HARRISBURG, Pa. - If you visit the PA Farm Show this week, you'll likely notice the addition of hemp products being sold and advertised. Hemp organizations and businesses are using the week to educate visitors on what hemp is.
There's hemp tea, pasta, coffee creamer, and CBD oil among many other products on display.
"I think the primary goal here is education," said Richard Roush, owner of Rolling Acre Farm in Carlisle, Cumberland County. "To let everybody know it's an option if they want to use it, and it's okay if they don't want to use it too."
Roush says, they are one of a few companies in the state responsible for the entire process of their CBD oil. From seed to bottle.
"We grow out seeds in a greenhouse, we transplant them into soil," said Roush. "And then at the end of the growing cycle, we harvest and dry the plant and then we process."
Roush says, while jumping into the hemp industry, one of the biggest problems they run into is with the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA doesn't regulate CBD oil, which means Roush and his company can not talk about benefits of the oil. They can only share testimonials.
Roush hopes as hemp grows in Pennsylvania and across the country, the FDA will begin to regulate it.
"The FDA I believe in the future will approve it as a supplement. I'm not 100 percent sure of that, but we're hoping," said Roush. "At least that would give us a basis to market the product and not have to use testimonials or some people thinking we're selling snake oil."
While some of the products are available for purchase at the farm show, many say it isn't about making money, but informing people about what hemp is.