Today’s food production is not sustainable. It harms our lands and depletes our soils. With the increasing population, we will soon not have food enough to feed everyone. At the same time, we are accelerating climate change and destroying natural habitats, biodiversity and important ecosystems.
We have to make a change. There is a need for a sustainable and resilient food production model, creating ecological and carbon low food. Scientists have found a solution, which is Marine Permaculture. A restorative and regenerative way of farming, where seaweed is cultivated together with other species, like mussels and shellfish, in underwater gardens. This solution can provide us with a sustainable and healthy food source, while at the same time leading to carbon sequestration and restoration of our harmed ocean. The next step is to introduce this food culture and food cultivation to Sweden.
My research showed that there is a lack of knowledge about seaweed in Sweden. We are not used to eating it and it’s hard to find. There’s also an increasing desire to know where our food comes from and to eat locally produced food.
The result is the service Blue Garden. Blue Garden links consumers, who want to try or buy seaweed, with Swedish seaweed farmers, enabling easy access to seaweed, an improved food connection and increased knowledge.
Blue Garden consists of a mobile application, a Harvest box and a Try-out kit. The service allows users to adopt a part of a seaweed cultivation, a Blue Garden, in order to receive its harvest. While the farmer and nature are doing the work, users can follow the growth and increase their knowledge in the app. The app also works as a platform for the Blue Garden seaweed community, where users can share recipes, inspire and learn from each other. After the harvest, the users receive the Harvest box at home. The Blue Garden Try-out kit is for the curious user, who wants to try before adopting a Blue Garden.
