Championing Resilient Regional Food Systems

Sustainability strategist Kelly McGlinchey ’23 MEM knows how good kelp is for you, how good it tastes — she’s got the recipes — and how good it is for the environment. Now she wants the world to know too. McGlinchey co-authored a report that is helping strengthen southern New England’s ocean farming industry.

“Kelp has attracted significant attention in recent years as a nutrient-rich food source that can improve water quality, mitigate climate change impacts, and create jobs on the shoreline,” says McGlinchey, adding, “Less discussed is the role that kelp and other restorative ocean crops can play in improving the overall resilience of regional food systems.”

When she came to YSE, McGlinchey sought to bridge the gap between land and marine ecosystems, which are often treated as separate entities in academic discourse. She was able to integrate studies across courses while pursuing independent research thanks in part to the Yale Center for Business and the Environment (CBEY).

“During my first semester, I intentionally took both Shimi Anisfeld’s ‘Coastal Ecosystems’ and Steve Wood’s ‘Foundations of Agriculture and Environment’ courses side by side and used class assignments as an opportunity to forge connections with local farmers and food systems leaders in my backyard,” says McGlinchey, who moved to Stonington, Connecticut, home to the only commercial fishing fleet in the state, just before entering YSE.

The partnerships that farmers in her new hometown were building to address food supply challenges quickly became a source of inspiration for her studies. McGlinchey spent two years exploring the history and importance of integrating land and sea considerations within the food system. She published a report, “Surf to Turf: Linking Regenerative Agriculture and Restorative Aquaculture,” co-authored with Violet Low-Beinart ’24 MEM. The report highlighted a critical bottleneck: the lack of processing facilities for farmers, particularly those involved in kelp cultivation.

“Kelly’s work demonstrates how knowledge and leadership get applied in practice. She conducted detailed, thoughtful, and comprehensive analysis of a complex issue and then had the leadership skills and ability to turn it into practice for a community. Kelly is what people should think about when they imagine the creativity and impact an environmental professional can have,” says Stuart DeCew ’11 MEM/MBA, executive director of CBEY.

The Stonington community was able to translate McGlinchey’s research into action. The non-profit food education center Yellow Farmhouse used her research to apply for a USDA Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure grant with Stonington Kelp Co. and other town partners to build on-farm processing and storage facilities that the local farming community can use. The $172,000 grant will provide a vital resource for land-based and ocean farmers, enabling them to stabilize their products and expand into new markets.

Now working at the sustainability consulting firm Quantis, McGlinchey is applying her expertise on a larger scale, advising food clients on their sustainability strategies — and she’s still eating kelp every chance she gets.

“I feel incredibly grateful that I get to live in a community that embraces partnership and collaboration as a cornerstone of food systems resilience while working with a company that is advancing this narrative at the global scale,” McGlinchey says.