Nature foodPub Date : 2026-05-08DOI: 10.1038/s43016-026-01358-5
Jie Li, Cathie Martin
{"title":"Granular datasets will be key to predicting the impact of food system transitions on micronutrient status in China.","authors":"Jie Li, Cathie Martin","doi":"10.1038/s43016-026-01358-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-026-01358-5","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":94151,"journal":{"name":"Nature food","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":21.9,"publicationDate":"2026-05-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147857866","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature foodPub Date : 2026-05-05DOI: 10.1038/s43016-026-01357-6
Bartosz Helfer, Katarzyna Henke-Ciążyńska, Robert J Boyle
{"title":"Operation Stork Speed represents an opportunity to reform infant formula clinical trials.","authors":"Bartosz Helfer, Katarzyna Henke-Ciążyńska, Robert J Boyle","doi":"10.1038/s43016-026-01357-6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-026-01357-6","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":94151,"journal":{"name":"Nature food","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":21.9,"publicationDate":"2026-05-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147848243","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature foodPub Date : 2026-05-01DOI: 10.1038/s43016-026-01349-6
Yijun Li, Johanna C Gerdessen, Tjeerd Jan Stomph, Anneleen Kuijsten, Sander de Leeuw, Zhiyao Chang, Shenggen Fan, Wen-Feng Cong, Wopke van der Werf
{"title":"Nutrient coverage of China's plant-based food supply can be improved with food system adjustments.","authors":"Yijun Li, Johanna C Gerdessen, Tjeerd Jan Stomph, Anneleen Kuijsten, Sander de Leeuw, Zhiyao Chang, Shenggen Fan, Wen-Feng Cong, Wopke van der Werf","doi":"10.1038/s43016-026-01349-6","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43016-026-01349-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Plant-based foods provide most nutrients for human diets and have wide availability, yet nutrient gaps persist in many regions. Here we assessed China's plant-based food supply during 1997-2018 to determine its ability to meet population-level requirements for dietary energy and 17 nutrients and evaluated food system scenarios for improving nutrient coverage and source diversity. In the baseline scenario including animal-based foods, coverage was high for energy, protein, carbohydrates, dietary fibre and ten micronutrients; medium for riboflavin and vitamin A; and low for calcium and selenium. Halving food loss and waste, increasing whole-grain use and moderating red meat intake improved coverage for all nutrients by 8-44% above baseline. Redirecting crops from feed and non-food uses to human consumption enabled self-sufficiency for energy and 14 nutrients. While food system improvements in China can strengthen nutrient availability, complementary strategies, such as crop diversification, fortification and biofortification are needed to close the remaining gaps.</p>","PeriodicalId":94151,"journal":{"name":"Nature food","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":21.9,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147825128","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature foodPub Date : 2026-04-30DOI: 10.1038/s43016-026-01356-7
Brendan P Harrison, Branden E Leonhardt, Jacob G Englander, Corinne D Scown
{"title":"The value of improving manure management.","authors":"Brendan P Harrison, Branden E Leonhardt, Jacob G Englander, Corinne D Scown","doi":"10.1038/s43016-026-01356-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-026-01356-7","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":94151,"journal":{"name":"Nature food","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":21.9,"publicationDate":"2026-04-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147825123","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature foodPub Date : 2026-04-23DOI: 10.1038/s43016-026-01338-9
Liyin He, Lorenzo Rosa
{"title":"Sustainable global irrigation expansion could support only two-thirds of croplands under 1.5 °C and 3 °C warming","authors":"Liyin He, Lorenzo Rosa","doi":"10.1038/s43016-026-01338-9","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43016-026-01338-9","url":null,"abstract":"As climate warming exacerbates heat stress, promoting irrigation as a climate adaptation strategy can mitigate adverse impacts on agricultural productivity. Here we use global crop and irrigation datasets in conjunction with climate models to show that sustaining wheat, maize, rice and barley production under 1.5 °C and 3 °C warming scenarios—aligned with current climate targets and business-as-usual projections—requires 13% (25 Mha) and 47% (94 Mha) global irrigation expansion, respectively. Notably, only 60% of these croplands can support irrigation without generating water scarcity and depleting local freshwater resources. These findings underscore the urgency of limiting global warming within 1.5 °C and reveal unequal adaptation needs worldwide between warming scenarios. Our work identifies at high resolution areas where and to what extent irrigation can promote climate-resilient agriculture. A multi-model approach quantifies the irrigation expansion required to offset climate impacts on rice, maize, wheat and barley production under sustainable and unsustainable water-use scenarios.","PeriodicalId":94151,"journal":{"name":"Nature food","volume":"7 4","pages":"369-380"},"PeriodicalIF":21.9,"publicationDate":"2026-04-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147734080","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature foodPub Date : 2026-04-17DOI: 10.1038/s43016-026-01340-1
