by HempingtonPost | Jul 11, 2019
It’s easy to get swept away in the magic of a hemp farm where dragonflies float and goats bleat on verdant hills. Franny’s Farm is a place where practical magic and science meet.
Owned and operated by Franny Tacy and her husband and CEO Jeff Tacy, Franny’s is an active hemp farm in Leicester, and one of the grower sites for North Carolina State University’s Industrial Hemp Pilot Research Program. The program’s aim is to shoulder the burden of trial and error for farmers who want to dig into a swiftly growing industry.
Franny Tacy was a pharmaceutical industry executive
for a decade, and also holds a forestry degree from Northern Arizona
University in Flagstaff and a master’s in education from Tennessee State
University.
She’s also the first female industrial
hemp grower in Western North Carolina and, as a woman, part of the
fastest-growing farmer demographic in the U.S. The future of hemp, she
said, is female.
“The hemp revolution, if you will, in Western North Carolina is being led by female researchers, and female growers and female business owners,” she said.
Meagan Coneybeer-Roberts, a Ph.D. researcher and part
of the Alternative Crops and Organic Research group at NC State, and
Gwen Casebeer, a master’s student at NC State, are two of the women
leading hemp research in the region.
Their work
focuses exclusively on industrial hemp, with field trials taking place
on seven regional grower farms: four in Buncombe County and three in
Caldwell County, all averaging 1,000 plants per acre, with the largest
site a biodynamic grower in Caldwell with 6 acres.
“We take the burden of risk and we take the burden of experimentation, and we allow the growers to take what we find that works,” Coneybeer-Roberts said. “Then they can use that to make money and grow hemp successfully.”
On the day research clones were planted in Tacy’s
field, shortly after Mother’s Day, shamans came to tap drums and bless
the plants. While inviting a shaman to a hemp planting might sound as
Asheville as you can get, Coneybeer-Roberts said ritual can easily
co-exist with science.
“There are indications that plants respond to music, to sound, to vibration,” she said, standing on the edge of the field where volunteers planted buffer plants around her research rows. “It certainly couldn’t hurt.”
Before the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act swept hemp away in
prohibition, American farmers long grew the plant for fiber, feed and
more, with George Washington one of hemp’s more famous cultivators.
“The government even encouraged them to do so,” said Dr. Jeanine Davis, adviser to Casebeer and Coneybeer-Roberts. Davis is an associate professor and extension specialist with the Department of Horticultural Science at NC State.
It wasn’t until the 2014 Farm Bill, under
then-president Barack Obama, that growers were allowed to plant pilot
industrial hemp plots, and only under the umbrella of universities and
state departments of agriculture for research.
Ever since President Donald Trump signed into law the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018,
hemp containing less than 0.3% THC is now regulated by the Food and
Drug Administration, moving it out from under Drug Enforcement
Administration regulation, Davis said.
The 2018
Farm Bill removed hemp from the Controlled Substances Act, which means
that it is no longer a controlled substance under federal law, allowing
for the possibility of crop insurance and opening doors to bank funding,
Davis explained. “People should be able to grow more freely.”
At
the same time, according to an FDA statement, Congress preserved the
FDA’s authority to regulate products containing cannabis or
cannabis-derived compounds under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic
Act and section 351 of the Public Health Service Act.
“The
FDA will now help, and some will say hinder, us decide whether CBD will
be regulated as a botanical, a pharmaceutical, or some of both,” Davis
said. “I’m looking forward to rules and regulations on production so we,
as consumers, know we’re getting a safe, clean product.”
Now,
it’s a brave new world, and hemp agriculture is booming in the state,
with 3,000 permits issued for hemp growers this year, a 900% increase in
less than a year.
The national appetite for hemp
and hemp-derived products is huge, with Scientific American reporting
the U.S. imported more than $67 million worth of hemp seed and fiber
products in 2017.
