For several years at Natissea we closely follow the progress of the French organic hemp and linen sectors because our main desire is to offer the most ecological, local and healthy yarn possible. If knitting and DIY are making a comeback in recent years, it is also due to the growing need to source materials yourself and to know exactly what makes up our products, cosmetics and clothing!
4 years ago already, I went to this inter-professional meeting organized by the organic flax and hemp association in Normandy. At the time I was sure to find suppliers of French hemp and linen there! I was stunned to learn that these sectors had completely disappeared in the 1980s with the appearance of synthetic fibers. Even if France had remained one of the largest producers of flax, the know-how for the processing stages had been completely lost and we were then unable to spin these fibers in France.
Flax production in France was very present but the harvests were then sent to China or at best to Eastern countries to be transformed (scutched and spun) to return to France. An ecological aberration like so many others in modern industry. Hemp for textile use, for its part, was no longer even cultivated, there were only a few isolated trials carried out by students in agricultural high schools. Reindustrialization was possible but it would take time because the machines were very expensive and subsidies were non-existent for this market. I then left Normandy with little hope and a feeling of injustice. How could the state finance polluting fiber industries and lobbies and leave the last producers, flax and hemp spinners alone in the face of such a major relocation project!
I then left Normandy with little hope and a feeling of injustice. How could the state finance polluting fiber industries and lobbies and leave the last producers, spinners, alone in the face of such a major relocation project!
Matilda
The Organic Flax and Hemp Association
The Organic Flax and Hemp association was created in June 2013. It is made up of several members such as producers, farmers, processors of organic flax and hemp, entrepreneurs, or even… eco-friendly knitting brands?.
The objectives of the association are in particular to create a space for exchange on the know-how and itineraries of the cultivation of flax fiber in organic farming, to promote organic textile flax and hemp with the entire sector, and to encourage the transparency of the prices paid to the producer.
This year the event took place in Leudon-en-Brie in Seine-et-Marne, on the farm of one of the members who recently converted to organic. Little update on the progress of these sectors!
After 5 years, French Hemp for textile use finally rehabilitated?
The reintegration of the hemp sector started a little late compared to flax, the cultivation of which had been maintained even after the arrival of synthetic fibers. The reason is simple, even if growing flax and hemp is easy since there is nothing to add, hemp required one more step.
LHemp plants are more difficult to “put away” before the scutching stages, which is essential before processing, especially in an industrial manner. We therefore had to come together and pool together the different players in the sector to be able to invest in specialized machines from China. Several years of testing were then necessary to reintroduce hemp crops for textile use. And the good news this year is that the first harvest of compliant French hemp has just been carried out and that it has already gone into processing as I write these lines. I am now in talks with the supplier to obtain the means to do dyeing and twisting tests,
I just hope that the price will not be too high because it is in high demand in the luxury sector! ! 2 tonnes will be produced at the beginning of 2024 and you can trust me, Natissea is on the spot!
One of the objectives of the Organic Flax and Hemp Association would be to have 1 million hectares of hemp by 2050!
What if hemp and flax could save the planet?
You have probably heard about it, the organic sector has almost come to a standstill since inflation, but it is one of the most important factors in terms of ecological transition! One of my big discoveries this year is the role of hemp and flax in organic agriculture. I already knew that hemp was used between two crops to clean and replenish the soil and it was during a very interesting conference by Jacques CAPLAT (agronomist and anthropologist) that I learned more about it. To summarize, agriculture represents 1/3 of climate disruption according to official figures from the IPCC.
This pollution is largely due to synthetic nitrogen fertilizers which release a lot of greenhouse gases. Added to this are forecasts of irregular rain cycles concentrating on the winter season and becoming rarer in summer when crops need it most. Agriculture must reinvent itself and it is not just a question of removing chemicals but of reviewing the model as a whole. The first place to store water is the soil itself, but if it is depleted by monocultures and fertilizers, the water that falls is not absorbed and there is no natural reserve.
The agronomist then recalls the virtues of flax and hemp crops to replenish the soil, these plants reinject nitrogen naturally thanks to their very long roots and even points to its sector as an example. In fact, for several years, France has succeeded in reconstituting the flax and hemp sectors, which is an achievement since they can be controlled at the scale of local players, that is to say, they are autonomous! I invite you to listen to it
So, what does that mean for linen?
Since last year, Natissea has been offering you a French linen thread, Linaé. This yarn comes from the Safilin company, the last French spinning mill to have resisted relocation and the only one to spin linen in Europe and then in France since 2022. Even if the conversion of organic linen operations has been stopped since the war in Ukraine and inflation,
Mr. GUILLAUME Director of Safilin reminds us of the importance of supporting initiatives like his in times of crisis so that all the efforts made so far are not reduced to nothing and that French flax and hemp are always present at the exit from the crisis. For my part, I worked on developing a 100% French linen thread, the price of the material is higher but I will soon do a survey to find out if you follow me!
Sources
Association website:https://linetchanvrebio.org/