The Good Hemp
Network for the Earth - Altragricoltura, the food of rights
30th November 2020
The Intelligent Chair wins the #MaketoCare international competition
10 December 2020
The #LaCanapaBuona working group was set up under the good auspices of Égalité and Wiise Srl benefit companies. (1) It is attended by operators, professionals and experts, citizens motivated to promote the cultivation and transformation of Cannabis Sativa L. in the beautiful country.
With the hope of gathering further adhesions from farmers and operators interested in the sustainable development of this supply chain in Italy, in compliance with applicable legislation and good practices.
Hemp in Italy, history and current events
The crop hemp has its roots in the Middle Ages, in the countryside between Bologna and Ferrara. And Italy was the second largest producer in the world, after Russia, until the mid-twentieth century. But only in the last few decades has the extraordinary potential of this plant been understood to make food first of all, indeed superfoods, and botanical extracts.
Protein vegetables with excellent supply of amino acids, Omega 3 fatty acids and polyphenolsas well as dietary fiber. But also phytocomplexes of great interest, including cannabinoids (of which CBD, cannabidiol, is only the best known). The innovation then led to the use of by-products to make bioplastics and materials for green building.
The Good Hemp, the working group
They participate to the #LaCanapaBuona group, farmers, owners and workers of SMEs - mainly micro-enterprises - operating in Italy in the hemp sector. Primary agricultural production, processing, sale, analysis laboratories. About ten realities, who work and continue to believe in this emblem of the circular economy.
Industrial operators they demand that their legitimate expectations be respected by politics and the public administration. Also taking into account the investments made in full compliance with the rules and employment prospects in rural areas. The first subscribers, to follow:
www.scuolacanapa.it
Good Hemp, objectives
The group #LaCanapaBuona intends to start its own path with an activity of public information, consultation and sharing of good practices and protocols, technical advice (agronomy, transformation, analysis) and legal. With a view to organizing an integrated and cohesive Italian supply chain. And enhance the Cannabis Sativa L. grown in Italy according to strict criteria of agroecology, safety and quality. The Good Hemp indeed!
The first goal, in 2021, is to present the realities that adhere and will adhere to these initiatives. Telling their stories, values and commitments made on various fronts related to sustainable development, i "terroir" and the productions, aspirations and obstacles encountered so far, the work in progress. Never before has there been a need to share and promote virtuous and ecological experiences in the territories, starting frompeasant agriculture and its interlocutors.
Good Hemp, production and protocols
The plant it must be taken care of starting from the choice of the land and the preparation of the seedbed. Its richness in terpenes, flavonoids and cannabinoids deserves the privilege of herbal teas and decoctions, food preparations, phytotherapeutic or pharmaceutical bases. Keeping in mind that combustion, on the other hand, can damage the precious phytocomplexes.
Good practices agronomic and shared analytical protocols guarantee the authenticity of the products, their safety and quality. Also had regard to the absence of contamination from heavy metals, pesticide residues, parasites, bacteria and fungi. The use of a system of blockchain public will be able to better guarantee - through the 'digital notary' of the BitCoin protocol - the actual value of the productions.
Shared needs
The Italian supply chain of Cannabis Sativa L. there is a dichotomy between great opportunities (linked to territories and microclimates, culture and diffusion of botanical and biological productions, food safety and the effectiveness of official public controls) and serious uncertainties. Which derive from political and administrative acts inadmissible, which up to now have effectively nullified the application of the Law 242 / 16 and must be corrected urgently, in light of the judgment 19.11.20 of European Court of Justice.
The European supply chain hemp in turn needs suitable measures to guarantee its competitiveness with those of England (following Brexit, 1.1.21), Switzerland, the USA and other countries. Pending authorization of CBD such as novel foods, are therefore urgent:
- the extension of the register of plants to be cultivated in the EU to new varieties of Cannabis Sativa L., non-GMO, able to guarantee better yields and adaptation to the various territories,
- harmonized thresholds of permitted THC in the various categories of food, guidelines for its correct management in the various stages of the process.
The Good Hemp for the Smart Chair
The first members of the La Canapa Buona group, in addition to joining Égalité Onlus, have contributed to his project of the Intelligent Chair, now in the final of the competition #MaketoCare, as part of the European edition of Maker Fair 2020.
Donations, fully deductible and deductible, can be performed on https://www.egalite.org/donate/. With a view to starting as soon as possible the non-profit industrial production of a sustainable and autonomous micromobility tool, aimed at all people with motor disabilities. Starting from Italy, where potential users are about 100 thousand, and from Senegal where the numbers and needs are far superior.
Dario Dongo
Note
(1) Wiise Srl benefit company manages GIFT sites (Great Italian Food Trade) and do (www.foodagriculturerequirements.com). More information on https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/chi-siamo_1/wiise-srl-società-benefit-la-relazione-di-impatto-2019
To register for newsletter, see https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/contatti
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
