Seaweed contains vitamins, minerals, fiber, and essential fatty acids, contributing to its tasty flavor. Seaweed is a staple in Japanese cuisine. They use a seaweed known as nori to wrap a mixture of sticky rice, raw fish, and other ingredients. We popularly know this as sushi.

Seaweed has a lot of health benefits, and it can improve your journey to sustainable eating. A lot of seaweeds contain anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory properties. Even the ancient Romans used them to treat wounds, burns, and rashes. Seaweeds also contain compounds that help fight against cancer.

Seaweeds are excellent sustainable options because they don't harm the environment. Cultivating seaweed offers a lot of environmental benefits because it requires fewer resources3. There's no need to farm with fertilizers, feed, and herbicides. It grows using the nutrients in seawater. It also improves the health of the marine environment. 

The ocean absorbs about 30% of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere. The absorption of these greenhouse gases changes the ocean's pH levels and increases its acidity. It negatively affects marine life. However, farming seaweed as sustainable food prevents these dangers. Seaweed captures carbon and nitrogen in ocean waters, reducing the levels of ocean acidification.

After meat, fish is our primary source of proteins. However, is fish sustainable food? Sustainable seafood refers to seafood caught in the wild or farmed without causing a decline in marine life species. Fishes are abundant in the ocean, but the growing demand reduces their population. 

The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization estimates we overfish 85% of marine fish stocks. We move fish from their habitats before they can reproduce, reducing their population in the ecosystem. Other factors also make it difficult for fish to survive overfishing.

Things like rising sea temperatures, ocean acidification, plastic, and chemical pollution affect fish populations, making it difficult for them to survive overfishing. Overfishing disrupts the marine food web, as fish are a source of nutrients for other marine animals. 

These animals would enter a state of decline because they don't feed properly. Also, the method used to fish can cause environmental damage. For instance, bottom trawling is a fishing technique that involves dragging a big net across the seabed. This method catches everything in its path.

It puts endangered animal species, i.e., sea turtles, at risk. Furthermore, the net disturbs the seabed- releasing carbon stored in the sediments. It also reduces the capacity of these areas to absorb carbon in the future.

Early spring ushers in the season of planting fast-growing vegetables. Spring also comes with an abundance of leafy veggies and some root vegetables. There are more than a few year-round veggies, like artichokes, which peak in spring. 

Cherries, which are in season for just about six weeks, come in season around late spring. A lot of spices are also spring season harvests.

Summer is the season with the most fruits. Wherever you live, you'll find more varieties of fruits and veggies in the summer months. 

Even year-round veggies and fruits like bell peppers, peaches, okra, and green beans peak in summer. Cherries come in season around mid-May but peak in June.

Fall is the season with the most berries. Even Californian strawberries remain in season till early fall season. Besides berries, fall is also the peak season for fruits like pumpkins and butternut squash. 

The season is also famous as salad season because of the many leafy year-round vegetables that peak in the fall. The season also marks the short appearance of pomegranates and cranberries.

Winter season is when most root vegetables and oranges are in season. Some other fruits and veggies, like onions, parsnips, cabbage, carrots, and Florida-grown tomatoes, can survive the winter season.

The ladybug or ladybird beetle is a type of beetle. In the middle ages, a species of this cute bug was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and were called the ‘Beetle of Our Lady.’ That's how the ladybug’s name originated.

The bright red ladybug with black markings is popular, but it's not the only kind. Some ladybugs have yellow or red markings. Ladybugs feed on farm pests like mites, scales, and aphids; farmers love them as they help eliminate those pests with zero pesticide use. 

Read more about these cute little beetle’s in our ladybug facts

Grasshoppers usually are green or brown. But people have spotted pink meadow grasshoppers in many parts of the world4. These cute bugs are affected by a genetic condition called erythrism. This condition means they overproduce red pigment and very little green or drown.

The bright pink color may be why predators easily pick off the tiny grasshoppers. You will most likely find these cute bugs in the non-arid grasslands of the UK and Asia.

Jewel beetles are brightly colored, mostly iridescent insects. We also call them metallic wood-boring beetles. In the Victorian era and across a number of native cultures, people used jewel beetles as living jewelry5.

There are over 15,000 jewel beetle species, and their colors vary from metallic blue to black, green, or copper. Some scientists say the iridescence of the beetle is camouflage. Some species of this beetle hide their bright bodies under dull dark carapaces.

Jumping spiders do not spin webs to catch prey; they jump and pounce on prey instead. With eight eyes, the jumping spider sees in a 360-degree view1. That's what makes them such good hunters.

Some species of jumping spiders are hairy, while others are not. Some exhibit bold colors, while others are brownish. If you check leaf litter, stone clusters, or tree barks, you might find a little jumping spider peeking at you with its big cute eyes.