WHO WE ARE
The ICFA is a broad group of Cannabis farmers, scientists, and stakeholders working together to promote the unique quality and ecological benefits of traditionally farmed Cannabis and Cannabis-derived products while preserving the heritage of traditional farming communities.
Internationally, regulatory frameworks often require that therapeutic Cannabis varietals be grown indoors or in all season greenhouses despite the overwhelming evidence that traditionally farmed sun grown Cannabis is qualitatively and ecologically superior. This public policy trend has devastating environmental implications and leaves both patients and adult-use consumers without access to traditionally farmed sun grown cannabis and cannabis-derived products.
We have formed the International Cannabis Farmers Association to establish the science, data and consumer direct education necessary to break down these barriers while promoting the health and environmental benefits of traditionally farmed sun grown Cannabis.
As individuals, our power is limited. As a group, we are far more powerful.
WHAT IS TRADITIONALLY FARMED CANNABIS?
Cannabis has been used by societies for thousands of years as food, fiber and medicine. Indigenous peoples throughout the world have saved and shared Cannabis seeds from neighbor to neighbor and region to region, spreading this plant and its many benefits throughout the world.
Regardless of use, Cannabis has historically been farmed outdoors in an open-air environment. Under prohibition, determined Cannabis farmers adopted their cultivation methods to reduce the possibility of detection by law enforcement. As prohibition comes to an end and regulatory frameworks are established for commercial Cannabis cultivation we feel the need to encourage farmers, regulators, legislators, consumers and the public to demand that Cannabis be farmed using traditional sun grown farming methods.
The ICFA has intentionally chosen the terms ‘traditional’ and ‘sun grown’ to express the historical cultivation methods associated with this plant, before prohibition dictated how Cannabis is cultivated. As such, the term ‘traditional’ is used throughout the ICFA website and educational materials to express the cultural heritage, spiritual connection, seasonal approach, sustainable practices and back-to-the-land spirit historically embodied by many Cannabis farmers from well know farming regions throughout the world. The term ‘sun grown’ is used to describe Cannabis that has been grown using only natural sunlight to produce the flower, or inflorescence of the plant.