Pulse Brain · Growing Health Evidence Index
Tier 4 — Narrative / commentaryPeer-reviewed

Innovation can accelerate the transition towards a sustainable food system

Mario Herrero, Philip K. Thornton, Daniel Mason-D’Croz, Jeda Palmer, Tim G. Benton, Benjamin Leon Bodirsky, Jessica Bogard, Andy Hall, Bernice Lee, Karine Nyborg, Prajal Pradhan, Graham D. Bonnett, Brett A. Bryan, Bruce Campbell, Svend Christensen, Michael Clark, Mathew T. Cook, I.J.M. de Boer, Chris Downs, Kanar Dizyee, Christian Folberth, Cécile Godde, James Gerber, Michael Grundy, Peter Havlík, Andrew Jarvis, Richard King, Ana María Loboguerrero, M. A. Lopes, C. Lynne McIntyre, Rosamond L. Naylor, Javier Navarro Garcia, Michael Obersteiner, Alejandro Parodi, Mark B. Peoples, Ilje Pikaar, Alexander Popp, Johan Rockström, M. J. Robertson, Pete Smith, Elke Stehfest, Stephen M. Swain, Hugo Valin, Mark T. van Wijk, H.H.E. van Zanten, Sonja Vermeulen, Joost Vervoort, Paul West

Nature Food · 2020

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Summary

This 2020 Nature Food paper, authored by an international consortium of researchers, argues that accelerating innovation across agricultural production, supply chains, policy frameworks, and consumer behaviour is essential to achieving a sustainable global food system. The work appears to synthesise evidence on how technological advances and systemic reforms can simultaneously address food security, nutrition, and environmental constraints. The paper likely emphasises the interdependence of innovations across multiple sectors rather than single-intervention approaches.

UK applicability

UK food policy and farming strategy increasingly align with sustainable intensification and net-zero commitments; this paper's framework on innovation-enabled transitions is relevant to UK agricultural policy design and post-Brexit food system governance. However, applicability depends on how localisable the proposed innovations are to British climate, farm scale, and supply chain structures.

Key measures

As suggested by the title, likely metrics related to food system sustainability indicators, environmental impact (greenhouse gas emissions, land use, water), nutritional outcomes, and feasibility of systemic transitions

Outcomes reported

The paper examines how innovation across multiple domains—agricultural technology, policy, markets, and behaviour change—can enable transition towards sustainable food systems that meet nutritional security and environmental goals.

Theme
Policy, governance & rights
Subject
Food & agricultural policy
Study type
Narrative Review
Study design
Narrative review
Source type
Peer-reviewed study
Status
Published
Geography
Global
System type
Food supply chain
DOI
10.1038/s43016-020-0074-1
Catalogue ID
BFmor3g9dg-fl7655

Topic tags

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