Most of us relate cooking with cannabis to some time in our teens, being slowly sucked into a couch with absolutely no hope of making a sensible sentence or leaving the house. It’s possible the author’s only experience with baked green was on a Cambodian island playing Scrabble, ultimately deciding to head for a swim rather than fight the losing battle of words.This is when Cameron Sims, founder of the start-up Plant Culture, comes into the picture. Sims started out in marketing before embarking on his journey into the culinary arts of cannabis.
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Plant Culture aims to change the Kiwi perception of the plant the only way people really listen: food. Sims sells hemp seed to the ultra-fit and ultra-healthy, somehow navigating around the vagaries of New Zealand law which categorise his products somewhere between cattle feed and illegal drugs.
We caught up with Sims to see how he incorporates hemp into a four-course menu ahead of his pop-up restaurant at Auckland’s Pah Homestead. We ate hemp food, drank hemp beer, and got his thoughts on the plant, the law, and cannabis cuisine.VICE: What got you into this?
I was sitting in the Otago University Library, I was supposed to be studying for a marketing exam but I got lost in the zorb of hemp’s history. I grew up on a sheep and beef farm, so I was always trying to help Dad diversify his crops. I sold sheep shit and I tried growing saffron. I was always trying to do something different. Then I found hemp: it is an amazing source of protein, you can build with it, make clothing from it, even use it as medicine.What are the legalities?
Currently here in New Zealand, only hemp seed oil is legal for consumption. Hemp protein and the seed are both considered animal food and there’s even some confusion about that. Our previous Food Safety Minister David Bennett said in 2017 said that hemp was safe for human consumption, and they were set to update the law in November - but with the election, it seems to have stalled. I think the law will still change sometime later this year.
I was sitting in the Otago University Library, I was supposed to be studying for a marketing exam but I got lost in the zorb of hemp’s history. I grew up on a sheep and beef farm, so I was always trying to help Dad diversify his crops. I sold sheep shit and I tried growing saffron. I was always trying to do something different. Then I found hemp: it is an amazing source of protein, you can build with it, make clothing from it, even use it as medicine.What are the legalities?
Currently here in New Zealand, only hemp seed oil is legal for consumption. Hemp protein and the seed are both considered animal food and there’s even some confusion about that. Our previous Food Safety Minister David Bennett said in 2017 said that hemp was safe for human consumption, and they were set to update the law in November - but with the election, it seems to have stalled. I think the law will still change sometime later this year.
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Any things you’d like to do but can't because of the laws?
Yeah, we're not allowed to use the cannabis leaf in any of our marketing, and we’re not really meant to sell hemp seed at the moment. It’s a bit confusing, we know that the laws are changing but it’s all a bit of a grey area right now.What is your favourite flavour pairing?
Honey and hemp, it’s insanely divine.
Yeah, we're not allowed to use the cannabis leaf in any of our marketing, and we’re not really meant to sell hemp seed at the moment. It’s a bit confusing, we know that the laws are changing but it’s all a bit of a grey area right now.What is your favourite flavour pairing?
Honey and hemp, it’s insanely divine.
What are the benefits of eating cannabis food?
If you were to compare it to other foods, it has more protein and iron than steak, more dietary fibre than oats, more omega 3 than tuna and just a tea teaspoon of hemp oil provides your daily intake of magnesium. And the thing about omega 3s is that it’s an essential fatty acid, our bodies aren’t able to produce its own, so being able to get it from a plant-based source means it’s also sustainable.How do you aim to change kiwis' perceptions of hemp?
I’m passively educating kiwis on the truth of cannabis, that it’s a much more diverse plant than people understand. There are many aspects of the plant that are not about getting high. I’d really like to open my own cannabis restaurant. Plant Culture itself is just a cannabis-concept company to prove that we can build many different industries off this one crop, then we can enable modern farmers to have options. It’s all about campaigning for a sustainable food.
If you were to compare it to other foods, it has more protein and iron than steak, more dietary fibre than oats, more omega 3 than tuna and just a tea teaspoon of hemp oil provides your daily intake of magnesium. And the thing about omega 3s is that it’s an essential fatty acid, our bodies aren’t able to produce its own, so being able to get it from a plant-based source means it’s also sustainable.How do you aim to change kiwis' perceptions of hemp?
I’m passively educating kiwis on the truth of cannabis, that it’s a much more diverse plant than people understand. There are many aspects of the plant that are not about getting high. I’d really like to open my own cannabis restaurant. Plant Culture itself is just a cannabis-concept company to prove that we can build many different industries off this one crop, then we can enable modern farmers to have options. It’s all about campaigning for a sustainable food.
How does it actually taste?
Hemp seed tastes range from being like pine nuts, sunflowers and pumpkin seeds. They can even taste like walnuts and almonds. In general, it’s a very nutty green flavour.
When using it in cooking, to get the most benefits it’s best raw in smoothies, bliss balls, with snacks. Try to keep it raw and pure.What’s the craziest thing you’ve made with a cannabis product?
I made a beautiful hemp cheese, I used the seaweed extract agar. I made an amazing mozzarella, it melted just like an actual cheese.See more photos by Connor Crawford on his Instagram.
Hemp seed tastes range from being like pine nuts, sunflowers and pumpkin seeds. They can even taste like walnuts and almonds. In general, it’s a very nutty green flavour.
When using it in cooking, to get the most benefits it’s best raw in smoothies, bliss balls, with snacks. Try to keep it raw and pure.What’s the craziest thing you’ve made with a cannabis product?
I made a beautiful hemp cheese, I used the seaweed extract agar. I made an amazing mozzarella, it melted just like an actual cheese.See more photos by Connor Crawford on his Instagram.