Ukraine Invasion Leads to Spike in World Food Prices, Disruption of Conventional and Organic Farming

Ukraine Invasion Leads to Spike in World Food Prices, Disruption of Conventional and Organic Farming

This article originally appeared in Presence Marketing’s May 2022 Industry Newsletter

By Steven Hoffman

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February has become a costly war not only in terms of the devastating loss of lives, but, also, as Ukraine – known as the “world’s breadbasket” – is a major producer of conventional and organic crops such as wheat, barley, sunflower oil and more, it also has resulted in major disruptions to agriculture and trade, and now, the highest food prices the world has ever seen.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in April warned that food prices could rise by up to 20% as a result of the conflict in Ukraine, raising the risk of increased malnutrition around the world, as well as social unrest. Tracking the world’s most-traded food commodities, FAO reported that food prices are at their highest since record-keeping began 60 years ago, jumping 13% in March, following February’s record rise.

According to the U.N.’s Food Prices Index, the prices for vegetable oils have risen 23%, while cereals were up 17%. Sugar rose 7%, meat was up 5%, while dairy, which has been less affected by the war, climbed 3%. Food commodity prices were already at a 10-year high before the war in Ukraine because of global harvest issues, the U.N reported.

Russia and Ukraine alone account for 30% of the world’s trade in wheat, 32% of barley, 17% of corn, and over 50% of the world’s market for sunflower oil and seeds. In fact, Ukraine’s flag in part represents blue skies over fields of wheat. And, as the war has choked off supplies from Ukraine, the world’s biggest exporter of sunflower oil, that also means the costs of alternatives have climbed.

Ukraine Planting Season Disrupted
As the war drags into Spring, and with Russia’s ongoing campaign targeting agricultural zones to the east, there’s a concern about whether Ukrainian farmers can plant much of anything this year. And if they do get their crops in the ground, production could be limited due to scarcity of seed, fertilizer, fuel and other inputs, much of which comes in from port cities including Mariupol, which are under siege. Ukraine alone exported more than $27 billion in agricultural products to the world in 2021, NPR reported.

According to Jörg-Simon Immerz, head of the grain trading at BayWA, Germany’s largest agricultural trading group, “Zero grain is currently being exported from the ports of Ukraine—nothing is leaving the country at all.” In addition, Deutsche Welle TV reported that since the invasion began, up to 300 ships have been stopped by Russian forces from departing the Black Sea, “leaving one of the key global trade routes for grain virtually blocked.”

The longer the war goes on, the more the impact on food exports will affect the world’s poorest countries. Many nations in Africa and the Middle East are largely dependent upon wheat imports from Russia and Ukraine; Lebanon gets 80% of its wheat from Ukraine, while Egypt gets 80% of its wheat from Ukraine and Russia. Somalia and Benin are 100% reliant upon wheat from these two nations currently at war. Deutsche Welle TV reported that the wheat shortages from Ukraine are being especially felt in eastern Africa where the price of bread and sunflower oil have more than doubled since the war began.

War Drives Food Inflation; Low Income Households Disproportionately Affected
Lower income households throughout the world, including the U.S., are being disproportionately affected by the drastic rise in food prices, triggered by two years of economic and supply chain disruptions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and exacerbated today by the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

According to Consumer Price Index data released in April by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, food-at-home prices rose 10% over the past year – the fastest pace since March 1981. Food and energy costs drove inflation to 8.5% in March compared to the same month a year ago, marking the highest rate in more than 40 years as consumers continue to feel the pinch of higher prices.

Meanwhile, grocers have tried to keep price increases from reaching consumers on such staple items as bread, meat and eggs, however, that strategy is becoming increasingly difficult, reports Food Dive. As a result, many consumers are opting for cheaper products over brand loyalty.

Analysts at Bank of America on April 21 predicted the impact of the Russia-Ukrainian conflict has yet to be fully felt in grocery stores. “Looking ahead, we think that consumers will continue to feel the pinch of elevated food inflation,” the analysts wrote. “While there has been a lot of attention on the shock from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, we believe that it is too early to see the impact at the grocery store…rather, it should lead to sustained price increases later this year.”

The Bank of America analysts reported that they expect U.S. food inflation to reach 9% by the end of 2022.

