Bipartisan Support Builds for Legislation to Legalize the Sale of Hemp-derived CBD in Dietary Supplements

Photo: Pexels

This article originally appeared in Presence Marketing’s November 2020 Newsletter

By Steven Hoffman

Legislation is advancing that potentially bodes well for sellers of dietary supplements made with hemp-derived CBD.

According to reports from the U.S. Hemp Roundtable, 18 members of Congress have signed on in support of a bill introduced in September in the U.S. House of Representatives that would “make hemp, cannabidiol derived from hemp, and any other ingredient derived from hemp lawful for use under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act as a dietary ingredient in a dietary supplement, and for other purposes.”

The Bill, H.R. 8179, the Hemp and Hemp-Derived CBD Consumer Protection and Market Stabilization Act of 2020, enjoys bipartisan support. If passed, it would allow hemp-derived CBD and other hemp-derived ingredients to be legally marketed as an ingredient in dietary supplements, as long as the products comply with current legal requirements for new dietary ingredients, as well as other requirements pertaining to dietary supplements under federal law.

“In a year when Congress is bitterly divided and has been unable to find agreement on key issues such as pandemic response and aid relief, there is unusual and exciting agreement around a potential bill to allow hemp CBD to be marketed as a dietary supplement, with 18 members from both parties supporting the bill,” said the U.S. Hemp Roundtable in a statement.

“H.R. 8179 … is more than hemp and supplements, however. It represents an opportunity to provide consumers greater product safety and confidence due to regulations, hemp farmers an economic lifeline, and states struggling from reduced revenues a new source of profitable opportunity,” said the U.S. Hemp Roundtable. “Failing to establish a regulatory pathway for legalizing hemp-derived CBD will continue to reduce economic opportunity for U.S. hemp farmers and deny consumers access to safe, quality products. H.R. 8179 would help stabilize the hemp markets, open up a promising economic opportunity for U.S. agriculture and honor the commitment made to growers in the 2018 Farm Bill,” the organization added.

Hemp Can Provide an Economic Stimulus
“Once FDA does legally recognize and regulate CBD products, the hemp industry can provide a needed financial jolt to a nation emerging through economic recovery. Regulatory relief for the hemp-derived CBD industry constitutes an economic stimulus package for the nation’s farmers and small businesses without requiring one dime from the American taxpayer,” the U.S. Hemp Roundtable stated.

“Independent surveys predict that with a regulatory pathway, sales of CBD products would grow from approximately $1.2 billion in 2019 to anywhere from $10.3 billion to $16.8 billion by 2025,” U.S. Hemp Roundtable concluded.

The bipartisan legislation, introduced by Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-OR) and Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA), would direct the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to use its authority and resources to set a clear regulatory framework for hemp and hemp-derived CBD and assure consumer protection for these products, reported the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) in a release. For marketers of hemp-based CBD in dietary supplements, the bill would eliminate regulatory hurdles and uncertainty that have hampered the category’s growth.

The bill’s lead co-sponsor, Rep. Morgan Griffith, added, “Hemp was historically an important crop for Virginia farmers, and dietary supplements made from it do not possess dangerous addictive qualities. Nevertheless, the current state of regulation creates confusion about its legal uses. I joined this bipartisan bill to provide certainty for hemp farmers that their crop may find legal uses,” said Rep. Griffith in a statement.

Other sponsors of the bill include Representatives Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), James Comer (R-KY), Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Don Bacon (R-NE), Ron Kind (D-WI), Mike Rogers (R-AL), and more. In total, nine Republicans and nine Democrats signed on to sponsor the bill.

In response to the proposed legislation, leading dietary supplement industry associations, including AHPA, the Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA), the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), Citizens for Health, and the United Natural Products Alliance (UNPA), have endorsed H.R. 8179. The National Grocers Association and the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, along with the U.S. Hemp Roundtable and other hemp industry leaders, also have endorsed H.R. 8179.

Hemp Industry Pushes Back on the DEA; Gains Congressional Support
In related news, U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) joined others in championing the potential of hemp CBD by sending a letter on October 22, 2020, to U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Acting Administrator Timothy Shea to make clear that the DEA’s Interim Final Rule (IFR) regarding hemp is in opposition to federal law and derails the intent of the 2018 Farm Bill.

"We are grateful for Senator Wyden and Merkley’s leadership and are hopeful that the DEA will listen and take necessary steps to withdraw its misguided rule. We will continue to pursue our efforts to fix this problem in Congress and/or the courts," said Jonathan Miller, General Counsel for the U.S. Hemp Roundtable. 

DEA's Interim Final Rule (IFR) drew strong objections from the hemp industry overall as it potentially criminalizes the hemp extraction process, undermining the industry and U.S. hemp farmers.

In mid-October, the Hemp Industries Association (HIA) along with South Carolina-based CBD maker RE Botanicals filed a federal lawsuit claiming that the DEA is unlawfully attempting to regulate certain products derived from lawful hemp by misinterpreting the 2018 Farm Bill.

