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Kelp Resources
Seaweeds have been harvested for food, fertilizer, and medicine for thousands of years. History books record that the Chinese used seaweed for medicinal purposes as early as 3000 B.C. One of the earliest records, the Chinese Book of Poetry, indicates that sea vegetables were a prized food as far back as the time of Confucius (551-479 B.C.).
The Greeks used seaweed as an animal food as early as the first century B.C. One translated text, written in 46 B.C., states, "The Greeks collected seaweed from the shore and having washed it in fresh water, gave it to their cattle." In Iceland, where people have eaten seaweed for centuries, the oldest law book refers to the "rights and concessions involved before one might collect and/or eat fresh sol (seaweed) on a neighbor's land."
Japan
Japan has a long history of seaweed use. As a mountainous island nation with little arable land, its national cuisine has always emphasized the abundance of foods from the sea.
Seaweed was first consumed 1500 years ago, according to early written records. From the 7th to the 9th century, seaweed was consumed only by Japanese nobility.
Up until the Middle Ages, only wild seaweed was available, which limited it as a food source. Around the time of the 17th century, Ieyasu Tokugawa, the shogun of the time, ordered fishermen in the small town of Shinagawa to bring him fresh fish everyday. The fishermen started a fish farm and built a fence in the sea, on which they found seaweed grew easily. This is said to be the origins of seaweed aquaculture.
Other Cultures
Many other cultures have known of the value of seaweed. Ancient Hawaiian nobility also kept edible algae gardens where rare varieties of seaweed were cultivated to provide gourmet food for the royal family. For centuries, inhabitants of the island of Lewis in Scotland made a sacrifice each fall to the sea god Shony, "with entreaties to send seaware to enrich our ground."
Seaweed has been used for many years to replenish the soil and promote plant growth in Europe and Great Britain, as well as other coastal countries.
Despite our relative unfamiliarity with the nutritional value of seaweed, a long tradition of use exists. Today's seaweed products draw upon this history, with products like MegakelpTM maximizing its health-giving properties. The nutritional value of kelp is gradually becoming known to the West.
Seaweed & Kelp
Kelp Farming
Benefits of Kelp
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