After a delicious breakfast of peanut butter chocolate chip cookie oatmeal, I went grocery shopping.

Last year, we were too poor to buy a tree, so we wrapped lights around our coat rack and laughed about it.  We created a tribute to our poverty as something we can laugh about in the future. Today,  I bought a tree. It is cheap and scrawny and not too much improvement over last year, but it is something I can actually place presents under for Julieanne! Hurray!

This week, I was going to buy wild salmon for my quality ingredient. Then I realized I had enough money to buy salmon and steel cut oats so I did! Then, on the way home, I realized that one of my recipes for the week is crazy expensive, so I am going to have a quality meal on top of it. It is not cheap and it is not easy, so it kind of defies the purpose of my blog, but I’ve had it before and it is sooo good. It’s worth it for an occasional, high calorie, high cost treat.

My new food of the week is hemp. I bought a trial packet of hemp powder to stick in my smoothie.

While I put groceries away, I ate two squares of blueberry lavender chocolate. It doesn’t taste like a regular candy bar, but something about it was so satisfying and delicious. It had a light, refreshing taste as opposed to a fattening taste like what you would find in a Snickers bar. I thought it would go well with green tea, so I sipped some green tea while I ate another square and blogged. Very tasty snack!

Chicken tostadas for dinner!

Over 6 Billion People in the World, only 9 Hemp Didgeridoos left!

We have the last supply of the almighty hemp didgeridoos… and they are now online for you to look at, listen to, and buy!

Get your hemp didgeridoo before someone else does!

Click here to visit our Hemp Didgeridoo Shop >

Appeared in HQ Magazine October 2009 (also had cover rights for cover photo)

The Emerald City served as a perfect backdrop for Seattle Hempfest, a green-themed celebration of all things cannabis, to roll out the green carpet and welcome people from all over the country to learn and enjoy everything that hemp is and could be.

It all started in 1991, during a six month peace vigil to oppose the Gulf War, when a few of the participants decided to throw a “humble gathering of stoners”. Eighteen years later it has grown to be America’s largest marijuana law reform event.

The 2009 event featured five stages of free music with over 50 acts throughout the weekend; including Arlo Guthrie and Willie Nelson, speakers and hundreds of vendors.

There was a little something for everyone. Proponents of medicinal, industrial and recreational use of cannabis had booths and spoke in the Hemposium. As usual, there was a widespread smattering of food, arts, crafts and educational booths, even face painting. Of course there was also a wide array of local blown glass, imports, vaporizers and hemp goodies.

While there was plenty of fun stuff going on, the festival promotes some serious issues. The festival is referred to as a “protestival” and aims to not only celebrate the many uses of hemp, but also to educate and rally for the decriminalization of cannabis. The themes of human rights, civil liberties and freedom ring throughout the festival’s events. Some of the speakers at Hempfest represented organizations like the Marijuana Policy Project, California Cannabis Ministry and SAFER (Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation).

The show hosts some 100,000 visitors over the 2 day show. The attendees range from the counter-culture hippies and tie-dyers all the way to suit and tie politicians. Even with the gigantic proportions and cost, the event remains free to the public through donations and volunteer dedication, hard work and passion for the cause.

The show also adds to Seattle’s notoriety as a hemp friendly city. Five years ago, Seattle voted to make Marijuana the lowest priority for police officers and medical use of the plant is legal in Washington. State legislature is now considering downgrading possession of marijuana from a misdemeanor to a civil infraction taking the state one step closer to joining the hemp revolution.

The theme of this year’s Hempfest was: Cannabis for a better future. Change is definitely in the air and so are the fumes of the honored plant.

Hackers Get The Upper Hand – Global Warming Really ‘Exposed’?

By: Simranjeet (Nate)

(Interested in more information? Visit http://tinyurl.com/globalwarmingisascam)

So as you can see, so far right off the get go of this post, you see the possibility already that Global Warming is a fake. Maybe this tiny fact isn’t enough, but is it enough to catch your attention to this post here? Maybe you have heard of Greenpeace and seen Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” and your a green supporter!

I have something to challenge what you’ve been told about these “theories” by spokes men, and supposedly “Top Scientist”. I have something simple and straight forward about Global Warming, something that can save you much more then you think when you finally come to the conclusion that this balderdash information is wrong and something fishy is taking place globally.