Specifically, said the plaintiffs, the DEA classifies intermediary hemp material (IHM) and waste hemp material (WHM), two necessary and inevitable byproducts of hemp processing, as Schedule I controlled substances. The plaintiffs argue that Congress deliberately removed such commercial hemp activity from the DEA's jurisdiction when it legalized hemp production, including hemp processing, via the 2018 Farm Bill.

The filing is the second such federal action is as many months taken by the plaintiffs on behalf of the hemp industry. In September, HIA and RE Botanicals filed an initial federal lawsuit challenging DEA’s rule and perceived interference in the industrial hemp market. 

Resources
H.R. 8179 Bill
H.R. 8179 Fact Sheet
H.R. 8179 White Paper
H.R. 8179 Two-pager with Bill Sponsors
Legislation Would Legalize Sale of Hemp-derived CBD in Dietary Supplements
It’s Hemp vs. the DEA … Again!
CBD Industry Takes the Fight to the DEA

Pure Hemp® Perfects Rolling Paper, Builds on Nearly 300 Years of Paper-making History

This article originally appeared in the October 21, 2020 edition of the Let’s Talk Hemp Newsletter.

By Steven Hoffman

What do you get when you combine a Spanish company with nearly 300 years in the business of making specialty paper products with a Canadian husband and wife team who in the 1990s were among the first “hempreneurs” dedicated to bringing hemp products to North America?

What you get is Pure Hemp, ultrathin 100% hemp rolling papers made of the highest quality for the discerning smoker, said Roland (Rolly) Pharand, Managing Director of Natural Emphasis Ltd. Based in Ontario, Canada, Natural Emphasis was founded in 1995 by husband and wife entrepreneurs Dave Marcus and Radha Chaddah, and is the exclusive North American importer of Pure Hemp rolling papers and related products.

More than that, when Dave and Radha were first building their hemp-centric import business in Canada, they approached their future Spanish partner, Miquel y Costas – a legendary paper manufacturer originally founded in 1725 in Barcelona as a family business whose “Smoking” brand of papers are sold worldwide – to import the company’s eco-friendly “Smoking Green” 100% pure hemp, premium quality rolling paper, which prompted the birth of the Pure Hemp brand.

Prior to then, the paper makers at Miquel y Costas had seen the value of hemp fiber in manufacturing rolling papers, but like others at the time, they primarily blended the hemp with paper pulp made from other textile crops, such as flax. When raw materials were in short supply during the Great Depression in the 1930s, Miquel y Costas began working directly with hemp and other textile farmers to ensure the company’s own supply of raw materials, selecting hemp varietals over time that produce the best fiber needed for its rolling papers.

Based on the growth of the Pure Hemp brand in the North American market, Miquel y Costas expanded the sales of Pure Hemp products first in South America, including Brazil, where Pure Hemp papers are popular. The company also recently introduced Pure Hemp papers to the European market, Pharand noted.

Burn Paper, Not the Planet
“Pure Hemp is a 100% eco-friendly tree-free rolling paper, produced using only the finest hemp pulp and is complimented with an all-natural gum line sustainably harvested from the African Acacia tree – all while maintaining the highest quality product with a slow burn and very little ash,” boasted Pharand of his product. “Once catering only to a niche market, today Pure Hemp rolling papers are an internationally recognized mass market leader for eco-alternatives to other traditional wood pulp-based rolling papers on the market.”

Pure Hemp offers products to consumers and wholesale accounts online and in retail stores throughout the U.S. and Canada. Products include Pure Hemp Classic and Unbleached rolling papers in various sizes. The company also recently launched 100% hemp Unbleached Cones in 1,000 cones per box count in 83 mm and 110 mm sizes. Pure Hemp also sells trays, tins and other gear in its distinctive vintage design.

“Nothing is more honorable than seeing the farmers putting the cannabis they’ve grown themselves into our hemp paper,” said Pharand, who has helped lead Natural Emphasis for more than 20 years.

Staying True to Its Roots
As it is still a very hemp-centric company, Natural Emphasis has continued an ongoing hemp breeding project under its “Natural Hemphasis” R&D arm. Begun in the late 1990s with Dr. Ernest Small of Canada’s Eastern Cereal and Oilseed Research Centre, the research has focused on developing varieties for hempseed oil. 

“We started in 1998 by bringing in 100 varieties of hemp from around the world,” said Pharand. “We’re still running our research plots and have developed three varieties for hempseed oil. We’re also looking at other higher resinous cannabis varieties to select for the best performing breeds,” he said.

“In particular, we are developing varietals that can grow successfully in the outdoors. If we want to create a positive environmental impact, we’ve got to develop varieties that will grow outside in the Canadian climate. We can’t have cannabis growing in indoor environments that consume a lot of energy,” Pharand added. “Maybe greenhouses will be needed for supplemental production, but growing under lights seems ridiculous when we have natural light and can have less of an impact around the globe,” he said.

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EarthxTV to Livestream Half-Earth Day and EarthX Global Gala, October 22

This article originally appeared in the October 21, 2020 edition of the Let’s Talk Hemp Newsletter.

