One-third of North Americans are shifting to a plant-based diet. These decisions are motivated by a multitude of factors, including environmental concerns, ethical considerations, and the desire to eat a healthier diet. For some, going plant-based is easy, but for many it presents challenges. Algae offers a light for those seeking to transition to a plant-based diet. Find out how below.

The agriculture industry is essential to humanity's prosperity. The emissions put out by the industry are not. The agriculture industry contributes 26% of global greenhouse gas emissions. It uses a distressing amount of natural resources, half of the world’s usable land and almost 70% of all freshwater! Despite all of this overuse, food insecurity is increasing alongside a ballooning global population. Feeding the future requires addressing the current unsustainable and environmentally harmful methods of food production.

Algae is the revolutionary key in combatting all of these challenges! It has been dubbed the food of the future by CNN and Forbes and has the potential to address the sustainability and nutrition problems we face today. Algae has also been considered as a sustainable source of food and oxygen for future colonies on Mars!

But first, let’s address the elephant in the room: what is algae? Algae are different organisms that, like plants, can produce their own food from sunlight! There are many different types of algae range from single-celled beings(microalgae) and large multicellular organisms, like seaweed.

We are focusing on spirulina algae, a type of blue-green algae that dries as a fine powder. This powder is often used as a vegan protein powder to mix into smoothies, oatmeal, or whatever other fun food you’re eating! You can find our spirulina powder here.

But why are people consuming it? I still don’t get it?!

Consuming spirulina leads to a plethora of benefits. We’ve chosen to use this type of algae for many reasons including: its production process, its environmental impact, and its fantastic nutrition profile. See the reasons why below:

While it still requires some natural resources to grow, spirulina requires so few natural resources to grow it might as well be nothing! Spirulina requires only a fraction of the resources of traditional crops and plants. There is no need for arable land and 95% of the water used for production is reused for more production! Less land and water usage means there is more available for other beneficial uses like preserving ecosystems and improving living conditions.

And, even though it’s technically not a plant, it has all the benefits of plants that we love! Spirulina has a 2:1 carbon capture--this means that every 1 gram of spirulina produces 2 grams of oxygen and consumes 2 grams of carbon dioxide.

Spirulina is unbelievably easy to grow! It requires little maintenance and can grow in pools of water almost anywhere! We’re talking in labs, in vertical farms, even in the desert! Yes, you read that right, the desert. And spirulina has an incredibly high yield- it can go from farm to table in 8 hours. That means that you can do 3 FULL harvests of spirulina every day!

Want to learn more about why spirulina algae is so great? Check this out!