Why Students Need Blue Foods in Climate Education
A Conversation with Dr. Kelley Lê of Grades of Green
You and your team at Grades of Green help students understand climate change through real-world systems. Why is food such a powerful place to start those conversations with young people?
Food is immediate and personal. It is something every student interacts with multiple times a day.
When climate conversations begin with food, the issue becomes tangible. Students can trace connections from a meal to soil health, water use, ocean ecosystems, transportation, labor, and waste. Instead of seeing climate change as a distant outcome, they begin to ask deeper questions about root causes and how systems are designed in the first place.
At Grades of Green, students are encouraged to think upstream. Why does food travel so far? Why are some communities disproportionately impacted? What would a healthier, more equitable system look like? Food becomes a gateway to systems thinking and more holistic problem solving.
Food also carries culture and identity. When sustainability is explored through meals that already matter in students’ lives, the conversation becomes inclusive rather than restrictive. That makes it powerful.
Sustainable seafood is often missing from climate conversations. Why do you think that connection gets overlooked, and why is it so important now?
There is still what Richard Vevers from The Ocean Agency once described as a terrestrial bias in how we think about climate solutions. We focus on land-based systems because they feel visible and familiar. Meanwhile, oceans regulate climate, store carbon, and feed billions of people, yet only a small percentage of students ever learn core ocean literacy principles.
It is not that sustainable seafood is less important. It is that the climate emergency is vast and overwhelming, and attention is pulled in many directions at once. When everything feels urgent, some parts of the system receive less visibility.
There is also an opportunity here because the blue economy and ocean-based industries are growing rapidly. These sectors will continue to create meaningful career pathways. If students are first given exposure and understanding, they can begin to see where they fit in the future of this work.
At Grades of Green, we are just beginning to expand conversations with youth about how sustainability shows up across industries. Awareness is the first step. Training and opportunity can follow.
Food can be the bridge that we need because it nourishes and connects us. When students see that seafood choices can taste good, feel good, and be good for the environment equitably, ocean sustainability becomes tangible. That is when climate action feels less distant and more possible.
What excited you most when you first started talking with Fed by Blue about working together, and what felt especially aligned between our two organizations?
How deeply values-aligned the two organizations felt from the very first conversation.
At Grades of Green, students are taught that climate change is not a single issue. It is a systems issue. Food systems, ocean systems, economic systems, cultural systems. They are all connected. When the work around sustainable seafood and storytelling through Hope in the Water was shared, it felt like a natural extension of how climate literacy and action intertwine across our programs.
What feels especially aligned is the belief that climate solutions are already in motion. The people closest to the challenges in our food and ocean systems are often closest to the most effective solutions for their own communities, but those stories are not always visible.
The gap is not a lack of ideas. It is access to knowledge, visibility, and connection, especially through storytelling that helps people see where they fit within the solution.
That is where education becomes powerful. When students understand how systems work and see real-world examples of change, climate action becomes practical and possible, not abstract. That shift is where real participation begins.
What kind of impact do you hope students will take away from the cooking class and Greener Days in the South Bay events this May?
The hope is that community participants leave feeling capable and excited!
The Hope in the Water materials highlight innovators who are rethinking food production in ways that restore ecosystems rather than deplete them. That message matters. Community members need to see that climate solutions are already in motion and that they can be part of them.
Through the cooking class, participants are not just learning about sustainable seafood. They are experiencing it. They are building skills. They are seeing how everyday decisions connect to larger environmental systems.
If participants walk away thinking, “This makes sense. I understand why it matters, and I can start doing more of this,” then we’ve succeeded.
If a student walks away remembering just one thing, how do you hope it ripples outward?
The hope is that students walk away not just informed, but truly activated.
At Grades of Green, we believe students are already leaders within the systems that shape their communities. Education does not necessarily create that leadership. It activates it by helping them understand how those systems work and how they can change them.
When young people begin to understand how food systems connect to oceans, climate, and community health, something shifts. They start to see that everyday choices are not small, but part of a collective effort that can strengthen and transform the very systems they live within.
That might look like asking different questions at home about where food comes from. It might mean reducing food waste, trying a new sustainable seafood option, or advocating for changes in a school cafeteria. It could even spark curiosity about marine science, aquaculture, or future careers within the blue economy.
When students recognize their agency within these systems, the ripple effect extends naturally into households, communities, and future workplaces. Activation doesn’t have to be loud or dramatic. It can be steady and contagious in ways that are long-lasting.
Are you a teacher, parent, or student looking for educational content around blue foods? Check out our free lesson plans inspired by Hope in the Water here!