SEAWEED – FOOD FOR THE FUTURE?
The food we eat has a big effect on our planet. Growing vegetables requires huge areas of land, and very large quantities of water. In addition, the fertilizers that farmers use pollute the land, rivers, and oceans. However, the worst environmental damage is caused by meat production because the process is responsible for much of the climate change in the world. Therefore, food scientists are looking for meat substitutes that are more environmentally friendly. Now they are examining a surprising possibility: seaweed.(lines 1–6)
People in the West mostly know seaweed as a plant with long leaves that they see on the beach or floating in the sea. Sometimes they eat it in sushi in a Japanese restaurant. But in many countries in Asia, people have been eating seaweed every day for over 2,000 years. The plant is grown on special farms in the sea near the coasts. Small pieces of seaweed are attached to long ropes, and the ropes are then put in the sea. It takes only six weeks until the leaves are large enough for the farmers to pick.(lines 7–12)
Food scientists recently decided to study a type of seaweed that is called "red seaweed." They found that red seaweed has as much protein as meat does. This makes it suitable for use as a meat substitute. The scientists are therefore now using this seaweed to develop products that look and taste like meat. For companies growing red seaweed, this is exciting news because they expect such products to create a very large demand for this plant.(lines 13–17)
One large red seaweed grower, SeaFarms, already plans to build huge farms near the coast of Northern Europe. "Like all types of seaweed, red seaweed has important advantages over crops that grow on land," says Brenda Clark, head of SeaFarms. "It grows extremely quickly, and farmers don't need to provide any water or fertilizers. We think this will greatly appeal to people who care about the environment. And when we have a delicious meat substitute, it should appeal even to meat eaters. So I believe seaweed really could become the food of the future."(lines 18–23)