When recreational marijuana first became legal in Washington and Colorado, the question of what to do with the roots, leaves, and stems brought about a unique opportunity to find a use for the excess product. One experiment fed the waste products of the plant to pigs. They found that pigs who were fed marijuana waste products during the last four months of their lives were 20-30 pounds heavier than those on regular diets.
Adding 20-30 pounds during the last month of growth is a huge benefit for farmers looking for heavier hogs and therefor higher prices per pig. This same principle could be applied for other farm animals raise for their meat.
The next obvious question is whether feeding farm animals marijuana by-products would cause the meat to contain THC, the main mind-altering chemical in marijuana. If there were trace amounts of THC, the meat might be marketed and sold as such. The European Food Safety Authority reported in 2011 that “no studies concerning tolerance or effects of graded levels of THC in food producing animals have been found in literature” meaning that these tests haven’t been done yet.
Whether or not animals fed marijuana waste products does contain THC levels may be seen as a problem to some, but could translate into a new product and therefor a a new market, as long as it was explicitly labeled as such. I for one would definitely reach for the pot roast first.
Want to read more about this experiment? Find the original article here.
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