Sustainable Seaweeds – novel resource consumption

With a focus on sustainability, novel food consumption, and valuation my PhD project explores socio-cultural processes and everyday encounters through which new resources become food products and services. I use seaweed as an empirical example of a novel food. Even though seaweed is a common ingredient in many culinary traditions, it is still relatively new in Sweden. Despite the country’s more than 3000km of coastline, harvesting wild species or cultivating seaweed for human food consumption remains uncommon. I’m interested in the stories, experiences, and values people attach to this marine resource, and in how seaweed becomes visible or overlooked in everyday life. My research explores how seaweed is valued (or devalued) across different contexts and settings.