Exploring that most misunderstood of fibres, hemp. And the truth about chestnuts at Christmas.

Program Title: Chestnuts at Christmas and Hemp the Wonder Product
Description: In this episode Wayne MacPhail gets the lowdown on one of the most misunderstood and maligned crops in North America, hemp. It’s a delicious breakfast topping, it’s a construction material, it’s great for clothing and plastics! Stop, you’re all right. He speaks with hempbassador Marie Eisenmann about the fibre of the future. While hemp has, for centuries, been a valued crop in Asia and elsewhere on the planet, its relation to marijuana has led to North Americans having a complicated relationship with the fast growing, low maintenance, and non-psychotropic plant. That’s too bad, because, as Marie explains, the prohibitions placed on its cultivation have meant North Americans have lost decades we could have used developing ecologically friendly industries that make use of the versatile hemp seeds, flowers and fibres. That’s starting to change, due, in no small part, to Marie herself.

And .. if you associate roasted chestnuts with Christmas, blame Mel Torme and Charles Dickens. The meaty, hearty nuts have become a staple of Christmas song and story, if not kitchens. Signe Langford wants to change that, even though she had an explosive introduction to the hard little balls of nutty goodness.

Host(s): Wayne MacPhail - host and producer
Featured Speakers/Guests: 1.) Marie Eisenmann is a hempbassador. She and her colleagues evangelize a sorely mistreated and marginalized crop, hemp. 2.) Signe Langford - food writer and chef

Credits: Wayne MacPhail - host and producer
Yolanda Thornton - Harrowsmith publisher
Victoria Fenner - campus and community radio distribution

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