Fortune Magazine reported that Bank of America’s analysts noted that farmers, too, are dealing with spikes in the cost of inputs including fertilizers and pesticides, which have increased 50% in the past year alone, based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Producer Price Indexes. Russia was one of the world’s leading exporters of fertilizers in 2020, including urea and potash, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity, and fertilizer prices have also been fueled by higher costs of natural gas, used in the production of nitrogen-based fertilizers.

“There are signs that companies are passing through higher costs,” the Bank of America team said, according to Fortune. “Margins look to be growing on both the wholesale and retail level, suggesting that companies have regained pricing power and are comfortable letting the consumer eat higher costs instead of them.”

Ukraine’s Organic Farming Regions Are Under Occupation
Ukraine is one of the world’s leading producers of organic crops. According to the European Commission, the country was the largest exporter of organic products to the EU in 2019, and the second leading exporter of organic products in the world, out of 123 countries.

In 2020, there were 462,225 hectares (1.1 million acres) of organic land in Ukraine, reported Organic Info Ukraine. However, much of the land under organic production is in areas where there are currently hostilities or occupation. “Since 24 February 2022 (the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine) the organic sector as well as the entire agrarian industry have been suffering from aggression. The biggest problem in many regions is access to land.” The Kherson region, for example, which is Ukraine’s largest organic region, is almost completely occupied by Russian troops, the organization noted.

Exports notwithstanding, humanitarian concerns also revolve around Ukraine’s farmers and the country’s ability to feed itself during the war. “Ukraine is a leading global supplier of agricultural products and exports a large amount of organic produce to different countries in Europe,” the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (fiBL), based in Switzerland, said in a statement issued in mid-April.

“At the moment, FiBL and its partners (Organics International, Helvetas, and IFOAM Organics International) are looking into how they can adjust their project activities in Ukraine to meet the current needs of the Ukrainian organic sector. This is important to ensure that people of Ukraine have access to healthy nutritious food grown sustainably and that (organic) farmers do not lose their livelihoods. We are currently working with Ukrainian organic stakeholders and partners to ensure they can continue to grow and supply food and feed – now and in the future,” fiBL said.

The international organic food and agriculture community, including fiBL, IFOAM Organics International and others, is calling on its constituents to support the organic farming sector in Ukraine. Organic Info Ukraine published a “Statement on the Situation in the Ukrainian Organic Sector,” along with information on how to support organic producers and organic stakeholders in Ukraine during these critical times. Learn more and take action here.

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Steven Hoffman is Managing Director of Compass Natural, providing brand marketing, PR, social media, and strategic business development services to natural, organic, sustainable and hemp/CBD products businesses. Compass Natural serves in PR and programming for NoCo Hemp Expo and Southern Hemp Expo, and Hoffman serves as Editor of the weekly Let’s Talk Hemp Newsletter, published by We are for Better Alternatives. Contact steve@compassnaturalmarketing.com.

USDA Renames GMOs as “Bioengineered” or “BE” Foods as New National Labeling Rules Take Effect

Photo: Pexels

This article originally appeared in Presence Marketing’s February 2022 Industry Newsletter

By Steve Hoffman

Once upon a time, in 2016, the small but mighty state or Vermont implemented a law it had passed requiring companies selling food products in the state that contained genetically modified ingredients to label such products as made with “GMO” ingredients.

As a result of this first-ever GMO labeling law in the U.S., for a few months in the spring of 2016, consumers all across the country began to see GMO labeling disclosure on products containing such ingredients, as some manufacturers opted to label all packaging for the U.S. market rather than just print GMO-labeled boxes for Vermont. Such was the power of that state law mandating the consumer’s right to know.

Yet, reacting to Vermont’s GMO labeling law, Congress soon thereafter passed S. 764, sponsored in the House by former Kansas Rep. Mike Pompeo and in the Senate by former Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts, and signed in August 2016 by then President Barack Obama. Dubbed the DARK Act for “Deny Americans the Right to Know,” the law established voluntary labeling much less stringent than Vermont’s previous law, and it pre-empted states from mandating GMO labeling. Published in 2018, the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard directed the USDA to establish a national mandatory standard for disclosing foods that are, or may be, bioengineered.

