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Re:Farmers rushed into hemp, but now face a glut by scythe on Tuesday December 03, 2019 @03:54PM (#21696596)
Hemp seeds have failed to catch on as food for a simple reason: they're too strongly flavored. The nutrition claims are largely true, and the flavor isn't terrible, but in order for hempseed to provide, say, 15 grams of protein to a meal, you need to eat about a quarter of a cup of hempseeds. Imagine eating a quarter of a cup of sesame seeds. See the problem? I think the missing link here is some kind of fermentation process that produces something more palatable.

As for the fiber, it's a relatively unremarkable cellulosic fiber. It is rather coarse and contains about 8% lignin, which means hemp fabric is relatively stiff and rough, limiting its application to clothing beyond its branding power (and shoes, where it works well). However, it is useful in composites. Hemp is apparently being used to make composite panels for several cars in the present day, although the actual volume in this market is not so high. The asterisk is that there are lots of other similar fibers (jute, linen, lyocell) that work well in composites, and it's the resins (polyester) which tend to be both more expensive and environmentally problematic. If some kind of more eco-friendly resin technology appears (don't hold your breath) it could become more widespread.

Other claims, e.g. hemp as a building material, are just wrong (hempcrete is not structural). Hemp rope was replaced by manila which has better moisture resistance. Hemp as a biodiesel precursor is unremarkable.

Re:Farmers rushed into hemp, but now face a glut by maxwellg on Tuesday December 03, 2019 @07:35PM (#21698484)
Trader Joe's has a vanilla hemp protein powder I like (milk-based ones mess with my stomach). I couldn't imagine eating the seeds directly, but they go down very easy in a smoothie.

I'm not familiar with any fermentation process that operates on nuts, or any high-fat food source besides soybeans.

Re:Farmers rushed into hemp, but now face a glut by scythe on Wednesday December 04, 2019 @02:13AM (#21700235)
There is apparently a semi-standardized process where a hydrated nut butter is fermented with yogurt bacteria for a few days:

http://www.bccdc.ca/resource-gallery/Documents/Educational%2...

I'm not sure if this process has been attempted with hempseeds. It's a fast bacterial process, in contrast with the slow fungal fermentation of dairy cheeses. I wouldn't really say it's a commercial-ready process at this point; I'd like to see something done with proper cheese cultures!