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Abstract

Background: The imperative for food system transformation is well known, yet to date there has been minimal emphasis on the blue food system [foods sourced from marine and freshwater environments]. Generally, a food systems approach should shift away from linear and move towards more systems thinking to embrace complexity. This paper focuses on a local social innovation project (Plymouth Fish Finger (PFF)) which has pioneered localising the blue food system. This study aimed to elicit how the (policy and practice) system around the PFF can be appraised to optimise social innovation practices for (blue) food system transformation. Methods: Expert elicitation combined with group model building (GMB) to co-create and validate a ‘Causal Loop Diagram’ (CLD) to visually understand the policy and practice implication and needs of the PFF initiative. Purposive sampling to recruit a range (n = 14 total) of experts representing the different parts of the system. Two ‘mapping’ workshops (one face-to-face, one online) facilitated elicitation of expert input into the process to enable establishment of a final synthesised systems map for critique and validation. Findings: Hand-created maps evolved into a validated CLD, containing 49 elements connected by 130 causal links and 5 feedback loops. These loops revealed how demand generation, supply chain capacity, economic viability, trust and product consistency, and infrastructural constraints, reinforce or balance system performance. Six themes emerged: (i) demand generation, (ii) supply chain constraints, (iii) economic viability, (iv) social innovation and trust, (v) nutritional guidance and (vi) unintended consequences. The CLD also enabled interventions to be pinpointed within a system to inform policy/practice actions for change. Conclusions: We illustrate how systems thinking and expert elicitation approaches have successfully encouraged dynamic dialogue to support the identification of future policy and practice interventions. This demonstrates how social innovation projects can be championed and their powerful potential for catalysing (blue) food system transformation better realised.

Publication Date

2026-04-01

Publication Title

Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics

Volume

39

Issue

2

ISSN

0952-3871

Acceptance Date

2026-03-10

Deposit Date

2026-03-10

Funding

The authors would like to give heartfelt thanks for the goodwill and trust offered by workshop participants and experts within their networks and community of practice, all of whom have continued to give their time, wisdom and expertise to feed into our research processes. This research was possible via ‘FoodSEqual’, one of four ‘Transforming the UK Food System’ (TUKFS) consortia projects, funded by the UKRI Strategic Priorities Fund 2021‐2026 (Ref: BB/V004905/115). The funding body had no role in the study design, analysis or data interpretation.

Keywords

blue food system transformation, causal loop diagram, collaborative processes, expert elicitation, policy, social innovation, systems mapping, systems thinking

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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