"The National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard increases the transparency of our nation's food system, establishing guidelines for regulated entities on when and how to disclose bioengineered ingredients," former USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue said at the time. "This ensures clear information and labeling consistency for consumers about the ingredients in their food,” he said.

Now, as of January 1, 2022, food previously known as GMO or genetically engineered has a new name. According to USDA, such products will now display a “Bioengineered” (BE) label. Critics of the new labeling regulations are concerned that the new GMO “rebrand” may cause more confusion and less transparency, as most consumers are familiar with the term GMO, genetically modified organism or genetically engineered.

"The worst part of this law is the use of the term 'bioengineered' because that's not a term most consumers are familiar with," Gregory Jaffe, Director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest's (CSPI) biotechnology project, told the Washington Post.

Companies with products made with bioengineered ingredients have a number of options to comply with the new standard, NPR reported. They can include text on food packages that says "bioengineered food" or "contains a bioengineered food ingredient," or they can choose from two friendly-looking “BE” logos created and approved by the USDA. Or, they can include a QR code for consumers to scan or a phone number for them to text that will provide more information about that food item.

In addition, according to a lawsuit filed in 2020 against the USDA in federal court by the Center for Food Safety, the new GMO labeling standard prohibits producers from using more common labeling terms such as "GMO," plus it will leave out many foods that are "highly refined" or contain levels of bioengineered ingredients that aren't detectable, such as soda and cooking oil, CSP said.

The new standard also discriminates against the poor, the elderly, people who live in rural areas and minorities who may lack access to a smartphone or the internet, CFS said. It also puts an "undue burden" on shoppers to scan food items in stores during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, critics of the new labeling standard have asserted.

"Consumers have fought for decades for their right to know what's in their food and how it's produced," said Meredith Stevenson, CFS attorney and counsel in the litigation, in a December 2021 statement. "But instead of providing meaningful labeling, USDA's final rules will only create more uncertainty for consumers, retailers, and manufacturers."

Some commonly bioengineered foods include corn, canola, soybeans and sugar beets. Most GMO crops are used for animal feed, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). However, they are also used to make ingredients, such as cornstarch, corn syrup, canola oil and sugar, that routinely find their way into products for human consumption.

Nestlé, World’s Largest Food Company, to Invest $1.3 Billion in Regenerative Agriculture

Photo: Pexels

This article originally appeared in Presence Marketing’s October 2021 Industry Newsletter

By Steve Hoffman

With agriculture accounting for nearly two-thirds of Nestlé’s total greenhouse gas emissions – with dairy and livestock accounting for half of that – the world’s largest food company announced on Sept. 16, 2021, that it is investing $1.3 billion over the next five years to help its farmers and suppliers transition to regenerative agriculture practices.

“With our long-standing partnerships with farming communities globally, we want to increase our support for farming practices that are good for the environment and good for people,” said Mark Schneider, CEO of the Swiss-based food company in a statement. “In the spirit of enabling a just transition it is vital that we support farmers around the world that take on the risks and costs associated with the move towards regenerative agriculture.”

Nestlé’s Chairman, Paul Bulcke, added, "We know that regenerative agriculture plays a critical role in improving soil health, restoring water cycles and increasing biodiversity for the long term. These outcomes form the foundation of sustainable food production and, crucially, also contribute to achieving our ambitious climate targets." 

According to Food Business News, Nestlé said it will focus primarily on three initiatives. First, Nestlé said it will use its network of R&D personnel and agronomists to develop more environmentally friendly crops and production practices. Second, the company said it will offer training and help producers exchange information and best practices that may be adapted locally, and that it will support farmers by co-investing with them, facilitating lending or helping obtain loans for equipment. Third, Nestlé said it is committed to paying premium prices for products produced using regenerative agriculture practices. 

“This means rewarding farmers not only for the quantity and quality of ingredients, but also for the benefits they provide to the environment through soil protection, water management and carbon sequestration,” the company said.

Nestlé’s announcement was made in the lead up to the UN Food Systems Summit in New York, as part of Nestle's contribution to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, the company said. It also follows the recent report from the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that shows the climate crisis is intensifying, it added.

Drought in the West Brings Risk of Food Inflation Across the U.S.

This article originally appeared in Presence Marketing’s July 2021 Industry Newsletter

By Steven Hoffman

California produces 80% of the world’s almonds, but it is a thirsty crop. Almond production is California’s most valuable crop, and it accounts for 80% of the state’s water use. 

