Hemp History

Lynn and Judy Osburn were the first to write about hempseed as food that I know of. Alan Brady was the first to make hempseed ice cream that I know of. While both used whole hempseed, my vision was to shell it in order to increase the nutrition and palatability. Dr Udo Erasmus was the … Continue reading "1992: Hempseed: Nature’s Perfect Food?"...

One of the most-persistent canards about hemp is that it was banned. But that’s not true, it always just needed a permit. In 1994, HIA co-founder Chris Boucher grew a ½ acre plot of Fedora and Kompolti hemp in Brawley California, with USDA’s permission on USDA land. But in mid-summer, with little warning, Imperial County … Continue reading "1994: Secret Government Hemp Crop Destroyed"...

I might as well wrap up Hemp History Month 2021 with a watershed event. This was a big moment for hemp, and to this day the biggest stage for hemp foods. Roseanne Barr had an afternoon talk show on CBS-TV, and I answered easy questions about hemp and made a hemp potato salad. We had … Continue reading "1999: Hemp Foods on CBS-TV; Roseanne and Richard Make Potato Salad for Millions"...

"This is how you sell not just a product, but social change. Normalizing Cannabis, one bite at a time."...

“Finance Your Activism” by Selling HempNut Foods...

“I cut off my hair and wore suits and stuff for a couple years,” he says. “I thought I needed to do that to make it in the business world. And it didn’t work. So I went back to plan B and that was to be myself. And it’s working just fine.”...

In 1999 at the annual Health and Harmony Festival in my hometown of Santa Rosa, California, we had a booth selling these hemp foods. That’s when I decided to someday open a HempNut Café, it was such a hit...

Pro tip: when exporting hemp to the U.S. in 1999, don't put "Contains THC" on your export documents. In the zero-tolerance U.S. it’s an admission under penalty of perjury of importing a Schedule 1 controlled substance...

With the largest publicity and advertising campaign in hemp history ($230,000), HempNut was the first shelled hempseed brand in North America, introduced in August 1997. In just two decades shelled hempseed would become hemp’s first billion dollar segment, 90% of Canadian hemp...

How did hemp food go from zero to hero in just twenty years, 90% of Canadian hemp and hemp’s first billion dollar industry? It wasn’t by accident or a fluke, but due to a concerted campaign by advertising, PR, and food industry professionals with a vision of “what should be.” Already infamous for clever ads, we applied what we learned from marketing tofu for 14 years prior. Over $230,000 was spent on professionals and advertising over just a few years starting in 1995, years before today’s hempseed companies even started...

This is the slide which launched the hemp food industry in North America...

The year was 1994. I was in my office, agonizing over the outline for my first cookbook (four books later, I still agonize), when the phone rang. I answered distractedly. “Hey, Christina,” said the warm voice on the line. I relaxed as I recognized the throaty greeting of my dear friend Richard Rose. “Will I … Continue reading "2003: The HempNut Cookbook Foreword By Christina Pirello"...

In the years 1996 - 2000 at the ExpoWest and ExpoEast natural food trade shows I hosted The Hemp Salon. It was a sweet suite party in the evening complete with live acoustic music, bongs, munchies (new hemp foods), beers, and friends. Deals were done and people were introduced; it was an important social/business gathering for hempsters. Eventually the hotels would put the Kava Party and the Single-Malt Scotch Party on the same floor as the Hemp Salon, making party-hopping easier. Many brought instruments so we had impromptu acoustic jam sessions. Hotel security would sometimes hang out in the hall and keep the tourists away...

Hempseed and other hemp flower products have been in the human and animal diet for many millennia. There is much documentation of that, evidence from around the world including the U.S. Therefore when in 2017 FDA announced it was soliciting comments for which food ingredients should be on the official list as existing before October … Continue reading "2017: Hemp Flower Products Pre-DSHEA"...

2000: Hemp Seed Delight, Health Supplement magazine. Hempseed is positioned to replace soy products in the lives of many nutritionally savvy people. In an exclusive interview with Richard Rose, President of Rella Good Cheese Company and HempNut Incorporated, we see the challenges and opportunities in bringing hemp seed products to market. Hemp Supplement Editor: You … Continue reading "2000: Hemp Seed Delight"...

In May of 1995 the Sunday New York Times Magazine gushed about Hempeh Burger, and included a picture. Authentic momentum is hard to create, but when it happens, it’s magic. Like this.

Later, it was seen on CBS-TV’s Good Morning America, and sported the hemp food industry’s only FDA-legal health claim “reduces risk of heart disease.”

Carnivores and vegans alike enjoyed the hearty taste, made with real food not powders. The first hemp burger was also vegan, high in fiber, gluten-free, keto-friendly, and sold coast-to-coast, 1994-2002...

Let Them Eat Hemp. Hemp Times, Oct 1996, story by Peggy Matthews, photo by Dan Skye. Pull quote: “My advisors even said not get into hemp—which of course led me to think that I should” –Richard Rose Overnight successes usually aren’t. So when people wonder how Richard Rose got so successful so quickly, he laughs. … Continue reading "1996: Let Them Eat Hemp"...

The future of Hemp is food. That’s not to say fiber doesn’t have a role to play, as where there is seed there is fiber. It’s a symbiotic relationship, a dual crop with two income streams. But food has more of a social imperative than walls of houses or animal bedding. How often do you … Continue reading "Economics of Shelling Hempseed"...

Back in 1999 websites were fairly static, before embedded videos and Flash. Many still had excruciatingly slow dial-up connections to the internet, so file size had to be small. Some of us remember waiting hours to download one small image, and we still thought it was the coolest thing. Thus the only practical way to … Continue reading "1999: HempNut, Inc. Banner Ads for Hemp Food"...

Few know my history helping turn the Hemp Industries Association (HIA) into a credible trade group. I hold it accountable today because I feel a responsibility to keep it on the straight and narrow, like I did years ago. My work driving the interest in food was the first for it, skeptical from the start … Continue reading "Richard Rose’s Years at Hemp Industries Association (HIA)"...

2000: Tofu Tsar. Northern California Bohemian, Nov 22, by Paula Harris. OUR OWN LOCAL tofu tsar, Richard Rose, is a guy we can thank for popularizing tofu, somehow making the bland pallid gunk suitable (hey, even desirable) for the American palate. He’s also founder and president of the Rella Good Cheese Co. and HempNut Inc. … Continue reading "2000: Tofu Tsar"...