As early as the year 1938, the magazine Popular Mechanics identified over 25,000 uses for the hemp plant. Indeed, hemp’s origins dates back thousands of years. Hemp’s likely interactions with humans began as our species moved from living in roving hunter-gatherer clans to settled agrarian societies. Traditionally, hempseed oil was used in a number of industrial products such as paints and varnishes. Hemp played an important role in the advancement of human societies through its contributions to rope, sails and fibrous thread. Hemp likely contributed to the development of agriculture. Hemp had much to offer as a food, feed, fiber, fuel, and nutraceutical crop. Today, it remains to be seen how it will compete as a commodity crop. Provided that government interventions no longer hinders its use, economics will be the final arbiter of hemp’s success as a commodity crop; a very simple matter of supply and demand.
