http://www.inc.com/ilan-mochari/patagonia-film-hemp-growing-warrior-project-fibershed.html

Patagonia, the $750-million outdoor apparel and gear maker, isn't shy about its support for hemp legalization.

The plant--which many confuse with marijuana--can be grown for sustainable fiber and requires no pesticides and minimal water. Plus, it absorbs carbon from the atmosphere. But right now, Patagonia has to buy its hemp from overseas, as federal law largely prohibits farmers from growing it. That's why the Ventura, Calif., gear maker has just released "Harvesting Liberty," a 12-minute documentary addressing industrial hemp legalization in the U.S.

The movie, which you can watch here, was produced in partnership with two nonprofits: Fibershed of San Geronimo, Calif., which is devoted to sustainably sourced textiles; and The Growing Warriors Project of Mt. Vernon, Kentucky, which helps turns military veterans into farmers of naturally grown produce.

Patagonia declined to reveal how much it spent on the film, but the company is not shy about how it would stand to benefit from the legalization of hemp. Monika McClure, a brand marketing producer at Patagonia, notes that hemp, simply put, is a really good fiber to make clothing from. Legalizing hemp for industrial use in the U.S. would not only create jobs and contribute toward environmentally-sane agriculture, but it would supply Patagonia with a sustainable U.S.-sourced supply of hemp.

The protagonist of "Harvesting Liberty" is Michael Lewis, founder of The Growing Warriors Project, who is working to reintroduce industrial hemp into Kentucky--and eventually, the entire U.S. In a memorable scene in the documentary, he flies an American flag at the Capital made of hemp grown on his farm in Kentucky. (He was able to obtain hemp seeds under an exemption for research-and-development projects at the state level.) In the film, he recounts that he "threw 'em in the ground really quickly before anybody changed their mind."

According to the documentary, the U.S. will import an estimated $500 million in products made of industrial hemp. The release of "Harvesting Liberty" was timed to build momentum for a petition that will be delivered on Congress on July 4, urging lawmakers to pass the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2015/2016 (S.134 and H.R. 525), legalizing the cultivation of industrial hemp in the U.S.

I recently asked Lewis how he felt about being part of the film. "My immediate thought was, Wow, I really did do something these last three years," he says. "I hope that it conveys message about who [The Growing Warriors Project and Fibershed] are and what we want to accomplish as people, and stewards of the land, and citizens. "I'm proud to have been able to be a part of it."