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brandsPosted by Heather M on 27th Sep 2019
This week’s 6 questions are with SeaVeg, a small family run business that imports and distributes fresh dried sea vegetables direct from independent pickers and packers in Donegal. Seaweed was previously a staple diet of coastal regions of western Europe and Scandinavia but fell into decline with the growth of imported foods. Packed full of vitamins and minerals, it provides a valuable source of essential B group vitamins, and is an especially valuable addition to vegan diets. SeaVeg’s produce is hand-picked from the clean waters off the coast of North West Donegal, dried using a cool air process, and remains as natural a product as it’s possible to get! We heard from founder Mark Turner about how SeaVeg came to be.
Having spent some time in Donegal in the early 1990s
spade digging some early organic permaculture projects, I first brought seaweed
back from Aramara Teorante in Burton Port for use as a soil conditioner on
organic projects – it was the dust – a waste product from the manufacture of
Seaweed Meal. Later when visiting on holiday I talked to Manus of Quality SeaVeg
about doing a website for him, he explained that he was really not good with computers
and if I did it he could send me the products. So we launched SeaVeg.co.uk. At
the time there was only one other business in the UK supplying edible seaweeds,
which was Irish Seaweeds in Belfast – then Dolphin Sea Vegetables with a very
limited range. Two previous firms had wound up, one in Glasgow, and one in
Blackpool.
There will always be a market for high quality produce,
its needs to be carefully and sustainable harvested, not over-processed, and
packed in a safe and sustainable manner. Never try to compete on price, just on
quality, availability, and sustainability.
I love good food, and I enjoy cooking. I like to share my
recipes with others through cooking workshops, talks and demonstrations, and my
recipe book “Seaweed and Oatcakes”. SeaVeg are great ingredients, and the
business is more about dole queue avoidance than world domination. We just
about manage to make a profit every year, but it doesn't really earn a wage. I
have to go out and do more profitable jobs as well as markets.
There is far too much packaging in our food and drinks
industry, and far too much waste. People rely too much on fast food, and
products which are soft white and mushy. There is too much emphasis on price
minimalisation, and not enough emphasis on quality and sustainability.
Supermarkets have too much dominance of the marketplace, and local markets have
been destroyed and replaced with overpriced “Farmers Markets” which only wealthy
farmers can afford to trade on. Organic certification favours the large
corporates over the smaller enterprise, and this needs to change. When we began
the Organic Food movement over thirty years ago its intention was to halt the
destruction of wildlife and habitat through the use of pesticides, it has now
become more about money and getting a higher price for produce. I first worked
on Markets aged 11, they are a great social thing.
The organisers of the two main Vegan Fair circuits –
Farplace Animal Rescue, and Miracle's Mission, are an inspiration. I love going
to their events and often host talks and cooking demonstrations. They work
tirelessly and relentlessly for their causes.
Albert Einstein, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Lemmy of Motorhead.