Some of hemp’s growth is likely influenced by the booming demand for CBD, a non-psychoactive cannabinoid proponents say is useful for everything from arthritic pain to anxiety in humans and in pets.
The CBD market was worth nearly $200 million in 2017, triple that by the end of last year. Rapid growth is predicted to continue.
That’s just one tool in hemp’s toolbox, with the plant’s uses counting among the tens of thousands, some largely unexplored, and many nowhere near as sexy as CBD. They include everything from fiber to cooking products to a building material called “hempcrete.”
One size does not fit all when it comes to the plant, and plants grown for fiber might not be useful for oil. Figuring which plants are best for which use, and how those plants prefer to grow, is no easy task.
That’s where the trials come in.
Proponents of hemp agriculture, like Tacy, hope the results could help North Carolina emerge as a leader in the industry. “You have Florida oranges, Idaho potatoes, and hopefully North Carolina hemp,” she said.
Hemp’s long history buried
Decades-long prohibition has left huge gaps in grower knowledge, and programs like NC State’s and other hemp trials aim to fill in the spaces.
“There are multiple generations that haven’t come into contact with hemp as a crop so, for production and harvest information, a lot of the resources I’ve used personally date back to the 19th century and in other countries,” Coneybeer-Roberts said.
Working to push the notion of knowledge as power is the nonprofit Women in Hemp.
Co-founded by Tacy, LilyHemp boutique’s Susan Cromer, Florida hemp attorney Carrie McKnight and Coeus Research founder Debbie Custer, Women in Hemp has worked to help back hemp research, providing, for one, at least a quarter of the funding for Coneybeer-Roberts’ and Casebeers’ project.
Tacy, who once started a junior high science club to get microscopes in her school, says she feels the same sort of childlike wonder in throwing her energy behind Women in Hemp.
It’s the right mix of magic, science and activism that fuels her work on the farm. “Mixing science and magic is exactly what we were doing in the field this morning,” she said in July, the field hemp not yet flowered.
She and a new hire had worked together under the hot summer sun, mixing organic fertilizer and rigorously testing and balancing the pH — getting the science right first, Tacy said.
Then, the magic: As part of biodynamic principles, they swirled the water clockwise 50 times, then counterclockwise 50 times to create a vortex over which Tacy read poetry.
“We have love written on our barn over our hemp field, and we go into the field with our best intentions,” she said. “We’re putting science out there, but our intentions are what are helping create a crop tens of thousands of people have access to in our product line.”
Tacy grows enough hemp to create a vertically integrated supply chain for Franny’s Farm products, sold online and in the company’s four Franny’s Farmacy dispensaries. Within weeks, the company will offer a public stock option, with franchise options also coming to the table.
Tacy hopes hemp will become North Carolina’s new agricultural legacy, and her company is proof there’s a strong market for it. “I think right now, we’re in the gold rush era, if you will, and we found a nugget with CBD — no pun intended.”
A reason to be optimistic
Of the 22 rows of hemp on Franny’s Farm, NC State’s trial plants occupy the center of five, each covered in different colors of plastic.
The red plastic, Coneybeer-Roberts said in May, might encourage flower set. The silver might have some utility in reducing insects. Black warms the soil, while white doesn’t trap the heat as much. The green? “We don’t know yet,” she said, but it’s something they’ve observed in marijuana cultivation in places where it’s legal.
They won’t know the impacts until later this year. The trials are double blind, and not even the growers know the identities of the hemp plant varietals, many provided by Triangle Hemp in Durham.
The results of what will be a three-year trial will eventually be compared with 20 universities across the world, including in Dubai, Barcelona and Texas. The trials will have studied hemp for fiber and food for three years at the end of this season, which will also mark the second year of CBD research.
Davis said she’s not sure yet how the information will be compiled and disseminated. “But I think we’re going to answer a lot of questions.”
For a researcher, it’s an exciting prospect to be on the forefront of the cultivation of a crop that’s been illegal to grow for generations simply because of its association with a psychoactive cousin.
