Continuing its mission to “undo food” and recently named to Fast Company’s prestigious World’s Most Innovative Companies List for 2019, Back to the Roots today launched The Organic Hemp Starter Grow Kit, the first-ever hemp grow-at-home kit.
The hemp
home-grow kit is intended to educate and teach families about the history and
healing benefits of hemp. The limited, special-edition grow kit joins the Back to the
Roots product line to honor and celebrate annual, globally recognized
forthcoming Earth Day. As a leader in organic food and indoor gardening, Back to
the Roots is making it accessible and fun to grow and learn about the historical
crop through this educational grow kit.
“Hemp is one of the most nutritious and healing food sources available – rich in
protein, healthy oils and fiber — and we hope this kit inspires more people to
incorporate this incredible plant into their daily lives,” says co-founder and
co-CEO Alejandro Velez. “And it’s such a versatile cooking ingredient and
can be used in so many delicious recipes — from
teas,
to smoothies, to baked goods, and so much more.”
With the recent passing of the 2018 U.S. Farm Bill, Back to the Roots will
reintroduce hemp to consumers as a functional plant food known for a variety of
benefits for overall health and wellness. The Organic Hemp Starter Grow Kit
comes complete with non-GMO hemp seeds, nutrient-rich soil, plant pots; and a
Hemp Discovery Book, which includes a brief history of hemp (dating back to 8000
BC), along with a guide about its many functional uses and nutritional benefits.
“With so much happening around CBD, we thought it was needed to have someone
come in more from an educational standpoint, because there are so many
misconceptions about hemp and its history — we’re thrilled to be able to help a
new generation rediscover the incredible hemp plant,” co-founder and co-CEO
Nikhil Arora said via email. “We've been learning about the amazing
qualities of hemp (sustainable construction
material, strong fibers, biofuel,
plastics,
and of course, nutrition) for some time, and with the passing of the Farm Bill,
we thought this was the right time to help raise awareness about it through the
Back to the Roots product/learning lens.
“Used for thousands of years as food, fuel and fiber, hemp was a cornerstone of
civilization. Now, after nearly half a century of suffering from a case of
mistaken identity, hemp can be grown again and we’re so excited to launch this
hemp home-grow kit to help America learn about its incredible history and
benefits.”
When asked how home growers with a small starter kit could best utilize hemp,
Arora said: “Yes, you would need to grow more hemp to really use the seeds for
extracting meaningful oils for pure culinary purposes, but you can use the
leaves for teas and process the seeds/flowers into small oils, salad toppings,
etc.”
Since founding the company in 2009, Back to the Roots has been gaining momentum
toward its mission to reconnect people to food with a growing range of products
designed to reintroduce consumers — particularly children — to simple,
wholesome, home-grown food. The company’s product line now includes
grow-your-own mushroom kits, an aquaponic herb garden, self-watering tomato and
pepper planters and herb gardens in a can. The Organic Hemp Starter Grow Kit is
a limited-time, special-edition product with only 1,000 units being sold
initially. But thanks to partnerships with The Home Depot, Target and Whole
Foods,
Back to the Roots’ existing line of indoor gardening kits can be found in over
1,100 US stores nationwide.
And thanks to an exclusive licensing agreement with Nature’s
Path
— the world’s largest organic breakfast company — Back to the Roots’ organic,
four-ingredients-or-less
cereals can
be found in every school cafeteria across the US.
Published Apr 16, 2019 8am EDT / 5am PDT / 1pm BST / 2pm CEST