However, after a warm spring that dried up nearly all of the Sierra Nevada’s snowpack, the drought in the state is now so extreme and water so scarce in California’s Central Valley that almond farmers are ripping out trees or being forced to let portions of their acreage go dry, reported Bloomberg. With water levels of more than 1,500 reservoirs in California at 50% below normal for this time of year, “It’s a stark reminder of the devastating toll that the drought gripping the West will take on U.S. agriculture, bringing with it the risk of food inflation,” wrote Bloomberg journalist Elizabeth Elkin. 

It’s a concern for the whole nation, as the Golden State’s 69,000 farms and ranches provide more than a third of all vegetables and two-thirds of all fruit in the U.S. 

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has put 41 counties under a state of emergency in an attempt to drastically limit water use. State authorities have been forced to cut water allocations for farmers, too, sometimes to zero, while water transfers have been delayed and farmers are being prevented from pulling water out of their neighboring rivers. 

As a result, a growing number of farmers are abandoning crops that require too much water, such as almonds. One grower, Fowler Brothers Farm in Snelling, California, tore up 600 acres of almond orchard to make room for crops that require less water, reported The Weather Channel. 

Farm workers, too, are at risk from extreme heat, adding stress, dehydration, heat stroke and other heat-associated health risks to already grueling work, reported Bloomberg. U.S. farmworkers face a 35-fold risk of heat-related deaths compared to that of the general work force, Bloomberg, reported, and temperatures this summer are hitting triple digits in swaths of California and the West. According to researchers at Emory University, laborers on farms are often chronically dehydrated, even if they drink enough water during their workday, and worker’s body temperatures often rise above 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit, meaning they run a fever all day. The additional weather-related dangers farm workers face could add to labor shortages in an industry already struggling to attract employees. 

Climate change is not just affecting crops in the United States – according to Bloomberg Green, Brazil, the world’s largest exporter of coffee, sugar, and orange juice, saw little rain during its rainy season and water reserves are running so low that farmers are concerned they may run out of water before harvest. In recent years, Bloomberg reported, drought has impacted wheat growers in Europe and livestock producers in Australia. 

According to research led by Cornell University and published in April 2021 in the journal Nature Climate Change, “Despite important agricultural advancements to feed the world in the last 60 years...global farming productivity is 21% lower than it could have been without climate change. This is the equivalent of losing about seven years of farm productivity increases since the 1960s.” The UN Food and Agriculture Organization also warns that traditional food gathering techniques of indigenous communities throughout the world are under threat from accelerating climate change and economic pressures, reported Global Banking and Finance Review. 

The drought and extreme weather come at a time when the world is already experiencing the highest grocery costs in a decade, global hunger is on the rise, and countries are still reeling from the economic and health-related shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic. And, as drought begets drought, in an early warning sign of rising food costs, avocados cost about 10% more than last year, Bloomberg reported. “That could mean that prices for nuts and even products like almond milk could increase down the road if harvests continue to be constrained,” said writer Elizabeth Elkin. 

The issue is large enough that comedian Bill Maher, host of HBO’s Real Time, said on a recent episode, “The Bay Area was just placed under a water shortage emergency with mandatory restrictions. Except, here's the thing, there isn't – even with the drought – really a shortage problem. It's more a, 'where the water is going' problem. California agriculture accounts for 80% of our water use, even though California agriculture is less than 2% of our economy," said Maher. 

"We actually have enough water, we give away too much of it to farmers who get their water subsidized by the government because we still act like it's 1890 and farmers are small and independent when they're really mostly part of Big Ag," he added.

Argentina Becomes First Country to Approve GMO Wheat

Photo: Pexels

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

By Steven Hoffman

Among the first countries in the world to use genetically modified (GMO) crops, including soybeans, corn and cotton, on a large scale in agriculture, Argentina on October 9, 2020, announced it has now become the first nation to approve the use of GMO wheat. The move prompted criticism from Argentina’s agriculture export industry, reported Reuters.

The country approved HB4, a wheat variety genetically engineered to be drought resistant and developed by agricultural biotechnology company Bioceres SA, based in Argentina. 

