Their natural colors are waxed on and the company is working with a university to develop a better, formaldehyde-free bonding agent for the wood fibers. The oil in hemp seeds has a wealth of industrial uses, and nutritionally, it's a rich source of essential fatty acids. It is grown organically, and, judging by the Hemp Symposium's effort to disseminate information to farmers and entrepreneurs about governmental regulations, producing hemp locally as well as developing new uses for it, we should soon have a much bigger, more affordable supply. Hemp seemed to be a big attraction for the press and there were several TV cameras blocking the aisles. Several American companies were among the exhibitors, including Ohio Hempery, ECO Lution and American Hemp Mercantile, all of whom showed textiles and clothes to very interested buyers.
Product development is the key to moving hemp beyond the novelty stage.
Two governments sent personnel from their Department of Agriculture to the Hemp Symposium, one of them was our neighbor, Canada, who licensed a small acreage for hemp growing last year. Through their connection to Naturland, the agricultural association, the seeds are used in food production and the woody stalks mulched into animal bedding. Their flax consultant, Egon Heger, compared hemp to a soap bubble, and wondered why more producers weren't interested in jute, which he feels is ecologically preferable as well as cheaper. Considering the international cooperation and interest that prevailed at Bio Fach's Bio Resource Hemp as well as the major symposia on jute and bamboo taking place at other venues in 1995, we'll soon be seeing a lot more of these bio-fibers. In the cosmetics area, some of the product refill systems for liquids like shampoos were most impressive.