 9, 2023, day two of the summit. "It certainly was an indication to us that USDA is starting to look at industrial hemp as a real commodity that should be included in the discussion about climate."
Geoff Whaling (left), National Hemp Association board chairman, converses with a visitor to the hemp table at the AIM for Climate Summit in Washington, D.C., May 9, 2023. Photo by Michael Sirak
Whaling has said hemp is one of the most sustainable agriculture commodities. This means growing it, harvesting it, and processing the plant's parts into products such as food, clothing, building materials, biofuels, and bioplastics can be done without burdening the environment. Among its attributes, hemp pulls carbon from the atmosphere and holds it. That's important, as many climate scientists say there is too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the Earth would be better off if the soil and plants held more carbon. Plus, I've heard hemp advocates say farmers can grow the plant without the need for chemical fertilizers or pesticides, and hemp draws heavy metals out of the soil, thereby cleaning the soil.
“It is an opportunity for us to meet with world leaders and individuals who have heard about hemp, are not sure about hemp, and wanted help to advance hemp.”
Whaling asserts that hemp has an estimated total addressable market (TAM) of $15 trillion globally. (TAM means the overall revenue opportunity that is available to a product or service if it achieved 100 percent market share.)
"We're showcasing all of that $15 trillion opportunity … right here," he said.
The National Hemp Association's table at the AIM for Climate Summit in Washington, D.C., May 9, 2023. Photo by Michael Sirak
Indeed, the hemp table and its associated banners and displays were full of information and samples to touch and feel. They included not only a small hemp plant and components of the plant such as the hurd (the woody inner portion) and bast fiber (the sinewy outer part) of the plant's stalk but also products that these materials can create. Among examples of the latter were a bioplastic from the oil of hemp seed; biodiesel fuel from the biochar of hemp stalks (charcoal made from heating the stalks); "hempcrete" building blocks made with hemp hurd; a sport coat made from hemp fiber, paper from hemp hurd, and animal feed from dehulled hemp seed.
Next to the hemp table was a banner from Kentucky-based HempWood, a manufacturer of organic hardwood flooring, with flooring samples laid out in front of the banner. I also noticed on one shelf at the table several small jars of hurd and fiber from Montana-based IND Hemp which operates facilities that process hemp seed and hemp fiber. NHA even offered visitors tasty, hearty pieces of bakery containing hemp seeds.
Chavonda Jacobs-Young (second from left), the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientist, poses for a photo with National Hemp Association leaders (from left) Pablo Falla, board member; Geoff Whaling, board chairman; and Erica Stark, executive director, at the AIM for Climate Summit in Washington, D.C., May 9, 2023. Photo by Michael Sirak
Whaling also spoke to me of demonstrating at the summit a load-bearing, hemp-based composite masonry block which the University of Nebraska-Lincoln developed.
Erica Stark, NHA's executive director, also was present at the table. She confirmed to Zygote Nation that this was the association's debut at this type of event.
“We’re showcasing all of that $15 trillion opportunity … right here.”
Also there was Pablo Falla, who sits on NHA's board of directors. He is chief executive officer of Tropical Cannabis, a company with a presence in Colombia and the United States. He showed me seven-day-old hemp plants that one can eat for a nutritional boost. Such greens would be especially valuable in parts of the world, like places in Africa, where access to proper nutrition is challenging.
Falla also spoke of the bioplastic on display. The sample at the table was a fishing lure, but Falla told me he is working to make edible water bottles with this bioplastic that could last up to one year and then be eaten. He also discussed the hemp paper, noting that it is many times more recyclable than traditional wood-based papers.
A National Hemp Association poster next to the organization's display table at the AIM for Climate Summit in Washington, D.C., May 9, 2023. The banner photo for this article is the upper portion of this poster. Photo by Michael Sirak
I also talked with Rafael Latorre, Tropical Cannabis's medical research director. He spoke of the biodiesel, which can run automobiles. Hemp biochar similarly could be transformed into fuel to power airplanes, he said. He opened the small metal container of hemp biodiesel at the table and let me smell the fuel; it had a clean odor.
Latorre also showed me a video on his cellphone of him feeding small pieces of hemp leaves (which had dried naturally in the field) to a school of fish in a pond in Colombia. The term "feeding frenzy" came to mind as I watched the fish devour the leaves. I found this quite interesting, as I was unaware of using hemp as fish food.
“We were pleased that [the U.S. Department of Agriculture] came to us and asked us if we would participate in this.”
AIM for Climate is a joint initiative of the United States and United Arab Emirates (UAE). Its goal is to address climate change and global hunger by significantly increasing investments in, and other support for, climate-smart agriculture and food systems innovation.
Whaling posted a blog entry on May 8, 2023, announcing NHA's participation in the summit, which, he said, was set to include attending a bipartisan luncheon with members of Congress.
Pablo Falla, National Hemp Association board member, at the organization's display table at the AIM for Climate Summit in Washington, D.C., May 9, 2023. Photo by Michael Sirak
When I asked him for feedback on what had transpired up to the point of my visit, he stated: "Certainly, it has been an event where we have not only identified other exhibitors who are potential stakeholders for us to work with as we evolve this new industry—from the carbon credits standpoint, from soil regeneration, from the measurements side, from the food side—but also it is an opportunity for us to meet with world leaders and individuals who have heard about hemp, are not sure about hemp, and wanted help to advance hemp."
National Hemp Association Board Chairman Geoff Whaling and Executive Director Erica Stark catch up on emails at the conclusion of the second day of the AIM for Climate Summit in Washington, D.C., May 9, 2023. Photo by Michael Sirak
Whaling said this included one parliamentarian from Ukraine who asked him to visit the country to meet with officials after the war with Russia is over.
Also of note, Chavonda Jacobs-Young, USDA's chief scientist, came by and met with Whaling and the others during my time in the exhibit area.