“Attention all hempsters! EarthxLings await your expanded minds at the Global Gala. Half Earth Day mean several things and we mix ‘em up. The resulting blend will give you a taste of things to come on EarthxTV.” – EarthX Founder Trammell S. Crow

By Steven Hoffman

Dallas, TX – Most of us know that Earth Day is held each April 22, and this year, 2020, marked the 50th anniversary of the day dedicated around the globe to environmental education and awareness.

But not many people may know about Half Earth Day. Yes, Half Earth Day.

This year, celebrating the halfway point in the calendar to the 51st Annual Earth Day in April 2021, Half Earth Day will be livestreamed for free on EarthxTV on Thursday, October 22, 2020, 5:00 pm – 6:25 pm CDT. 

The idea is to get us thinking about the environment all year round, said event organizers. And rather than lament the fact that they can’t host the gathering in person this year, “we will now be able to have a worldwide audience for streaming,” said Dawn Spalding, Executive Producer of the EarthX Global Gala held in conjunction with the Half Earth Day event.

With headline speakers including Erin Brockovich; renowned naturalist E.O. Wilson; Rachelle Carson Begley, wife of “uber-environmentalist” Ed Begley and a passionate environmentalist in her own right; and conservationist and writer Harvey Locke, Half Earth Day brings together people from around the world and across disciplines and party lines to share their perspectives and thought leadership on how we can work together to ensure the health of the planet for future generations.

Half Earth Day is presented by EarthX, an internationally recognized nonprofit multi-media organization dedicated to building environmental awareness and founded by Dallas, TX, real estate scion and environmentalist Trammel Crow. 

Inspired by the work of E.O. Wilson, Half Earth Day is a call to conserve half the Earth’s land and sea in order to provide sufficient habitat to safeguard the bulk of biodiversity, said event organizers.

The free livestream Half Earth Day program will be followed by the EarthX Global Gala, held the same day, October 22, 6:30 pm – 11:00 pm CDT. 

The “eco-star-studded” virtual gala event will feature “some of the most notable eco-heroes on the planet,” along with live musical entertainment by The Compton Kidz Club, Grammy winner Skip Martin of Kool and the Gang, and the Bastards of Soul, plus a live virtual auction. The gala is hosted by Dr. Evan Antin, host of Animal Planet’s Evan Goes Wild. General admission tickets for the Global Gala livestream are available for $25 here. VIP tickets are also available.

“Hemp industry professionals will want to tune in to the Global Gala to celebrate environmentalism and progress for the planet,” said Daulton O’Neill, who works in Corporate and Partnership Development at EarthX. “The hemp movement plays a significant role in the regenerative agriculture conversation, and we are happy to curate those conversations here at EarthX and now on EarthxTV.”

What started as an outdoor street fair in Dallas in 2011 has grown into one of the world’s leading Earth Day events and a globally recognized environmental organization, EarthX. Founded by Trammell Crow, the Dallas, TX-based nonprofit promotes environmental awareness and impact through conscious business, nonpartisan collaboration and community-driven sustainable solutions. Visit www.EarthX.org.

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Italy Classifies CBD as Narcotic; Orders Products Off Retail Shelves

This article originally appeared in the October 21, 2020 edition of the Let’s Talk Hemp Newsletter.

While the EU is the world’s second largest market for hemp-derived CBD products, Italy’s Ministry of Health this week decreed CBD is a drug, and retailers were warned not to sell hemp extract products, in conflict with the country’s Agriculture Ministry, which listed hemp flowers for “extraction uses” as an agricultural product, and not a drug.

By Steven Hoffman

With the CBD-based pharmaceutical, Epidiolex, manufactured by the UK’s GW Pharmaceuticals, poised to enter the Italian market, hemp-derived CBD was classified this week as a narcotic in Italy by the country’s Ministry of Health. According to a HempToday report on October 20, CBD was officially added to Italy’s list of medicines.

In addition to the ruling, Italy’s Customs and Monopoly Agency immediately followed up with a warning to retailers, advising them “not to hold and sell … inflorescences (flowers), oils, resins or other products containing substances derived from hemp sativa,” HempToday reported.

The move comes in conflict with the country’s Agriculture Ministry, which published an official decree in August 2020 that listed hemp flower, or “canapa infiorescenza,” for extraction uses as an agricultural product. 

According to the Cannabis Law Report, the decree was approved by Italy’s Agriculture Minister Teresa Bellanova, adding hemp flower under “medicinal plants” in a list of approved agricultural products. HempToday reported that Italy’s Agriculture Ministry “listed hemp flowers for ‘extraction uses’ as an agricultural product, and not a drug.”

Concerns Over Proposed EU CBD Regulation
Italy’s decision contributes to the hemp industry’s concern that the EU market overall is becoming less friendly to hemp-derived CBD products. According to Better Retailing, retailers in Europe could see up to half of existing CBD brands disappear due to upcoming cost-prohibitive regulation. 

