18 minute read
Focused on Farming
Taking the Crop From Soil to Oil
By Ebby Stone
How well do you multitask? Dozens of studies have linked multitasking to poor productivity. You read that correctly — the more you try to do at once, the less you actually accomplish. So why are so many in the hemp industry trying to master every aspect from seed to sale?
In traditional agriculture, farmers take their product to a processor who organizes its sale to a retailer. It’s a model that’s worked for decades and could easily help streamline production for the hemp sector. Whitefield Hemp Partners Founder John Read explains, “An easy way to think about it for Midwest farmers is we duplicate what a grain elevator does. We let the farmer focus on what he’s good at, which is growing the crop. We focus on what we’re good at, which is processing it and moving the finished goods.” This approach allows farmers to cultivate as much yield as possible, which begins with strong genetics.
Start with proven seedling varieties with high feminization and germination rates. Next, it may be helpful to seek a consultant or a partner who can help work through problems, create timelines, and offer support with unexpected challenges. Then it’s up to the farmer to ensure a robust crop makes it to the processor. “Entering hemp cultivation, the key is having an extremely strong partner, who is reliable, for taking your biomass,” said Read.
If the farmer is working with a comprehensive solution provider like Whitefield Hemp Partners, that’s the last step in turning a profit. Whitefield takes the biomass and processes it for market using a technology called biogenesis extraction. In a single pass, their system creates finished oil in less than two hours. It’s also a fullspectrum solution that pulls out all the cannabinoids and terpenes, offering a versatile finished product with multiple applications in the marketplace.
“There are no harmful chemicals or solvents. It’s as close to an organic process as possible. We’re using pharmaceutical food-grade gas for our extraction,” said Read. “We can load wet or dry biomass into our machine. The material is completely unharmed. You’re able to pull your biomass back out of the process. You can take that biomass and reuse it on the fiber side or for whatever other uses there are for the spec materials. It’s not wasted.”
Making the most of one’s resources is what helped build the Midwest into such a resilient region. It’s also what’s allowed Read to persevere as a fourth-generation farmer and why he’s passionate about helping local families succeed. “When we started Whitefield Hemp Partners, we were trying to build a company that could help bring an additional sustainable crop to the Midwest to help the Midwest farmer continue to grow,” said Read. ❖
Power Could Redman’s political party pave a path to federal legalization?
to the Plant Redman will be the first to tell you he’s no run-of-the-mill rapper. He’s an MC, an artist who moves the crowd with his dedication to hip hop. Redman launched his career with Whut? Thee Album in 1992 and hasn’t dropped the mic since. His new record, Muddy Waters 2, is set for release later this year and his radio show of the same name airs monthly on SiriusXM satellite radio. Red’s iconic stoner comedy How High hit screens in 2001 and remains one of the genre’s most beloved movies.
By Patricia Miller
Though his legacy has had an undeniable impact on cannabis culture, it’s his recent work with the National Cannabis Party that could have the biggest implications for the cannabis community. Redman and NCP Co-Founder Damon Jackson built the party to give the American people and the plant a voice in politics. In their “Statement of Organization” filed with the Federal Election Commission, they listed Lady Sativa as their candidate of choice. Redman says the movement is 100 million strong and growing. To find out what this could mean for supporters of federal legalization, Cannabis & Tech Today spoke with the MC from his home studio in New Jersey.
Cannabis & Tech Today: Cannabis has been part of your lyrical stylings for nearly 30 years. When did you realize the plant was going to be an important part of your life?
Redman: I knew the plant was going to be a part of my life the first time that I smoked it. Did I know it was going to become a worldwide phenomenon like it is now? No, I didn’t. When I first started smoking I knew I liked it, and then when I got into the hip hop game, I knew I wanted to put it at the forefront of my career. I don’t know why. I just knew what the plant did for me.
C&T Today: How has hip hop helped destigmatize the plant and pave the way for legalization?
