hemp
According to the North American Industrial Hemp Council, hemp has been grown for at least 12,000 years for fiber and foods, yet has been prohibited since the 1950s. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, both prestigious farmers of their time, grew hemp. Ben Franklin owned a mill that made hemp paper. The Declaration of Independence was drafted on hemp paper. Henry Ford experimented with hemp to build car bodies hoping to build and fuel cars from farm products. To make the growth of hemp so difficult to farmers in the United States is like throwing the baby out with the bathwater-it’s pointless. ... com states that hemp is “any durable plant that has been used since prehistory for many purposes”. ... According to the North American Industrial Hemp Council, the products that can be made from hemp number over 25,000. Due to a similar shape in leaf, hemp is commonly confused with marijuana- which is illegal in the United States today. Hemp can be grown on a range of soils, consistent with the North American Industrial Hemp Council, but usually grows best on soil that produces high yields of corn, which is well-drained, rich in nitrogen, and non-acidic.