Vital Ones,
So much happened, so much happening.
I glimpsed the Vital Hemp vision statement on the website this morning, and realized that even though I wrote it more than ten years ago, it still applies; and we’re closer to realizing it now than we were then. Hemp is closer to being treated like any other agricultural crop than any time in the last seventy years of irrational prohibition. And the products keep evolving, entering the marketplace and serving human needs.
At Vital Hemp, we started with the philosophy that it’s pretty hard to demonize the plant that made your favorite t-shirt, hoodie or pants. So I’ll begin with our offering, and then share a couple of stories with takeaways from all the events of the last couple of months.
Now (and while supplies last), we are happy again offer our men’s and women’s 100% hemp Anywhere Pants. I designed these pants more than twelve years ago with the aim of creating a strong, lightweight pant that we can wear in a wide range of circumstances, without having to change. I wanted something I could wear to a wedding, and if I wanted to practice yoga (for instance, at the wedding), I could, without changing pants!
My customers and I have worn these pants in tropical jungles with 93 percent humidity, in ceremonies, and (with long underwear) in the snowy towns of Colorado, après ski. They wick better than any pants you’ll ever have, dry phenomenally quick, pack small, are machine-washable and dryable, and don’t hold wrinkles the way flax linen does. Plus we use coconut shell buttons and the highest-quality YKK zippers. Like all our styles, they’re made in California by family-owned cutters, sewers and dyers, who have been in the business for over 25 years, surviving the garment industry’s move overseas. We even use durable American-made thread on these AP’s!
For years, we made only Men’s Anywhere Pants (MAPS); but the women kept buying us out of size Small; so I designed the WAPS for women a few years ago. They still feature all the functionality of the MAP, with tailoring for women’s bodies. So check them out, in store or online: four colors, five sizes. We’re here to hemp you out in style.
That said, thank you for your support all these years. In gratitude, and for a Hempier Holiday Season, please use this code, Vitalholiday18, for 12% off Vital Hemp clothing, and free domestic shipping for orders over $100. Discount applies, online and in-store, from November 23 to December 23, 2018.
It hasn’t been easy going from academia to designing, manufacturing and peddling hemp clothing and accessories. But the best journeys teach you lessons, and if you’re lucky, leave you with more than just stories to share.
In my case, more than ever, I’m realizing the benefits (and necessity) of community. The Southern Hemp Expoin Nashville reaffirmed our vital connection to farmers all across this land, who want to grow hemp, because it will provide a healthy livelihood, and because it makes sense. Now, they’re mostly growing for CBD; but I predict within five years, we’ll be growing and sewing in the USA!
At the Bioneers Conference in San Rafael, California, I attended a panel on Resilient Communities. One panelist discussed her experience in Puerto Rico, in the aftermath of the hurricane. While she was impressed with her peoples’ resilience in the face of catastrophic conditions, she noted that the ability of people to support each other also depended upon the bonds they had forged and nurtured prior to the disaster. In the absence of resilience, the land becomes prey to multinational corporations, that buy it up for pennies on the dollar, erasing all vestiges of the cultures that once lived there.
At 25th Annual Hemp Industries Association Conference in Los Angeles earlier this month, I heard from longtime hemp business-people, lawyers and activists, who talked story, sharing tales of how they discovered their calling, how they manifested it in the world, and how blessed they feel to have been called as stewards of this eminently-useful plant, with a history so intertwined with our own. I discovered that the people I met a few years ago in Colorado or last year in Kentucky have become friends, and that our community is stronger because we all share a mission to support the flourishing of hemp in the world, as a means of economic growth, yes, and also as a means of healing people and the planet.
From hemp paper to CBD to hempcrete, hemp products are healing life. I’ve shared this before and I’ll share it again: hemp cools the globe. It sequesters atmospheric carbon better than any other agricultural crop (and better than many forests)! According to Patagonia, for every ton we harvest, it sequesters 1.62 tons of CO2. So if you want to cool the globe, wear hemp, or as my friend Thatcher says, “Eat More Hemp,” or build with hemp! Life is better with hemp!
On a personal note, I got really scared two weeks ago. The Woolsey Fire that burned Thousand Oaks and Malibu, threatened to spread to my hometown of Pacific Palisades, where our my mom still lives, in the ranch house my parents moved into a month before I was born, fifty five years ago.
I awoke with asthma Saturday morning, and thick smoke blanketed the skies outside Vital Hemp in Santa Monica. Eyes puffy and breathing shallow, I called the hardware store and reserved a few ventilators.
In the store thirty minutes later, I witnessed the concern and in some cases desperation of my fellow Angelenos as they realized the store was sold out of those masks. In line, I connected with a stranger about the need to better prepare in advance for these kinds of events. After all, the Rocketdyne plant had also burned, potentially releasing heavy metals or radioactive particles…only the best masks would safeguard our tender lungs…. At that moment, I saw a father of a friend of my daughter’s, a very together guy who has travelled the world. The girls had gone to pre-school together. Knowing they were sold out, I handed him one of the masks I was about to buy, “Give this to M—“ I said. He thanked me and left the store.
The entire episode broke my heart a little. How many parents were there without ventilators for their wheezing kids? It felt like a sign of worse events to come. I resolved to do something to create a more resilient community, right here, in West LA, a place where people continued to practice yoga and surf as the world burned apocalyptically fifteen miles away.
Hemp may proactively help us avert the climate crises that we’re facing and will invariably continue to face with greater and greater consequences. Now’s also the time to look around and see: who’s in our community? How can we help each other prepare for these catastrophes before they happen?
I don’t have many answers to these questions yet; but I’m starting to realize the importance of asking them. I’ve spent the last fifteen years telling people, “Hey, we’re heading for the iceberg! Unless we change course, we’re sunk!” I didn’t want to be the old prof lecturing about Truffaut while the ship sank. So I’m inspiring others to build alternative vessels, more nimble and responsive to the needs of life on Earth.
Now, it looks like we may need to acquaint ourselves with the escape routes and lifeboats. While it never hurts to be prepared, I hope we don’t destroy our beautiful vessel. We have alternatives. Hemp is one, a vital one. There are many others. Paul Hawken’s Project Drawdown describes research into one hundred others.
Thanks for supporting the future we want to see in the world. And until that day comes, look around. Who is in your community? How can we make these communities more resilient in the event that we need to rely on each other for support? Now is the time to activate and collaborate. Because we are the superheroes we’ve been waiting for!
On a positive, final note: we made the "Deep Roots" Hemp History Week shirts for 2018 and are selling them in the shop. We're also grateful to be making the 2019 shirts. If you're ready to make hemp shirts or hoodies for your company, now's the time, as we can combine orders and reduce costs. Place your order before December 1st and receive an additional 5% off our current bulk order discounts. Your team and customers will thank you for starting their year in hemp. Because 2019 will definitely be better in hemp!
As ever, thanks for being vital,
Ron Alcalay
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