Breaking Ground

www.hemphistoryweek.com

Help Create Hemp History!

What is Hemp History Week?

An initiative of Vote Hemp and the Hemp Industries Association, Hemp History Week is the largest retailer and grass-roots marketing

and public education campaign to renew hemp farming in America Our objectives are to: • Celebrate America's rich history with industrial hemp and educate the public about

the barriers to hemp farming in the United States. • Advocate for a federal policy change while sending a strong, positive message to

President Barack Obama and Congress to remove barriers to hemp farming and let farmers grow the versatile and profitable crop.

• Engage consumers by showcasing the range of hemp products available and the nutritional as well as environmental benefits that they provide.

Hemp’s Early History in the U.S.1700’s American farmers are required by law to grow hemp in Virginia and other colonies

1776 Declaration of Independence is drafted on hemp paper

1797 U.S.S. Constitution is outfitted with 60 tons of hemp sails and rigging

1790’s George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams grow hemp and extol its benefits

1890 –1940

USDA Chief Botanist, Lyster Dewey, grows hemp at Arlington Farms, Virginia, current site of the Pentagon

1937 Hemp’s cultivation is halted by the Marihuana Tax Act

1938 Popular Mechanics article “New Billion Dollar Crop” explains that new developments in processing technology could use hemp to manufacture over 25,000 different products, “from cellophane to dynamite”

1942 Henry Ford builds an experimental car body made with hemp fiber, which is ten times strong than steel

1942 –1946

American farmers from Kentucky to Maine to Wisconsin harvest over 150,000 acres of hemp through the USDA’s Hemp for Victory program

1957 Last hemp is grown in the U.S. due to government confusion over hemp and drug varieties of the plant

Hemp’s Modern History in the U.S.1998 U.S. manufacturers begin to import food-grade hemp seed and oil from Canada

2004 Ninth Circuit Court decision in Hemp Industries Association vs. DEA permanently protects sales of hemp foods and body care products in the U.S.

2005 A bill is introduced in the U.S. Congress for the first time to allow states to regulate hemp farming

2007 The first hemp licenses in over 50 years are granted to two North Dakota farmers

2010 1st annual Hemp History Week produces 200 events in 32 states exposing 100,000 people to hemp and the cause

2013 Ryan Loflin plants and harvests hemp in Colorado, making headlines as the ‘first’ hemp farmer in decades after the state legalizes cannabis and defines industrial hemp in 2012

2014 President Obama signs the Federal Farm Bill with hemp amendment, section 7606, allowing states with pro-hemp legislation in place to grow hemp for research

2014 Kentucky and Vermont grow hemp under section 7606 of the 2014 Federal Farm Bill, but not without government complications

2015 Colorado, Kentucky, Hawaii, Minnesota, North Dakota, Oregon, Tennessee, and Vermont grow hemp under section 7606

2016 31 States have pro-hemp legislation in place, 15 states grow hemp under section 7606, and estimated U.S. hemp sales grow by 25% to $688 million

Hemp’s Landscape Today

Policy in the PipelineThe bi-partisan Industrial Hemp Farming Act is in the process of

being re-introduced into both House and Senate. This Bill will define Industrial Hemp as distinctly unique from drug varieties of

cannabis, and remove industrial hemp from the Controlled Substances Act. Congressional support is slowly grown for

previous iterations of this Bill over the years.

Take Action! with Vote HempTell your Senator to Let Farmers Grow Hemp!

votehemp.com/takeaction

Why Hemp?Beyond being a healthy, wholesome plant-based food and body-care source, industrial hemp is a growing U.S. industry and an

environmentally sustainable raw materials that can be used in hundred of products, ranging from car parts and building materials to paper products, textiles and plastics.

Hemp is an key player in healthy lifestyles, regenerative agriculture, green innovation, and economic resilience.

Hemp is an abundant pollen producer and a favorite of beneficial insects

while improving the soil

Hemp is mixed with lime and water to produce a non-toxic, environmentally

friendly building material

Hemp is rich in Omega 3, 6, & 9 Essential Fatty Acids and vitamin E, contains all 9

Essential Amino Acids and naturally occurring minerals

Designers use hemp fiber textiles to make top-selling fashion eco-

friendly

Today millions of cars built by Chrysler, Tesle, Ford, GM, Mercedes,

and BMW contain interior hemp-composite panels

Hemp is patriotic, from the Declaration of Independence to WWII. This

Kentucky-grown hemp flag was flow at the Capitol last Veteran’s Day

2016 Campaign – Breaking Ground

(Connect to the internet and double click black box to play video)

Retailer Program

Leading hemp food and body care manufacturers have partnered to bring you a turnkey sales & marketing program in celebration

of Hemp History Week.

Delivered Marketing Kits

Moon Co-op – Oxford, OH

Tools for your endcaps and in-store education: Hemp Educational Pocket Guides Endcap Header & Shelf Talkers T-shirt (while supplies last) Buttons & Stickers

Download CenterGet creative with loads of marketing assets in

the Resource Portal Educational video, webinar & pocket guide

Social media graphics & copy POS signage & flyer ad Take Action! tools Newsletter copy Hemp recipes

Planning for delicious deli and café hemp specials at your store? Get the word out through your social media and newsletter channels! http://hemphistoryweek.com/retailerportal/

Grassroots EventsHundreds of grassroots organizers around the country celebrate Hemp History Week through hosting community events.

Virginia Industrial Hemp Coalition’s screened Bringing It Home

Richmond, VA

Highland Hemp House hemp building workshop

Bellingham, WA

KY Hempsters table at local market -Lexington, KY

IN HIA tables at Fresh Thyme -Greenwood, IN

Hemp ambassadors ready to hand out HHW goodie bags at screening of BIH Los

Angeles, CA

OH HIA interns table during Earth Week Kent State University

Kent, OH

Get Involved Today! hemphistoryweek.com/get-involved

Hempstead Project HEART atBanner GrangeGrass Valley, CA

Rid-All Green PartnershipCleveland, OH

Our Supporters

Hemp in the Media

Top Press Coverage

Top Press Coverage

How to Get InvolvedRetail Program:• Register your store for exclusive deals and free, turn-key marketing collateral at hemphistoryweek.com/retailersignup• Visit the Retailer Resource Portal to download, print and share through your store, flyer, newsletter, café, deli, social

media, and more: hemphistoryweek.com/retailerportal• Share education with staff, build endcap displays, engage customers, have conversations, encourage sales• Share your success! Snap photos of your great displays, and customer and employee engagement. Share these with us,

along with your feedback, and we’ll highlight the best retailer enthusiasm on our website and social media pages.• Questions or ideas? Contact Retail Program Manager, Nancy Metcalf, at nancy@drbronner.com

Grassroots Program:• Sign up to host an event and an event support kits at hemphistoryweek.com/get-involved• Plan and promote your event. Need ideas or support? Contact our National Events Coordinator at

events@hemphistoryweek.com• Share your success! Snap photos of throughout your event, and share these with us, along with your feedback, and

we’ll highlight them on our website and social media pages.

Thank You Sponsors!