MJBizMag January 2022 - 14

HEMP NOTEBOOK Kristen Nichols
Time for Grain
G
ood news: Hemp really
can reduce the impacts of
COVID-19. I'm not talking
about cannabinoids, though.
Instead, I am referring to the
potential of hemp grain as a meat
alternative.
Hemp could join other healthy,
plant-based proteins in a national
effort to tackle obesity-if only
politicians would get serious about
funding efforts to improve the
country's overall health.
OBESITY AND COVID-19
It's no secret that the United States
has a weight problem, which has
exacerbated the effects of the
COVID-19 pandemic.
The U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention reports that
obesity triples the chances that
someone who contracts COVID-19
will need to be hospitalized.
Once hospitalized, obese
COVID-19 patients are more likely
to need ventilators, more likely to
need intensive care and, tragically,
more likely to die.
That's a scary statistic in a
country where more than 42% of
adults are considered obese.
The science is clear: Underlying
health conditions such as obesity
are key drivers keeping the United
States in the unenviable position
of leading the world in pandemic
deaths.
PLANTS CAN HELP
Government spending on food
and health shows how screwy the
United States is when it comes to
addressing this problem.
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Secretary Tom Vilsack frequently
14 January 2022 | MJBizMagazine
Think of hemp's food potential as a pandemic promotion worth making
makes the point that the U.S. now
spends more each year on diabetes
treatment than it does to run the
entire USDA.
That's just crazy. And yet
politicians seem unwilling to make
the kinds of investments needed
to change how America eats
and to reduce our staggeringly
high rates of obesity, diabetes
and cardiovascular disease. The
recent $1 trillion infrastructure law
addresses the food supply chain
only by improving broadband
delivery in rural areas.
For too long, the United States
has incentivized monocropping and
large-scale meat production. The
result of this failed experiment is all
around us, evident in an agriculture
economy dominated by a few large
players and a population so overweight
that millions of Americans
have developed health conditions
that put them at risk for COVID-19
and other deadly diseases.
HEMP'S POTENTIAL
The hemp plant could help solve
the country's obesity crisis. We just
need to invest in it, instead of subsidizing
meat production.
The U.S. government spends
more than $38 billion each year
to subsidize the meat and dairy
industries. Meanwhile, it allots less
than 1% of that amount each year
to subsidize fruit and vegetable
production.
An analyst at the University of
California, Berkeley, estimated in
2015 that a pound of hamburger
would cost $30 without any government
subsidies.
Grain producers aren't helping.
An estimated 33% of global farm
" The U.S. government spends
more than $38 billion each
year to subsidize the meat
and dairy industries.
Meanwhile, it allots less than
1% of that amount each year
to subsidize fruit and
vegetable production. "
acreage goes to feed animals
raised for meat, according to the
United Nations.
SOWING THE SOLUTION
Hemp could help change things.
Hempseed products are high in
healthy fats and provide all nine
essential amino acids. These qualities
make hemp the perfect building
block for meat alternatives that
could help ease the nation's deadly
obesity epidemic.
Many readers of this magazine
know all about hemp's nutrition
profile and don't need me to talk it
up. But the industry must do a better
job talking to non-cannabis-using
voters and politicians. Hemp's
food potential could be as powerful
for human health as any tantalizing
cannabinoid benefit.
Think of it as the pandemic
promotion that's safe for cannabis
operators to talk about.
Kristen Nichols covers
hemp and CBD for
MJBizMagazine. She can be
reached at kristen.nichols@
hempindustrydaily.com.

MJBizMag January 2022

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