Blue Food: An Inclusive Food Solution to Address Climate Crisis

Amidst an exploitative development model that damages nature and marginalizes local communities, the food system has become a seriously affected sector.

This is especially true with the increasing monopoly of supply chains and the marginalization of farm laborers and fishermen.

The concept of blue food, or locally sourced aquatic food, emerges as an alternative to build a fairer and more sustainable food system.

This also strengthens the ecological resilience and coastal communities against the climate crisis.

This topic emerged in a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) titled “Blue Food as Climate Solution.”

The event collaborated with Climate Reality Indonesia and Climateworks Centre, two organizations active in global climate crisis issues, recently at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada (Fisipol UGM).

The discussion, organized by the UGM Department of Sociology and the Social Research Center (SOREC) at UGM, was collaborated with the Postgraduate Student Family. It also involved the Marine Study Group and the Arah Pangan Community of the UGM Faculty of Biology.

Several speakers were featured. These included Head of UGM Sociology Program Dr. Hakimul Ikhwan, Manager of The Climate Reality Indonesia Amanda Katili Niode, and IPB Professor Luky Adrianto.

Other speakers were Yogyakarta maritime village activist Bahari Susilo and sociologist Dr. Fina Itriyati.

Dr. Ikhwan stated that the blue food sector, which comprises food from aquatic animals, plants, and algae, has a strategic role in realizing inclusive and equitable food security.

“We want to mobilize food from marine sources as our resource. This meeting illustrates biodiversity and concern for issues faced by communities daily,” Dr. Ikhwan said.

Manager of The Climate Reality Indonesia, Amanda Niode, said that the potential of blue food sources through sustainable marine resource management and their role in the global food system are a global issue.

“But at the local level, this processing of blue food concerns the lives of coastal communities, cultural identity, and supportive policies,” she asserted.

According to Niode, the state’s attention to the marine sector remains minimal, despite the sea’s vital role in food sovereignty and ecological justice.

Therefore, collaboration among various parties, such as academics, policymakers, communities, and NGOs, is considered very important.

This collaboration is crucial for building an inclusive and sustainable food system.

“Blue food is the future. It has a low carbon footprint, high nutritional value, and can be a solution to stunting. But all of that can only be realized if we protect aquatic ecosystems and involve local communities,” Niode said.

A similar sentiment was also conveyed by Professor Adrianto, who believes the sustainability of blue food cannot be separated from the sustainability of its ecosystem.

“Blue food is the heart of the nation’s future. Maintaining the socio-economic sustainability of the community also means preserving the ocean,” he stated.

Dr. Fina Itriyati highlighted an ecofeminist perspective in coastal resource management. According to Dr. Itriyati, women’s groups experience double the climate impact due to their dependence on nature and caregiving responsibilities.

“Blue ecofeminism becomes an important approach to link environmental and gender justice,” she said.

Author: Bolivia Rahmawati 

Editor: Gusti Grehenson 

Post-editor: Afifudin Baliya 

Illustration: Freepik.com