Reflections ►
Traveling The Happy Hemping Highway
These young truth seekers are not going to be stopped . by Dolores Halbin , contributing writer
Sometimes , the world can look a bit too wacky-doodle for me , and I find myself shaking my head and saying — I don ’ t know . I just don ’ t know . I really , really , just don ’ t f---ing know . ( I would like that on a t-shirt for my final birthday before I slide into 70 next month .)
Needing a boost in my faith , I headed back down Highway 49 , searching for hemp fields to breathe .
I found 45-year-old hemp farmer Brandi Ortega of Mary Pottin ’ s Supply ( The EVOLUTION Magazine , May 2023 ) in Raymore , MO , working next to her mom in a tomato plot in her mom ’ s backyard . Not hemp , but tomatoes do smell good !
Ortega is now the Missouri Chapter President of the American Women in Agriculture Association ( AWIAA ). The AWIAA is actually international , working around the world to address food deserts and potential food shortages brought on by climate change . I was privileged to join Brandi for the annual AWIAA meeting in 2023 . I have never seen so many PhDs on a syllabus , including members from Homeland Security , all taking food very seriously .
Ortega is a certified hemp grower with the USDA . Through both organizations , she works rigorously within the political world of agribusiness , working on food , kids , farming , and political reform for women and minorities , always bringing hemp to the forefront of every conversation .
46 August 2024
Ortega started the first kid ’ s chapter of AWIAA . The 17 members of her kid ’ s garden club are growing watermelons this year to sell at the Raymore Farmer ’ s Market . Ortega ’ s tomatoes will supply her husband ’ s Mexican restaurant , El Canelo , in KCMO , as well as several other Mexican restaurants in the metro . Come fall , the local salsa we eat could very well be from the labors of Ortega and her mom , working in the fields through the summer heat .
Brandi Ortega of Mary Pottin ’ s Supply ( on left ) with her mom in their tomato garden where they grow tomatoes for salsa .
Anyone interested in joining the AWIAA or the USDA , email Brandiortega3333 @ gmail . com .
Native Prairie Hemp
“ A little slice of heaven , at Junction T and Hwy 7 ”
A little further down the highway , I exited on Hwy 7 and headed for Garden City to catch up with Bill Cook at Native Prairie Hemp Research Farm and immerse myself in the heavenly terpenes of the hemp crop . The EVOLUTION Magazine ’ s first visited with Cook two years ago for the launch of his Hemp Houseboat ( The EVOLUTION Magazine , September 2022 ). Native Prairie is a family company , and Cook has been running it for five decades , so when his granddaughter , 22-year-old Daphne Cook , developed a love for all things cannabis , Cook could not have been happier .
Daphne graduated from MU last January with a psychology degree , probably a good choice for navigating the wacky world of cannabis . Her real teacher is her grandfather , and her love is farming cannabis . Daphne has teamed up with 27-year-old Cole Younger Tyson , an agronomist .
“ People have to eat and make a living , so growing crops efficiently is imperative . I ’ m 78 years old , and I learn something new about farming every day . These kids have the benefit of technology that wasn ’ t around when I was their age . They ’ ll be our salvation ,” Cook said with confidence .
We took Cook ’ s jeep to tour the research plots .