Adventures of a Gonzo Journalist
Posted in Austin, Journalism, and Ministry of Hemp
Last month, we got to try a unique new hemp beer and talk to part of the team behind it.
“We finally brought together hemp and hops,” said Steve Navas, brand activation manager for New Belgium Brewing.
The private bar in downtown Austin where the tasting took place was filled with the incredible smell of The Hemperor hemp pale ale. As we spoke with Navas, the sounds of local bluegrass band Steel Betty tickled our ears.
Sampling Carla Boyd’s cooking, including her hemp pesto aioli, was one of the highlights of our recent visit to Denver.
Boyd is the founder of Hemp Way Foods, a Colorado company. People lined up to sample her hemp burgers, vegan hemp nachos, and hemp tacos at the NoCo Hemp Expo last month. After we tried her food, we knew we wanted to find out more and get a few recipes for our readers. We spoke with Boyd by phone to learn how she discovered hemp. She also shared two of her recipes, which you’ll find below: her famous hemp pesto aioli and hemp tacos.
Posted in Creative Commons, and Journalism
As a journalist, I want to talk to other white people about recent coverage of “Starbucks Racism” incidents.
People of all races are horrified by the reports filling the news of black people targeted by whites for everyday activities. I’m calling it “Starbucks Racism” in this post not because I particularly hate Starbucks. It’s simply that the incident in which police arrested two black men waiting for a third friend at a Philadelphia Starbucks is now infamous. This story ushered in renewed interest in the media in this kind of “casual” but extremely dangerous racism.
There’s a reaction to these Starbucks Racism stories I’ve mostly noticed among white people. It reflects both a misunderstanding of systemic racism and a misunderstanding of how the media works. I’ll paraphrase something I saw on a friend’s wall: “What’s wrong with people? I’m so disgusted at how people act recently.”
Posted in Journalism, Ministry of Hemp, and Video
Hemp packaging could be a solution to the problem of disposable, single-use paper and plastic.
“The statistics are in: every second … a half acre of trees are cut down,” said Matthew Glyer of Hemp.Press. “7.5 bllion trees for paper alone is not sustainable.”
Every industry is struggling with the growing problem of waste. The legal cannabis industry is no exception. Both medical and recreational dispensaries depend on plastic and foil containers which are used once, then thrown away. For the most part, these materials are not biodegradable. Single-use paper packaging is also commonplace in the industry.
Posted in Journalism, and Ministry of Hemp
The HIA vs. DEA decision, a ruling in a landmark lawsuit by the hemp industry, has caused a lot of confusion about CBD’s legal status.
The Hemp Industries Association sued the Drug Enforcement Administration last year in an effort to overturn a DEA rule declaring CBD oil illegal. When the court dismissed the case on April 30, based on what was essentially a technical matter, misinformation about the ruling quickly spread online. Since we’re hemp advocates and supporters of access to CBD oil, we knew we had to get to the bottom of the HIA vs. DEA decision and what it means for the industry.
“Our hope was that they would withdraw the rule or go back through the traditional rule making progress,” said Colleen Keahey, executive director at the HIA.
Posted in Austin, Journalism, and Ministry of Hemp
Our Hemperor beer review in a nut (hemp?) shell: Delicious!
New Belgium Brewing recently invited our Editor in Chief to a special Austin, Texas tasting of their new hemp beer, The Hemperor HPA.
The Hemperor is a unique new offering. This is the first hemp beer from a brewery as ubiquitous as New Belgium. While this “HPA” or Hemp Pale Ale has the strong flavor of hops, the hemp flavor balances out the bitterness. The smell of The Hemperor has to be experienced to be believed. The private downtown bar where the tasting took place smelled like a hemp field at harvest, just from the open bottles and glasses of beer.
