Blue Food Assessment: Global

Providing a scientific foundation for integrating blue foods into future food systems.

In 2019, the Center for Ocean Solutions joined with the Center on Food Security and the Environment and the Stockholm Resilience Centre to launch the Blue Food Assessment.

There is growing recognition that achieving the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals requires shifting toward food systems that are more diverse, resilient, just, and healthier, but food sustainably harvested from oceans, rivers, and lakes – also known as blue foods – are often overlooked in discussions about the future of food. In 2019, over 100 researchers from 25 institutions set out to develop the Blue Food Assessment and to provide policymakers with scientific evidence on how blue foods can be a central part of improved food systems.

The assessment highlighted three priorities for unlocking the potential of blue foods in food system transformations. *(Image credit: Blue Food Assessment)*

The researchers addressed key dimensions of the roles that blue foods can play in food systems, helping to achieve nutrition, livelihoods, and environmental goals, as well as the tradeoffs decision-makers need to weigh when setting priorities. The assessment resulted in eight peer-reviewed papers published in Nature journals, including a cover highlight in Nature's weekly print edition, an interactive piece on the Nature website, and an editorial. The team also produced a report for decision-makers and a series of action briefs tailored for key audiences across the sector, such as professionals in public health, development, food service, and the private sector.

The Blue Food Assessment papers were published in *Nature* journals. (*Image credit: Nature*)

The assessment launched in 2021 as governments and institutions charted global food systems priorities at the inaugural UN Food Systems Summit. The event marked a significant shift. For the first time, blue foods were given prominent consideration alongside land-based agriculture in global policies on health, climate, and development. A dedicated blue foods session at the Pre-Summit featured seven Member States and senior UN leaders, among them the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Food Systems Summit and the Special Envoy for the Oceans.

This momentum led to the proposal of an international coalition of Member States, officially launched in 2022 at the UN Ocean Conference in Portugal, which now includes 40 countries and an array of NGOs committed to elevating blue foods in food system policies. Research generated by the Assessment also laid the foundation for the global Blue Food Futures Program.

View the assessment

Ling Cao | Center on Food Security and the Environment
Caroline Ferguson | Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability
Lucie Hazen | Center for Ocean Solutions
Kai Lee | Center for Ocean Solutions
Zach Koehn | Center for Ocean Solutions
Jim Leape | Center for Ocean Solutions
Fiorenza Micheli | Center for Ocean Solutions
Shinnosuke Nakayama | Center for Ocean Solutions
Roz Naylor | Center on Food Security and the Environment
Hanna Payne | Center for Ocean Solutions
Elizabeth Selig | Center for Ocean Solutions
Michelle Tigchelaar | Center for Ocean Solutions
Colette Wabnitz | Center for Ocean Solutions

The Blue Food Assessment was funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, MAVA Foundation, Oak Foundation, Stordalen Foundation, The Builders Initiative, and the Walton Family Foundation.