There’s no real reason not to be optimistic. The question isn’t whether or not hemp will grow here, but what kind is perfect for each region, and how to build the infrastructure to process it into an end product — which itself is a long and complicated story.
A replacement for tobacco?
Hemp is often held up as a viable replacement for tobacco, once a booming industry and cultural influence in the state, now all but faded.
Part of the hemp narrative is the notion that the planting, growing and processing methods for tobacco can be easily transferred to hemp. But there are still so many questions left unanswered and, as Tacy will tell you, a lot of misinformation out there.
“The important thing to remember is we are still in a pilot program and still doing a lot of research, so everyone growing hemp in North Carolina has the exact length of time of experience,” Coneybeer-Roberts said. “We are all equally experienced and inexperienced.”
Tacy has a farmer’s directness and a passion for her crop. “There is never going to be another tobacco,” she said. “Tobacco has one use. Hemp is the only crop that will feed, clothe, shelter and provide medicine.”
In five years, Tacy predicted, hemp prohibition will seem like nothing but a blip. “It will seem ridiculous that we ever didn’t grow hemp. It will be in our food system, in our clothing system, in our building materials, our bio-fuels. Every aspect.”
North Carolina has one of the strongest agricultural economies in the country, she said.
“We are farming people. We have a farm economy here, and our farmers have struggled with the loss of tobacco; they’ve struggled to get a foothold into something new.”
Whether or not hemp will become North Carolina’s agricultural calling card remains to be seen, though researchers will be one step closer to finding out after this growing season.
But on the sunny May day the clones went into the ground, Jeff Tacy addressed the volunteers gathered for the occasion, his focus on the day-to-day magic he said surrounds the plant.
“I’m in the dispensaries every day, and it’s been mind-blowing the feedback we’ve gotten from people using CBD products,” he said. “It’s many miracles every day in these stores as we interact with people who are getting off opioids, and getting back to a normal lifestyle and finding relief from their inflammation.”
“This is where it starts,” he said, gesturing to the fields. “It’s been an amazing journey.”
This story first appeared on Citizen Times
by HempingtonPost | Jul 8, 2019
The Emperor’s New Clothes should have been crafted from hemp all along and Americans are just now discovering it.
It was a Wednesday afternoon in the middle of June in Will Smith-popularized Bel Air, California where a two-day cannabis conference and expo was being held at a mansion. A level of investment not entirely atypical in Los Angeles, the world’s fastest growing cannabis market.
Cannabis gatherings of this magnitude require special logistics. After a veritable park-and-ride from somewhere near UCLA, I’d arrived at WeedCon West, where cannabis education, product sampling, and augmented multisensory experiences, all met in a lavish and expansive setting.
Larger cannabis companies like Sol Distro, Cresco Labs, Kushy Punch, and Marley Naturals were interwoven with smaller, and newer brands. Cannabis-derived “full spectrum protection”) suntan lotion manufacturer and sun care experts, Divios Naturals, small grows like Greenshock Farm and Stone Road Farms, and industry packaging experts, The Packaging Company, what seemed like 50 or so other cannabis companies and vendors.
(A special shout-out to my kinfolk, the team from Hawaii-based Pakalolo Seed Co. My 83 year-old, gardening-master dad’s going to sprout your seeds for us. Watch for an article later in the year.)
I navigated my way through them all, seeking a dose of opinion, a taste of product, and a sprinkling of wisdom.
I emerged from a bathroom break waving my hands feverishly (because, ironically, there were no towels in the mansion’s restroom), I made my way to an expansive pool replete with inflatable swans and ripples left by some guy who’d decided to disrobe and jump in.
Someone handed me what I call a “free-roll” pre-rolled joint: Ingredients? No details necessary.
A woman in a shimmery, yellow evening gown walked past me, followed by an Ignite model holding a plate with those cute, little egg rolls that seem like a good idea until you’ve had ten of them. Fearless, I made my to the kitchen for my own plate followed by some cannabis-infused edible desserts.
