Current Evidence on Dietary Patterns and Consumer Food Choices in the Context of Climate and Environmental Change: A Global Perspective—A Report from the Agriculture and Diet: Value Added for Nutrition, Translation, and Adaptation in a Global Ecology

Climate and environmental change (CEC) are affecting food systems across the globe in myriad ways, yet there has historically been little focus on the role of CEC in influencing dietary patterns and consumer food choices. In this narrative review, we describe the global landscape of dietary patterns and consumer choice to set a baseline understanding of nutrition guidance and estimated food intake. Next, we consider trends in consumer choices across a pathway that includes consumer attitudes, knowledge, and preferences; food purchases and acquisition; food intake behaviors; and food waste. For each step on the pathway, we consider current evidence for how CEC is influencing choices, and identify key questions and data that need to be addressed to inform dietary guidance. We also use a socioecological model to show different levels of policy, community, interpersonal, and individual effects on food intake and their intersection with CEC. We find multifaceted mechanisms through which CEC is likely to influence consumer choices over time. Future dietary guidance should incorporate CEC context to ensure that recommendations are achievable for diverse populations in a food system increasingly likely to be affected by CEC.