“From 31 March 2021, CBD food, drink, oil and supplement brands must be able to prove that products released to [the EU] market before 13 February 2021 have a validated novel foods application to be legally allowed to sold in stores. It applies only to ingested goods, meaning CBD vaping lines are exempt,” Better Retailing reported. According to Better Retailing, it could cost more than $500,000 to have each product line submitted for EU regulatory approval.

Then, in July 2020, news reports shared that the European Commission was suspending applications for CBD to be included as a novel food. Instead, it was learned the commission is reviewing whether CBD and other extracts derived from hemp flowers would be better regulated as narcotics. The reasoning behind the suspension was based on a reference in the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs in 1961, which states that “’extracts and tinctures’” of the flowering tops of the hemp plant (cannabis sativa) should be classed as a narcotic,” reported New Food Magazine.

While it is still only a proposal, the ramifications of such a ruling has the European hemp industry quite concerned. Responding to the proposal to rule CBD as a narcotic in the EU, the European Industrial Hemp Association (EIHA) accused the European Commission of being “poised to kill the EU’s hemp sector,” Hemp Gazette reported.

“If confirmed, this position is likely to strike the final blow to the sector and deprive farmers from a low maintenance and profitable rotation crop with the potential to bringing environmental benefits,” the EIHA said in a July 2020 statement. “Cannabidiol would stay on the market but only in synthetic form, produced via polluting chemical manufacturing.”

According to EIHA’s view, “Industrial hemp and its downstream products are not narcotic or psychotropic drugs.” Further, EIHA stated that “hemp is exempted from the scope of the United Nations Single Convention of 1961, whose authors made a clear distinction between cannabis varieties grown for the production of drugs (falling under the scope of the treaties) and exempting those grown for any other purpose (i.e., low-THC varieties). On top of that, EIHA states clearly that not all hemp extracts shall be considered novel but only the enriched and isolated ones,” the organization stated.

“EIHA collected many evidences which clearly demonstrate that traditional hemp extracts were widely used as food for centuries. Traditional hemp extracts, which have been consumed for centuries in Europe and worldwide, should therefore be considered as traditional food according to food regulations. Hemp extracts processed by new extraction methods should be subject to the respective legal frameworks of the Novel Food Regulation (EU) 2015/2283,” EIHA asserted.

Meanwhile, in Italy, hemp industry observers expressed concern that GW Pharmaceuticals’ desire to enter EU markets – and its recent request to begin marketing in the Italian market – may have prompted the Italian Ministry of Health’s decree establishing narcotics status for CBD, reported HempToday.  

According to HempToday, “It remains to be seen what will happen in Italy with smokable hemp, which is based on hemp flowers (“inflorescenses”) and therefore not extracted, under the Customs and Monopoly Agency’s stop-sell order.” Sold as pre-rolled cigarettes and loose in pouches, smokable hemp has grown in popularity in Italy, Switzerland and elsewhere in the EU over the past few years, HempToday reported.

Also, HempToday pointed out that hemp flowers can also contain hemp seeds, “which are technically legal in Italy, raising still further potential confusion.” Approximately 80% of Italy’s agricultural hemp production is in food seed, according to a report published in February 2020 by the Foreign Agricultural Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

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The Brave New World of Retail: Join Errol Schweizer on the Next Compass Coffee Talk, November 18, 11:30am EST

The Brave New World of Retail

Join retail expert Errol Schweizer, former VP of Grocery for Whole Foods Market, as he explores the changing state of retail on the next Compass Coffee Talk

EPISODE 8 - WEDNESDAY, November 18, 11:30 AM – NOON EST
ZOOM, ADMISSION IS FREE

After serving for seven years as the VP of Grocery with the world’s largest natural products retailer, Whole Foods Market, Errol Schweizer has gone on to work with Patagonia, General Mills, Good Eggs, and other leading healthy lifestyles retailers and brands. Supermarket News named him one of their top 25 Game Changers, and in 2019 he won the Hemp Industry Association Lifetime Achievement Award.

In addition to working with leading food retailers and manufacturers, and further refining the natural products retail experience through his unique lens and experience, Errol has become an advocate for essential workers. His podcast, The Checkout, hosts amazing conversations with industry leaders and focuses on the rapid evolution of retail in the time of Covid-19 and beyond.

Join us for the next Compass Coffee Talk as co-hosts Steve Hoffman and Bill Capsalis from Compass Natural explore with Errol how to succeed in a rapidly changing retail market, and how brands can survive and thrive through the pandemic … and how grocery retail will change in the future.

About Errol Schweizer
A native of The Bronx, NY, Errol Schweizer is a 25+ year veteran of the food system, with experience in retail, food service, cooperatives, farmers markets, urban agriculture, community organizing and food policy. He has worked nearly every retail and service sector job, from grill cook and dishwasher, to stock clerk and purchasing manager. As the former V.P. of Grocery for Whole Foods, he spent over a decade bringing more than 6,000 products to market. Errol has subsequently had a huge impact on Non-GMO and Organic product availability, fair labor standards, Halal and Kosher certification, plant-based foods, and grass-fed and humanely-raised meat, eggs and dairy. Errol is currently a Board Member, Advisor and Co-Founder for over a dozen retailers and manufacturers in the natural products and cannabis sectors and is active in regional food policy, Organic food access and social justice organizing.