1st off I would like to share a concern with you. Although I’m not an advocate of dirty energy I do support that everyone should have access to energy. If you have been a follower of this site you’ll see I’m in favor of alternative energies, but. Being that the places we’ve been taken by globalist control, there’s been a lot of suppression on alternative energies, that are more price effective and logical for individual home-residence usage.

But since those are not available for mass usage, we have to find a way to use these cheap effective energies in developing countries such as Africa, but I do not support waste dumping in areas not appropriate or cutting down of tree’s or anything of this.

More importantly then any though, is that Global Warming was not created because we we're running into a real problem, the cycles we have seen throughout hundreds of thousands of years shows that what we are dealing with is normal.

So what this really does is just create a scare that claims ‘humans are responsible’ for this damage of the world. By creating this global idea was just to create carbon taxes on you and everything you like and do. Thusly taxing the world, merging further into a one world government. But with such a lie exposed at great speed as this one, this is more damaging then any other front for their agenda. This blow, when it finally hits them will just show more of their fabricated misinformation and more and more people will resist further claims of Global Warming, Terrorist, Al Quaeda, Economic Reasoning or Swine Flu and it will all be tossed under the microscope by independent researchers, such as you, me and others every time they put a new piece on the chess board to challenge true motives of what might be.

Climategate: Dr. Tim Ball on the hacked CRU emails

(Retired climatologist Dr. Tim Ball joins us to discuss the significance of the recently leaked emails and documents from the Climate Research Unit at East Anglia University which expose deceit about Global Warming)

To catch you up, recently hackers got into the Climate Research Unit and spread information about government cover up of tests done to prove global warming was false and it was to be kept under wraps the exact emails that were either hacked or leaked from the Climate Research Unit at East Anglia University we’re placed on the internet weeks after they we’re first sent to Paul Hudson, a weather presenter and climate correspondent for the BBC, notes on his blog “I was forwarded the chain of e-mails on the 12th October,”.

(Visit Paul Hudson’s Blog Here -> BBC Paul Hudson Blog)

-Read Detailed News Account Of His Findings -> HERE-

Either way though, I can provide a couple sources of truth to help you see exactly what I’m trying to telling you now! Please take your time and view these videos, share this page and keep the truth movement moving down the stream to others that must know!

Peace
-Simranjeet Singh

The Great Global Warming Swindle

Climate Gate – Hackers Expose Global Warming

Hackers break into University emails and uncover the global warming conspiracy. Mainstream media is whitewashing this story.

— News Event of Climate Gate Hackers —

Hackers have tried to prove global warming researchers are massaging the figures – after stealing sensitive emails from one of the UK’s leading climate research centers. The documents were then made available to the public from a Russian server.

PLEASE SHARE THIS INFORMATION – Digg it, Social Media it, Friends, Family, Twitter… Do it!

-> http://simranjeet.com/2009/11/25/globalexpose/ <-

November 24, 2009 – I’ve written about medical marijuana so often in the last couple years my mother must think I’m sitting around stoned out of my gourd half the time. The fact is, I don’t even like the stuff. Then again, I don’t much like the smell of Tiger Balm on my own skin but the benefits are well worth the odor when arthritis hits.

I’m a firm believer in old wives’ tales and various schools of holistic medicine. I believe that too many of our children are over medicated with synthetic drugs in order to keep them tractable or comforted. I’m also not one bit shocked that a family in Southern California is having great success with their troubled and autistic child due to the use of medical marijuana.

Recently, their autistic child was on 13 types of medication. He was acting out violently and literally starving himself to death due to a complete lack of appetite. Today, the child is on 3 types of medication, one to be used only as needed, and another that he’s being weaned off of. He’s beginning to show signs of actual verbal communication. The little boy is calm and sociable. He’s also put on a few pounds and is eating like a healthy child again. How is this possible? Through the consumption of a single pot brownie approximately the size of a quarter, administered once every three or four days. The child’s parents are surprised and thrilled.

A large portion of the medical community is not exactly standing behind the family or the family’s doctor who prescribed the medical marijuana. The arguments against it are primarily that there are concerns about giving marijuana to a child and that it hasn’t been tested for results regarding autism. Rather than ask why this mother is feeding her kid a fraction of a pot brownie instead of 13 ineffective pills a day, they ought to look at the results in the case and ask themselves why the heck they aren’t out there testing this today.

