Original Articles

Starting in 1999 HempNut, Inc. had hemp’s first online food store, on Yahoo! Stores. It may have even been the first online hemp store of any kind. It was unique for the fact that if one bought a full case, they paid the wholesale price (one-half the retail price). That was by design, to encourage … Continue reading "1999: First Online Hemp Store, “Finance Your Activism”"...

How is Hempseed Oil intentionally being misbranded as Hemp Oil? Here’s just one example, Health Canada has a similar rule. At the meeting of the Nomenclature Working Group of the AHPA Cannabis Committee on August 4, 2014: “Upon discussion of this policy on identification of the plant part in product labels, the following action was … Continue reading "Hempseed Oil Intentionally Misbranded as “Hemp Oil”"...

Starting in 2001 the Hemp Industries Association (HIA) killed the hemp foods market for 2.5 years, and almost took Canadian hemp down with it, for NOTHING, all over a lie. In a post-9/11 world, DEA wanted to concentrate on terrorism and was willing to explicitly legalize hemp products with any amount of THC, no maximum, … Continue reading "2004: Ninth Circuit says Hemp Suit “Gratuitous”"...

As one who has processed tons of soybean into foods starting in the ’70s, and then the same for hempseed starting 25 years ago, I’m certain that if Henry Ford knew hempeed exceeded soybean in nutrition and flavor, he would have done all his food work with it instead of soya. Hempseed tastes way better, … Continue reading "1934: Henry Ford, Vegan Foods + Hemp Pioneer"...

This was my message to Australians, but it goes for those in any country with Cannabis Prohibition: You have the power to change things, once you realize you have the power to change things. Those in power never concede anything without a demand. Demand, don’t request. Break out of the box of “we’ve always done … Continue reading "Legalization Strategies"...

In 1994 I introduced the first perishable hemp food, HempRella cheese alternative. We were at Booth #1 in the foyer entrance of the huge ExpoEast natural food trade show in Baltimore. Coming down the escalator to enter it, you couldn’t help but notice us and our hemp leaf signs, we were <right there>. The booth … Continue reading "1994: Hemp Foods are pre-DSHEA, But Just Barely"...

Is HIA Insolvent, and Why?...

USDA is demanding studies before admitting the obvious: Hempseed is the original animal feed. Ironic. In 1915 Hempseed was one of the grains used to develop modern animal feeds, and the idea of combining proteins to increase quality. Here are more Hemp citations found in academic literature that I commissioned in 1999 for my book … Continue reading "1915: Hempseed, the Original Animal Feed"...

Here are more Hemp citations found in academic literature that I commissioned in 1999 for my book The HempNut Health and Cookbook. The source was an agriculture database which is not online, with perhaps a million references. All were originally sourced by hand from libraries around the world for at least the past 45 years … Continue reading "Obscure Historical Hemp References"...

Many mainstream publications wrote about my hemp foods decades ago. The bad puns were new and adorably part of it. What does Normalization of Cannabis look like? Like this: Better Homes and Gardens, that bastion of mainstream homemakers. Hey Dude! Hemp Food Is Here. Better Homes and Gardens, 2000. Chips, snack bars, and burgers made … Continue reading "2000: “Hey Dude! Hemp Food Is Here.” Better Homes and Gardens"...

Hemp, Hemp, Hooray. San Francisco Chronicle, Feb 23 2001, by Marina Wolf. Subhead: Santa Rosa Man Sells Food Derived From The Plant Say the words “hemp” and “food” in the same sentence, and most people think either of midnight munchies or of Alice B. Toklas’ famous brownie recipe. But in fact there’s a whole world … Continue reading "2001: Hemp, Hemp, Hooray"...

Go To Pot! Sun, Feb 6, 2001, by Stanton Fleiss. Docs hail amazing new snack food… made from hemp In a twist that gives new meaning to the phrase “potluck dinner,” scientists have discovered you can add years to your life by eating the seeds of the hemp plant – marijuana’s next of kin. The … Continue reading "2001: Go To Pot!"...

We hit the national media jackpot this year: Details, Rolling Stone, the Sunday New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, and High Times magazine. How do you Normalize Hemp in an era of stigma? Like this. Richard Rose Eyewitness, Details magazine, April 1995, by Sarah Ferguson.For all the new start-ups, there are also seasoned entrepreneurs venturing … Continue reading "1995: “We’re trying to de-demonize cannabis in general, and certainly hemp in particular”"...