Redman: I can’t say the entire hip hop community ... They talked about it, yes, but I’m very strict on the fabric of hip hop and the cannabis plant. What I mean by that is there’s only a few who would put it on the line — and that’s me, Snoop Dogg, B-Real, Cypress Hill, and Meth in his earlier career.
The reason I say that is because, yes, the hip hop industry supported it, smoked it. A lot of rappers mentioned it. But guys like me, Snoop, and B-Real, we actually put it on a frontline, meaning that we never compromised on our beliefs, on our smoking, on what we thought was the way of the future. That was us. I can honestly say we lost a lot of deals, money, and were unable to work with other brands because of what we believed in. It’s not like we’re doing this because this is the movement. Yes, this is the movement, but this is what we always believed in, because smoking and being a part of this plant is not just a recreational thing for us, or just a medical thing for us, this is a lifestyle.
C&T Today: You’re so passionate about it. What is it about the plant that moves you like that?
Redman: You know what? It was the first time I hit it and the way it made me feel. Of course, I went through my getting high stages, and recreational use, but then after I started getting more into it … It was like, this is it for me, right here. I’m glad that I did because it kept me away from all these other dumbass drugs, like cocaine and heroin, and all that bullshit. Nothing in the world makes me feel like this plant right here, knowing that it’s natural, knowing that when I smoked it it opened up other doors for me, being creative.
Then, as I started learning more about it, I even took a crash course at Oaksterdam University in Oakland, California, and I’m a licensed patient consultant right now. I wanted to learn about this plant that I’ve been smoking for years. I wanted to learn how it was helping people now.
Overall, I feel I made a great choice in my life by dealing with this cannabis plant, because cannabis brings people together at the end of the day. And through the music, while everyone was talking about being a gangster, we just stuck to the talk of cannabis, what it brings, the funness it brings.
C&T Today: What role does it play in the creative process for you?
Redman: Writing, doing music. I work very hard in the studio. I run my own studio. I like being creative. I like maybe hitting a blunt and just writing, getting some lyrics, because it doesn’t box me in. Creatively, it’s great if you know how to use it. You have to understand, sativa helps bring that creativity. Indica puts your ass asleep. Hybrid is in between. It allows me to open a door in other channels to music and creativity.
C&T Today: How have you seen smoking technology evolve since you started smoking?
Redman: Well, the only thing that’s really different is just how you smoke. There’s a lot of vape pens right now. There’s a lot of different pre-rolls, and they’ve got pre-rolls with kief and oil in it, wax wrapped around it. I don’t really indulge in those. I don’t like pre-rolls. I don’t like a blunt wrapped with wax. It’s just not me. I’m old school. I roll me a good blunt and that’s it for me.
C&T Today: You’re notorious for your blunts; have you perfected your blunt rolling skills?
Redman: [Laughs] Everyone knows when you roll in the Backwoods, there’s never a perfect Backwoods blunt. You can roll a perfect joint, but when you’re dealing with leaves, there’s never a perfect blunt. The perfect blunt in that category is how it hits. It can look ugly as fuck, but if it hits, then you got you a good blunt.
C&T Today: What inspires you when working on new music and your Sirius XM radio show?
Redman: With my new album Muddy Waters 2, what inspired me is that it’s almost done. I’ve been working on it for a long time, and that’s because I’ve been off and on with it, paying for samples and shit like that. What inspires me is that I have a good project. I know that I have a good project because I listen to my shit and get excited. When I get excited listening to my songs, I’m like, “I got something different. I got something that people, or the industry, are not tapping into.” That gets me excited when I’m doing something that I know is different.
As far as working on other business, like the XM show, I always try to bring something new to the table. At the end of the day, I didn’t know shit about running a radio show. I was thrown into an uncomfortable predicament and I grew. After my third show, I started getting the hang of it and every time I worked, I would find easier ways to do things. My girl always tried to tell me, “Challenge yourself, challenge yourself.” And I think the radio show was a challenge for me to really figure out things on my own without someone nurturing me. It was just like, you got a radio show. You go do it. And I figured it out. I think that’s what I love about doing these other businesses, because it’s something I’m not used to. I needed to grow. Now, I feel I have grown more, like there’s not a challenge or anything that I cannot do. Just throw me in a fire, and I’m with it, you know?