To date, no other country has approved the importation or production of GMO wheat, due to consumer concerns, as wheat is grown primarily for human consumption. According to Reuters, Bioceres said it will only begin marketing the GMO wheat once it is approved for import by Brazil. Brazil is currently the largest importer of wheat produced in Argentina.

“I will not plant HB4 wheat, and I would not recommend that anyone else does, until it has been approved by importing countries. It seems risky in the sense that we could end up with crops that no one wants to buy,” Francisco Santillan, who manages a number of farms in Argentina, told Reuters.

Dave Green, EVP of the Wheat Quality Council, a U.S. trade group, told Reuters, “I don’t hear anything about GMO wheat efforts here. None of our export customers want any.” 

Argentina is one of the world’s largest producers of GMO soy and it is among the nation’s leading exports. However, the BBC reported in 2014 that massive synthetic pesticide use in the country as a result of the explosion of GMO agriculture may be linked to skyrocketing rates of cancer and birth defects in the country.

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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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!

A New Public Private Partnership, the Colorado Hemp Advancement & Management Plan (CHAMP), Is Set to Strengthen the State’s Leadership Position in Hemp

Originally appeared in the Let’s Talk Hemp Blog & Newsletter
By Steven Hoffman

With the passage in 2012 of marijuana legalization in Colorado, the hemp industry also got an early start in the state, and Colorado is now considered one of the country’s epicenters of hemp agriculture, manufacturing and production. To further that leadership position, Governor Jared Polis has created a unique new public-private initiative, the Colorado Hemp Advancement & Management Plan (CHAMP). His priority in establishing the CHAMP initiative is for “Colorado to remain an innovating force in the promotion of this high-value agricultural commodity,” says the CHAMP website.

Led by Betsy Markey, former Representative to U.S. Congress and current cabinet member of the Polis administration and Executive Director of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, along with Colorado Commissioner of Agriculture Kate Greenberg, CHAMP is a year-long statewide initiative that brings together state, local and tribal agencies, as well as industry experts in cultivation, testing, research, processing, finance, economics and marketing. The collaborative effort to help formulate a blueprint for Colorado’s hemp industry includes the Colorado Department of Agriculture, Governor’s Office, Department of Public Health and Environment, Department of Revenue, Department of Regulatory Agencies, Office of Economic Development and International Trade, Department of Public Safety, Colorado Commission of Indian Affairs, Department of Higher Education, local governments and industry experts.

“We had one of the first hemp programs in the country,” Greenberg recently told Westword Magazine. “We’ve got pretty incredible experience in Colorado; our state is set up for it, and our governor is all about hemp. It’s a fantastic time to be doing this work in Colorado, so I think by all accounts, we are ahead of the game. Our intent is to stay there,” she said. In addition to serving as Colorado Commissioner of Agriculture, Greenberg is the former Western Program Director of the National Young Farmers Coalition.

When asked about how to handle issues like “hot” hemp (hemp that exceeds the legal limit of THC), Greenberg said, “Before CHAMP, we didn’t have an avenue to figure these things out, so we took leadership in creating a structure that will allow regulatory agencies, industries, Native tribes, learning institutions and farmers to sit around a table and actually develop answers. There are still so many questions about the X, Y and Z of hemp — like interstate transport [and] how the Department of Public Safety can determine what is hemp and what is not. All of those questions finally have a table to sit at,” Greenberg said.

“CHAMP… is a huge, coordinated effort that includes anyone who has a stake in the game across Colorado, but it’s also going to be open-sourced,” Greenberg continued. “We’ve been talking to other states that don’t have programs, and are offering our expertise. We don’t see this as something we need to hold on to and keep away from everyone. We’ve got a national and international industry with this now, and we can’t keep it within closed borders in Colorado. This is going to have to include interstate commerce, and we really see our creativity and desire to bring in thought leaders as ways to continue our leadership,” she added.

“One way to establish our leadership is getting our state plan into the USDA. We’re in close communication with the USDA to make sure they see us as a partner in this, and that we are a resource. Submitting our state plan is big here, just to make sure our state’s hemp program is still a leader. Another one is the larger CHAMP report, which will show what it takes to grow our hemp industry beyond the Farm Bill. This is a big-vision process,” Greenberg said.