The parents have had to listen to comments such as, “Oh, you’re just getting your kid stoned so you don’t have to put up with him.” Right. A quarter-sized brownie wouldn’t keep a chipmunk stoned for three days. This is the reaction of a childless nitwit. When your own child goes through an ordeal and faces a very real possibility of death, you’ll do anything to help your child. Petty criticism doesn’t make a dent in a mom’s determination to save her baby, no matter how old that baby may be. A dad will knock down a gauntlet of pooh-poohers if they stand in the way of his child’s salvation. If my kid was dying and the only option I hadn’t yet pursued was a big old opium pipe, I’d light one up for him. When parents are afraid for their children, they will grasp at any straw. What a blessing when one of the straws actually works.

The Mayo Clinic has done research on the beneficial effects of medical marijuana on chemo patients. The results were overwhelmingly positive. Prior to the research, it was “privately tested.” The results were so good that it caught the attention of credible research groups. Here we have a case that merits exploration, and the torch bearers and pitchfork wavers are ready to camp on some poor mother’s doorstep rather than say, “Wow, this could help a lot of kids!” By Lily Robertson. Source.

It’s Sunday in Palm Springs, 75 degrees out, beautiful mountain backdrop, happy friendly people and their pets are out enjoying the life…

And I feel like shit.

Why?

My first week eating only raw food was rough.  Imagine cutting yourself off cold-turkey from drinking over 100 adult beverages per week, abstaining from your morning cup of crack with the pretty mermaid on it, and suddenly refusing your body any access to pizzas and Mexican food…NOT a fun transition.

If you’ve seen New Moon, and watched Kristen Stewart’s “Bella” writhe and scream in her sleep over her lost Edward (who I still maintain looks an awful lot like Bert from Sesame Street), you have an inkling of what my first week raw felt like!

Weeks two and three were a different movie…I felt euphoric and “high” and ate up all the positive comments I was getting from friends and strangers.  EVERY SINGLE DAY I saw a thinner, sexier, happier, healthier, more in-tune version of me in the full-length mirror.

Having a cute young raw foods chef at a Santa Monica cafe ask me if I was “raw” the second I walked in the door surprised me.  When I answered yes, and she told me she “thought so, because my eyes were so clear and I really had a case of the glow” I was beyond flattered.

But here I am near the end of week four, a week of apathy and fatigue.  What’s up?  I feel like I’m doing this right…I’ve slowly been upping my intake of greens, I’m making sure I get natural fats like hemp oil, I’m still eating a lot of juicy organic fruits…

Also, I eat very little dehydrated raw foods (they make me feel as dry as they are) and most days just eat foods in their whole simple form without trying to “doll” them up.

I’m hoping that it’s just another cleansing level I’ve hit?  I would expect my recent toxic past to haunt me for awhile. Maybe it’s a little bit mental…one month is the longest I’ve ever gone before raw…? But Jesus do I hate the idea that some or all of the benefits of raw eating might just be in my head.

One interesting distinction I’d like to make: I’m not depressed.  I’ve spent much of my life in moderate to severely depressed states, this isn’t anything like that.  I’m clear about things–almost scary sober–but I don’t necessarily like how that feels…

Sometimes eating raw makes so much sense to me, and I see it as the answer to a lot of peoples problems both on a personal level and a collective one.  That’s how I mostly feel…at other times the whole thing seems ridiculous and absurd!  Not eat ANY cooked foods?  Not get drunk and stupid?  WHY?!?  What am I trying to prove? To whom?

As an example last night a guy at the bar wanted mashed potatoes.  We don’t have that on the menu, but Mike the Chef made some for him anyways, that’s the kind of old school cool we serve up.  When I bring him the potatoes I’m drooling.  When he adds a few dollops of real butter I’m butter.  So I try and remind myself that when I get home later I was actually going to make my own version of mashed “potatoes” which are made from soaked cashews and cauliflower blended up with salt & pepper.  They taste pretty good.  But they are NOT potatoes, and they are cold.  For some reason it just seemed stupid to me…am I too good for potatoes?

