The importance of food systems and the environment for nutrition

Global and local food system transformation is necessary in order to ensure the delivery of healthy, safe, and nutritious foods in both sustainable and equitable ways. Food systems are complex entities that affect diets, human health, and a range of other outcomes including economic growth, natural resource and environmental resiliency, and sociocultural factors. However, food systems contribute to and are vulnerable to ongoing climate and environmental changes that threaten their sustainability. Although there has been increased focus on this topic in recent years, many gaps in knowledge persist on the relation between environmental factors, food systems, and nutritional outcomes. This article focuses on the need to learn more about the relationships between environmental factors, food systems, and nutritional outcomes. The authors summarize this emerging field and describe how innovative nutrition research is needed in order to bring about food policy changes in an era of climate disruption and environmental degradation.