Historical dietary shifts offer lessons for future transitions in food systems

While the movement to transform food systems is gaining momentum, the avenues for doing so remain poorly explored. The past has the potential to inform future actions and outcomes –researching historical large-scale dietary shifts can illuminate the pathways that facilitate dietary change. By exploring the drivers of past change in food production and consumption, researchers can promote transitions in food systems that support human and planetary health.

Modern industrialized food systems have increasingly shifted to mass production of cheap convenience foods. Current global food production puts excessive pressure on natural resources and the climate, while many populations find access to healthy foods difficult and prohibitively expensive. The human diet needs to change, and the transition can be achieved through improvements in public policy, technology and private sector incentives, according to a new research publication.

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