Today, cannabis is smoked and consumed in ever-increasing selections of edibles from gummies, chocolates, suckers, mints, lozenges, BBQ spices, sodas, teas, coffee, brownies, cookies, and even potato chips. But did you know that cannabis seeds were a staple of Chinese diets for over six millennia( 6,000 years), and still are today?
I recently watched a Story Television show titled“ Where Did It Come From.” The Story Television network features topics about history’ s greatest moments, people who changed the world, and the innovations that have improved mankind. The show I watched was about Chinese innovations in agricultural practices and tools invented for farmers. Apparently, the Chinese invented the iron garden hoe and the first iron plows around 3,000 BCE, which turned and rolled the soil, allowing farmers to plant crops in perfect rows. It was a life-changing invention for farmers. The curved blade greatly enhanced production yields and thus supported population growth. Additionally, the use of row planting techniques allowed for more efficient farming practices.
The agriculture segment of the show also discussed various crops farmers cultivated centuries ago, one of which was extremely important and valuable to them. It’ s called hemp and was used for everything, including clothing, rope, construction materials, and more. This led to the segment about hemp seeds being a more important food than rice for ancient Chinese.
Yes, cannabis seeds were a vital part of the diet of ancient Chinese civilizations, dating back to the Tang dynasty( 618-907 CE). Seeds were consumed in various forms, including porridge( like oatmeal), highlighting the plant’ s importance not only for nutrition but also for its medicinal and practical applications in ancient China.
In fact, in 2019, construction workers digging up a playground at a school in a Chinese province unearthed a well-preserved ancient tomb undisturbed for 1,320 years. The wall paintings and artifacts found within were almost perfectly preserved. Among the artifacts were several jars, one of which contained staple foods. In one jar, researchers found some unusually large cannabis seeds, some of which still retained their original color. The ancient seeds were nearly twice the size of modern cannabis seeds. The cannabis was stored in a pot on the coffin bed along with other staple grains like millet.
Researchers said, obviously, the buried cannabis was an important food crop, and for people of the time, cannabis seeds might have been a more vital staple than rice, since no rice was found in the food jars. They also noted that the seeds still had their hard husks on, which could be because, while the husk doesn’ t taste good, it can contain trace amounts of the psychoactive cannabinoid THC. This suggests the seeds may also have been used for religious and medical purposes, according to the researchers.
Cannabis remnants have been found in tombs dating back as far as 6,600 years in China, but this latest find is the first to suggest cannabis seeds as an important food source. Along with protein, fiber, and iron, hemp seeds are also a great source of a host of other vital nutrients, including thiamin, phosphorus, copper, manganese, and vitamin E.
Perhaps the next new cannabis product we’ ll see on dispensary shelves, among the flower, gummies, chocolates, BBQ spices, sodas, brownies, and potato chips, will be bags of flavored edible cannabis seeds, like sunflower seeds are sold.
Darn it, I just gave my billion-dollar idea away!
6 March 2026
From
Bill Cromwell, Publisher
TheEditor
, Editor-in-Chief
Edible Cannabis Seeds
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