What if there was a fish that was practically immune to overfishing, had a market potential to create millions of jobs, and drastically increase the global food supply? There’s not, but something else could have the same effect and benefit the environment in the process: Seaweed.
Right now, we destroy our oceans for our own benefits:
Food, oil, industry, etc. Instead, we could be using our oceans and the marine life therein to benefit our economy and food supply while reinforcing the natural world as well. In northern California, Catherine O’Hare and Avery Resor have started farming seaweed under their company: DayBreak Seaweed. Their work provides insights as to how successful this market could become. Catherine and Avery believe that,
“the best things come from nature, that the answers to many of the world’s challenges exist in natural systems, and that a more beautiful, simple way of doing things is possible.”
-DayBreak Seaweed
Seaweed is incredibly versatile,
and can be used to supplement food in numerous ways. Most importantly, DayBreak Seaweed highlights how beneficial seaweed farming can be, particularly amidst a climate crisis. The ocean absorbs around 40% of humanity’s fossil fuel and greenhouse gas emissions, acidifying the water and holding disastrous consequences for the ecosystems therein. Seaweed naturally absorbs these emissions, and removes these toxins from the water. According to DayBreak,
“Seaweed farming is a healthy and sustainable way to lower our carbon footprint and feed humankind”.
-DayBreak Seaweed
Particularly in developing countries,
creating a seaweed industry would significantly raise employment and also ensure a sustainable market that benefits the environment in the process. Conceptually speaking, to build an economy surrounding a sustainable food industry could only benefit that nation both environmentally and economically. Comparatively, the food industry in America is one of the biggest contributors to landfill waste, with 22-24% of American landfills composed of food waste.
“A desire to produce food in a holistic way – that celebrates natural systems and brings us closer to nature – is the reason we do this work”.
Catherine O’Hare and Avery Resor
Instead of contributing to a destructive food cycle, DayBreak Seaweed “supports Indigenous-led and -run organizations that ensure food production, conservation, and land use happen in a regenerative way.” By shifting power from careless hands into those of small, whole system focused food businesses, DayBreak promotes equity within their industry.
In my mind, nearly everything we produce as a society is executed from an economic perspective, and seldom from one concerning the environment or humanity.
This has often created businesses that care about profits above the quality of their work, the negative environmental impacts it may bring, and the safety and livelihoods of their employees. I feel that there must be another way — one that prioritizes life and natural beauty over money — and DayBreak does too.
“food can be grown in a way that restores and actually improves the environment – a belief that comes from research on kelp and seaweed aquaculture”.
-DayBreak Seaweed
Even as a small, young company,
DayBreak is just as focused on ensuring that their work helps the environment and other farmers as they are on making money. In fact, they have partnerships with multiple “local” seaweed farmers on the West Coast, from Northern California to Alaska. By working with other farmers, Avery and Catherine grow their own business and respectively their partners’; throughout the process healing our oceans and environment in general.
Through the 1% for the Planet organization, DayBreak Seaweed donates 1% of their annual earnings to nature conservation initiatives, which means their donations will increase as their company grows. Both through their work and via donation, DayBreak Seaweed is,
“committed to supporting Native Conservancy’s important work of protecting and preserving ancestral homelands, revitalizing traditional food sources, and supporting Indigenous kelp farmers in Alaska”
-DayBreak Seaweed
DayBreak seeks to return the industry to those that have always cultivated food with respect to the Earth, a business model I hope comes to replace profit maximization for the food industry.
(All pictures are through DayBreak Seaweed’s instagram account, all quotes are sourced from their website.)