I explored the cleverly themed rooms to the discovery of Herer Group’s I was drawn to the cigar lounge-like, wood-clad lair partly out of curiosity, partly because they had comfortable looking chairs. The Herer Group team being the only other people wearing suits was inviting, as well.
Black suits, at that. And having recently dabbed outback with Dab Nation, this was no funeral. It was more the celebration of an industry legend, Jack Herer, and what he was trying to tell people about cannabis all along.
A convincing videographer, the allure of faux fur draped across a shoulder, and the generous goodie bag had me promptly seated to learn more. More about the predictions that predate where the American cannabis industry is today, a book into which they were scribed, and the man who wrote it.
Jack Herer, the man
Nicknamed the Hemperor, activist Jack Herer (1939 – 2010) left his mark on American subculture by resurfacing age-old cultures, studies, and assertions that cannabis for food, fiber, fuel, medicine, recreation, and other purposes can solve most of the world’s most consequential environmental, social and economic problems.
But Jack wasn’t always a cannabis advocate. As a conservative-leaning veteran most of his life, he wasn’t introduced to the plant until irresistible, love-smitten pressure led him to it in his 30’s (more on that later).
“When I went off to the army when I was 17 years old, I believed in America and the rights of freedom,” Jack Herer is quoted as saying. “But today I believe my government is lying to the American people and that my president, George Bush, is a criminal.”
A prison stint in the name of advocacy gave Jack Herer time to pen the first draft of a book revered within the cannabis industry and respected throughout the world: The Emperor Wears No Clothes.
The book
The Emperor Wears No Clothes is a play on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Emperor’s New Clothes, a story where swindling weavers who trick the king, granting him and invisible, “supernatural” garment that cannot be seen or touched by any person of illegitimate birth. Effectively convincing the king he was looking dapper when, in fact, he was naked.
In this version, Jack Herer effectively blows the king’s cover, revealing that cannabis prohibition is an injustice to the American people, brought about by nefarious policy making. Sinister political motives in the 1930’s demonized the plant in all its forms (marijuana and hemp) to preserve the interests of powerful politicians, oil tycoons, publishers, and status-quo conservatives.
Citing Henry Ford, “and other futuristic, organic, engineering geniuses” in the early 1900’s, the book shares published findings that biomass from corn stalks, cannabis, waste paper and the like could replace 90 percent of all fossil fuel used in the world today (coal, oil, natural gas, etc.).
“Government and oil and coal companies, etc., will insist that burning biomass fuels is no better than using up our fossil fuel reserves, as far as pollution goes; but this is patently untrue,” Jack Herer wrote. “Why? Because, unlike fossil fuels, biomass comes from living (not extinct) plants that continue to remove carbon dioxide pollution from our atmosphere as they grow, through photosynthesis. Furthermore, biomass fuels do not contain sulfur.”
Decades later, the book’s foreshadowing is coming to light.
This is a great, thorough, award-nominated, 25-minute video rendition of The Emperor Wears No Clothes delivered by people who know it well. And here’s a free online version of the book in its entirety, with rights released by his family.
The people & the company
The Herer Group is built upon the principles of both the man and the book, and consists of multiple vertically integrated cultivation, manufacturing and distribution companies licensed in the state of California. The Group manages Herer Distribution, Herer Manufacturing, and Herer Labs & Research.
Cannabis sourced from family-sized farms is tested with Herer Labs before being manufactured into award-winning (first-place win for its cannabis concentrate at the industry’s famed 2018 Emerald Cup) flower, pre-rolls, vape pens sold under the Dr. Delights, Infusio and The Original Jack Herer brand names. These craft products are then distributed by Herer Distribution to licensed cannabis dispensaries statewide.
As I sat with them on this particular day, The Group’s people appeared as elegant as the brand. And that’s what’s needed as California’s cannabis market becomes flooded with thousands of new products: Distinction.
