The path forward on global food system transformation

Every year, global food systems produce, process, transport, and market the food and agricultural products on which the world relies. However, these same global food systems also play a big role in—and face pressures from—climate impacts, environmental damage, food insecurity and malnutrition, public health problems, and food loss and waste. To tackle these challenges, we must urgently transform food systems. True food system transformation will have to go beyond the agricultural policy reforms enacted during the past 50 years. We now need to ensure that food systems elevate and prioritize health, inclusion, sustainability, resilience, climate, and the environment. Raising awareness of the economic cost, estimated at over $10 trillion a year, of food system impacts on these other dimensions is a first step in this direction.