Cotton Reigns King but Hemp is Staging a Comeback

06/02/2025 53 min Episodio 23
Cotton Reigns King but Hemp is Staging a Comeback

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Episode Synopsis

Once a cornerstone of American agriculture, political interests in cotton led to the ban on hemp production. Though having many similar uses, hemp wins the environmental battle against cotton. From clothing to canvas, paper to plastic, Jorden and Kimberly compare the versatility and sustainability advantages of the two plants, weighing hemp’s chances as a viable rival to cotton.
Key Topics Jorden and Kimberly discuss include:

How a Canuck one-ups a Yank on the American history of hemp

The laundry list of uses for all parts of cotton and hemp plants

Why the Great Depression spawned the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act

How astonishingly more sustainable hemp is than cotton

Why China is the biggest hemp producer, with France in second place

Why your next home might be built from hemp

Recommended Resources

The, apparently, only comparative sustainability study ever done on cotton versus hemp

Increasing US government support for hemp

A house built of hemp

Robust data, or so claims the US Cotton Trust Protocol on cotton sustainability

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