The Group pays homage to cannabis industry pioneers in buying their crops and keeping their cash flow going. “If it wasn’t for those who are the true legacy of what it is that we’re all building our companies on, if it wasn’t for the small growers who put the love and intention into putting out a product that they could take care of their families at a time when it wasn’t legal and paid the ultimate price, I wouldn’t be able to do what I am today,” Dan Herer, Jack’s son and founder of the Jack Herer Foundation and Herer Group, told me when we sat together.
The company plans to further expand those industry partnerships next year. “I’m really looking forward to the end of this year and going into next year with these partnerships with small farms, with folks who have the love and intent that has given us all the power to do the things that we need to do,” Dan Herer said.
For cannabis businesses, keeping with the Hemperor’s quest for sustainable hemp adoption across the nation, and the liberation to enjoy, research, develop, and heal from the cannabis plant requires commitment. It means that whether you’re touching the plant or not, you still know there is a war against prohibition to be fought in the United States, and in some form, you’re contributing to the fight.
“What we have here in California and across the United States is just another level of prohibition—it’s not the end of prohibition because when they still create laws that are based on the fears and falses of prohibition,” Dan Herer believes. “When they use those to create the regulatory framework in which we’re building all of our businesses, it fractures the foundation, it will be bound to fail if we don’t correct it.”
The products
The Jack Herer cannabis strain is a multi award-winning sativa-dominant hybrid created by Sensi Seeds to honor its namesake. Aromatic and cerebral, The Group’s flower takes form as The Original Jack Herer with premium buds from Herer Farms and an adherence to high quality standards.
“In the cannabis world, we try not to encourage blind attachment to brands, but rather products,” California delivery service provider Ganja Goddessdiscloses on its website. “However, the Original Jack Herer™ line of products is genuinely backed by both history and anecdotal support…break out the canvas, or pen pad – this strain will inspire the best part of your creative side without weighing down your limbs.”
“This is a brand that has more fans than customers now,” Herer Group partner, Latif Horst told me.
Some consumers use some Herer products to keep from being bummed out, and others to totally veg out. “I choose a strain like Jack Herer or Lemon Tree for rainy days when I need to be active, as they lift me up beyond the depression of clouds and precipitation,” said Twitter user @c0uchl0cked (who also provides what I’m wagering is deep expertise on effective use of downtime). “If I have nothing to do and can afford to waste a day, indica edibles help me enjoy some serious relaxation.”
That’s free testimonial website copy, right there.
And despite the incomplete sentence at the end, this is a rather descriptive tweet about the treatment applications and perceived benefits users have experienced with Herer products.
Jack’s inspiration
So what got this all started in the first place? What turned Jack Herer, this former Goldwater Republican into a cannabis imbiber and advocate?
According to Dan, it was a girlfriend who essentially said he dad needed to smoke weed, because he was too boring, otherwise.
Disclosure: I have no financial interest or positions in the aforementioned companies. This information is for educational purposes and does not constitute financial and/or legal advice. But Select CBD did hook me up with a great free vape pen. Follow me on Instagram and TwitterCheck out my website.
This story originally appeared on Forbes.
Andre Bourque (@SocialMktgFella) is a cannabis industry connector, brand advisor, contributing writer, and the Vice President of Business Development for Verdantis Advisors, a full-service cannabis consulting agency. Verdantis specializes in cannabis industry investments, mergers and acquisitions, funding, partnerships, marketing, and media. Andre is the managing director of the cannabis division of Miramar Brands, a legacy full-service licensing agency representing Elle Magazine, Target, Kohl’s, Spalding, and other leading brands. We work with cannabis brands to leverage powerful mainstream names in the production of new products, channels, and markets. Andre is also the managing director of North America for blockchain marketing agency ICO Launch Group. In addition to Forbes, Andre’s articles have been featured in The Huffington Post, Entrepreneur.com, Benzinga, Yahoo Finance, Ebony, CIO Magazine, ComputerWorld, and Social Media Today. Andre has held technology marketing positions in the aerospace industry, at Sun Microsystems, Intel, Technorati, and several startups. Andre is a card-carrying member of Souplantation’s Club Veg.
by HempingtonPost | Jul 1, 2019
Marijuana Moment is a wire service assembled by Tom Angell, a marijuana legalization activist and journalist covering marijuana reform nationwide. The views expressed by Angell or Marijuana Moment are neither endorsed by the Globe nor do they reflect the Globe’s views on any subject area.
