Sustainable nutrition

The world’s population is estimated to reach 10 billion by 2050. Providing everyone with a nutritious diet and protecting the planet requires a global response.

By 2050, an estimated 10 billion people will live on Earth. To provide them with a healthy diet, eating habits need to change.

Jessica Fanzo says that food systems must evolve and governments must work together if people are to be kept nourished during a global pandemic.

Scientists are pursuing sustainability strategies for intensifying production to tackle food security and environmental crises.

Increasing the amount of protein produced through aquaculture is essential to feed a growing global population. But scientists want to ensure the industry grows sustainably.

Brain function and food are thought to be connected through the community of microorganisms that live in the gut.

Laboratory-grown meat has been stuck in the experimental stage. For it to become a commercially viable industry, tissue needs to be grown efficiently at scale.

A way to estimate household food waste, the unintended consequences of environmental interventions and other highlights from research.

Researchers are working out how to achieve a widespread change in eating behaviour.

In advance of the 2021 Nutrition for Growth Summit in Tokyo, a group of leading international academics, policy analysts and food industry representatives attended a workshop to discuss global nutrition challenges. To address the obstacles to better health, participants discussed the stakeholders and levers that can effect change so that nutritious — and sustainable — diets are available for all.

Producing meat without the drawbacks of conventional animal agriculture would greatly contribute to future food and nutrition security. This Review Article covers biological, technological, regulatory and consumer acceptance challenges in this developing field of biotechnology.

By 2050, the majority of aquatic dietary protein will be produced by the aquaculture sector. A set of 15 metrics are presented here to guide the industry sustainably through the rapid growth and development it is experiencing.

An integrated subnational environmental and nutritional optimization approach indicates that, with a transition from current production and consumption patterns, India has the capacity to achieve national food self-sufficiency goals while reducing regional cropland use, water demand and GHG emissions.

Climate-resilient crops are essential for farmers to adapt to climate change. This scoping review identifies extension services and outreach as the most important factors for their adoption by small-scale producers in low- and middle-income countries.

A more sustainable agriculture is needed to address global food security and environmental degradation. This scoping review surveys the incentives for farmers to adopt sustainable practices benefiting their farms, the environment or both.

The yield variability of 18 crops, representing 70% of global crop area and two-thirds of global calorific intake, is assessed here at the country level for the impacts of weather (temperature and precipitation) and farm management practices (pesticide and fertilizer application, and irrigation).

The authors use a machine-learning approach to uncover confounding variables in studies that seek to establish an association between the gut microbiota and human disease.

Technologies and systemic innovation are critical for the transformation of the food system. This Perspective identifies promising technologies, assesses their readiness and proposes eight action points to accelerate innovation.

To achieve sustainable food production in China in 2030, strategies such as optimizing fertilizer application, improving production efficiency, reducing food loss and waste and shifting dietary patterns must be combined inter-regionally, and food production reallocated from northern to southern China. Levers and barriers to strategy implementation are discussed here.