Foods derived from the ocean and freshwater, known as ‘blue foods’, have the potential to address several key global challenges, including malnutrition, disease and climate change, according to new research. It has been.
The Blue Food Assessment is a global collaboration of over 100 scientists focused on using Blue Food to assess and develop healthy, equitable and sustainable food systems.
Bluefood is an incredibly diverse food source, with over 2,200 wild-caught species and over 600 farmed species. Blue foods are often more nutritious, produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions, and have a lower impact on land and water than many types of meat from land animals. We have found that the benefits of blue food are overlooked when formulating nutritional, socio-economic and environmental policies.
“Despite the reliance and enjoyment of seafood by people all over the world, the potential benefits of these blue foods for people and the environment are underappreciated,” says marine ecologist and The Blue Food Assessment member Ben Halpern said.
In a new study, scientists from The Blue Food Assessment explore how blue foods are obtained, produced and consumed around the world, how production impacts the environment, nutritional and socioeconomic factors. investigated how it affects The study highlighted four ways blue foods can improve your food system.
First, blue foods are a source of important nutrients, especially vitamin B12 and omega-3 fatty acids. Studies have shown relatively high levels of deficiencies in these nutrients, especially in countries in Africa and South America. Vulnerable populations such as children, the elderly and pregnant women consume more blue foods. Benefit from doing
Second, they are a healthy alternative to eating meat from land animals. Increasing consumption of blue foods reduces that risk, especially in countries with high consumption of red meat, especially processed meat, such as China, Argentina, Brazil, Eastern Europe, and the United States. Including more blue foods as part of the diet is easily achievable given that they are already part of the local food culture in many of these countries.
A third point is that blue foods tend to have a smaller environmental footprint than terrestrial foods. Become. Forage aquaculture systems such as shrimp, salmon and trout perform as well as or better than chicken production, which is considered the most efficient land-based food production system.
A recent University of Melbourne study supports this point. Noting that aquaculture often has negative impacts on aquatic ecosystems, a University of Melbourne study suggests that practices such as habitat restoration and restoration, species recovery, removal of excess species, climate change reduction, and coastal defense We identified 12 ecological benefits associated with
Fourth, blue food contributes greatly to culture, economy and life. One of the world’s most traded commodities, his blue food brings income and jobs to many countries. However, large firms often dominate the industry, overshadowing smaller firms and creating inequalities in export earnings and wealth creation.
The study recommends that countries implement policies to take advantage of the benefits associated with blue foods. But the team behind the study recognizes that not all countries will benefit in the same way.
“Blue food can play an important role in our diet, society and economy, but what this looks like varies greatly between national and regional settings,” said the study’s lead author. Beatrice Crona says.
Researchers have developed an online tool to demonstrate the relevance of blue food policies to specific countries.
“By further customizing various parameters of the online tool, decision makers can research the blue food policies most relevant to their national context and use the papers to overcome existing environmental and nutritional challenges.” We can inspire blue food policies,” said Jim Leap. He is a key partner of The Blue Food Assessment.
A study of blue food was published in a journal Naturewhile aquaculture research was published in the journal conservation biology.
Source: University of California, Santa Barbara, University of Melbourne
