February 01, 2020

For centuries, indigenous peoples traveled to a particular lake in the Pacific Northwest.  This is not surprising for the hunter-gatherers knew where to find food which would sustain them.  Along the perimeter of the lake, and especially at the bottom of the lake, and the beginning of the river which is fed by the lake, they used long rakes to obtain algae which they then sun-dried near the shoreline.  This annual summer tradition of food gathering was widely known among American and Canadian Indians in the western portion of the continent.

Across the continent, in the northeast, a young scientist began growing algae in the 1950’s, when he was five years old.  This was local algae, samples of which he had brought from a nearby pond.  He grew the algae — a food he liked — on glass plates inserted into an aquarium.

When he was eight years old, and eating algae at a stream in the New England woods near his home, a Native American saw him.  “What are you doing?” the elder asked.

The elder then told him about a lake in the Pacific Northwest where, for centuries, indigenous tribes had gathered and dried algae for food during their annual pilgrimages to the lake.  The young visionary scientist knew that he wanted to grow this algae himself; he foresaw a time of critical global change when algae could become one of the essential sources of nutrition.

A decade after he met the Native American elder near the stream, David traveled to the Pacific Northwest to the lake.  There he met Native Americans and algae enthusiasts who were gathering this super-nutritious form of algae, AFA, from the lake at its drift points — with floating nets and rakes.

As an extremely buoyant long distance swimmer since early childhood, David began a practice that he would continue during future visits: swimming, floating, gathering algae and eating it directly from the lake.  The algae was his only food source during those visits.

During many subsequent visits, swimming with the algae for days on end, he observed carefully.  He combined the skills of scientific observation with an ability to empathically understand the behavior of the algae.  He carefully observed the patterns and life cycle of the algae which grows as much as one thousand per cent in one day.  These patterns shift with the fluctuations of light.

Concurrently, while completing his military obligation in the service of the Surgeon General, he was developing laboratory expertise which would eventually be applied to the growing of algae.

During his regular visits to the lake, David also became acquainted with the founder of the first company to make algae available as a food product.  Familiar with the life cycle of the algae and the ecology of the lake, David consulted on the mechanics of the extraction and packaging process of AFA which was refined over a period of years.

Edible forms of algae present a largely untapped nutritional support opportunity.  Furthermore, algae is also a source of several important brain nutrients which are otherwise found primarily in animal products.  The superior AFA algae is rarely found across the planet; most known sources are highly contaminated at this time.

Years ago, when the Native American elder told eight year old David about this special algae, it became part of his visionary overview.  During decades of focus, he developed the ability to replicate the essentials of nature’s growing environment.

The process David developed combines sensitivity to the biological and botanical preferences of the AFA algae with complex scientific methodology and understanding.  As head of R&D for Green Oasis Now, David has integrated the growing of AFA algae into our Green Oasis Now Innovation Center.

Thus, a unique and pristine superfood can be provided — with unprecedented affordability — as inspired by nature and a visionary point of view.