April 15, 2020

As part of their ongoing series, Follow the Food, the BBC last week published an article in which this question is posed:  “Microalgae is rich in protein, amino acids, fatty acids, and vitamins.  Should we all be eating it?”

Indigenous peoples all over the world have been eating algae for generations.  Observing the superior strength and vitality of animals who ate the algae along shorelines of ponds, lakes or ocean, they recognized this beneficial food source.

Given the contemporary food systems which have developed since the industrial revolution, it is only recently that the potential benefits of growing algae as food is gaining attention — for both nutritional and environmental reasons.

Over fifty years ago, the science teacher who founded a company to harvest and process the blue-green microalgae, aphanizomenon flos-aquae, known as AFA, envisioned feeding the world with this highly nutritious food.  The company changed hands several times as the production costs and other costs escalated.

The BBC article points out:  “While microalgae consumption is not yet widespread, the case for algae becoming a source of food in our future is strong.”  Experimental systems for growing algae are now broadly under development.  Several are described in the article.

As a youth, our co-founder saw the potential of microalgae and studied accordingly.  He emphasizes,”You cannot begin to produce microalgae and expect to have a superior product without an extensive knowledge base.”

When, decades ago, he saw the importance of algae as a food source, he was looking though a lens which included possible environmental issues in the future.  He developed the expertise to create an indoor environment which would replicate and exceed nature’s requirements.

That future has arrived.  With the widening acceptance of cultivated microalgae as an excellent source of nutrition — on an increasingly broader scale — we will be rewriting history in our relationship with food and the environment.

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