Journey to Romania: European Organic Hemp

About 3 years ago I traveled to Romania to visit the country where the beautiful organic hemp products made by Ecolution are grown and made.

After being picked up at Bucharest airport by the wonderful Micheal and his nephew (who drove for 7 hours each way), I had my first experiences of a country whose people had been through so much, and whose youth, as I discovered, were working hard to break the shackles of a repressed past and take advantage of the relative freedoms of the present.

After a stay of a few days in Medias, I was picked up by the company van to start a tour of where the hemp was grown, processed and created into beautiful organic hemp products. From farm to bags or clothing the trip provided a wonderful insight into the processes that bring each beautiful product to the store and an even better insight into the country and people whose years of experience in organic farming and  fabric weaving, left me in awe of not only their skill, but their wonderful humanity in the face of the adversities and challenges they had lived through historically and were facing in their day- to- day lives.

What was evident is that the quality of the food and agriculture was premium, and that Romanians had perfected organic agricultural methods from years of practice and necessity. When it was explained how this works by Micheal, it made perfect sense and my only worry was that under the European Union, the skills and knowledge that had been passed down for generations might be lost, as imported foods made their way onto the supermarket shelves.

During a three day drive around Romania, I visited the hemp farm, where the hemp fibre was also retted, combed and baled; the factory where the hemp was turned from yarn into fabric and the buildings where the the fabric was cut and stitched into a  variety of textile products: from face washers to clothing, shoes and accessories.

Many years ago hemp (cannabis sativa) was prohibited under the ‘Drugs Misuse Act” regardless of the fact that its potency when grown for industrial use, as opposed to recreational use (cannabis indica), was negligible. At that time vested interests, which viewed hemp as a threat to emerging industries,  were able to bring about prohibition under US legislation, which eventually led to other western  countries and western colonised countries following suit.

Today, we are faced with environmental challenges, many of which are a direct result of previous choices that valued a ‘profit at any price’ mentality. There are solutions and alternatives, and it is up to us as consumers to educate ourselves and bring about change;  the first step starts with awareness.

One person can make a difference, many people working together can change the world.

See the link below for more information on industrial hemp (cannabis sativa).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemp

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