Maybe we’re biased, but we reckon it’s a good idea to consider incorporating seaweed into your diet for a number of reasons. And although Australia is presently a net importer of seaweed, why not support our emerging local industry?
Seaweed is one of the most densely nutritious vegetables on the planet.
That’s right. Packed with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Try calcium, magnesium, iron, folate, potassium, zinc, omega 3 fatty acids, vitamins B and K. As US kelp farming pioneer Bren Smith (Greenwave) once put it: "More iron the lean beef, more calcium than milk!"
Seaweed tastes delicious - and is limited only by our own creativity in the kitchen.
Seaweed is actually really easy to incorporate into our daily cooking and meal prep. Lots of folks start with a teaspoon of ground kelp powder in a smoothie or Furikake on their avo or eggs. We can flash fry dried kelp (like our Dried Wakame) to make delicious umami chips, hydrate kelp and incorporate it into almost anything we bake or we can shred it and make a delicious seaweed salad. I make a Wakame banana bread which might sound strange but is mighty tasty. But sprinkling a seaweed condiment like our Chilli Kelp onto almost any evening meal is also an excellent and easy move. The options are limitless. We have some recipe ideas on our website here and there's a huge volume of seaweed cooking inspo on the web generally.
One of the most sustainable crops on the planet!
Seaweed is a zero input crop. When we say this we mean that is requires no arable land, no fresh water, fertilisers or pesticides. Just light from the sun and excess nutrients in the sea. And as it grows, it helps mop up carbon and nitrogen and deacidify the sea. And then it provides vital food and habitat for diverse marine life. Are you sold yet?
An opportunity for a new industry, supporting local employment and regional tourism.
Although it’s in its absolute infancy in Australia right now, we think kelp farming could come to be an important new industry in Australia. Many aquaculture sites around the country are laying dormant. Imagine if we could activate these sites at volume, providing nutritious food for humans and creating local industries along the way. We’ve managed to learn to breed and farm native kelp at our sea farm at Flinders here on the Mornington Peninsula (Vic). There’s no reason it can’t happen elsewhere.
And what’s the deal with Australian Wakame?
Wakame is an introduced kelp species here in Australia. It’s invasive and it crowds our our native kelp species like Ecklonia radiata (aka Golden kelp). We hold a licence to remove it in local Victorian waters and the great thing is that is is a very high quality kelp and tastes amazing. Chefs tells us regularly that it has way more flavour and character than anything they can import. So Wakame hunting has become an important part of our business.
Thanks for tuning in!