The CHAMP initiative is divided into eight “Stakeholder Groups,” including Research & Development and Seed; Cultivation; Transportation; Testing; Processing; Manufacturing (Food Commodities); Marketing; and Banking and Insurance. The stakeholder groups are scheduled to meet this summer and fall. In addition, leaders of the CHAMP initiative will hold several public meetings, with the first scheduled for Friday, August 16, 2019, in Hesperus, CO. To RSVP for the public meeting and for more information, visit https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/agplants/champ-initiative.

Editor’s Note: Morris Beegle, Co-founder of We Are for Better Alternatives (WAFBA), producer of the NoCo Hemp Expo, Southern Hemp Expo, Hemp on the Slope, Hawaii Hemp Expo and the Let’s Talk Hemp Podcast and Newsletter, was appointed to serve on the CHAMP Marketing Stakeholder Group. In addition, Steven Hoffman of Compass Natural, public relations agency of record for WAFBA and Editor of the Let’s Talk Hemp Newsletter, was also named to the CHAMP Marketing Stakeholder Group.

Butter Labeling Wars: Wisconsin Dairy Industry Takes On Plant-based “Butter”

Photo: Pexels

Originally appeared in New Hope’s IdeaXchange, July 2019
By Steven Hoffman

Until recently, the U.S. dairy industry remained relatively quiet regarding the proliferation of plant-based products that use words such as “milk,” “yogurt” and “cheese. Now, lobbyists and policymakers for dairy producers in Wisconsin, the nation’s leading producer of butter made from cow’s milk and the state that calls itself “America’s Dairyland,” want to limit use of the word on plant-based products, such as the best-selling vegan “butter” sold by Miyoko’s Kitchen, reported Bloomberg News.  

This past spring, Wisconsin’s Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) instructed supermarkets to remove nondairy products that use the term “butter” on labels, based on complaints from dairy producers that these products don’t comply with the state’s definition of butter, which requires that butter be made from dairy-based milk or cream. After being singled out and pulled from several stores, Miyoko’s agreed to affix a sticker to the label that read “vegetable spread.”

Companies such as Miyoko’s are riding a wave of popularity for plant-based products, especially dairy alternatives, reports Fortune. Plant-based milk retail sales totaled $1.8 billion for the year ending May 25, 2019, a 6.5% increase, according to data shared from Nielsen. Cheese substitute sales totaled $117 million, showing 17.4% growth. Cashew butters were up to $12.6 million, representing an increase of 4.9%, Fortune reported.

Changing consumer preferences toward plant-based foods are often cited as a chief cause of dairy’s slow decline, however, vegan products using labels such as “milk” – or in this case, “butter” – are seen by the milk lobby as misleading consumers to unfairly steal market share.

An official at DATCP said the agency is not planning to enforce labeling laws on other dairy products, such as “milk,” however, it will follow the FDA’s lead in this regard. Regarding butter, however, “It’s been an important product.” Wisconsin products more than one third of all butter sold in the U.S., Fortune reported.

FDA, for its part, may seek to restrict use of such traditional dairy terms by plant-based food producers. As part of its Nutrition Innovation Strategy, FDA announced it is modernizing standards of identity, which “define through regulation certain characteristics, ingredients, and quality of specific foods,” said an agency statement from Scott Gottlieb, who served as FDA commissioner at the time of the strategy’s launch. However, a review commissioned by the Plant Based Foods Association (PBFA) reported that 76% of people who commented to the FDA were in favor of allowing plant-based products to continue using dairy terminology. 

“The entire debate over the use of the term milk and other dairy terms on plant-based foods and beverages is a solution in search of a problem,” Good Karma Foods CEO Doug Radi told Food Navigator USA in January 2019. “Plant-based foods that can directly replace dairy-based products make use of the same terminology (e.g. milk, butter, cheese) because they serve the same purposes and are used in almost exactly the same way as their dairy counterparts (in cereal, a glass, smoothies, coffee, etc.) Consumers understand words in context,” he said. “Consumers think these words represent proper descriptors for the products and do not believe we are trying to pass off our products as a dairy product. In fact, we would not be successfully doing so, as consumers buying our products are looking for alternatives to dairy,” Radi added.

Hemp Market Takes Off at Expo West

For Presence Marketing Newsletter, April 2019
By Steven Hoffman

Anyone attending Natural Products Expo West, the world’s largest natural products trade show, held this past March, couldn’t help but notice that 2019 has emerged as “The Year of Hemp” in the natural and organic products market.

