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The old man who farms with the sea

  2. JanforGore
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"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.
JanforGore

38 responses // The old man who farms with the sea

  • That is amazing! Where do I donate!?!?

    I'm all for it. What a brilliant man.
    onechance
  • I think this has great potential.
    JanforGore
  • Great Story! Thanks!
    stopnoise
  • Love the innovation and vision for opportunity.
    jefftego
  • I never knew. Like the idea of diverting water inland.
    AkiraChevelle
  • Wow! The concept of turning the Sahara or Saudi Arabia into centers of agriculture and global salvation is wonderful!
    jahbini
  • Our society depends on men like him right now.
    cerealforeal
  • ...finally some good news.
    thank you!
    F7
    • F7
    • 3 months ago
  • 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. :-)
    Hawkmang
    1 response to this
  • 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.
    Ogmin
    1 response to this
  • 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.
    Ricky84
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_P1rPnVUME4&eurl=http://...
    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!
    recommended by  JanforGore
    queenofit
    1 response to this
  • wow, great post!
    it sounds like he has really thought about it, amazing
    googolplexer
  • What a far thinking individual. What can we do to help?
    bluestranger
  • Wow this is brilliant. That stuff is sure tasty, especially pickled.
    HellaDelicious
    2 responses to this
  • So many great ideas out there waiting to be realized.
    jay_ct
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salicornia
    More about salicornia
    JanforGore
  • http://www.globalseawater.com/whatwedo.html
    Site for Global Seawater. There is a contact link on the site for anyone interested in doing so.
    JanforGore
  • 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.
    jubal
  • yes, the epitome of the phrase, 'when life hands you lemons make lemonade.'
    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.
    JanforGore
  • Interesting idea, I'd like to see more!
    nickwe3d
  • Next thing you know they'll turn it into biofuel.
    damnneargenius
    1 response to this
  • What a concept. Make it happen.
    MrBigShot21
  • 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.
    huffamoose2k
  • 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!
    flamegarden
  • AH, the human mind working for good not evil. We need more humanitarians thinking for larger than themselves. What a great concept!
    cibalin
  • Salicornia is delicious - it is very popular in France.
    Vierotchka
  • '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?
    bishopobispo
  • Vierotchka: Now I'm really curious to try it.
    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.
    JanforGore
  • Makes sense!
    ebdotkom

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