Food system
[7][8][6] In 2020 an EU evidence review found that food system gas emissions are on course to increase by 30–40% by 2050 due to population growth and dietary change.
[1] Transitioning to sustainable food systems is critical for addressing global challenges such as climate change, hunger, biodiversity loss, and deforestation.
Addressing issues at each stage in the system, can have system-wide effects for 30-40 percent of food produced is lost from post-harvest up to retail and the consumer.
[14] Through events in world history such as the conquests of Alexander the Great, the Crusades, the expansion of Islam, the journeys of Marco Polo, and the exploration and colonization of the Americas by Europeans led to the introduction and redistribution of new foods to the world at large, and food systems began to intermingle on a global scale.
Also, the advent of industrial agriculture and the infrastructure built around conventional food systems has enabled the world population to expand beyond the "Malthusian catastrophe" limitations.
The demand for cheap and efficient calories climbed, resulting in nutrition decline;[16] and industrialized agriculture, due to its reliance on economies of scale to reduce production costs, often leads to the compromising of local, regional, or even global ecosystems through fertilizer runoff, nonpoint source pollution,[17] and greenhouse gas emission.
[19] As a result of these forces, 2018 estimates suggest that 821 million people are currently undernourished, and 2 billion adults are overweight and obese.
This has given rise to numerous social movements whose goal is to increase access to healthy and culturally appropriate foods, among a wide variety of groups.
These impacts are regarded as hidden because they are not reflected in the market prices of products and services, i.e. not included in the operational profit and loss accounts.
[23] The scope of these studies differs depending on the research question being addressed, the geographical coverage and the hidden impacts to be included in the analysis.
For example, environmental externalities such GHG emissions are easy to include in any TCA analysis due to a wide availability of relevant data.
[23] In 2019, a study by the World Bank estimated the hidden costs of foodborne diseases (from unsafe food) in low and middle-income countries and found these to amount to USD 95.2 billion.
Differently from the other two studies, the FAO report assesses hidden costs of agrifood systems at the national level for 154 countries.
[33] Reduction of meat production, which accounts for ~60% of greenhouse gas emissions and ~75% of agriculturally used land,[34][35][36] is one major component of this change.
[37] The global food system is facing major interconnected challenges, including mitigating food insecurity, effects from climate change, biodiversity loss, malnutrition, inequity, soil degradation, pest outbreaks, water and energy scarcity, economic and political crises, natural resource depletion, and preventable ill-health.
As a result, relationships that are developed in local food systems emerge from face-to-face interactions, potentially leading to a stronger sense of trust and social connectedness between actors.
[46] Also, farmers can enjoy a better quality of life because producing healthier food will allow them to be paid more, and not live under the poverty line.
[50] Examples of local food systems include community-supported agriculture, farmers markets and farm to school programs.
[51] Various forms of urban agriculture locate food production in densely populated areas not traditionally associated with farming.
[52] Organic food systems are characterized by a reduced dependence on chemical inputs and an increased concern for transparency and information.
Organic produce is grown without the chemical pesticides and fertilizers of industrial food systems, and livestock is reared without the use of antibiotics or growth hormones.
[1] For farming cooperatives that share resources, the burden of investment is disbursed to all members rather than being concentrated in a single individual.
[58] Such alternatives may also help to decouple food production and land use, thereby avoiding the greenhouse gas emissions and habitat loss associated with agriculture.
[59] An expected 345.2 million people projected to be food insecure in 2023 – more than double the number in 2020,[60] but a global catastrophe such as nuclear winter could threaten billions with mass starvation.
[68] Substantially more research is needed in this area to realize resilient food systems for the globe and even wealthy nations.
[6] In 2020, an evidence review for the European Union's Scientific Advice Mechanism found that, without significant change, emissions would increase by 30–40% by 2050 due to population growth and changing consumption patterns, and concluded that "the combined environmental cost of food production is estimated to amount to some $12 trillion per year, increasing to $16 trillion by 2050".
[9] Another 2020 study concluded that reducing emissions from the global food system to be essential for achieving the Paris Agreement's climate goals.
A portfolio of coordinated strategies is called for to address this challenge.In January 2020, the EU put improvements to the food system at the core of the European Green Deal.
[81] Concerns around corporate governance within food systems as a substitute for regulation were raised by the Institute for Multi-Stakeholder Initiative Integrity.
In June 2023, the Scientific Advice Mechanism to the European Commission concluded that "Evidence generally supports a moderate impact of nutrition labelling on (un)healthy consumption in different contexts (retail, out-of-home).
