Algae: a circular food source that is healthy for the planet

Microalgae such as Chlorella and Spirulina can provide high quality food for every person on earth sustainably while the production of the algae is environmentally friendly and improves the health of the oceans and nature on earth.

(2022) 🦠 Microalgae are nature’s ‘green gold’Abundant sustainable food of the future to end global hunger The global food supply faces a range of threats including climate change, wars, pests and diseases. An organism too small for the human eye to see—microalgae—could offer a sustainable solution.

Algae offers the advantage of requiring neither soil nor pesticides nor irrigation. On top of that it provides enormous ecosystem services, creating a very rich habitat for fauna (shellfish, fish) and flora while also feeding the top of the ocean food chain (phytoplankton, bivalves) and ultimately land animals. Source: Phys.org | The Conversation | UP TO US

Algae can be produced at low cost and while the cell core was originally to hard for the human digestive system to be broken and therefore required costly processes, technological advancements have made algae consumable for humans at low cost.

Chlorella algae is the most complete food source for humans on earth. It contains all essential vitamins and minerals including vitamins D and B12, protein and the most healthy variant of Omega 3-6-9 acids. In theory, a human can perform optimally on a diet with just Chlorella. Spirulina is an algae that is similar to Chlorella and that is popular with athletes.

Chlorella is used by most people in Japan and people in Japan are the most healthy people in the world and live the longest. Chlorella was first used as food in Japan.

(2020) Potential of Chlorella Algae to Promote Human Health Source: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

In studies it is shown that Chlorella and Spirulina can stop the growth of cancer and prevent many other diseases.

Marine biologists recently discovered that zebrafish had an amazing capacity to regenerate severe eye damage. Upon further research they discovered that the fish obtain that capacity by eating Spirulina algae.

(2020) Could a tiny fish hold the key to curing blindness? Source: nei.nih.gov (first discovery: no link with algae yet)

Follow-up studies linked the regenerative and wound healing capacity to Spirulina algae:

(2022) Spirulina promotes regeneration and wound healing in zebrafish Source: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov | ncbi.nlm.nih.gov | ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

---

End global hunger or prioritize diesel biofuel?

Why should human hunger and suffering be prevented? Why should people globally receive an optimal opportunity to unlock their potential as a human being?

Industrial companies are starting to exploit the low cost mass production advancements of microalgae (Chlorella and Spirulina) to use the algae as biofuels.

(2022) Cost Effective Production of Chlorella for diesel biofuel Microalgae are considered as a promising feedstock for biodiesel production due to their faster growth rate, higher biomass productivity and lipid content. Source: Springer.com

Why prioritize hunger?

The 'why' question of global hunger seems to be neglected or considered self-evident by many passionate people that address the problem.

Humanity has developed itself to be capable of making moral choices when it concerns food or its presence on earth. Being barbarian or making mistakes - actually destroying the planet - are possible. Something else - being moral and wise - are possible as well and can be demanded in the face of human dignity. Therefore human hunger concerns a humanitarian issue.

Recent studies showed that plants behave altruistically (morally) and move leaves and roots to allow other plants to prosper besides them and they share food to plants that suffer hunger.

(2015) Trees Send Food to Hungry Neighbors of Different Species Source: Scientific American (2019) Trees share water to keep this dying stump alive Source: Science.org

Humpback whales have been found to save other animals including fish from attacking sharks. In 2018 marine biologist Nan Hauser was saved from a shark by a Humpback whale:

He kept putting his eye right next to me and I couldn’t figure out what he was trying to tell me. He eventually pushed me up right out of the water on his fin. Then I noticed a shark closeby and the whale was doing what it could to keep the shark away from me.

(2016) Why Do Humpback Whales Protect Other Animals? Source: National Geographic

Never in history has an Orca whale attacked a human. Not even in folklore and old tales. Since Orca's hunt for seals, it is remarkable that they never made a mistake. There are reports that Orca's saved people from drowning and from sharks at open sea, in old tales and more recent.

Why help another living being to be well and perform optimally? It is evident that animals and even plants attempt to be moral (wise) within their capacity but if a human cannot answer the question why, will it prioritize diesel biofuel over hunger?