My intention with this blog is not necessarily to inspire anyone to do anything.  I simply want to reveal what eating raw is doing for me (now and in the future).  So please take what I say with a grain of pink Himalayan crystal salt.   I’m half-way through my trial and will continue to candidly share my peaks and valley floors with anyone interested…

A representative of HempOil Canada discusses the processing of hemp and materials made of hemp used in a myriad of products mainly destined for the United States:

and alternatively feel free to stalk my life here

Photographer: Jason Paparoulas.
Model: Shara Gomez.
Make Up Artist: Allyce McDonald.
Designer and Stylist: Allyce McDonald.
Assistant: Allyce McDonald.
Location: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Strobist Info (this ordering may or may not have changed throughout the shoot):

- 1 x Bowens Gemini Esprit 500WS – shot bare camera left behind
- 1 x Bowens Gemini Esprit 500WS – shot through softbox camera left
- 1 x Bowens Travelpacks – powering 2 x 500WS strobes each

- Canon 5D Mark II w/ BG-E6
- 50mm f/1.4, 35mm f/2.0
- Elinchrom Skyport Universal Triggers

Finally finished editing all the photos and work that has backed up from the last couple of months, it’s so easy to get distracted and work on other things and soon enough one thing after another isn’t finished.
Anyways, this is a little shoot I did for friend and designer Allyce McDonald she designs pretty amazing stuff, and you should definitely keep an eye out for her name and her stuff. Rest assured you will see more of her stuff up on my blog here, and flickr here in the coming month, as I am heading down to Sydney for more work which just might include a couple of shoots with her, and a couple of shoots from up and coming designers so keep your eyes peeled…

Cheers to the lovely girls Shara and Allyce, for modelling, stylising, make-up, and putting up with us for most of the day, and showing me a little bit of a good time in a city I’m not so used to anymore.

So check it out…
and alternatively feel free to stalk my life here

Photographer: Jason Paparoulas.
Model: Shara Gomez.
Make Up Artist: Allyce McDonald.
Designer and Stylist: Allyce McDonald.
Assistant: Allyce McDonald.
Location: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Strobist Info (this ordering may or may not have changed throughout the shoot):

- 1 x Bowens Gemini Esprit 500WS – shot bare camera left behind
- 1 x Bowens Gemini Esprit 500WS – shot through softbox camera left
- 1 x Bowens Travelpacks – powering 2 x 500WS strobes each

- Canon 5D Mark II w/ BG-E6
- 50mm f/1.4, 35mm f/2.0
- Elinchrom Skyport Universal Triggers

Finally finished editing all the photos and work that has backed up from the last couple of months, it’s so easy to get distracted and work on other things and soon enough one thing after another isn’t finished.
Anyways, this is a little shoot I did for friend and designer Allyce McDonald she designs pretty amazing stuff, and you should definitely keep an eye out for her name and her stuff. Rest assured you will see more of her stuff up on my blog here, and flickr here in the coming month, as I am heading down to Sydney for more work which just might include a couple of shoots with her, and a couple of shoots from up and coming designers so keep your eyes peeled…

Cheers to the lovely girls Shara and Allyce, for modelling, stylising, make-up, and putting up with us for most of the day, and showing me a little bit of a good time in a city I’m not so used to anymore.

So check it out…
and alternatively feel free to stalk my life here

Photographer: Jason Paparoulas.
Model: Shara Gomez.
Make Up Artist: Allyce McDonald.
Designer and Stylist: Allyce McDonald.
Assistant: Allyce McDonald.
Location: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Strobist Info (this ordering may or may not have changed throughout the shoot):

- 1 x Bowens Gemini Esprit 500WS – shot bare camera left behind
- 1 x Bowens Gemini Esprit 500WS – shot through softbox camera left
- 1 x Bowens Travelpacks – powering 2 x 500WS strobes each

- Canon 5D Mark II w/ BG-E6
- 50mm f/1.4, 35mm f/2.0
- Elinchrom Skyport Universal Triggers

Finally finished editing all the photos and work that has backed up from the last couple of months, it’s so easy to get distracted and work on other things and soon enough one thing after another isn’t finished.
Anyways, this is a little shoot I did for friend and designer Allyce McDonald she designs pretty amazing stuff, and you should definitely keep an eye out for her name and her stuff. Rest assured you will see more of her stuff up on my blog here, and flickr here in the coming month, as I am heading down to Sydney for more work which just might include a couple of shoots with her, and a couple of shoots from up and coming designers so keep your eyes peeled…

Cheers to the lovely girls Shara and Allyce, for modelling, stylising, make-up, and putting up with us for most of the day, and showing me a little bit of a good time in a city I’m not so used to anymore.

