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Sea Vegetable Manifesto

Ocean Harvest Sea Vegetable Company was born in 1985 from one person's vision.Today we sell a ton of dried sea vegetables a year; all harvested by hand in anecologically sound and sustainable way. Part of a small vibrant cottage industry located in Northern California, along the Mendocino coast, we pride ourselves on the quality of our sea vegetables. We are happy to provide Ocean Harvest Sea Vegetables to you becausewe regard sea vegetables as essential to good health and as one of the most importantfoods for modern people.

Why Eat Sea Vegetables?

These marine plants are the vegetal ancestors of all life forms on the planet today, dating back over 3.2 billion years. They have survived as a rich source of essential elements andtrace minerals to be food for humans, the last species to develop; our interest in them isencoded in our cells.These essential elements and trace minerals nurture the hormone-producing endocrinesystem, which regulates metabolism: "all changes in energy and materials that build,repair and fuel the human body". Sea vegetables also provide a rare source of the elementiodine, fundamental to brain function and stress reduction. The Kelp Family (includingLaminaria, Kombu, Wakame and Sea Palm) regulates body weight and performs themiraculous act of isolating and leaching out lethal radioactive substances from our bodiesfor elimination. Sea vegetables are certainly appropriate food for us all!Many people prefer to eat native sea vegetables. We are happy to present the West coastvarieties, which may well represent a cross between the heavier, more medicinal flavorsof Japanese sea vegetables and the lighter, thinner varieties of those of the Easternseaboard. One thing we'd like our customers to become aware of is just how nutrient-richsea vegetables are-- a veritable medicine chest of proteins, complex carbohydrates and allforty four trace minerals and elements (which act as magnets in the blood to bind other nutrients), vitamins A, C, E, B1, B2, B6, and the most up to date research suggests,vitamin B12. Sea vegetables are especially high in iron, calcium and iodine, the onlyvegetal source of this brain food, and several varieties are remarkably rich sources of fluoride, surpassing the RDA. Many folks are beginning to realize the superior value of sea plants: a daily snack of roasted wild Nori and a bowl of miso soup with Wakame, for example, can go a long way towards fulfilling many nutrient requirements.

Harvesting Techniques

Here in Northern California we harvest eight varieties of sea vegetables - MendocinoCoast Kombu, Sweet Kombu, Ocean Ribbons, Sea Palm, Silky Sea Palm, MendocinoCoast Wakame, Mendocino Coast Wild Nori and Mendocino Coast Fucus or Bladderwrack. The cool pristine temperate waters and rich tidal upwelling of the Northwest coast support an abundant number of species and luxuriant growth.Our Pacific Ocean is a majestic "office" and we are honored to work there. On harvestdays we rise before dawn, dress warmly and make our way down to the rockyoutcroppings along the coast. There, the rhythm of the tides is our time clock; hoursamongst the bejeweled tidal pools are carefully meted out by Neptune.

We are careful in our harvest techniques lest we imbalance this precious environment andcut the algae so as to leave the reproductive function of the plants intact. Working on theocean awakens an umbilical connection - sea lions bob up in the surf, while cormorants,gulls and pelicans fish the rough and crystal clear Pacific. It is always lovely when thesun rises, particularly when the full moon is setting as well; soon after we head inland tosun dry the algae. Everything but the Nori (too sandy) is left unrinsed to let the salt-water minerals act as a natural preservative.Each frond is laid out to be turned every hour until dry. This completed, we hurry hometo sleep before the next day of harvest begins. We hope this story enriches your sense of the nature of these plants and our work with them

What is food?

Food is that which nurtures us, body and soul; which makes us more alive. OceanHarvest Sea Vegetables grow in a very special environment. The marine garden along thePacific N.W. coast is a source of life for a myriad of sea creatures. Whales, sea otters,seals, pelicans, osprey and cormorants frolic about the pristine waters; fishermen anddivers harvest albacore, salmon, sea urchin and abalone for local and world food supplies.Millions of tourists frequent the exquisite coast of Mendocino seeking the balance naturethat is so visibly harmonious here.Sea Vegetables are the first food of the plant kingdom and the foundation of our foodchain. When the primal waters became saline, it was the ingestion of sea vegetables thatled to the development of the first invertebrates. Today this same branch of the foodkingdom lends calcium and iron and nutrient-binding trace minerals and elements to our bloodstream. They also perform other miraculous favors such as the removal of heavymetals from our bodies and the regulation of cholesterol.At Ocean Harvest our chief concern is getting these nutrient- rich plants to you along theshortest route with the fewest compromises. We routinely pack the prana of the sun intoour products in a one day drying process. We don't rinse the trace elements off, and we box our product in air-tight bags away from light and moisture to prevent oxidation andnutrient loss.For the last 20 years we've been rising at 4:30 am. Before moon set on the new and fullmoon cycles of spring and summer to gather sea vegetables off the rockstacks in thewilds of the Pacific intertidal zone. Our harvest sites are among the cleanest anywhere;we are proud to select our sea vegetables from waters that rate in the top 5% of theworld's richest and most pristine marine environments! The continental shelf drops off toa depth of several hundred feet just a mile or two offshore here, resulting in a tidalupwelling that carries rich marine detritus onshore. Compare that to the Atlantic coastwhere the shelf is 200 miles offshore! We at Ocean Harvest meet the inflexible hours of the sun, moon and tide schedules, often working sixteen hour days to bring this quality product to your table.

CONTACT OHSV PHONE: 707-937-1923 PST

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Sea Vegetable Manifesto

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Category:	Recipes/Menus
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Upload Date:	03/11/2009
Copyright:	Attribution Non-commercial
Tags:	nutrients seaweeds sea vegetables kombu wakame sea palm natural nori primitive foods (more tags) nutrients seaweeds sea vegetables kombu wakame sea palm natural nori primitive foods Diet & Health Food (fewer)