The US Department of Agriculture offered new insights into its rulemaking process for hemp regulations in a notice published in the Federal Register on Monday.
Of particular note is the deadline by which the USDA is aiming to release its “interim final rule” for the newly legal crop: August. Previously, the department simply said it would have the rules in place in time for the 2020 planting season.
“This action will initiate a new part 990 establishing rules and regulations for the domestic production of hemp,” the new notice states. “This action is required to implement provisions of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (Farm Bill).”
The hemp update is part of a larger regulatory agenda for various agencies that’s being released by the Trump administration.
A USDA spokesperson told Marijuana Moment that the August projection is the department’s “best estimate” for when the regulations will be released. It remains the USDA’s intention “to have the regulations in place by this fall to allow for a 2020 planting season.”
“However, the clearance process will dictate the actual timing of the publication,” the spokesperson said.
While USDA officials have said the department didn’t plan to expedite the regulatory process despite strong interest among stakeholders, it seems to be making steady progress so far. The department said in March that it has “begun the process to gather information for rulemaking.”
The USDA has also outlined the basic elements that will be required when states or tribes are eventually able to submit regulatory plans for federal approval. Those proposals will have to include information about the land that will be used for hemp cultivation, testing standards, disposal procedures, law enforcement compliance, annual inspections, and certification for products and personnel.
The new update comes about six months after hemp and its derivatives were federally legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill. But until the USDA releases its guidelines, hemp farmers must adhere to the earlier rules established under a narrower research-focused provision of the 2014 version of the agriculture legislation.
While the rules are yet to be published and there are therefore some restrictions on what hemp farmers can lawfully do, the USDA has clarified several policies that have already gone into effect in recent months.
The department is accepting intellectual property applications for hemp products, for example. It also explained that hemp seeds can be lawfully imported from other countries and that the crop can be transported across state lines because it’s been federally descheduled.
This story originally appeared at Boston Globe
by HempingtonPost | Jun 29, 2019
In just its second year growing hemp, South Carolina is projecting a 1,200% increase in acres of what many are hailing as the next big cash crop.
This heightened rate of growth is common around the country as states scramble for a piece of the budding market. Though the Palmetto State is years behind the regional hemp powerhouse of Kentucky, growers here now see opportunity to come into their own and catch up with neighboring states following law changes this spring.
“I think we’re in a really good position right now to be a solid hemp state,” said Vanessa Elsalah, hemp program coordinator for the state Agriculture Department.
South Carolina has 113 permitted growers this year planning to plant about 3,300 acres total, Elsalah said, though the department did not provide the field locations and actual acres planted may change. This is up from 20 growers and 256 acres last year.
City Roots, a Columbia urban farm known for its organic greens, planted 80 acres of hemp in Columbia this year and plans to plant another 120 acres south of Charleston by the end of the month, said Eric McClam. And he does not expect excitement around the new crop to subside.
“We will increase acreage again next year,” he said, having joined forces with another grower and processor, Brackish Solutions.
With the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, limits on hemp cultivation and the plant’s status as a Schedule 1 drug were lifted at the federal level. Brackish founder Jason Eargle was among those pushing expansion of the state’s program in response.
“We’ll get left behind if we don’t open this up to more people,” Eargle said. “If federal law allows it, why should we cap it? We wanted to not hold back our state from competing.”