So check it out…
and alternatively feel free to stalk my life here

Photographer: Jason Paparoulas.
Model: Shara Gomez.
Make Up Artist: Allyce McDonald.
Designer and Stylist: Allyce McDonald.
Assistant: Allyce McDonald.
Location: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Strobist Info (this ordering may or may not have changed throughout the shoot):

- 1 x Bowens Gemini Esprit 500WS – shot bare camera left behind
- 1 x Bowens Gemini Esprit 500WS – shot through softbox camera left
- 1 x Bowens Travelpacks – powering 2 x 500WS strobes each

- Canon 5D Mark II w/ BG-E6
- 50mm f/1.4, 35mm f/2.0
- Elinchrom Skyport Universal Triggers

Finally finished editing all the photos and work that has backed up from the last couple of months, it’s so easy to get distracted and work on other things and soon enough one thing after another isn’t finished.
Anyways, this is a little shoot I did for friend and designer Allyce McDonald she designs pretty amazing stuff, and you should definitely keep an eye out for her name and her stuff. Rest assured you will see more of her stuff up on my blog here, and flickr here in the coming month, as I am heading down to Sydney for more work which just might include a couple of shoots with her, and a couple of shoots from up and coming designers so keep your eyes peeled…

Cheers to the lovely girls Shara and Allyce, for modelling, stylising, make-up, and putting up with us for most of the day, and showing me a little bit of a good time in a city I’m not so used to anymore.

So check it out…
and alternatively feel free to stalk my life here

Photographer: Jason Paparoulas.
Model: Shara Gomez.
Make Up Artist: Allyce McDonald.
Designer and Stylist: Allyce McDonald.
Assistant: Allyce McDonald.
Location: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Strobist Info (this ordering may or may not have changed throughout the shoot):

- 1 x Bowens Gemini Esprit 500WS – shot bare camera left behind
- 1 x Bowens Gemini Esprit 500WS – shot through softbox camera left
- 1 x Bowens Travelpacks – powering 2 x 500WS strobes each

- Canon 5D Mark II w/ BG-E6
- 50mm f/1.4, 35mm f/2.0
- Elinchrom Skyport Universal Triggers

Finally finished editing all the photos and work that has backed up from the last couple of months, it’s so easy to get distracted and work on other things and soon enough one thing after another isn’t finished.
Anyways, this is a little shoot I did for friend and designer Allyce McDonald she designs pretty amazing stuff, and you should definitely keep an eye out for her name and her stuff. Rest assured you will see more of her stuff up on my blog here, and flickr here in the coming month, as I am heading down to Sydney for more work which just might include a couple of shoots with her, and a couple of shoots from up and coming designers so keep your eyes peeled…

Cheers to the lovely girls Shara and Allyce, for modelling, stylising, make-up, and putting up with us for most of the day, and showing me a little bit of a good time in a city i’m not so used to anymore.

So check it out…
and alternatively feel free to stalk my life here

US government propaganda film made during WWII touting the virtues of hemp. The film was aimed at farmers at a time when the miltary was facing a shortage of hemp, it shows how hemp is grown and processed into rope and other products.
[archive.org]

[direktlink]

gefunden in der “Marijuana Conspiracy” (via mururoar).
in der verschweorungstheorie werden auch noch ein paar andere filmchen erwaehnt. 2 davon gibts bei archive.org und sollen der vollstaendigkeit halber auch erwaehnt werden.

wie man bereits an den titeln erkennen kann, gehen diese propagandefilme aber eindeutig in die andere richtung:
Reefer Madness
Assassin Of Youth

Greener Grass is my green powder blend

it came abt bcos i used 2 put a teaspoon of this & a teaspoon of that on everyone’s food & i got bored of dishing them all out so i thought i’d make a blend

& then we thought it was so good we should share it

it contains hemp protein, barleygrass, spirulina, crystal manna, he shou wu, purple corn, kelp, chilli & salt

we did a tasting in infinity a few weeks ago

& we’ve also got a Greener Grass competition running at the moment, which I’ve been very bad at getting round to judging, but will close on 31st November. pls email rawliving.eu@gmail.com & tell me why the grass is greener on your side of the fence!

heres my greener grass video

& theres also a new interview up on the Bubble that brandon did with me

November 18, 2009 – Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada – Hemp foods are one of the hottest health food trends in North America, and a fast-growing Canadian company is demonstrating that there is a healthy appetite for nutritious hemp foods overseas, too. Due to a vigorous international sales initiative over the past few years by Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods & Oils (www.manitobaharvest.com), exports of their hemp foods beyond North America have skyrocketed more than 500% over the past year. So far in 2009, the company has exported products to eight nations (in addition to the United States) including Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, Ireland and Japan.