Thanks to our Sponsor, Allegro Coffee!

For the holiday season, Allegro Coffee will give away a fully stocked gift basket filled with their organic coffee & tea's and custom coffee mugs!

About Compass Coffee Talk™
Take a 30-minute virtual coffee break with Compass Coffee Talk™. Hosted by natural industry veterans Bill Capsalis and Steve Hoffman, Coffee Talk features lively interactive conversations with industry leaders and experts designed to help guide entrepreneurs and businesses of any size succeed in the market for natural, organic, regenerative, hemp-derived and other eco-friendly products.

Compass Coffee Talk™ is produced by Compass Natural Marketing, a leading PR, branding and business development agency serving the natural and organic products industry. Learn more.

Compass Natural Marketing™ Forms New Advisory Board

Seasoned Natural Products Executives Partner with Agency’s Specialized Team of Experts, and Provide Additional Support for Clients in Regenerative, Hemp, and Organic Industries

Boulder, CO (October 13, 2020) – Boulder-based Compass Natural Marketing is pleased to announce the launch of its newly established Advisory Board along with the appointment of three charter members. Natural products industry veterans Ari Adams, Bill Capsalis, and Mike Schall will provide their depth of knowledge, insights, and guidance to the Compass Natural Advisory Board, in addition to supporting the agency’s current team of specialized communications experts. Compass Advisory Board members will foster positive relationships and collaborate directly with Compass’s clients in the regenerative agriculture, industrial hemp, and organic and natural products industries.

“I am proud and honored for Ari, Bill, and Mike to join Compass's new Advisory Board. Each of these distinguished leaders has complementary skill sets, yet diversified disciplines that appeal to our client’s needs," said Steven Hoffman, Founder and Managing Partner, Compass Natural Marketing. “The Advisory Board’s level of expertise combined with the skill set of our internal team positions Compass as a premier boutique niche agency. This collaboration reflects a deeper commitment to the industries we serve, and I am grateful to announce this partnership.” 

The Compass Advisory Board is in its initial phase and board positions are being considered on an individual basis. For more information on the Compass Natural team, including capabilities and how to connect your brand to valuable media, please visit  www.compassnatural.com or contact Steven Hoffman at steve@compassnaturalmarketing.com.

ARI ADAMS 
Ari Adams is a parenting and lifestyle blogger, author, and CEO of ShiftCon Media, producer of the annual ShiftCon Eco-Wellness Influencer Conference for eco-friendly and health-conscious bloggers and influencers. She holds a master's degree in marketing and has more than 15 years of experience in the media industry. Ari is the lady behind the lifestyle and parenting blog Love, Peace & Tiny Feet, where she shares her adventures of balancing parenthood, holistic wellness, DIY crafts, recipes, and other tips for parents. Ari studied at the University of Virginia and Georgia State University and holds a Master's Degree in Marketing. Ari also serves as an Adjunct Professor of Digital Marketing at Clayton State University in Atlanta, GA.

BILL CAPSALIS
As an avid healthy lifestyle expert, Bill works with emerging brands and mid-sized companies on everything from brand & sales channel strategy, finance, operational challenges, and product innovation. His in-depth knowledge of the natural products industry gives him a unique perspective on today’s food and beverage brands' challenges and opportunities. He is a recognized expert in healthy lifestyles and go-to-market strategies in the natural and organic industry. He is currently the interim CEO of Haystack Mountain Creamery - an artisanal goat cheese company. Practicing what he preaches, Bill leads a vegan, low-impact conscious lifestyle and has done so in Boulder, Colorado, for 34 years.

MIKE SCHALL
Mike has over three decades of senior management experience in branded food companies spanning large national brands' entrepreneurial initiatives. Mike is a Managing Director at Los Angeles based FocalPoint Partners, LLC, a middle-market investment banking firm and serves as a co-leader of the firm's Food & Beverage Practice. He previously served as Senior Principal of Business Development at Whole Foods Market where he worked with the executive leadership team on a wide range of strategic, investment and operating initiatives. Mike earned his MBA in Marketing from The University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business and graduated from California State University with a bachelor's degree in Marketing. He is plant-based, an avid runner, and enjoys cooking, reading, and studying history. He and Lisa, his wife of 40 years, have two daughters and three granddaughters.

About Compass Natural Marketing
Based in Boulder, Colorado - considered by many to be the "Epicenter of the Natural Products Industry," Compass Natural is a boutique digital marketing, branding, PR, and business development agency serving the rapidly growing market for natural, organic, socially responsible, eco-friendly and other healthy lifestyles products. Founded in late 2001 and driven by a commitment to creating a better world through business, Compass Natural has been a leader in the Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability (LOHAS) market.

