Summary
This multidisciplinary assessment, published in Nature by an international consortium, explored integrated pathways for transforming the global food system to operate within planetary boundaries whilst ensuring adequate nutrition and improved health outcomes. The work synthesises evidence on environmental footprints of food production and consumption, and models scenarios combining dietary shifts towards plant-based proteins, agricultural innovation, and waste reduction. The authors conclude that transformation requires coordinated action across production, consumption, and waste management, with no single intervention sufficient alone.
UK applicability
The study's dietary and agricultural recommendations—particularly reduced meat and dairy consumption, increased plant protein use, and waste minimisation—are directly applicable to UK policy and practice. UK-specific modelling and targets would be needed to translate global scenarios into actionable commitments for the National Food Strategy and net-zero food systems policy.
Key measures
Greenhouse gas emissions, land use, freshwater consumption, nitrogen and phosphorus application, food waste, dietary adequacy, public health outcomes
Outcomes reported
The study modelled multiple scenarios combining dietary shifts, agricultural innovation, and waste reduction to assess whether the global food system can simultaneously meet nutritional requirements and remain within planetary environmental boundaries (greenhouse gas emissions, land use, freshwater use, nitrogen and phosphorus cycles). It evaluated trade-offs and synergies across production, consumption, and waste management pathways.
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