The Seaweed Revolution
At Mara, we are continually excited by the amazing developments happening in the world of seaweed. From companies like Rumin8 who are developing animal feed that can reduce the emissions from cows by over 90%, to seaweed’s use in the creation of sustainable fashion textiles, seaweed is a trending topic. And that’s not to mention seaweed’s natural capacity to absorb CO2 at high rates, and to sustain important marine environments. The potential for seaweed to help solve some of the world’s biggest problems is clear. But there’s one big problem that is holding the industry back from harnessing seaweed’s true potential. And that’s the amount of research and innovation still required to truly understand seaweed. We spoke to Vincent Doumeizel, Senior Advisor on Oceans at the UN to find out about his new book, The Seaweed Revolution, and to learn more about how seaweed could be the answer to many of our problems.
“The book offers a solution”, he said, to the environmental, food, social and climate crises that we are all currently facing. It delves into the various ways that seaweed can help to overcome these major challenges.
First, seaweed should become a more prominent source of food. While seaweed is eaten on a daily basis by many in Eastern Asia, Europe and America pale in comparison. But by relieving the strain on our soil, and turning to the ocean, we can provide another source of food that is more sustainable and healthy. Packed full of vitamins and minerals, seaweed has the potential to feed populations and to improve their health.
Seaweed could also be the solution to the major plastic issue that we are facing. Companies like Notpla have developed an incredible biodegradable alternative, using none other than seaweed. And seaweed can even offer a solution to some of our social problems by providing jobs to struggling coastal communities.
“Seaweed is not a silver bullet, but I do think we have a great solution”, he notes. The key to implementing this solution successfully, Vincent believes, is to learn from the mistakes that we made in agriculture. We are now realising that our agricultural systems are simply not sustainable and are polluting land and ocean, causing droughts, and reducing biodiversity. By turning to the oceans, we may be able to provide a solution.
From our conversation, Vincent was clear to stress the importance of the different solutions working together. We shouldn’t just focus on hunger, or the climate crisis alone. This is because “relying on multiple applications will increase the resilience of the supply chain”. “Seaweed really ticks all the boxes, which is why the UN has become interested in the last 2 or 3 years. This is why we shouldn’t focus on one goal over the other”. For instance, creating more of an appetite for seaweed in food (as we at Mara are very used to doing!), will lead to the production of more seaweed farms, and therefore more innovation in the industry.
But most importantly, how can we all help to support this revolution? “Eat seaweed… talk about it and learn to cook with it in daily life”, Vincent says. “Three times a day, we are all environmental activists, voting for the world we want each time we eat”. By doing this, we will increase demand and create a bigger market for seaweed. Vincent spoke about encouraging the next generation to eat and enjoy seaweed. He feeds his kids seaweed regularly, and they love seaweed tartare on baguette in particular. And Clare Dean, our brand and marketing manager here at Mara, feeds her kids seaweed regularly too… and they love it!
“We need 100 times more scientists working on seaweed because there is so much that we don’t understand at the moment.” But for this to happen, attitudes towards seaweed need to change. “We should stop calling it seaweed and call it sea vegetables to encourage eating, or sea forests so that we learn to protect them”. And, Vincent says, “we should stop saying that seaweed is slimy and smelly”, because it really isn’t. To think of it as slimy and smelly, is to misunderstand the huge variety of seaweeds and all of their individual qualities and benefits.
So go and get talking about seaweed and spread the word. Find out more about the incredible potential of seaweed by reading Vincent’s book, The Seaweed Revolution: How Seaweed Has Shaped Our Past and Can Save Our Future by Hero Press.
