Why The Dutch Weed Burger is the Best Burger for our planet

A Burger made out of Seaweed may sound odd, but it is delicious and benefits our planet and everything living on it. It will give you a natural high;)

Seawharma and Weed Dogs

Hamburgers, shawarma, hot dogs an chicken nuggets; favourites after a night out, when visiting or exploring a city as a treat or as a quick bite.

These iconic meat products can however easily be replaced by sustainable and nutritious seaweed.  And that is what The Dutch Weed Burger in Amsterdam does.

Grown, not Born

The Dutch Weed Burger is located in Amsterdam. They serve dishes with a seaweed base which is prepared, spiced and baked in such a way that it gets a wonderful structure and taste. The hamburger won’t be missed anymore! You don’t sacrifice any taste, and gain everything when it comes to health and the wellbeing of our planet and all animals living on it.

Besides the now famous Dutch Weed Burger, they also prepare other iconic plant-based snacks such as the Seawharma: grilled seitan with seaweed and Arabic spices, The Dutch Weed Dog: a seitan based chipotle flavoured kombu infused dog and Wish ‘n Chips: crunchy seaweed bites.

These amazing snacks are complemented with delicious vegan sauces among which weed saus with kapers, ginger lemon dressing, tahini and bbq sauce.

They also have plenty of pastries and milkshakes; all delicious and vegan of course!

Click here for the menu.

Wish ‘N Chips These crunchy weed bites seem like a mean chicken and fish combo, but they are in fact seaweed based; great for the environment and served with a delicious vegan weed sauce with kapers. Source: BrightVibes

The Origin Story of The Dutch Weed Burger

Mark Kulsdom and Lisette Kreischer had been eating vegetarian since they were 19 (Mark) and 11 (Lisette) years old. In 2012, they shot a documentary on their culinary trip to New York in search of vegan restaurants. When they came across seaweed and learned all of its benefits, they decided to make a burger out it.

Not just because they wanted to lessen animal suffering, but also because the meat industry uses sources very inefficiently and they knew this could be done differently and way better.

The burger was conceived in 2011 and was a hit at (food)festivals across the Netherlands and even outside of the country. They started out with a homemade freight bicycle, but quickly traded it in for a real foodtruck.  

The Dutch Weed Burger can be found in their own joint in Amsterdam. It attracts a varied crowd of vegans, omnivores, vegetarians and the lost tourist who expected The Dutch Weed Burger to be something else entirely;)

Fortunately, one doesn’t necessarily have to visit the Dutch capitol to get The Dutch Weed Burger; this seaweed based burger can be found at more than 200 restaurants throughout the entire country. See here where the nearest restaurant is.

Seaweed from Zeewaar

Seaweed is internationally praised for its nutritional value and environmentally friendly way of cultivating.

Growing plant-based foods takes up a lot less space; see the header What does it mean for the world when you choose vegan. There is also a lot of difference between the types of plant-based oor when it comes to growing it. Seaweed is the most sustainable food to grow because it requires so little space, it grows very fast, it doesn’t need any pesticides and the requirements for growing it are very easy; there’s a weed for every temperature and depth.

The seaweed that is used at The Dutch Weed Burger is grown by Zeewaar. Zeewaar was established in 2013 and is the first and largest seaweed farm in the Netherlands.

Seawharma Shawarma from the sea! With flatbread and delicious (vegan!) sauce. Source: The Dutch Weed Burger

Sustainably grown seaweed from Zeewaar They’re the first and largest seaweed farm in the Netherlands. Source: Zeewaar

The Dutch Weed Dog This spicy vegan hot dog can be complimented with sauerkraut, pickles, fried onions and a homemade Green Algae Mustard and Spicy BBQ Sauce. Source: BrightVibes

Vitamin Sea

On the benefits of seaweed, Zeewaar explains on their website:

Zeewaar believes in sustainable seaweed farming because it’s right for people and the environment. As an underwater jungle, seaweed is of great importance for the planet. It absorbs C02, breathes out oxygen, filters the sea water, creates breeding grounds and protects the shores against erosion. We have to leave these natural elements in peace so they can fulfil their ecological rol. But seaweed as a food offers a rare quality: it is both healthy and delicious. It combines vitamins, minerals and proteins with the unique flavour of different sea vegetables and sea herbs.

The nutritions in seaweed aren’t negligible. It contains proteins, iron and vitamin B1; he nutritional stuff that can be found in meat. Seaweed is nor a vegetable, nor a fruit, nor fish so they bear a number of nutritions that can’t be found anywhere else and that are relatively unknown, but very interesting. They contain for instance fucoidan, alginates, and laminarin.

Seaweed is a source of vitamin A, C, E and K, Niacin (vitamine B3), panthothenic acid (vitamin B5), phosphorus, riboflavin (vitamin B2), folate (vitamin B11), Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Copper and Manganese.

Source: Nutritiondata

Veganism

In 2017, the popular food delivery service Just Eat saw an increase in the demand for vegetarian food of no less than 987%

Worldwide there’s more and more people living on a vegetarian or vegan diet. The last numbers are from 2010, so bear in mind that these numbers are now much higher.  In 2010, the nuber of vegans was already 67.000.000.

In big cities in the Western world, more and more vegan restaurants are popping up. In London, Berlin and New York, more vegan options are available.  Unfortunately in Amsterdam, that’s not yet the case.  For every 300 people, there is 1 restaurant but for each vegan restaurant, there are about 1000 vegans.

At The Dutch Weed Burger in Amsterdam you can get your favourite snacks, but better! Have a vegan milkshake with your weed burger or have a vegan brownie as desert after your seawharma. Source: BrightVibes

What does it mean for the world when you choose vegan

It should be clear by now that we’re at a crucial point in modern times where it’s time for positive choices. The earth can’t handle our demand for resources: we’re exhausting our planet. The meat and dairy industry take a huge toll on the earth.

Two-thirds of all agricultural land in the world is used for grazing animals or the production or cattle feed.

The emissions of greenhouse gasses are about 60 times higher when producing meat or dairy instead of plant-based products; it uses 10 times more land and up to 40 times more fresh water.

Choosing to eat vegan is one of the most important and most positive choices you can make for the environment.  

By eating vegan for a month, you save, on average:

• 124,917 liter water

• 84 square meters of forrest

• 543 kilo’s of grain

• 273 kilo’s of C02 emissions

• and 30 animal lives

Green Gold It’s incredibly healthy for you, but incredibly healthy for the environment as well! It also saves quite some animal cruelty when you choose a burger made from seaweed. Source: BrightVibes

Week Without Meat

Making the switch to eating vegan may seem daunting; there’s so many standard products in your diet that contain dairy or meat that are no longer available in a vegan diet. It can however also be an interesting and fun challenge. There are oh so many products that didn’t even cross your mind before because there was a standard piece of meat on your plate, or cheese on your sandwich. 

From the 11th til the 17th of March is the Week Without Meat in the Netherlands. Everyone is encouraged to not eat meat for (at least) one week. That seems such a short amount of time, you might as well try it! But even with one week of eating no meat, so much can be gained and saved!

Many restaurants support this initiative by offering meatless dishes.

BrightVibes and Triodos Bank Nederland

This article is paid for by Triodos Bank Nederland. We are happy to work with Triodos Bank as their mission and vision are in line with the BrightVibes mission.  Triodos mission is to Make money work for positive, social, environmental and cultural change. Triodos Bank is in business to help create a society that protects and promotes the quality of life of all its members, and that has human dignity at its core.