C&T Today: Speaking of your other projects, let’s talk about the National Cannabis Party. How did you become involved with the movement?
Redman: Damon [Jackson] saw one of my interviews on TMZ on how passionate I was
about helping people with this cannabis plant. TMZ was saying, “Well, Red, I know you want to make a lot of money.” I told them no, it’s not about the money for me. I just want to be able to help people. Damon saw that, and he was looking all around for different artists, but he said this is the guy I want to work with.
The National Cannabis Party, the NCP, came through God’s blessing because a lot of people told us that you’re not going to get [Federal Election Commission] approved. But now we are FEC approved, a real National Cannabis Party.
I explain to people, listen, you have a Democratic Party. You have a Republican party. You now have a National Cannabis Party. That is very serious, and we are 101 million strong. There’s 101 million registered voters out there, who support cannabis, that we can connect with and tap into. The best thing we can have is faith and patience in this world and the love of what we do, and I think that’s what helped me and Damon the most to get here.
C&T Today: What is it about the NCP that excites you the most?
Redman: NCP is all about the people. It’s all about putting the responsibility back into people’s hands. It’s about helping regulate laws and helping the public learn about licensing and preventing the big suits from coming in and taking control and implementing their own laws and regulations. We have a voice. We have a voice now. We don’t have to wait to see who’s going to be in the presidency. We don’t have to wait to see who’s in the chair to make a decision. We have our own party where we can actually help regulate our own laws and help communities.
I’m very proud of the NCP because, like I said, I’m in the business of helping people, and we’re putting this responsibility back into the public’s hands. I think it’s a great thing because we’re allowing this cannabis plant and the people to have a voice and to be heard.
C&T Today: Do you see the culture of cannabis evolving as more states legalize?
Redman: Yes, definitely, because at the end of the day, it’s not about just the recreational and medical side of it. It’s also that the states legalizing this plant are helping the economy. They could use it to bring more education to the schools … It’s helping a lot of communities that’ve been affected by poverty, affected by police corruption. You’re able to bring more money into the state for doing different things. If you implement this plant in your state, and you build the right laws that can help you economic-wise, you can pull your state out of debt and actually implement so many programs for people — where you don’t have to just depend on the taxpayer’s money.
I want all the states to implement it. Get with the program. No matter how much the government wants to conceal it, it won’t be denied to the people, and that’s what NCP is about. We want to have that voice for the plant itself. ❖
Stirring thePot
Streaming Networks Serve Up On-Demand Cannabis Cuisine
By Patricia Miller
A surprising 43% of Americans live in a place with legal adult-use cannabis, per a 2019 U.S. Census report. With half of America welcoming legal marijuana, media executives are vying to bring cannabis to mainstream programming.
Netflix, Amazon, The Food Network, Discovery+, and YouTube are all offering cannabis-focused content. For whatever reason, cooking shows seem to be the most palatable medium for talking about the formerly taboo subject. Cooking on High, Bong Appetit, Cooked with Cannabis, High Cuisine, and now Chopped 420 are just a few of the programs created in recent years to satiate America’s appetite for cannabis content.
A Slow Evolution
Some of the early shows leaned too heavily on pothead quips and poorly executed puns. But recent programming seems to be moving past stoner stereotypes and actually offering some insight into cannabis culture. Chopped 420 is one of the latest to hit mainstream media. It’s a spin-off of Food Network’s Chopped, now in it’s 45th season as a cable network hit. The new show is available via Discovery+, an on demand video streaming service offering content from all of Discovery’s media properties.
