The old man who farms with the sea

// added July 10, 2008 // 41 comments //
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JanforGore

more from Green:

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-seafarm10-2008jul10,0,3389394.s...

"experts including Dennis Bushnell, chief scientist at NASA's Langley Research Center, say seawater agriculture could prove to be an important weapon in the fight against climate change.

Hodges has already built such a farm in Africa. Political upheaval there shut much of it down in 2003. That's why he's determined to construct a showcase project in North America to demonstrate what's possible.

All he needs now is $35 million. That's where salicornia comes in.

A so-called halophyte, or salt-loving plant, the briny succulent thrives in hellish heat and pitiful soil on little more than a regular dousing of ocean water. Several countries are experimenting with salicornia and other saltwater-tolerant species as sources of food. Known in some restaurants as sea asparagus, salicornia can be eaten fresh or steamed, squeezed into cooking oil or ground into high-protein meal.

Hodges, who now heads the nonprofit Seawater Foundation, plugged salicornia for years as the plant to help end world hunger. Do-gooders applauded. The private sector yawned.

Then oil prices exploded. Hodges saw his shot to lift his fleshy, leafless shrub from obscurity."
~~~~~~
This is a time for vision. Investors aren't laughing at him now.
  1. groups:
    Green,   Earth and Science,   Food
  2. tags:
    Green,  Earth and Science,  Environment,  Food,  14 more

41 comments // The old man who farms with the sea

  • ebdotkom
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  

    • flamegarden: Thank you. And yes, the reports coming out from the World Bank claiming " biofuels" are causing food price hikes is to me just another way to get GM seeds into play. Ethanol production surely has contributed to the rise in food prices, but not all biofuels. I think that is just propaganda to get people turned off of all biofuels which is disingenuous.

    • 1 year ago
  • JanforGore
  • bishopobispo
    • 0
      bishopobispo  

    • 'the briny succulent thrives in hellish heat and pitiful soil on little more than a regular dousing of ocean water'.

      sounds like a wonder food to me. will this be on the dollar menu so i can order 3 with a side of fries and two apple pies?

    • 1 year ago
  • Vierotchka
  • cibalin
    • 0
      cibalin  

    • AH, the human mind working for good not evil. We need more humanitarians thinking for larger than themselves. What a great concept!

    • 1 year ago
  • flamegarden
    • 0
      flamegarden  

    • I love your posts, JanforGore, and thanks for the link Stopnoise.

      I agree w/ all who said this is uplifting : )

      It is an interesting time with clean/green technology

      becoming a common topic in the mainstream -- I

      heard a "news" report about how biomass isn't going

      to be a feasible piece of the solution.... That is just

      incorrect, and this info is excellent. Thank you!

    • 1 year ago
  • huffamoose2k
    • 0
      huffamoose2k  

    • Sea-water ag would be HUGE because we now have all this new space available to grow food for our ever-growing population. Now that I say that, this seems like a bad thing. We dont want the baby-crazy populous thinking we have even more food for their little DNA Midgets.

    • 1 year ago
  • MrBigShot21
  • yolanda261005
  • damnneargenius
  • Wetdog
  • yolanda261003
  • nickwe3d
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  

    • Of course, my one concern would be that multi nationals seeing this as a cash cow would look to buy it out to exploit it. I surely hope that would not happen.

    • 1 year ago
  • JanforGore
  • jubal
    • 0
      jubal  

    • I was reading this last night but I was getting ready for bed. This is a great story about this guy. Amazing.

      It reminds me of how this swamp was dried up in Israel by bringing in Eucalyptus trees from Australia. The Eucalyptus trees drink lots of water and planting them helped to dry up the swamp, I guess some people would call them wetlands, however I don't know if there was a difference or not.

      Anyways, this story reminds me of the other one in that it amazes me how people can find innovative solutions that harness the harsh conditions and turn them into an advantage.

    • 1 year ago
  • JanforGore
  • JanforGore
  • jay_ct
  • HellaDelicious
  • JanforGore
  • HellaDelicious
    • 0
      HellaDelicious  
    • HellaDelicious:

      Yeah it is crunchy and salty, surprisingly! But refreshing and when it is pickled the sour and sweet pickling spices really make it a great side dish. Not sure how well it would do as the main item in a meal....but I haven't tried frying it. We have some growing outside my grandma's house. I will have to try cooking it various ways and see how it goes.

    • 1 year ago
  • bluestranger
  • googolplexer
  • queenofit
    • 0
      queenofit  

    • This is so fascinating, this video explains more of this man's great work. Martin Sheen is narrator.

      Thank you Jan, I get a little down reading all the problems in our world. Yet when introduced to innovative work (such as this), my spirits are raised high.

      Bless the true ingenious creative minds of our fellow human beings. We have been given free will, we can chose to be part of the solution or we can be part of the problem. Aren't finding solutions fun? smiling!

    • 1 year ago
  • JanforGore
  • Ricky84
    • 0
      Ricky84  

    • Great article Jan and thanks for the link Stopnoise. I love stories about human ingenuity confronted the problems of the world. It’s also great to see NASA back this idea with factual data. For me that’s just another reason why the green movement needs to support the Space program and its earth based science division.

    • 1 year ago
  • Ogmin
    • 0
      Ogmin  

    • No doubt, this could be huge. More evidence that earth is bountiful in unimagined ways and that the most dangerously serious obstacle to a more enlightened future is in a lack of imagination.

    • 1 year ago
  • Wetdog
    • 0
      Wetdog  
    • Ogmin:

      ---------"No doubt, this could be huge. More evidence that earth is bountiful in unimagined ways and that the most dangerously serious obstacle to a more enlightened future is in a lack of imagination. -------"

      ABSOLUTELY!!!

      Another BIG mistake, to think that technology has to be new to be appropriate. Every problem we may have or will have has some sort of anology in the past. It's only wise to look and see what has been done in the past about any problems. We not only have the benefit of previous thought on the problem, we also sometimes get the benefit of foreseeing new problems that can arise from "solutions", sometimes the solutions can be worse than the original problem.

    • 1 year ago
  • Hawkmang
    • 0
      Hawkmang  

    • Interesting. Thanks, JanforGore! I wonder how this salicornia tastes? It's also cool that it can be turned into ethanol without distorting global food markets. :-)

    • 1 year ago
  • JanforGore
  • F7
  • cerealforeal
  • jahbini
    • 0
      jahbini  

    • Wow! The concept of turning the Sahara or Saudi Arabia into centers of agriculture and global salvation is wonderful!

    • 1 year ago
  • AkiraChevelle
  • jefftego
  • stopnoise
  • JanforGore
  • onechance
  • JanforGore

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