Integrating blue foods into food system approaches and frameworks

Smith, Hillary and Advani, Sahir and Suri, Sharon K. and Amadu, Iddrisu and Ahern, Molly and Obregón Lafuente, Clara and Kriegl, Michael and Standen, Sophie and Giordano, Chris and Partelow, Stefan (2026) Integrating blue foods into food system approaches and frameworks. Environmental Research: Food Systems, 3 (2): 023001. ISSN 2976-601X

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Abstract

Despite supplying essential nutrients to billions of people and sustaining hundreds of millions of livelihoods, blue foods are overlooked within food system frameworks and debates. This Perspective highlights the shortcomings and potential of the High-Level Panel Of Experts (HLPE) sustainable food systems (SFS) framework in addressing blue food dynamics. Drawing on a review of 124 peer-reviewed articles that cite the HLPE framework, and an examination of its authorship and values, we demonstrate that blue foods are rarely integrated into food systems analyses, reflecting epistemic inequalities in the field. We identify critical omissions—including production dynamics, food loss and waste, consolidation in supply chains, and normative values shaping decision-making—that constrain the framework’s application to blue foods (and other diverse contexts). To advance more inclusive and effective food system approaches, we recommend (1) greater use of food systems frameworks to examine blue food dynamics and other diverse food systems contexts, (2) updates to the SFS framework to integrate blue food contexts, and (3) guidance to operationalize these frameworks for research and policy action. We call on the HLPE to update the SFS framework, particularly through the forthcoming (2027) report on fisheries and aquaculture, to spotlight the framework’s utility for capturing the complexity of diverse yet essential food systems beyond production, including aquatic food systems.