sustainable food

The kelp farmer redefining sustainable food on the Connecticut coast

Suzie Flores left a Manhattan academic publishing career to become a sugar kelp farmer in Stonington, Connecticut. After initially struggling to find a market for her harvest, she cold-called farm-to-table restaurants and now sells out every season. Her operation exemplifies the challenge facing US seaweed aquaculture: while America imports over 90% of its seaweed, infrastructure and processing capacity haven't kept pace with growing farmer numbers. Despite losing 40-50% of her crop to severe winter storms this year, Flores continues teaching at Yale and UMass Boston while envisioning a network of small family farms to replace the collapsed lobster industry.