Indeed, the legalization of industrial hemp under the 2018 Farm Bill has been a boon for independent natural foods retailers, said Loren Israelsen, president of the United Natural Products Alliance. “For smaller stores, this category has been a lifeline for them as they battle to maintain foot traffic in the stores as online sales continue to grow.”  

Larger stores, too, are eyeing the hemp market: Boulder-based Lucky’s Market has taken the lead in hemp and CBD product sales in its stores nationwide, with full shelf sets in the natural living department. Ohio-based Mustard Seed Market’s supplement sales are being driven by its commitment to CBD products, says Nutrition Director Abraham Nabors. Whole Foods Market’s trend spotters identified hemp as a “top 10 food trend for 2019,” and recently, Whole Foods CEO John Mackey indicated the possibility of Whole Foods selling cannabis products should they become legal in the future.

According to Hemp Business Journal’s new report, The Global State of Hemp: 2019 Industry Outlook, U.S. sales of hemp products – from full-spectrum hemp extract and CBD products to hemp foods, textiles, building materials, bioplastics and more – estimated at $1 billion in 2018, are projected to grow 27% annually to reach $2.6 billion by 2022. Global hemp retail sales totaled $3.7 billion in 2018 and are projected to grow to $5.7 billion by 2020.

The passage of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, commonly known as the Farm Bill, in late December was nothing less than historic, legalizing for the first time in more than 80 years the commercial cultivation and sale of industrial hemp. “Most importantly, noted journalist Chris Chafin in Rolling Stone, “it removes hemp and any hemp derivative from the Controlled Substances Act, legally separating it from marijuana and putting its supervision under the Department of Agriculture. In the most basic sense, these plants serve three primary uses: fiber (paper and cloth), seeds (for hemp oil and food), and cannabinoid oils. It’s this last category that’s the most profitable and has the biggest potential for growth. The [Farm Bill] defines hemp as any part or derivative of cannabis with a THC level below 0.3 percent on a dry-weight basis,” Chafin reported.

Hemp Steals the Show at Expo West
Interest in the category was so strong at 2019 Natural Products Expo West that a full-day Hemp & CBD Summit held at the show spilled out beyond a 500-person ballroom into two other rooms where a similar-sized audience watched by live video feed. Also, during a panel discussion hosted by Presence Marketing and NCG at Expo West for over 150 retailers, CBD and hemp supply chain (e.g., ensuring that the full spectrum hemp extract products you carry are sourced from certified organic producers, etc.) dominated the discussion.

Full spectrum hemp and CBD products from new and national brands alike were introduced everywhere at the trade show: carob snacks with hemp extract from Missy J’s; CBD sparkling water from Weller; hemp-infused honey from Colorado Hemp Honey; CBD wellness shooters introduced by Navitas; organic full-spectrum hemp extract from Gaia Herbs, Charlotte’s Web, CV Sciences and others; hemp supplements by Leaf Therapeutics, a new brand launched by legacy brand Solaray; hemp gummies and caramels from Boulder-based Restorative Botanicals; CBD sports nutrition, hemp balms, hemp infused body care products and more. Honestly, what didn’t have CBD hemp extract at Expo West?

And that’s not to mention hemp foods derived from hemp seed – high in plant-based protein and omega-3 essential fatty acids, but with no CBD or cannabinoid compounds. Sold for over 20 years in natural foods stores, hemp seed-derived products are now widely regarded as superfoods. Brands such as Tempt, Manitoba Harvest, Evo Hemp and others presented new hemp food offerings at Expo West, capitalizing on heightened interest in all things hemp.

CBD or Hemp Extract?
The FDA may yet come out against use of the term “CBD.” While the agency is expected to review CBD and hemp extracts in food and supplements in the near future, according to outgoing FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, CBD isolate was approved as a drug by the agency after granting license for Epidiolex, the first pharmaceutical derived from cannabidiol (CBD), manufactured by the company GW Pharmaceuticals. The commissioner had recently spoken of a “pathway” to acceptance of hemp CBD as a dietary ingredient. However, with Gottlieb announcing his resignation in early March, many in the natural products industry are uncertain whether progress on FDA regulatory policy regarding hemp and CBD will be made.

