Sustainable Food Systems

In the past 10 years, there has been a proliferation of seminal reports on Food Systems (https://www.un.org/en/food-systems-summit; https://www.unfoodsystemshub.org/fs-stocktaking-moment/en) in addition to thousands of articles on various aspects of food systems. The transformation of food systems is viewed as a key strategy for improving nutrition globally. These reports contributed to the United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS), convened in September 2021 (https://www.unfoodsystemshub.org/en); the UNFSS provided a rare opportunity for policy officials, international organizations, civil society, and the private sector to address the essential actions that are needed to effectively and sustainably transform food systems. To achieve these goals, the sustainability of food systems was critical. The issues discussed at the UNFSS were wide-ranging and included recommendations for 4 broad areas of sustainability: environmental, social, economic, and diet/nutrition (https://www.unfoodsystemshub.org/en). A comment that was commonly heard was that the food systems are at a crossroads. This article explores a subset of issues related to sustainability: agriculture, diet, and food environment.