“I think when Discovery puts their name on something like this, it really helps people say, ‘Okay, well this must not be that bad,’” said Laganja Estranja, special celebrity guest judge for Chopped 420’s debut episode. Television content, for better or worse, is educating an audience that’s long been indoctrinated by “Reefer Madness” propaganda. Seeing judges consume cannabis and continue to function as responsible adults could lessen pot’s pervasive stigma.
Vying for Visibility
These shows are also giving viewers a peek into a new world. What does cannabis look like, what are its different forms, how is it used in
Chopped 420 Special Celebrity Guest Judge Laganja Estranja
Photo: Jon Sams
Cannabis Chef Brandon Allen
Jeff “The 420 Chef” Danzer
cooking? These are questions many people are hesitant to ask. For those entrenched in cannabis culture, it’s easy to forget this plant has been likened to heroin for much of its recent history and federally is still in the same category as cocaine. Cooking is a way to talk about cannabis as something approachable and familiar.
Legacy Cannabis Chef and Author Jeff “The 420 Chef” Danzer has nearly 10k subscribers to his YouTube channel. He’s offering viewers an education in cannabis and helping people avoid unpleasant experiences with the herb. “My mission from the beginning is always to make the cannabis consumption experience simple and easy for everyone,” he said during a panel discussion at the Spring Emerge Virtual Cannabis Conference.
Providing insight into potency and dosing can be the first step in helping people create a positive relationship with cannabis. “I started out making super potent edibles that were just too potent for the people I was cooking with … Dosing is definitely an issue for a lot of people,” said Danzer.
Cannabis Chef and Educator at the Trichome Institute Brandon Allen agrees that moderation is key. “If you’re giving someone THC, assume there’s nothing you can do to erase it, which is why you have to be preventative and cautious and make sure you’re dosing people accordingly.” As the public learns to accept cannabis as commonplace, cooking shows remind viewers of the “low and slow” philosophy of consumption. It’s one step in a desperately needed cannabis education for the American public.
Photo: Aaron Jay Young
Educating the Masses
Most people know very little about cannabis and what they do know is often tainted by misinformation. Televised marijuana programs have an opportunity to inform viewers. Ideally, the message would be that this is a safe product for responsible adults; it’s also a valuable medicine. The medicinal value is one area where many programs seem to miss the mark. It’s easy to focus on the fun aspects of the herb, but this overlooks the real reason cannabis was legalized. Cannabis advocates fought to get this plant in the hands of sick and dying people because it provides unmatched therapeutic relief for a wide variety of illnesses.
Patients were first able to access medical marijuana thanks to the passage of Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act. It was passed largely due to the work of Dennis Peron, a homosexual man who saw his friends suffering from the symptoms of AIDS. It’s a history many cannabis-themed shows don’t dive into, but his advocacy is the basis of all cannabis legalization.
Estranja touched on the topic during an interview with Cannabis & Tech Today, “I got my medical license under Proposition 215. When I discovered that [Prop 215] was actually founded by the LGBTQIA+ community, I felt a real sense of carrying out this legacy as being someone who was queer and someone who was also in the cannabis space.”
She continued, “I wish we could get to a place where people realize that it is a medicine … There’s so much more to this plant than the hip hop vibes and other things that come along with pop culture that we know of cannabis.”
Photo courtesy Food Network
First Food, Then Federal Rescheduling
As these shows gain traction, they’re bringing visibility to the cannabis industry. “My parents are watching the show, so it’s amazing how many people Chopped 420 is really reaching,” said Estranja. Right now, these programs are somewhat one dimensional. But, they’re setting a foundation for more insightful programming down the road. Perhaps if we start with food and fun, Americans will feel comfortable starting to explore the important complexities of the plant.
“I just really think that what needs to happen is we need to be federally recognized. And until that point, I really feel like stigma isn’t going to change. We’re going to need more than the Discovery Channel doing a show like this. We’re going to really need federal recognition,” said Estranja. Until cannabis is rescheduled as a medically useful substance, mainstream television will likely continue to only touch on the superficial aspects of what makes it such an important and powerful plant. ❖