Omid Zamani, Mohammad Reza Farzanegan
{"title":"Global food security rests on the Strait of Hormuz","authors":"Omid Zamani, Mohammad Reza Farzanegan","doi":"10.1038/s43016-026-01340-1","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43016-026-01340-1","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":94151,"journal":{"name":"Nature food","volume":"7 4","pages":"301-301"},"PeriodicalIF":21.9,"publicationDate":"2026-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147702054","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature foodPub Date : 2026-04-14DOI: 10.1038/s43016-026-01342-z
Anna Schuhbauer, Louise Teh
{"title":"A dual sustainability crisis for Kenya’s small-scale fisheries","authors":"Anna Schuhbauer, Louise Teh","doi":"10.1038/s43016-026-01342-z","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43016-026-01342-z","url":null,"abstract":"Data collected over 27 years show that ecological and social sustainability can quietly diverge, driven by factors that fisheries assessments typically overlook. For small-scale reef fishers in Kenya, rising fish prices and higher catches have failed to translate into decent earnings, with fewer than 2% making the national minimum wage.","PeriodicalId":94151,"journal":{"name":"Nature food","volume":"7 4","pages":"317-318"},"PeriodicalIF":21.9,"publicationDate":"2026-04-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147680493","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature foodPub Date : 2026-04-10DOI: 10.1038/s43016-026-01330-3
T. R. McClanahan
{"title":"Losses of ecological and social sustainability among small-scale fishers in Kenya’s nearshore fisheries","authors":"T. R. McClanahan","doi":"10.1038/s43016-026-01330-3","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43016-026-01330-3","url":null,"abstract":"Balancing fish supply, poverty reduction, biodiversity conservation and livelihoods in fisheries management requires a detailed understanding of fishing effort, catch and revenue dynamics. Here a ~27-year time series of ecological and economic data from Kenya’s nearshore fisheries is analysed. Despite rising nominal fish prices and total fisheries revenue, increasing costs of living caused real incomes to decline, leading fishers to exit the fishery and aggregate incomes to stabilize just below national minimum wage thresholds. Reduced fishing effort contributed to partial recovery of fish biomass but failed to restore natural ecosystem structure or maximum production potential. Achieving both ecological recovery and social sustainability will require further rebuilding of fish populations to restore production capacity, fishing effort, livelihood diversity and living wages, while simultaneously meeting the growing societal demand for nutrient-rich fish. Fishers’ livelihoods are threatened by the rising cost of living and dwindling fish stocks. A dataset of Kenya’s small-scale fisheries spanning 27 years reveals increasing poverty despite rising nominal fish prices and incomes, while reduced fishing effort has prompted some recovery in fish biomass.","PeriodicalId":94151,"journal":{"name":"Nature food","volume":"7 4","pages":"381-390"},"PeriodicalIF":21.9,"publicationDate":"2026-04-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147649090","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature foodPub Date : 2026-04-09DOI: 10.1038/s43016-026-01341-0
Rob Ralston, Katherine Sievert, Kim Anastasiou, Joe Yates, Jennifer Clapp
{"title":"Ultra-processed foods are a key driver of the global plastics pollution crisis","authors":"Rob Ralston, Katherine Sievert, Kim Anastasiou, Joe Yates, Jennifer Clapp","doi":"10.1038/s43016-026-01341-0","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43016-026-01341-0","url":null,"abstract":"The plastic waste generated by ultra-processed foods (UPFs) is a key driver of the global plastics crisis. Recognizing the integral role of plastics in UPF production is essential to developing a more socio-ecological perspective on these food products. This Comment identifies the linkages between the rise of UPFs and the rise of plastic packaging, calling for a renewed research agenda.","PeriodicalId":94151,"journal":{"name":"Nature food","volume":"7 4","pages":"309-311"},"PeriodicalIF":21.9,"publicationDate":"2026-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147641512","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}