A systems perspective on promoting sustainable food systems

Abstract

Global food systems are at the center of some of the most pressing modern societal challenges: They are significant contributors to a range of systemic issues, including health problems and chronic diseases, greenhouse gas emissions and general environmental degradation, and increasing financial burdens on healthcare and economies. Within these complex systems, final sustainable consumption, which refers to the adoption of diets that are both healthy and environmentally friendly, plays a critical role. Significant changes in contemporary dietary patterns are essential to address the rising burden of chronic diseases and public health outcomes and the escalating climate crisis. Achieving these shifts requires coordinated action from policymakers, consumers, and the scientific community in an effort to support the development, implementation, and evaluation of advertising and policy instruments that promote healthier and more sustainable dietary choices. However, driving changes in dietary behavior is a complex challenge, shaped by the interplay of heterogeneous influences, including biological, social, cultural, environmental, political, and economic factors, and further complicated by the difficulty of validating proposed approaches in ways that are both efficient and ethically sound. This vision paper presents the problem of promoting healthy and environmentally friendly diets and their implications for environmental sustainability. In particular, it discusses a systems approach based on social network dynamics and social interventions, illustrating recent findings that demonstrate the potential of influence strategies to drive dietary change. Finally, key scientific challenges and emerging research opportunities are highlighted.