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The benefits of hemp and CBD
For our eighth episode, it’s time to relax a little.
We offer a conversation and even an immersion into the benefits of hemp, and the flourishing trend of CBD. We’ll even travel a bit as I take you to the Berry, to the fields of Sandie Floquet — who cultivates there — to the restaurant L’Hirondelle in Lignères run by Eve Choukroun-Tardif, and to Linda Louis, who needs no introduction and who cooks and photographs beautifully.
Cannabis, hemp, CBD, THC… It can sometimes be hard to make sense of it!
Cannabis sativa is a plant species that contains no fewer than 113 cannabinoids with various effects and health benefits.
Among these active molecules is THC, a compound with psychotropic effects. CBD (cannabidiol) is another compound, also extracted from the flower, with non-psychotropic effects but many health benefits that we will explore today.
Hemp is a variety of cannabis with a low THC level, below 0.2%: it’s an extraordinary plant, its cultivation is ecological, and it’s used to make oil, flours, paper, mulch, and building materials.
Hemp seeds have interesting nutritional properties: their protein content is over 30%, and they have a low saturated fat content.
The guest: Linda Louis
Linda is a leading author in organic, local, and foraged cooking. She is currently published by Éditions Alternatives and La Plage. She pays close attention to her ingredients and recipes, and invites the reader on a poetic journey through her photographs taken in her native Berry.
She also explores themes of food self-sufficiency in the great outdoors and zero waste. Her books are translated into several languages.
She regularly contributes to culinary, gardening, and environmental press and, since 2006, has maintained a blog, Cuisine Campagne (www.cuisine-campagne.com), a portfolio (http://www.linda-louis.com), and an Instagram account (lindalouisberry) in which she champions authentic, lively, generous, and nature-centered cooking.
Eve Choukroun-Tardif, from the restaurant l’Hirondelle in Lignères, prepared for us a focaccia with wild garlic, a chickpea and plantain frittata, and kasha generously drizzled with oil and hemp seeds.
Sandie Floquet has been farming in Loye-sur-Arnon for five years, practicing small-scale peasant and organic agriculture. Originally from Berry, she grows protein crops (pulses) that feed the neighboring goat herds, whose milk is entirely processed at the Fromagerie des 13 Blés run with her sisters. She also grows cereals that are turned into flours and malts for the beer of Éloi, her partner, and oilseeds that are processed into oils, such as hemp.
My questions
- So, Linda, what do you smell and what do you see in Sandie’s field as summer approaches?
- Before we start, did you want to let us hear the hemp seeds?
- Why hemp? How did you become interested in this somewhat fabulous plant?
- Is it a traditional crop of the Berry region?
- Enlighten us: What are the differences between hemp and cannabis, and between CBD and THC?
- What does the regulation say about hemp cultivation? And what about CBD?
- Hemp is therefore a food and CBD a “wellness” dietary supplement derived from the flower: What are the “health” and “well-being” benefits of hemp and then of CBD?
- Is there any risk of addiction to CBD?
- Where can you find them? Are there any French ones? I imagine the answer differs depending on whether we’re talking about hemp or CBD?
- Are there any contraindications to consuming CBD?
- Do you have one or two easy recipe ideas for our listeners? One with hemp and one with CBD?
Resources to go further
- Linda Louis’s book, Super Hemp and CBD, published by Editions Alternatives
- La ferme de Pigerolle, one of the first CBD producers in France
The (R)évolutions Alimentaires podcasts are hosted by Louise Browaeys
An agricultural engineer (AgroParisTech) with a specialization in nutrition, Louise has worked for ten years in the agriculture, food, and environmental sectors.
She is the author or co-author of several books on the subjects of food, ecology, permaculture and corporate social responsibility. Notably: “La part de la terre : l’agriculture comme art” (Delachaux et Niestlé, 2014), “Permaculture au quotidien” (Terre Vivante, 2018), “Le régime planétaire” (La Plage, 2020).
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