One year ago, AKUA, a plant-based food start-up company, teamed up with NYC chef Will Horowitz, who is widely known for his mushroom foraging skills. The result? A 100 percent vegan kelp-based, high-protein jerky made with mushrooms, kelp, and superfoods. AKUA uses latissima kelp, which is ocean-farmed, meaning it requires no fresh water, fertilizer or dry land to make. Seaweed also soaks up five times more carbon from the water than land-based plants do from the air. Talk about a truly sustainable food!

The kelp jerky comes in three delicious flavors: rosemary barbeque, sea salt and sesame, and spiced turmeric. If your mouths are watering, you’re not alone. AKUA’s Kickstarter campaign to launch their self-stable brand has already raised DOUBLE their original goal! 

AKUA also got an endorsement from Sir Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Group! Branson previously invested in clean meat technology companies and supports a world without factory farms. 

AKUA’s Kickstarter campaign will be used to fund their first full production run, buy fully-recyclable packaging, as well as build an online store so that they can sell their kelp jerky around the world!

We are thrilled to see AKUA already doubling their goal to bring sustainable, healthy plant-based food options to the masses. While many may think there is nothing wrong with beef jerky, there is no such thing as ‘sustainable” beef.  Industrial meat and dairy production account for 23 percent of global freshwater consumption and 45 percent of the total land use. The industrial livestock system is also one of the largest drivers of global deforestation, as more space is needed to graze cattle and grow feed for livestock. Thanks to innovative companies such as AKUA, we are seeing our broken food system change here and now!

If you’d like to pre-order AKUA’s kelp jerky, check out their website. You can also stay up to date with the company by following their Instagram.

Want to learn more about how your food choices have an impact on the planet? Check out the #EatForThePlanet book, a must for any environmentalist!

Image Source: AKUA