Skip to main content

Food Sourcing

Marine Algae Could Nourish Growing World Population

According to the United Nations, more than 800 million people today are regularly undernourished. By 2050, a rise of another 3 billion in global population is expected to escalate pressure on food supplies. The challenge means providing not just sufficient calories, but also a balanced diet for good health.

Fish present a viable solution, but most of the world’s inventory is already overharvested. Some scientists propose “cutting out the middle fish” via the commercial production of marine microalgae as a staple food. They produce fatty acids, amino acids, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, polymers and carbohydrates that humans need and that can be used to feed animals and farmed fish. Microalgae are found in both freshwater and marine aquatic systems. Only a handful of algal species are used commercially now, but hundreds of strains have similar potential.

Meanwhile, innovators at Copenhagen’s future-living lab SPACE10 created the Algae Dome, a 13-foot-tall urban Eco structure powered by solar energy that pumps out oxygen and produces food in a closed-loop arrangement. This hyper local food system grows microalgae, which are among the world’s fastest-growing organisms and can thrive on sunshine and water almost anywhere.

 

Image: NiklasAdrianVindelev/Space10

Global Briefs
Tick Talk

Spring officially sprung on March 21. We have turned our clocks ahead. We are looking forward to warm winds, sunny skies and the smell of fresh cut grass. The daffodils and tulips have recently bloomed and we are just starting with the yard work that comes with the warmer weather.  Sadly, another season has started ramping up.  Tick season.

•             The best form of protection is prevention. Educating oneself about tick activity and how our behaviors overlap with tick habitats is the first step.

•             According to the NJ DOH, in 2022 Hunterdon County led the state with a Lyme disease incidence rate of 426 cases per 100,000 people. The fact is ticks spend approximately 90% of their lives not on a host but aggressively searching for one, molting to their next stage or over-wintering. This is why a tick remediation program should be implemented on school grounds where NJ DOH deems high risk for tick exposure and subsequent attachment to human hosts.

•             Governor Murphy has signed a bill that mandates tick education in NJ public schools. See this for the details.  Tick education must now be incorporated into K-12 school curriculum. See link:

https://www.nj.gov/education/broadcasts/2023/sept/27/TicksandTick-BorneIllnessEducation.pdf

•             May is a great month to remind the public that tick activity is in full swing. In New Jersey, there are many tickborne diseases that affect residents, including Anaplasmosis, Babesiosis, Ehrlichiosis, Lyme disease, Powassan, and Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiosis.

•             For years, the focus has mainly been about protecting ourselves from Lyme disease. But other tick-borne diseases are on the rise in Central Jersey. An increase of incidence of Babesia and Anaplasma are sidelining people too. These two pathogens are scary because they effect our blood cells. Babesia affects the red blood cells and Anaplasma effects the white blood cells.

•             Ticks can be infected with more than one pathogen. When you contract Lyme it is possible to contract more than just that one disease. This is called a co-infection. It is super important to pay attention to your symptoms. See link.

https://twp.freehold.nj.us/480/Disease-Co-Infection

A good resource from the State:

https://www.nj.gov/health/cd/topics/tickborne.shtml

 

Upcoming Events Near You
Follow Us On Facebook