Summary
This narrative review, authored by leading food systems and nutrition researchers, synthesises evidence four years after the EAT-Lancet Commission report to argue that advancing healthy, sustainable diets requires addressing fundamental tensions between local dietary identity and global planetary boundaries. The authors contend that food system transformation cannot rely on consumer behaviour change alone, but demands interdisciplinary science engagement with policymakers and reframing of the economic incentive structure from price/convenience/taste to health/sustainability/equity. The paper calls for a government-led social contract to redistribute power among food system actors and internalise environmental and health costs currently treated as externalities.
UK applicability
The framework is directly relevant to UK food policy, particularly regarding the alignment of the National Food Strategy, food security objectives, and net-zero commitments with dietary guidance. The emphasis on multi-stakeholder governance and regulatory rebalancing applies to ongoing UK debates around food labelling, procurement standards, and agricultural subsidy reform post-Brexit.
Key measures
Conceptual framework addressing biophysical (health, environment) and social dimensions (culture, economy) of dietary transformation; identification of food system actor accountability across micro to macro levels
Outcomes reported
The paper examines the tension between local dietary habits and global health/sustainability imperatives, and identifies barriers to food system transformation at multiple scales. It argues for a new social contract led by governments to rebalance economic and regulatory power in food systems.
Topic tags
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