Tomorrow's healthy society - Research priorities for foods and diets

Abstract

Health promotion and disease prevention through provision and consumption of healthy diets are increasingly recognised as crucial, both socially and economically, in the face of strained healthcare systems, an ageing population, and the high individual and economic costs of diseases. The Foresight study `Tomorrow's healthy society ? research priorities for foods and diets' was initiated to inform the selection of research challenges to receive funding under the Horizon 2020 programme. The exploratory scenario-building approach focused on the European consumer with the year 2050 as a long-term time horizon. Four different future scenarios were developed using the extremes of two main drivers: agricultural commodity prices (low or high) and societal values (community spirit or individualistic society). The scenarios provided the basis for the identification and prioritisation of research needs to address the challenges and opportunities arising from the different scenarios. The resulting ten research priorities fall into four thematic areas: Towards healthier eating: integrated policy-making; Food, nutrients and health: cross-interactions and emerging risks; Making individualised diets a reality; and Shaping and coping with the 2050 food system. The research priorities developed in this study show that we still need to know more about foods, diets and health, and that we need to have effective, integrated and acceptable policies in order to move towards a sustainable food chain providing consumers with healthy diets. Changes in consumer behaviour must go hand in hand with changes in the food supply. The scenarios developed in this study are intended to contribute to a societal dialogue on how to shape the future food system, while research will provide the evidence necessary for informed