Contact
Steven Hoffman, Founder/Managing Director, Compass Natural Marketing, 303.807.1042, steve@compassnaturalmarketing.com

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YES AND Launches Organic VOTE Masks & Tees

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

YES AND Launches Organic VOTE Masks & Tees

The timely, digitally native sustainable fashion brand, created by ECOlifestyle pioneer and Author Marci Zaroff, connects agriculture to popular culture

NEW YORK, NY (October 13, 2020) – As we get out the VOTE for the 2020 USA election, YES AND is now offering voters a way to WEAR THE CHANGE they wish to see—with their new GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) certified organic cotton, low-impact dyed, and ethically made “VOTE” masks and T-shirts for both women and men.

This stunning, stylish, and sustainable collection includes organic "VOTE" tees ($43) in olive, black and moonbeam, "VOTE eco logically" long sleeve tees ($48) in heather gray and white, "VOTE eco logically" short sleeve unisex crew tees ($38) in heather gray and white and "VOTE" masks ($13) in olive and black.

YES, this innovative ECOfashion brand, founded by visionary Marci Zaroff, introduces responsibly luxurious, cool and conscious apparel to the masses, AND, at an accessible price point. YES AND was born to break the stigma that sustainable fashion has to compromise modern design, quality, fit, color, comfort or price. YES, the vibe is edgy, flattering, and fun, AND the company is committed to value AND values.

In the spirit of co-creation, YES AND has partnered with like-minded organizations, including the Rodale Institute and Women’s Earth Alliance, for this timely and important “VOTE” campaign.

“There can be no climate justice without social justice. This year’s election is so critical for Mother Earth, our global community, and our children’s futures—so please join me to VOTE eco logically—for a better world and a cleaner, greener planet,” states Zaroff.

According to The Organic Center and Organic Trade Association, “Organic agriculture mitigates climate change by reducing direct and indirect sources of greenhouse gas emissions, and acting as a carbon sink via soil carbon sequestration. Organic Farms emit 18% less global warming potential than other farming systems, and have greater biological activity, greater soil stability, more biomass and higher diversity, and sequester 26% more carbon than soils from non-organic farms.”

YES AND’s parent company, ECOfashion Corp, runs a “Greenhouse of Brands,”—all sharing a passion for organic and regenerative agriculture. MetaWear, EFC’s manufacturing arm, has an office in India and manages all production from organic farm to finished fashion, and source to story. Sister brands Farm to Home and Seed to Style will bring GOTS certified organic home and apparel to world-leading home shopping network QVC in January 2021.

YES AND gives people a way to buy what they love and seek—affordably and online, while making a difference to human and environmental wellness, farmer and worker welfare, and future generations. YES, join the movement to look good, feel, good and do good in the world, AND, “VOTE eco logically” in this upcoming election, and always.

Enter YACOMPASS11 at checkout for 11% off at www.joinyesand.com.

About YES AND
YES AND is hailed as a timely, digitally native, modern and sustainable fashion brand, created by ECOlifestyle pioneer and authority, Marci Zaroff. The brand offers responsibly luxurious, GOTS certified organic apparel to the masses at an accessible price point. YES AND was created to break the stigma that sustainable fashion has to compromise style, quality, fit, color, comfort or price. The vibe is edgy, flattering, and fun AND is certified organic, low impact dyed, and ethically made.

According to the Textile Exchange, the fashion industry is one of the largest air and water polluters, representing 8-10% of the planet's carbon impact and 20% of Earth's industrial freshwater pollution.

About ECOfashion Corp
ECOfashion Corp is a Social Purpose Corporation (SPC), focused on people, planet, and prosperity, and was founded in 2019 by ECOfashion pioneer, serial entrepreneur, expert and author Marci Zaroff, with the vision to transform the fashion and textile industries through inspiration, education, innovation and collaboration. By leading with modern design, high quality and affordability, the ECOfashion Corp "GreenhouseTM of Brands" includes YES AND (direct-to-consumer sustainable apparel online), Farm to Home (organic bed and bath on QVC), Metawear (turnkey sustainable apparel and home manufacturing), RESET (a regenerative, in-conversion-to-organic cotton farm project in India,) and Seed to Style, GOTS certified apparel brand (sizes XXS-3XL) launching on QVC January 29, 2021.

For more information visit:
www.joinyesand.com | @yesand | @MarciZaroff
www.ecofashioncorp.com

Media Contact
Brandsway Creative
Alexandra Rothenberg - Account Executive
E. AR@BrandswayCreative.com
O. 212 966 7900

Life After Manitoba Harvest: Mike Fata Celebrates 25 Years of a Personal and Entrepreneurial Journey to Health

This article originally appeared on LetsTalkHemp.com

By Steven Hoffman

Mike Fata, founder and former Chair and CEO of Manitoba Harvest – and one of the original founders of the hemp food industry – is celebrating the 25th anniversary this month marking the beginning of his personal journey to health.

In 1995, Mike was, as he said, “an unhealthy and unhappy 18 year old who weighed 300 pounds. I became sick and tired of being sick and tired, and decided to do something about it.”

Along the way, Mike learned a lot about nutrition, a healthy diet and an active lifestyle. He lost 125 pounds, regained his health, and … “the journey to health got me to see the value of hemp seed,” he said.

