Eat More Kelp campaign launched by climate change activists in North America

Climate change is the impetus driving the new Eat More Kelp campaign in North America, which seeks to “change the trajectory of culinary culture in the United States and Canada to include more carbon-capturing, ocean-grown domestic sea vegetables,” according to its organizers.

A collaboration of activists, regenerative ocean farmers, and climate groups are behind the campaign’s creation. The initiative was announced in tandem with the founders of The Kelp Fund, Inc. launching a new website and e-commerce platform, which offers Eat More Kelp-branded merchandise for “concerned citizens and organizations around the world who are seeking impactful ways to raise awareness about how to fight climate change,” it said in a press release.

The campaign promotes regenerative kelp crops that is says “capture five times more carbon from the atmosphere than terrestrial vegetable crops, such as kale or lettuce.” The crops also don’t require any fresh water or fertilizer, according to the campaign.

The Kelp Fund also released a list of goodwill ambassadors that have committed to driving the Eat More Kelp campaign, including climate activists Ayana Johnson (author of “All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis”) and Bren Smith (author of “Eat Like a Fish: My Adventures as a Fisherman Turned Restorative Ocean Farmer”), as well as chefs like Michael Wurster, who serves as the culinary director for Google Corporation in North America.   

“A percentage of proceeds from the Eat More Kelp campaign will support GreenWave.org, a pioneering non-profit that is striving to put 5,000 regenerative ocean farmers to work in North America over the next five years and capture more than 25 million pounds of CO2 from the atmosphere,” the campaign said. “Through an additional partnership with Carbonfund.org Foundation, a leading organization specializing in aggressive carbon capture and offsetting initiatives, The Kelp Fund has already offset more than 35 [metric tons] of CO2 emissions, securing carbon neutrality for the Eat More Kelp campaign through 2021.”

Last month, the campaign group also announced the launch of the sign-up phase for the first Community Supported Kelp Crop (CSKC) program in the U.S. The program aims to “undergird new kelp farming operations off the coasts of New York and California,” Eat More Kelp said.