Mike Keen

A month in Kullorsuaq eating only a decomposing seal

Plans change…. the original plan was to ski from Kullorsuaq to Savissivik (320km farther north) pulling all my gear and a seal in a pulk across the sea ice. A delay of almost two weeks waiting for conditions to allow a helicopter to deliver me to Kullorsuaq combined with increasingly poor sea ice condition meant I had to do a little pivot.

But, the result of me now deciding to remain in Kullorsuaq meant that I could concentrate more on the science and the process of fermenting the seal as opposed to primarily being concerned about frostbite, bears and generally staying alive.

I write this on my final day here, on month in and coming down to the very last dregs of my beautifully aromatic and pungent seal meat.

I won’t give any spoilers away just yet, suffice to stay that I am still very much alive and the seal managed to get to an advanced state of decay and that I continued to live off it for the duration. Which, with hindsight, seems like a pretty good result in itself.

I have managed to document the time here in depth – covering talks, kaffemiks, life in general up here in the far north as well as joining hunters on bear and narwhal hunts. All of which will be coming out on YouTube at some point.

Just as soon as I’ve managed to get back to the UK, drop off a bag full of samples and let those scientists come up with results!

Oooh – the dog! I was gonna take a sleddog on the trek with me but, as the ski trip didn’t happen I kept it here with me in Kullorsuaq, fed it exactly the same diet as me and took a bunch of poo samples as well – to see how he managed on the same diet.

Meet Mike

I’ve been giving a lot of talks lately so just thought I’d drop some more info down on here. Funnily enough most use the Greenland qajaq expedition as a springboard to talk about whatever the audience is focussed on – sometimes it’s just the adventure stuff, which is appealing to schools and adventure type organisations. A lot of the time though it’s a mix of adventure and food. I recently gave a talk at Marks and Spencer HQ in London, which went pretty well.

Here’s a quote from Kathryn Turner, Director of Product Development at M&S Food

Mike’s passion and commitment to exploring the human diet – both in the present day and throughout history – brought a refreshing and thought‑provoking perspective to our audience. The stunning imagery of crystal seas and raw landscapes from his travels across Greenland provided the perfect backdrop to his talk.

From the outset, Mike’s clarity, articulation, and deep knowledge sparked a lively two‑way conversation about our diets. Moments of shock, awe, and genuine curiosity emerged as he guided us through historical food practices and the traditions we’ve lost along the way.

His session was engaging, insightful, and truly memorable’

Get in touch if you think having me along could be a good thing for your event!!

2025 was a helluva year and has really set the scene for 2026 and The Human Diet Project.

Qajaq Man – the documentary about my solo qajaq expedition up the west coast of Greenland won Best Documentary at the Nuuk Film Festival back in September – produced by Kristin Landmark and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau’s production company Ill Kippers!

I also spoke at various festivals not only here in the UK but also in Ireland, Denmark & the USA.

Side projects that are part of the Human Diet Project (HDP from here on in) will be a ski trek across the sea ice of Qimusseriarsuaq (Melville Bay) eating only a seal. A four-fold experiment to a) see how much a nose-to-tail approach can satisfy our nutrient requirements, b) to measure how my body copes with the slowly rotting (aka fermenting) seal, c) to measure how the nutrient profile of the seal changes over time and how, if at all, it benefits our physiology and d) as part of a larger project looking into how vital the seal was to the success of the Inuit in Greenland.

I’ll also be in Transylvania living with shepherds, their sheep and dogs looking at how early pastoralists and herders survived in really remote landscapes.

There’s way more to come but I think that’s enough to whet your appetite!

Mike & the ancestral British diet.

The next epic adventure is closer to home

In lieu of another adventure abroad (something is being planned…) I’m taking the results of the Greenland adventures and applying those ancient, evolutionary principles to our modern diet here in the UK (and by extension to most of Europe and North America).

The reason for the Greenland trips were that it’s one of the few places left in the world where we still have a close relationship with our environment. We’re rapidly losing these pockets of awesomeness to the relentless march of capitalism and a homogenised society. But once upon a time we were all inextricably linked to our immediate environment – dependent on it for food, shelter and safety. Most countries lost this several generations ago – and most of us here in the UK would be hard pushed to name what food is native and even more so, when it’s in season. We’ve become used to getting any food from around the world at any time of the year. But our bodies can’t keep up with this cultural evolution – the changes in food alone since only the 1950’s would take us hundreds of thousands of years to evolve with and adapt to effectively. This mismatch is the primary driver for the vast majority of modern diseases and afflictions – diabetes, heart disease, inflammatory diseases, allergies and mental health issues. Our rapid movement away from simply cooked and un-dicked-around-with food to the current situation where ready meals & other highly processed foods are a massive part of our diet. The world’s food supply is controlled by a handful of global corporations whose sole motive is for shareholder return. Again, this is a totally alien motive to our evolutionary journey where health, cooperation, community and education has been at the forefront for literally millions of years. So I’m gonna be talking with archaeologists, evolutionary biologists, doctors and nutritionists about that evolutionary journey. What exactly is it that we’re supposed to be eating? Stick around and we’ll find out!

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Insights into Mike’s travels and the invaluable knowledge he’s collected.

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A regular speaker and chef at Food Festivals he is based in Suffolk, England where he has built (and is continually developing) a wild cooking area. Very much available for private events as well – with an emphasis on smaller, bespoke parties and gatherings where the food has to be interesting and slightly different from the norm!

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mike@eatyourenvironment.com

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