A Global Food Revolution: Cornell's Impact on Planetary Diets
A sobering reality check: With one in ten people facing hunger, a staggering two billion individuals battling overweight or obesity, and an estimated one-third of all food produced going to waste, our current food systems are in dire need of an overhaul. Add to that the significant contribution of agriculture to global greenhouse gas emissions, and it's clear that a thoughtful, multi-faceted approach is required to ensure a healthier, more sustainable, and equitable future for both humanity and our planet.
This is the core message that emerges from a special issue of The Lancet Planetary Health, published on November 3rd, coordinated by an impressive team of five Cornell experts from the Food Systems and Global Change (FSGC) group. Led by Professor Mario Herrero, a renowned global development specialist from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) and Cornell Atkinson Scholar, this initiative aims to shed light on the complex challenges and potential solutions within our global food systems.
"This special issue is a crucial step forward in our understanding of how to transform the food system for the betterment of both people and the planet," Herrero emphasized. "It highlights the need for simultaneous actions that prioritize environmental protection, human health, and just food systems."
The special issue builds upon the work of the EAT-Lancet Commission, a global collective of experts from over 35 countries and six continents. Their second report, released on October 3rd, served as a catalyst for the FSGC group to delve deeper into the complexities of food system transformation. Daniel Mason-D'Croz, a senior research associate in CALS, explained, "We realized there was so much more to explore and share beyond the report."
Our planet's boundaries are under immense pressure due to climate change, land use challenges, and biodiversity loss. Food systems, Mason-D'Croz noted, are at the heart of these interconnected crises. "The food system is like a water balloon; push on one part, and another part bulges. This is the challenge of transformation—reducing emissions, land use, and water use, while ensuring affordable access to healthy diets and fair wages for food producers. It's a complex web of issues that demands holistic, bundled solutions."
For instance, adopting healthy diets in line with EAT-Lancet recommendations can bring health and environmental benefits. However, as Marina Sundiang, a postdoctoral associate in FSGC and lead author of one of the special issue's papers, points out, increased consumption of fresh produce can lead to higher food loss and waste due to perishability. She emphasizes the need for measures to reduce and manage food waste, such as encouraging consumers to shop more frequently for smaller amounts, increasing community access to composting facilities, and government investment in research to improve storage practices and healthier processed options.
Throughout the special issue, researchers explore potential solutions for producers, consumers, and governments to improve food systems. For consumers, the key lies in adopting a healthy diet with modest animal-sourced food consumption and increased fruit and vegetable intake. Producers are encouraged to boost productivity and circularity, recycling nutrients throughout the supply chain by managing fertilizers more efficiently. Governments, on the other hand, play a critical role in supporting scientific research and development to create new varieties and management practices that can feed more people with fewer resources.
Thais Diniz Oliveira, a former postdoctoral associate in FSGC and now a sustainable development specialist with the United Nations Development Programme, and Matthew Gibson, a postdoctoral associate in FSGC, also contributed to this groundbreaking special issue. Gibson, who began his Ph.D. program in environmental policy just after the first EAT-Lancet report was published in 2019, hopes this second report will inspire similar revelations for others. "My hope is that this special issue will spark new collaborations between food systems research and policy. We've brought together an impressive array of models and researchers, but there's still so much we need to uncover, especially when it comes to transforming systems at the required speed and scale."
Key contributors from other institutions include Wageningen University in the Netherlands, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany, University College London, the University of Purdue in Indiana, and the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington, D.C. This research was generously funded by the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the CGIAR Foresight Initiative, and individual donors who supported the modeling teams.
And here's where it gets controversial: How do we balance the need for healthy, sustainable food systems with the realities of a global population that's increasingly urbanized and disconnected from traditional food production methods? How can we ensure that these transformations benefit both producers and consumers, especially in a world where food insecurity and obesity coexist? These are the questions that researchers, policymakers, and global citizens must grapple with as we strive for a more sustainable future. What are your thoughts on these complex issues? We'd love to hear your perspectives in the comments below!
