Hemphasis on Fashion!

(written for the Green Festivals blog page)

This year, as spectators and participants shuffled through the massive entrance to Washington, D.C.'s Convention Center for the 2009 Green Festival, there was a [perhaps not so] surprising new element added to the layout of the event. Veterans who had been used to an eclectic mix of sustainable vendors and inspiring setups were by no means disappointed, as many of the returning favorites were right at the gates: Better World Books, My Organic Market, and Organic Valley Farmers among them. Yet, standing proudly right at the door, was a bright-lime colored station wagon with the bumper sticker "Let U.S. Farmers Grow Hemp:" a hemp seed oil-powered wonder, and an unmistakable addition to the Green Festivals family. It was driven in by the owners of Capitol Hemp, a store in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington, D.C., which is dedicated to the sale and promotion of industrial hemp products.

Absurdly enough, while hemp products are legally imported for sale in the United States, it is the only legally-sold crop that U.S. farmers are not allowed to grow. Meanwhile, it has proven to be a prolific business for Canadian hemp growers who sell to the U.S., and a fine sampling of such folk were present in full hemp gear at the Washington, D.C. Green festival!

One of the busiest sections of the festival this year was what was known as the "hemp pavilion," centered around a large lectern made out of... you guessed it! Hemp! The advocacy group Vote Hemp was there, passing out petitions for festival goers to send to their representatives, urging them to support a measure which would allow our farmers to benefit from growing the sturdy and versatile crop. And all around were hemp products of all imaginable sorts: pants, shoes, garden gloves, candles, dog treats, boxers, hats, snacks, t-shirts, etc. etc. etc. Basically, any type of product imaginable was there, and it was all made out of hemp!

Perhaps the most entertaining treat of the weekend was the hemp pavilion's organized hemp fashion show, where the various vendors submitted pieces for enthusiastic volunteers to model. Each outfit was skillfully, creatively, and colorfully put together- putting to rest any myth about hemp not being a comfortable, attractive material to wear. The designers went all out, and the models bore it all- from boxers and robes to silk-blends and wedding dresses, the world of hemp wear was all a flourish!

It was truly inspiring to see hemp promoted in such a way that would make it appealing to mainstream American audiences. After all, the plant has been used by humans for over 10,000 years, and has been labeled by many as a "wonder plant," having hundreds of uses: from food and clothing to powering a vehicle. And the display at the Green Festival was a stepping stone for American society which, for all of its boasts of capital incentives and ingenuity, has not yet fully embraced hemp for the highly productive and beneficial crop that it is! Now, as some states are torpidly coming around to the idea of hemp farming, is the time for us to support this fantastic market, and to VOTE HEMP! And hopefully in the years to come, "meet me at the hemp pavilion" is a sentence that can be used not just at the green fest, but in everyday life :-)