Inspired by the superfood potential hidden in the hemp seed, Fata in 1998 founded Manitoba Harvest. Today, the award-winning company is a widely recognized global hemp food leader, with lifetime sales in 2020 surpassing $500 million.

After successfully selling Manitoba Harvest in 2019 to Tilray (NASDAQ:TLRY), a publicly traded, vertically integrated cannabis company based in Canada, for US$318 million, Mike is no longer involved on a day to day basis with the company. “It came to the point where the business was going that it was best to have a classically trained CEO leading the company,” he observed.

Yet, having carved out a significant entrepreneurial legacy in hemp and the natural and organic foods industry, Mike has future plans to mentor and invest in companies and brands that are committed to improving health, the environment and the quality of people’s lives.

“My passion is health and my purpose is to share it with the world,” Fata said. “I’m starting to diversify and help other founders fulfill their mission in the natural products space. I’ve made a couple of investments and got involved on the board level, and am involved actively in a couple of businesses.” Mike cites, for example that he’s become involved with Om Organic Mushrooms, an emerging natural supplements brand.

Mike also is committed to helping the hemp industry and natural products industry grow in Canada. “Giving back has been a big part of my work for my whole career; I’ve done 25 years of nonprofit board work,” he shared. Currently, Fata serves as Chair of the Canadian Health Food Association (CHFA), and during his tenure, the organization has been supportive of removing restrictions on CBD sales in Canada.

Currently, there are no legal means to bring non-prescription CBD health products to the Canadian marketplace, said CHFA in a statement. However, the association this past month released a report identifying CBD products as an opportunity for economic recovery in Canada that could create a niche market valued at more than C$1 billion.

“CHFA has been very outspoken in favor of hemp and CBD in the last couple of years,” said Fata. “Currently, to buy CBD in Canada you have to go to a licensed dispensary. We’re trying to change it so natural food retailers in Canada can sell these products.”

In applying what he’s learned leading the growth of Manitoba Harvest, Fata said, “At the end of the day, if you have a great product and you put the right capital and great people together, good things can happen. However, he noted, “The hemp industry is missing strong strategy and planning because it’s still a new industry. Also, more innovation has to happen,” he advised.

Fata also believes that “extracts aren’t the cure all and end all for the hemp industry. People rushed in; it will take years to work out.”

However, Mike notes that there is huge potential for hemp food and hemp fiber. “There is tremendous value in the seed and the fiber 10 to 20 times over where the industry is now,” he said. “For now, we have hemp hearts, but we need more innovation. Look at the advancements in soy protein, pea protein, for example. “Hemp is just scratching the surface. We’re just getting started on being a superfood.”

While Mike admits he is currently under a noncompete agreement in the hemp market as a result of the sale of Manitoba Harvest to Tilray, “I am a super hemp consumer and am super passionate about it, from genetics to market. So, stay tuned.”

The best way to reach out to Mike Fata is via LinkedIn.

Even Dr. Fauci Takes Vitamin D – New Study Points to Strong Correlation Between Vitamin D Levels and Covid-19 Outcomes

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

By Steven Hoffman

Dr. Anthony Fauci, M.D., Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, is one of the most trusted experts in the U.S. regarding the Covid-19 pandemic. So, when he recommends taking dietary supplements to boost immunity and lessen susceptibility to Covid-19 infection, people listen. 

On a recent Instagram Live interview with host and actor Jennifer Garner, Fauci suggested taking vitamin D and vitamin C, supplements he said he took himself, reported CNBC. (Garner also is co-founder with industry veteran John Foraker of organic baby food company Once Upon a Farm). 

“If you’re deficient in vitamin D, that does have an impact on your susceptibility to infection. I would not mind recommending, and I do it myself, taking vitamin D supplements, he told Garner during the livecast. “The other vitamin that people take is vitamin C because it’s a good antioxidant, so if people want to take a gram or so of vitamin C, that would be fine.”

A recent study published in JAMA Network found that people with untreated vitamin D deficiency were nearly twice as likely to test positive for the Covid-19 coronavirus compared to individuals with sufficient vitamin D levels. In addition, in a retrospective study of patients tested for Covid-19, researchers at the University of Chicago Medicine found an association between vitamin D deficiency and the likelihood of becoming infected with the coronavirus.

Past research also has shown that deficient levels of vitamin D are linked to more severe cases of Covid-19 and higher likelihood of death, reported Business Insider. New Hope Network also reported on a number of recent studies conducted in the U.S. and throughout the world demonstrating a correlation between vitamin D levels and Covid-19 outcomes.

In Spain, results of a recent clinical trial with vitamin D study were so startling that, while the sample size was small, the results were so “dramatic that they are statistically significant,” wrote one scientist in BMJ in response to the research.

In the Spanish study, researchers randomly allocated 76 confirmed cases of Covid-19 into those that received either oral calcifediol (25-hydroxyvitamin D) (50 patients) or no-calcifediol control (26 patients) on the day of hospital submission. Oral calcifediol was given at high does on the first day and then on the third and seventh day, and weekly until discharge or admission to the intensive care unit (ICU). All patients also received the best available standard care at the time, the study noted.