Now that medical researchers, nutrition experts and chefs in the U.S. and Canada are demonstrating that hemp is a nutritious and eco-friendly superfood with vast culinary applications, the company is using this backing and their eleven years of experience educating consumers to cultivate interest in markets around the globe. Their success has not happened by chance. Manitoba Harvest employees have been busy traveling overseas to research market opportunities and to meet with retailers, food manufacturers, distributors and consumers.

This week, Manitoba Harvest is off to yet another major food event in Europe. The Food Ingredients Europe show held in Frankfurt, Germany from November 17th to 19th is one of the largest of its kind in the world. The Fi Europe show will be the fourth overseas international food show attended by Manitoba Harvest in 2009. Fi Europe is held once every two years in a major European city. The show brings together production and marketing specialists from the world’s leading food and beverage suppliers to showcase new and innovative ingredients and services.

“Our early discovery efforts indicate that there is great potential for further hemp foods sales growth in the environmental- and health-minded European marketplace,” says Mike Fata, co-founder and President. “We are a hemp foods ingredients supplier to manufacturers and we have our own line of branded products, so our export business is a two-pronged approach,” he adds.

In addition to exhibiting at major international food events, another of the co-founders of the company, Alex Chwaiewsky, has been a hemp globetrotter over the past month visiting with retailers in several cities in the European Union (EU) including London, Glasgow (Scotland), Cologne (Germany) and Amsterdam (Holland). “The Anuga Food Fair in Cologne is the world’s largest food show and it is truly a gathering of the global village,” said Chwaiewsky. “At the event and during my other travels, it was exciting to discover that although many people in the EU were not aware of the many culinary and health benefits of hemp foods, they quickly grasped the concept and were eager to learn more and to purchase our products,” he added.

An international food policy issue that might benefit Manitoba Harvest is the recent controversy over exports of flax, a grain that competes with hemp due to their mutual high content of omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids. Canadian flax foods are increasingly made from genetically modified seeds (GMOs), an engineering concept which the European Union marketplace is opposed to using in food products. So it appears that this GMO health and environment issue might open up even more opportunities in the EU for Manitoba Harvest hemp foods.

During the past 5 years, Manitoba Harvest’s sales have grown more than 1,000% earning them a spot on the Profit 100 list of the fastest growing businesses in Canada. Growth in exports has helped the company reach new heights, with average monthly sales of nearly $1 million.

“Foods that offer omega-3 essential fatty acids like hemp are hot because medical evidence touting the health benefits continues to grow,” says Fata. Hemp seed also offers an impressive digestible protein profile and an abundance of vitamins, minerals and fiber. Manitoba Harvest produces Hemp Bliss – an award-winning line of organic Hempmilks, organic cold-pressed Hemp Oil, Shelled Hemp Seed, Hemp Seed Butter and a line of innovative Hemp Protein Powders.

Founded in 1998, Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods & Oils is the world’s largest vertically-integrated, farmer owned hemp food manufacturer. The company strives to create the healthiest hemp foods, to educate the public about healthy lifestyle choices, and to support sustainable and organic agriculture. Manitoba Harvest is proud to partner with Renewable Choice Energy to reduce their environmental impact through wind power and carbon offsets. For more information, please visit www.manitobaharvest.com.

Honestly, I am not a fan of t-shirts as most t-shirts are cut too big or are ill shaped for a woman’s figure. The worst offenders are those who wear these heavy, 100% cotton shirts thrown over jeans, or shorts and emerge with no waistline, a choke collar, and bulky, bunchy sleeves. I mean, let’s throw sexy out the window, please. We can do better than that because there are some t-shirts that have style (great, artistic designs), silky skin fabric and cut, and luxurious comfort without throwing sexy out. Who doesn’t strive for simple, chic, and comfortable?

1. Organic Bamboo T-shirts from Blend Apparel (Jason Mraz is a partner in the company.)

“I LOVE LOVE” TSHIRT

“HARMONY” TSHIRT

Tshirts found at the Blend Apparel website.

2. Hemp Organic Cotton T-shirts from Herban Development

Men’s T-shirt

Woman’s tank

T-shirts from Herban Development’s website.

3. Martin + Osa Silk/Cotton blend T-shirts

Martin +Osa (a store not in Hawaii yet, but its products can be found online), had some great silk/cotton t-shirts that were casual dressy, thin (ditch the bulky shirts!), and oh so comfortable. Great for layering too for those colder climates if traveling.