In the region, Kentucky’s hemp industry is about five years ahead of South Carolina and grew 6,700 acres last year. The Bluegrass State is now up to 1,035 approved growers.
North Carolina has one year on the Palmetto State, having grown 965 acres in 2017 and 3,184 acres in 2018. And Tennessee has 2,600 farmers licensed to grow this year. Last year, 226 farmers grew a combined 4,700 acres in the Volunteer State.
South Carolina farmers first planted hemp in 2018, when 20 permits were issued by the Agriculture Department and 256 acres were grown. The program was set to double in 2019 when a new law signed in March removed any limits. The agency then opened up planting to all who had applied earlier in the year.
The agriculture department’s hemp division fields multiple calls daily from potential new growers hoping to plant in 2020.
“Since that law has been passed, (state Agriculture Department officials) are really jumping in head first,” Eargle said. “If they keep doing that, I think we will very quickly catch up with and surpass our neighbors.”
Much of the current demand can be attributed to CBD oil.
This story originally appeared on Post and Courier
by HempingtonPost | Jun 25, 2019
Hemp Industries Association has signed a memorandum of understanding with the United Natural Products Alliance (UNPA) to promote the advancement of hemp-extract product research, safety, and identity and quality standards for hemp foods and dietary products. The memorandum recognizes the cooperation between the two industry leaders to advance consumer confidence, industry standards, and compliance with state and federal laws and regulations regarding hemp-extract products.
The agreement ensures that the two organizations will work together on educational initiatives promoting the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), Good Manufacturing Practices regulation, Foreign Supplier Verification Programs, and general FDA regulatory and compliance for foods and dietary supplements, among others.
“UNPA has spent a great amount of time and energy evaluating appropriate relationships within the hemp and cannabis community,” said Loren Israelsen, UNPA president. “Organizationally, we wanted to better understand the fundamentals of the hemp industry, including farming, processing and extraction systems. UNPA fully supports the movement to hemp and its many uses. The health benefits and consumer interest in hemp extracts, CBD and other cannabinoids has become an important part of our work.”
“This MOU with the Hemp Industries Association advances these interests as the dietary supplement and hemp industries become allies in the commercial sector, as well as within regulatory, farm and foreign policy areas. We hope to help the hemp industry in its efforts to be fully compliant with food and supplement regulations, and to share our expertise in good manufacturing practices and quality compliance. We think this sharing of resources and expertise will add value for both organizations and both industries.”
“On behalf of the HIA and its leadership, I am thrilled that UNPA qualifies our association for this important partnership,” said Colleen Keahey Lanier, HIA executive director. “HIA members deserve to have the best information and training available to them. We look forward to sharing more information about the hemp industries, learning from UNPA and also advancing agreed upon initiatives along the way.”
The HIA will serve as a supporting partner to help promote UNPA’s Preventive Controls for Foods, Dietary Supplements and Botanically Derived Products and Ingredients training, to be held June 26-28, 2019, in Denver. The training course will focus on dietary supplements, foods and botanically derived ingredients used in the food and dietary supplement industry, including hemp and hemp-oil products, and the requirements of the Dietary Supplement Good Manufacturing Practices regulation. After successfully completing UNPA’s training course, participants will leave with a PCQI certificate of training and an understanding of the biological, chemical and physical hazards that may occur during manufacturing and product development.
FSMA requires each facility to have a PCQI on site to establish, implement and manage the required, written, hazard analysis and food safety plans for all food products and ingredients. As part of the two organizations’ new partnership, HIA members who attend the PCQI training will be offered the UNPA member price for the course.
“We hope our members will take full advantage of this collaborative opportunity,” said Keahey Lanier. “The training offered through UNPA is increasingly valuable as the hemp industry continues to grow and hemp foods are now seen as a mainstream dietary staple, as opposed to a novelty. We must ensure that our members are fully compliant with all existing federal regulations, prepared and informed if we wish to advance the strides we’ve made as an industry.”