However, judging from exhibit after exhibit on the trade show floor, you wouldn’t know the regulatory waters around the use of the term “CBD” are murky. For many exhibitors at Expo West, “CBD” was the go-to phrase on product packaging, literature and exhibit signage, while others more conservatively stuck to the phrase “full-spectrum hemp extract.” 

Despite FDA’s lack of a decision to date in this regard, manufacturers, retailers and consumers alike are responding positively to the use of CBD on the product label, and are not waiting for FDA to decide. This could be an issue down the road for many manufacturers, should the FDA decide to crack down on use of CBD on labels. The key, advised a number of speakers at the show, is avoid the use of CBD isolate in products and stick with full-spectrum hemp extract to avoid unwanted attention from the FDA. 

While "it’s still unclear how different federal agencies will interpret the new [Farm Bill] rules...it doesn’t matter — people in the CBD industry are calling the new legislation a game changer," observed Chafin in Rolling Stone.

Transparency and Testing Are Crucial
A major theme at Expo West’s Hemp & CBD Summit focused on manufacturers operating with safety and integrity, noted CBD Insider in a March 9, 2019, report. “To preserve integrity, businesses must always test their products, especially in these six areas: cannabinoid potency, residual solvents, heavy metals, pesticides, microbes, and terpenes. After this testing is complete and the products are verifiably ready for consumption, companies should be transparent with their testing and provide documentation of third-party lab results. Companies — and consumers — must do their homework and ask questions. If a laboratory, farmer, brand, or any other entity in the supply chain is not willing to be transparent, it’s a sign that you should do business elsewhere. Many of the speakers discussed how they personally vet businesses before working with them, such as requiring documentation or personally visiting the company’s facility,” reported CBD Insider.

In addition, and importantly, retailers and consumers should seek out hemp products that are grown in accordance with certified organic and preferably climate friendly regenerative practices, emphasized John Roulac, founder of Nutiva and RE: Botanicals, a new hemp “apothecary,” which debuted at Expo West. Beware of low-cost hemp extract products that may have been produced with industrial agriculture practices including toxic, synthetic pesticides and synthetic nitrogen fertilizers derived from natural gas and fracking – contributors to global warming – and extracted with toxic organic solvents, he cautioned.

U.S. Hemp Acreage – 80,000 Acres and Growing
Although hemp is now legal across the U.S., the message seems to be getting out slowly, and state and local authorities are still seizing hemp crops and truckers are being arrested for crossing state lines with container loads of harvested industrial hemp for processing, tying up individuals in jail and leaving valuable inventory in limbo.

Currently, nine states – Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, South Dakota, Iowa, Texas, and Connecticut – still prohibit hemp production under any circumstances. And four states – Idaho, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas – still prohibit hemp-derived CBD. “For now, transporting hemp across these state lines may still be as dangerous as it’s ever been,” reported science writer Leo Bear-McGuiness in Analytical Cannabis.  

Yet, “damn the torpedoes,” U.S. farmers are saying, as they respond to soaring demand by dedicating farmland to hemp cultivation, seeing it as a potential cash crop and an alternative to growing GMO corn, soy, tobacco and other commodity crops. 

According to hemp advocacy group Vote Hemp, the U.S. hemp crop tripled in 2018 to 78,176 acres, up from 25,713 acres in hemp cultivation in 2017. That figure is expected to grow now that the Farm Bill has opened the door nationwide to hemp production, says Vote Hemp. Montana emerged as the top hemp growing state in 2018, followed by Colorado, Oregon, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina and North Dakota, respectively, according to Vote Hemp.

Learn More

• Let’s Talk Hemp – a leading newsletter and podcast by the producer of NoCo Hemp Expo and Southern Hemp Expo

• Hemp Business Journal – strategic data and information for the hemp industry

• Hemp Industry Daily – news, market research and trade information

• Organic Trade Association’s Organic Week – May 20-23, 2019, Washington, DC, featuring a track on organic hemp production

• Southern Hemp Expo – September 6-7, 2019, Nashville, TN, the largest exhibition and conference of hemp industry professionals in the East

• Natural Products Expo East – September 11-14, 2019, Baltimore, MD, presenting the Natural Products Hemp & CBD Summit

• Vote Hemp – representing hemp producers and advocating for hemp policy and regulation