This week, we talk to Freya Bartles from Hemp Cooperative Ireland, a group that is helping to facilitates the growth of the Irish hemp industry, which has many of the same challenges and opportunities that we see here in the U.S.
There is great interest in the crop among Irish farmers and entrepreneurs who see it as a way to bring prosperity and healing to the land and the rural communities that live off that land.
According to Freya Bartels, board member of Hemp Cooperative Ireland, hope is high for hemp in Ireland despite the lack of processing capacity and viable markets.
Part of the challenge of building the hemp industry is cutting through the hype and stigma, she said.
On one hand, you’ve got the marijuana association. On the other, you’ve got the hype about how hemp can save the world with the 50 million things hemp can do.
To cut though the noise, Hemp Cooperative Ireland has developed an educational framework they call the Seven Pillars of Hemp, which Bartels described as a way of “dividing the overwhelming benefits of hemp down into chapters on what hemp can do for you.”
Learn more about Hemp Cooperative Ireland and the Seven Pillars of Hemp
https://hempcooperativeireland.com/
IG, FB, TW: @hemp_cooperative_ireland
Please support One Plant, a documentary film series
Join PA Farmers Union, Win Deluxe Farm Aid Concert Package
Thanks to our sponsors
IND HEMP
King’s Agriseeds