The human relationship with hemp is ancient, where some of the oldest evidence of our engagement can be seen in the imprint of hemp cloth on Chinese Neolithic pottery dating back ~12,000 years. Its seeds are used as food, pressed for oil for cooking and heating, and its fiber is woven into rope and textiles, or processed into paper. Its flowers are a source of medicinally beneficial phytocannabinoids and terpenes, while its seeds are a rich source gamma linolenic acid, a so-called “super omega”.
In addition to this, hemp’s utility is also environmental. This is because the hemp plant has a quirk that makes it immensely valuable in restoring contaminated soil. When hemp is planted, it acts as a sponge soaking up whatever toxins may be present in the soil, such as nickel, cadmium, and lead. This process, called phytoremediation or bioremediation, is so effective that industrial hemp was planted to aid in the removal of the nuclear contaminants in the soil throughout the area affected by the Chernobyl meltdown.
However, there’s a flip-side to this incredibly useful ability that hemp has to remove toxins from soil; it also makes it extremely susceptible to contamination. Because of this, industrial hemp-derived CBD products are vulnerable to a host of contaminants that, with less than scrupulously applied farming and testing practices, can lead to contaminants in finished products.
With that in mind, ENFLEUR is committed to sourcing industrial hemp from farms that not only use sustainable growing practices, but who test the soil for contaminants. The earth and the sun are all that’s needed to produce high-quality plant medicine, so our farms test their soil regularly and rigorously in order to ensure that it is free of harmful contaminants. The hemp is tested in the field, then again after it is distilled, and again when the finished product is ready. We then send a final sample from each batch to a 3rd party laboratory to perform one last test ensuring potency, the certificates of analysis from which are available at all times. Because of this, those who are interested in participating in the millennia-old relationship with hemp by using hemp-derived CBD for its host of potential therapeutic benefits can be assured that they are using only the best in plant medicine in terms of quality and transparency.