A Crisis of Kelp

Author

Rachel L. Sherman, Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNYFollow

Graduation Date

Fall 12-18-2020

Grading Professor

Fred Kaufman

Subject Concentration

International

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Abstract

Along with insects and lab-grown meat, for years seaweed has been lauded as a sustainable “food of the future” by the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization. As the world increasingly turns to alternative foods in pursuit of a healthier Earth, seaweed has all the makings of an ecological savior. It’s plentiful — seaweeds and ocean algae make up roughly nine tenths of all the plant life on Earth — it’s cheap to harvest and get to market, packed with nutrition, and keeps oceans clean, absorbing more carbon dioxide and releasing more oxygen than the world’s rainforests.

But outside of Japanese cuisine and pioneering chefs, the idea of eating stinky sea algae isn’t too popular. The mossy netting may gain cool points with environmentalists for its ability to absorb enormous amounts of carbon — it can sequester up to 20 times more per acre than land forests — but it still hasn’t quite caught on with the masses. Seaweed has the potential to feed the world and save the oceans — if only we could make it taste, well, less like seaweed.

https://rachel-sherman-nyc.medium.com/a-crisis-of-kelp-34b38fba1d32

Recommended Citation

Sherman, Rachel L., "A Crisis of Kelp" (2020). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gj_etds/436