Yum. Pond Scum.

According to many scientists, the next hot food on the family menu may be just that–pond scum.

More attractively known as microalgae, these tiny plants have been around for some three billion years. In fact, we couldn’t survive without them. Marine microalgae (phytoplankton) generate about half of the world’s oxygen and form the base of the marine food chain. In other words, if it weren’t for algae, we’d have no shrimp, sharks, salmon, mahi-mahi, tuna, or whales.

Worldwide, scientists guess, there are anywhere between 30,000 and a million species of algae, including both micro- and macro-versions, the latter commonly known as seaweeds. Microalgae can grow practically anywhere—in salt and fresh water, in ponds, lakes, rivers, streams, marshes, and