Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
An outline of five archetypes of small-scale fisheries derived from a global dataset shows common patterns in their production strategies and contributions to sustainable development outcomes. This categorization can help resolve complexity to support their integration into decision-making and policy.
Drought reshapes microbial communities around wheat roots. Synthetic microbial communities constructed from single-cell-sorted drought-tolerant bacteria provide a promising strategy to enhance crop resilience.
We devised two deployment schemes for renewable-fuelled plant factories to meet the dietary vegetable demand across China’s 369 city-level regions. Our results indicate that renewable-fuelled plant factories ensure sufficient vegetable supply and offer multifaceted benefits, such as land saving and pollutant reduction, but also increase greenhouse gas emissions, highlighting the need for a low-carbon transition.
Agriculture accounts for the largest proportion of green and blue water consumption. Increasing availability of datasets and models for assessing global crop water footprints can pave the way towards more sustainable allocation of limited green and blue water resources worldwide.
Unintended and undesirable consequences can hinder policymaking. This Perspective explores how anticipatory governance can reduce ignorance, manage errors and avoid imperious immediacy when shaping future technological innovation to support more sustainable food systems transformations.
Effective transmission of scientific information to the public can take many forms. An analysis of films promoting plant-based diets suggests that information provided in these formats can increase internet searches of keywords related to this topic.
Upcycling of food waste and food processing by-products into animal feed presents a circular strategy to recycle nutrients for livestock production that would otherwise be lost. Scenario analyses based on an integrated environmental–economic modelling approach demonstrate that this upcycling has asymmetric effects on food security and environmental sustainability.
Estimates of the biodiversity pressures associated with fruits and vegetables produced in or imported by the UK, India and South Africa show that there is no ‘best’ fruit or vegetable crop for both biodiversity and human health. Instead, the crop type along with its origin have the greatest effects on biodiversity pressure.
Improved nitrogen efficiency alone will not halve nitrogen pollution in Europe. Comprehensive regionally adapted measures across both production and consumption are needed to truly address these challenges from farm to fork.
Policy responses to food systems in protracted crises tend to ignore the role of colonial and settler colonial regimes and their use of slow violence and land dispossession in de-developing food systems. Acknowledging these structural elements is critical for policy success.
Satellite data reveal widespread stagnation in cropland productivity and moderate climate trends across much of southern Africa. Ground-truthing these results using a mix of approaches and local knowledge is critical to avoid inadvertently misguiding investments in the future.
Monitoring food security in regions experiencing multiple crises remains challenging. Satellite imagery combined with artificial intelligence can now estimate food availability in the fragile state of Yangon, Myanmar.
Food processing often overlooks nature’s complexity, favouring purified raw materials that are often associated with unsustainable practices and low nutritional quality. This Perspective proposes three food innovation principles to embrace the complexity of plant raw materials.
A study of Escherichia coli O157:H7 survival in soils across eastern China highlights the role of soil properties in pathogen persistence and the need for policies to reduce food-borne disease risks from soil reservoirs.
Food system emissions extend beyond farms to supporting sectors, such as energy, transport and processing. Tracing these indirect emissions reveals they now account for one-quarter of mortality attributable to food-related air pollution from fine particulate matter in China. Low-income groups bear a disproportionately high health burden, whereas high-income groups avoid a considerable share.
A data-driven conceptual framework that benchmarks sustainable nitrogen management for wheat production in China and shows strong potential for fostering locally adapted strategies that balance agricultural productivity with environmental sustainability.
This Perspective presents a reflection on the Vision’s level of ambition, how it deviates from the Strategic Dialogue that preceded it and how scientists can contribute to a more sustainable agri-food system in Europe.
Mangroves have evolved to survive harsh growing conditions in continual flux. This Perspective explores how their resilience can inspire a new metaphor to guide food system transformations by drawing on the strengths of root systems, diversity and community.