HempNut Hempeh Burger wasn’t “just a hemp burger.” It was the first hemp burger, it had the first and only FDA-legal health claim on a hemp food, it was sold nationwide, in two countries, it was vegan, and it was organic. 1994-2002. As seen on CBS This Morning. This vegan organic tempeh burger containing 10% … Continue reading "1994: Hempeh Burger"...

The brand-new nut that can add years to your life! Woman’s World – The Woman’s Weekly, Jan 2 2001, by Caitlin Castro. Subhead: Impressive new studies show that this surprising snack can protect you from a host of diseases – and make you feel better right now! Five daily servings of fruits and vegetables…seven servings … Continue reading "2001: The Brand-New Nut That Can Add Years to Your Life!— Woman’s World"...

In the early and mid 1990s, supermarket chains in the U.S. and Canada didn’t know how market and merchandise the emerging vegetarian and vegan foods industry. That was typically tofu, soymilk, tempeh, and foods made from those such as my TofuRella cheese alternative and the similar foods from Galaxy Cheese, and vegan meat alternatives from … Continue reading "2001: Get Hep To Hemp, The Soybean of Tomorrow"...

Mary Jane’s Cousin. The Monthly (east SF bay area, California), Aug 2001, p 19, by Chiori Santiago, photos by Alain McLaughlin. A staple crop in colonial times, hemp was linked to its psychoactive cousin in the ‘20s and has been vilified ever since. Today, hemp is making a revival. Dubbed “the Soybean of the New … Continue reading "2001 Mary Jane’s Cousin"...

“When we introduced hemp cheese they said we must be smoking something. We are now.”...

HempRella For Victory. High Times, 1995, story and photo By Gabe Kirchheimer. What’s spreadable, edible and incredible? Why, HempRella, the new cheese alternative made from hemp seeds! Now you can have your hemp and eat it too. “Just like cheese it’s firm when cold and melts when heated. Plus it tastes great! Our special process … Continue reading "1995 HempRella For Victory"...

Five years ago Jason Lauve and I were asked by Preston Whitfield to speak with the North Carolina Secretary of Agriculture Troxler. We would help a local company get hemp legal there, which ended up becoming the NCIHA. Bob Crumley headed it up, and Innovate Naturally was in the crew. So the 4 of us … Continue reading "May 27, 2015: “A Great Day for North Carolina”"...

“A new Chinese study conducted in hospitals in Wuhan found that elevated levels of C-reactive protein, a standard marker of inflammation that has been linked to poor diet, “correlated with disease severity and tended to be a good predictor of adverse outcomes.”” A longitudinal study found cannabis use in early adulthood lead to low CRP … Continue reading "Cannabinoids FTW Against COVID-19"...

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Richard Rose BA, marketing, 1989 Richard Rose came to SSU after running his own tofu business for six years. Although widely acknowledged for popularizing tofu as a food suitable for American palates, he felt empty. “There has to be a better way,” he thought. After receiving his BA, Richard decided that his ultimate goal was … Continue reading "Distinguished Alumni, Sonoma State University, 2000"...

After being on the Inc. 500 list of fastest-growing companies in 1993, Inc. did a follow-up story including Richard Rose: Sure, these CEOs still substitute imagination, know-how, and effort for capital. Sometimes. Once a bootstrapper, always a bootstrapper? Not quite. If you’re going to move beyond the start-up phase, there are habits that have to … Continue reading "Then and Now"...

Long before pivoting to innovating in the hemp food segment, Richard Rose was infamous for innovating in the mainstream food segment. In Food & Beverage Marketing in December 1986, listed before the likes of Campbell Soup, Conagra, General Mills, and H.J. Heinz was Richard’s company Brightsong Foods, the only small food company and the only … Continue reading "Richard Rose: a Leading Innovator Since 1986"...

In 1994 this article appeared in Food Business, a trade journal for the food industry with massive circulation. It discussed my approach and challenges to marketing foods made from tofu. It was published just months before I introduced my first hemp product, and got into my “virtual company” approach to business operations, namely, out-source all … Continue reading "Small Companies, Big Dreams"...

Three papers on heating of hempseed oil...

No woman has had as much impact on the global hemp movement as the late Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop. In the mid-90s she introduced a number of skin care products containing hempseed oil, sold in thousands of her stores around the world. She fought mall owners to be allowed window displays featuring … Continue reading "Anita Roddick: Hempseed Oil Pioneer"...

6-15% CBD foods legalized in Virginia...

CBD is effective at reducing airway inflammation and fibrosis, common symptoms of the Covid-19 virus...