-Stephanie

Sometimes you see some of the most unexpected things here. Things you would see in the States and think, “OMG, didn’t anyone ever tell you that was kind of a no-no?”

I don’t even know where to take this. I mean, everyone loves a plush jolly Jamaican Rastafarian, right? You’ve got the whole set at home, right? I bet they have tea parties with Hello Kitty.

And right next to the jolly Rastas was this – a fake hemp leaf garland for decorating, well, whatever you decorate with a fake pot garland. Apparently, whoever does the decorating for the store thought it would be fetching on a plastic naked girl. Note the Lilo and Stich merchandise in the background.

And, once you have your jolly Rastas set and decorated with your garland, you can coordinate your bed linens. I’m not really in the market for more bedding, so I didn’t check the price, but it does come in black and green as well.

I don’t think this post requires any more words from me. The pics are enough.

November 16, 2009 – Slinky, soft bamboo fabric has made its way into my wardrobe in the form of a number of buttery shirts and dresses. When I came across the eco-label Viridis Luxe, it wasn’t Uma Thurman and Laura Dern’s patronage of the brand that attracted me. It was the clothes’ luxurious feel and comfortable styling.

Indeed, bamboo has had the most success among all the new “eco-textiles” on store shelves—fabric billed as environmentally friendly and made from materials such as soybeans, corn, milk, seaweed and recycled plastic. Bamboo shows up in clothes sold in Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue, as well as sheets sold at Target, and it bears such deluxe labels as Ermenegildo Zegna, Rag & Bone and Ralph Lauren, as well as more eco-focused brands. Because it is so exotically soft, bamboo is often marketed alongside luxury fibers like silk and cashmere.

Bamboo’s story sounds clear and appealing: like hemp, the plant grows quickly without the irrigation, pesticides or fertilizer often used to grow cotton. It’s often sold as “biodegradable,” and the plant’s antimicrobial properties have been used to market athletic clothes made from the fiber. “People are switching from cotton to bamboo,” says Aarti Doshi, regional manager for bamboo-fabric distributor Doshi Group, based in Mumbai, India.

When I looked below the surface, though, I found that bamboo fabric is less “eco” and “sustainable” than it seems. The bamboo used in textiles has to be heavily manipulated to go from stem to store. To create fabric, it’s chopped up and dissolved in toxic solvents—the same process that recycles wood scraps into viscose or rayon. Indeed, bamboo fabric technically is rayon.

The Federal Trade Commission sued four small bamboo-clothing manufacturers in August, citing them for false labeling, among other concerns, under the 1958 Textile Fiber Products Identification Act. The companies had used language such as “natural,” “biodegradable,” and “antimicrobial.” But bamboo fabric isn’t natural, the FTC said, since it’s a textile developed by chemists. The agency also said the biodegradable and antimicrobial qualities of the plant don’t survive the manufacturing process.

In a bulletin titled “Have You Been Bamboozled by Bamboo Fabrics?” the FTC said that bamboo fabrics “are made using toxic chemicals in a process that releases pollutants into the air.”

The FTC’s four cases are close to being settled without penalties, but with the requirement that fabric be labeled as viscose or rayon, and without the claims about biodegradability and antimicrobial properties, says FTC staff attorney Korin Ewing.

Of course, rayon doesn’t have the same all-natural ring as bamboo. Salvatore Giardina, a designer and adjunct professor in textile development and marketing at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, says he works with hemp and linen but stopped using bamboo several years ago after a manufacturer told him it should be labeled as viscose. “I manufacture a very high-end product—there’s no way I can put on my label 100% viscose,” he says.

Bonnie Siefers, founder and designer of Jonäno, one of the apparel makers sued by the FTC, says she has stopped marketing her bamboo line as biodegradable or antimicrobial. She is also working with newer fabrics made from corn sugars—which technically make something like polyester, but without the petroleum base.

But a quick search on the Web shows hundreds of apparel makers still market bamboo fabrics as eco-friendly. Ms. Ewing notes they probably have good intentions. “We have to be sure that sellers do their homework,” she says. Most bamboo is grown in China, where it’s harder for U.S designers to monitor suppliers.

Of course, bamboo doesn’t have to be processed heavily—witness the many home items, from furniture to flooring, on the market—to be used in products.

