Transforming Food Systems: The Missing Pieces Needed to Make Them Work

Abstract

Food systems lie squarely at the intersection of several overarching goals of the UN and member states, as embodied in the Sustainable Development Goals, including eliminating poverty, hunger, and malnutrition in all its forms, achieving good health and well-being, while promoting environmental sustainability. The need for radical transformation of current food systems is inescapable if the world is to achieve one, let alone all, of these goals. Meeting this challenge will inevitably be disruptive to current food systems, carry costs, and be politically onerous. But the projected benefits far outweigh these difficulties. This commentary spells out the complexity of issues that need to be tackled to design and implement food systems that improve diets, nutrition, and health in an equitable fashion, while simultaneously respecting planetary boundaries. Six critical domains are identified that must be addressed for the successful transformation of food systems: 1) reinvent agriculture, 2) transform food environments for healthy diets, 3) mitigate climate change, 4) productively engage the private sector, 5) influence public policy priorities, and 6) establish true cost accounting of food. Because science is crucial for each of these domains, a research-driven strategy, emphasizing a collaborative process, is outlined. Bold, new, but technically and politically feasible actions are needed to effectively transform current food systems.

True cost accounting in agri-food networks: a German case study on informational campaigning and responsible implementation

“…Presently the agri-food sector constitutes about one-quarter of global emissions (Conijn et al 2018;Benton et al 2021;IPCC 2019;Gaugler et al 2020). However, with a meaningful transformation and combination of measures directed towards both production and consumption patterns, agriculture would be able to sustainably feed the global population (Gerten et al 2020;Springmann et al 2018;Kennedy et al 2021).…”

“…One prominent example being quantitative governance measures like cap-and-trade of livestock-related greenhouse gasses (Weishaupt et al 2020). The rather novel approach of True Cost Accounting (TCA) is another possible measure (Kennedy et al 2021) and is in accordance with the UN Sustainable Development goals as it describes the Polluter Pays Principle (OECD 1975, UN 2015. Current environmental strains and their associated costs are not accounted for within the market prices of food.…”

Food Insecurity Reduces the Chance of Following a Nutrient-Dense Dietary Pattern by Brazilian Adults: Insights from a Nationwide Cross-Sectional Survey

“…Recently, Healthy Food Prescription Programs are emerging as a potential public health tool by providing participants (most often those experiencing food insecurity or cardiometabolic conditions) subsidized or free healthy food items [ 60 ]. Finally, it is important that these actions take place in a food system under transformation, where a change of perspective from food quantity to food quality is required to address food insecurity and malnutrition in a sustainable manner [ 3 , 61 ].…”

Developing a Functional Food Systems Literacy for Interdisciplinary Dynamic Learning Networks

“…Currently, there is a call for the food system to transform, moving away from the status quo (Webb et al, 2020). For transformation to transpire, it is commonly accepted that trade-offs and disruption will occur and that all actors of the food system will need to be involved, emphasising a collaborative approach and the skills and knowledge needed to achieve this (Kennedy et al, 2021). A functioning food systems literacy allows not only the acquisition of knowledge and reflection, but also the development of the skills and understanding necessary for holistic systemic thinking when addressing complex problems that demand the inclusion of many different perspectives and leadership to drive change.…”

“…There are numerous representations of food systems depending on the observer and their individual framings that may change over time [e.g., GECAFS, 2005;Ingram, 2011Ingram, , 2020Stuckler and Nestle, 2012;Gustafson et al, 2014;Tendall et al, 2015;Parsons and Hawkes, 2018;Global Panel, 2020; SAM (Scientific Advice Mechanism), 2020; Kennedy et al, 2021]. The number of components, processes, and range of interactions between parts of a food system and other subsystems give rise to complex behaviours (Ingram, 2011;Tendall et al, 2015), but also make it difficult to analyse synergies and trade-offs (Ingram, 2011), communicate what a food system is, and even what a person means by the term.…”