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Crona BI, Wassénius E, Jonell M, Koehn JZ, Short R, Tigchelaar M, Daw TM, Golden CD, Gephart JA, Allison EH, Bush SR, Cao L, Cheung WWL, DeClerck F, Fanzo J, Gelcich S, Kishore A, Halpern BS, Hicks CC, Leape JP, Little DC, Micheli F, Naylor RL, Phillips M, Selig ER, Springmann M, Sumaila UR, Troell M, Thilsted SH, Wabnitz CCC. Four ways blue foods can help achieve food system ambitions across nations. Nature 2023; 616:104-112. [PMID: 36813964 PMCID: PMC10076219 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-05737-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2021] [Accepted: 01/17/2023] [Indexed: 02/24/2023]
Abstract
Blue foods, sourced in aquatic environments, are important for the economies, livelihoods, nutritional security and cultures of people in many nations. They are often nutrient rich1, generate lower emissions and impacts on land and water than many terrestrial meats2, and contribute to the health3, wellbeing and livelihoods of many rural communities4. The Blue Food Assessment recently evaluated nutritional, environmental, economic and justice dimensions of blue foods globally. Here we integrate these findings and translate them into four policy objectives to help realize the contributions that blue foods can make to national food systems around the world: ensuring supplies of critical nutrients, providing healthy alternatives to terrestrial meat, reducing dietary environmental footprints and safeguarding blue food contributions to nutrition, just economies and livelihoods under a changing climate. To account for how context-specific environmental, socio-economic and cultural aspects affect this contribution, we assess the relevance of each policy objective for individual countries, and examine associated co-benefits and trade-offs at national and international scales. We find that in many African and South American nations, facilitating consumption of culturally relevant blue food, especially among nutritionally vulnerable population segments, could address vitamin B12 and omega-3 deficiencies. Meanwhile, in many global North nations, cardiovascular disease rates and large greenhouse gas footprints from ruminant meat intake could be lowered through moderate consumption of seafood with low environmental impact. The analytical framework we provide also identifies countries with high future risk, for whom climate adaptation of blue food systems will be particularly important. Overall the framework helps decision makers to assess the blue food policy objectives most relevant to their geographies, and to compare and contrast the benefits and trade-offs associated with pursuing these objectives.
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Affiliation(s)
- Beatrice I Crona
- Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
- Global Economic Dynamics and the Biosphere, Royal Swedish Academy of Science, Stockholm, Sweden.
| | - Emmy Wassénius
- Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
- Global Economic Dynamics and the Biosphere, Royal Swedish Academy of Science, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Malin Jonell
- Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
- Global Economic Dynamics and the Biosphere, Royal Swedish Academy of Science, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - J Zachary Koehn
- Stanford Center for Ocean Solutions, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Rebecca Short
- Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
| | | | - Tim M Daw
- Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Christopher D Golden
- Dept. of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
- Dept. of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
- Dept. of Global Health and Population, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jessica A Gephart
- Dept. of Environmental Science, American University, Washington, DC, USA
| | | | - Simon R Bush
- Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Ling Cao
- School of Oceanography, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - William W L Cheung
- Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | | | - Jessica Fanzo
- Bloomberg School of Public Health, Berman Institute of Bioethics, Johns Hopkins University, Washington DC, USA
- Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Stefan Gelcich
- Instituto Milenio en Socio-Ecologia Costera, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
- Center of Applied Ecology and Sustainability, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Avinash Kishore
- International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), New Delhi, India
| | - Benjamin S Halpern
- National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, UC Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
- Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, UC Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | | | - James P Leape
- Stanford Center for Ocean Solutions, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - David C Little
- Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK
| | - Fiorenza Micheli
- Stanford Center for Ocean Solutions, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
- Hopkins Marine Station, Oceans Department, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA, USA
| | - Rosamond L Naylor
- Department of Earth System Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
- Center on Food Security and the Environment, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | | | - Elizabeth R Selig
- Stanford Center for Ocean Solutions, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Marco Springmann
- Oxford Martin Programme on the Future of Food, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - U Rashid Sumaila
- Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Max Troell
- Global Economic Dynamics and the Biosphere, Royal Swedish Academy of Science, Stockholm, Sweden
- Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics, Royal Swedish Academy of Science, Stockholm, Sweden
| | | | - Colette C C Wabnitz
- Stanford Center for Ocean Solutions, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
- Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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