But some wearers have other gripes about bamboo. Mr. Giardina, the FIT professor, says he found that bamboo fabric is unstable and likely to stretch out of shape in damp weather. Uniform Knitters Ltd., a Hong Kong apparel manufacturer, abandoned bamboo fabrics because they tend to shrink and have odd variances in color, according to a company spokeswoman.

My bamboo clothes also proved somewhat unstable. After a few washes, tiny holes began to appear randomly in my new bamboo wardrobe. Hala Bahmet, the designer of Viridis Luxe, says the holes were the fault of too-thin yarn.

“Brands—us included—cranked out these delectable, lightweight, creamy garments that don’t have the durability,” she says. She now adds organic cotton to her clothes to improve durability, and she labels them “viscose from bamboo.” She has had better success mixing hemp and cashmere in her sweaters, which are gorgeous.

Ms. Bahmet says she hopes the FTC concerns lead to research on better bamboo production, because it doesn’t involve diverting an important food source such as corn to fabric production. She is optimistic that the FTC action will encourage scientists to research truly eco-friendly production methods for bamboo.

“Bamboo is just in its infancy as a fiber,” she says. “It’s not even a teenager yet.” Source.

I am very aware of the fact that the current fair trade and eco-friendly clothing industry is strongly oriented towards women. I am also aware of the fact that this needs to be changed. Many men have complained to me about the lack of conscious options for them. That’s why I feel it is so important to inform my readers about a wonderful company, Indie Peace, that has been brought to my attention.

Indie Peace’s motto is: “We are making a mark, without leaving one.”

Photosource: http://indiepeace.myshopify.com

The “mark” their talking about of course is a carbon footprint. Indie Peace, which define’s itself as a “socially responsible, fashion apparel company”, was started July 2007 by Lawton Ursrey and fashion designer John Van De Wiel.

While Indie Peace has a women’s line in addition to their men’s line, the company began only with a men’s line, which is still more developed. So I know you’ve been chomping at the bit for this opportunity guys! Shop away at their online store, available here

Indie Peace has spent the time to think critically about how to make shirts sewn in such a way as to enhance your natural body shape. They have broadened the shoulder line and defined the abdomen area, giving your body more of a natural v shape. As the enhancement of ones’ natural shape usually stays in the area of women’s clothing, this is a very unique aspect in the industry of men’s shirts.

Photosource: http://indiepeace.myshopify.com

So not only will you look great wearing Indie Peace t-shirts, but you can feel great about your purchase! Their shirts are referred to as “PEACE GOODS” because all the most environmentally conscious products and means are used throughout every stage in their production: Their t-shirts are made only with natural or low impact dyes or water based printing inks; they are manufactured from 100% organic cotton, hemp, RPET (recycled poly), or bamboo; and Indie Peace, “make(s) every attempt to minimize the amount of travel INDIE PEACE clothing must make throughout the supply chain.” In this vain, they use minimalistic and socially responsible products all the way through the packaging materials.

In addition to being as environmentally conscious as possible, Indie Peace products are all manufactured under Fair Trade conditions. Indie Peace intentionally keeps all the manufacturing inside the USA to localize the supply chain, to provide work to many US factories and the local work force, as well as to decrease the overall carbon footprint of their operations.

So what are you waiting for? Go shop and Indie Peace, and start erasing your “mark” on the planet.

Attention Vancouver Kushboys and Kushgirls, this is one of the hottest spots to get all your hemp related gear.  You will find an awesome collection of smoking apparatus and tobbaco supplies.  They are working around the clock to make sure their grand open is grand.  They are official  Kush Couture Apparel dealer, look for the cheech and chong collective, as well as the Kushite Kings Collective.  If they dont’ have something on hand, they sure can get it.  Dynamic duo Stefan or Meriel is there everyday to help you out with your needs.  Just stop by, rel

Hemp clothing

ax and get your roll on.

Red Pepper and Hemp Soup

Ingredients:

2 extra large (or 3 regular) red peppers, seeded and roughly chopped

½ cup hemp seeds

½ tsp salt

2 tbsps lemon juice

½ tsp curry powder

¼ tsp turmeric

1 tsp Braggs liquid aminos

Black pepper to taste

2/3 cup water (or to taste – this will depend on how thick or thin you like your soup)

Procedure:

Place all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth and creamy. You may want to begin with ½ cup water and adjust based on texture as you go along!

via Red Pepper and Hemp Soup – Choosing Raw.