Brighton seaweed / pollution
Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2014 10:48 pm
Hi everybody,
I live in Brighton but don't mind a walk of up to say 10 miles (bearing in mind I'd have to walk back too, 20 miles is my limit in a day). I've been on a very low income for a while and my diet might sometimes not have enough variety. I do bake my own bread and have heard that seaweed is an excellent additive to bread as it imparts a salty (savoury?) flavour in a healthier way than table salt and has iron and lots of trace minerals.
I see all this seaweed whenever I go down to the sea but I seem to remember reading something about how this part of the south coast is too polluted for some kinds of foraging, something to do with how the jet stream curls around and we end up catching all the dirty bits. What I read may have been in relation to mussels which I believe accumulate heavy metals over time, something to do with filter-feeding? Please correct me if I'm wrong on any of this as the memories are vague.
Brighton beach holds a Blue Flag award but I'm not sure if that has any real meaning or is manipulable, it's obviously good PR to have one. I know if I walk 3 or 4 miles along to Shoreham there is a power station and I see some unappetising yellowy foam floating around.
I'm not looking for absolutes here but I'd appreciate hearing from anybody who forages the local seaweed or has any information to add to what I've said above. If nobody can offer any advice maybe I'll just try using it regularly and log in every month or so to say I'm still alive (unless I'm not). Then I'd at least be a single data point.
Cheers!
I live in Brighton but don't mind a walk of up to say 10 miles (bearing in mind I'd have to walk back too, 20 miles is my limit in a day). I've been on a very low income for a while and my diet might sometimes not have enough variety. I do bake my own bread and have heard that seaweed is an excellent additive to bread as it imparts a salty (savoury?) flavour in a healthier way than table salt and has iron and lots of trace minerals.
I see all this seaweed whenever I go down to the sea but I seem to remember reading something about how this part of the south coast is too polluted for some kinds of foraging, something to do with how the jet stream curls around and we end up catching all the dirty bits. What I read may have been in relation to mussels which I believe accumulate heavy metals over time, something to do with filter-feeding? Please correct me if I'm wrong on any of this as the memories are vague.
Brighton beach holds a Blue Flag award but I'm not sure if that has any real meaning or is manipulable, it's obviously good PR to have one. I know if I walk 3 or 4 miles along to Shoreham there is a power station and I see some unappetising yellowy foam floating around.
I'm not looking for absolutes here but I'd appreciate hearing from anybody who forages the local seaweed or has any information to add to what I've said above. If nobody can offer any advice maybe I'll just try using it regularly and log in every month or so to say I'm still alive (unless I'm not). Then I'd at least be a single data point.
Cheers!