Medium reported that results of the clinical study revealed that 13 out of 26 patients, or 50%, in the control group were admitted to the ICU, and two died. In the vitamin D group, only one out of 50, or 2%, required admission to ICU, and none died.

According to Medium, the results of the clinical trial from Spain provide some of the strongest evidence to date that vitamin D therapy could work for Covid-19. The results also support prior research that found that low vitamin D levels in the blood are an independent risk factor for severe Covid-19.

In addition to taking his daily dietary supplements, Dr. Fauci recommends masks, social distancing and handwashing as the best practices for keeping yourself and others safe.

Excellence Matters, in Space and on Earth: Front Range Biosciences Establishes Hemp Center of Excellence

By Steven Hoffman

Dr. Jonathan Vaught, Ph.D. – renowned plant-breeding and biotech scientist and CEO and cofounder of Front Range Biosciences – is committed to hemp. With a Ph.D. Organic Chemistry and expertise in molecular biology, he knows that quality – and excellence – matters, especially in seed stock and genetics.

You may remember Front Range Biosciences as the company that in March 2020 partnered with the University of Colorado to send hemp tissue cultures into space to study the effects of the International Space Station’s zero gravity environment on the plant’s gene expression. 

“Our company is focused on figuring out how to develop and grow these plants in a wide range of environments, and the most extreme environment would be outside of the atmosphere in space, in zero gravity,” Vaught told Hemp Grower in June. “As a lot of our scientists put it, it’s the most remote location we have for our field trial program, and I think it’s an exciting area of research that we want to continue to explore."

More down to Earth, in Boulder, CO, the company recently established the Front Range Biosciences (FRB) Hemp Science Center of Excellence. Founded in partnership with the Shimadzu Corp., a 145-year-old science, technology and instrumentation company based in Kyoto, Japan, the FRB Center of Excellence will focus on genetics, biobanking, breeding and analysis, all with state-of-the-art Shimadzu instrumentation, the company announced in late August. 

According to Vaught, the FRB Center of Excellence will host scientists performing chemical and genetic analytical research to “support the development of new hemp varieties for the production of cannabinoids, terpenoids and other compounds for medical and wellness applications; lipid, wax and protein ingredients for food and cosmetics applications; and fiber for industrial applications.”

The Intersection of Human Health, Plant Breeding and Agriculture
After years focusing on diagnostics in healthcare and food safety, working with companies large and small, Vaught, along with his business partner and Front Range Biosciences cofounder Nick Hofmeister, began looking at hemp and cannabis as an “intersection of human diagnostics, food safety, plant breeding and agriculture – all the work I’ve done,” he said. 

The partners set out at the beginning focused on the agricultural part of the supply chain – “developing new plant varieties, leveraging technology such as plant tissue culture, and marker assisted breeding to bring innovation and differentiation of hemp and cannabis products through genetics,” Vaught said. “As the regulatory pathway for hemp opened up a way to work with this plant, we moved aggressively into hemp because there were less restrictions to drive research and technology.” 

Today, through its Clean Stock Program, the company is focused on supporting licensed cannabis and hemp operations in California, Colorado and throughout the U.S. and the world with next-generation plant breeding technology that the company says provides a consistent supply of disease- and pathogen-free plant and seed stock.

“We are really a platform company that leverages multiple technologies and capabilities to deliver new products within the hemp and cannabis markets,” Vaught explained. “Whether it’s premium flower, concentrates, fiber, grain or supplements, we are using our platforms to solve problems in all those areas by developing new plant varieties via cloning, vegetative, seed and other technologies,” he added.

While FRB sees value in new technologies and developing a deep knowledge and database around plant genomes, “We are not interested in producing GMO products,” Vaught emphasized. “We have a lot of growers using organic production practices, whether they are truly certified or not, and we support them,” he said. 

“We are big believers in regenerative agricultural practices,” Vaught added. “The cannabis plant presents a unique opportunity as a model crop for regenerative practices in that it can be bred to be resistant. It’s a naturally robust plant,” he noted.

“At the end of the day, most of the products that come from this plant get concentrated or distilled and put into people, so it’s vitally important that these products are clean, with no toxic components going into the supply chain,” Vaught emphasized.

With the Center of Excellence as a resource, FRB “looks to leverage chemistry to understand the different ingredients in this plant – the cannabinoids, flavonoids and other small molecules – to understand them better, and then to apply technologies to develop varieties that can take advantage of these components,” he said.

“We’re on the cutting edge. This is one of the fastest growing, most exciting industries in the world. We expect to see continued growth in both hemp and cannabis as more states legalize it,” Vaught added.

More than just an expert in cannabis, plant breeding and biotechnology, Vaught, a musician on the side, admits he’s had his eyes on Let’s Talk Hemp Founder Morris Beegle’s newly manufactured Silver Mountain Hemp Guitars. Which may prove that while man cannot live on bread alone, he/she can get by pretty well with hemp!