Modern Food Systems Research Articles

Minimally Processed Foods Have a Higher Total Antioxidant Content Compared to Processed and Ultra-processed Foods: Results from an Analysis of 1,946 Food Items.

Ultra-processed foods (UPF), per the NOVA Classification, provide a major source of calories within modern food systems and are associated with poor health outcomes related to chronic inflammation. Dietary antioxidants play a key role in preventing disease, however, the relationship between the NOVA Classification and the total antioxidant content (TAC) of foods is not well-characterized. We hypothesized that TAC would be highest in Minimally Processed (MPF), lower in Processed (PRF), and lowest in UPF. TAC data for 3,137 animal-based, mixed, and plant-based food items were obtained from a published data set. After data cleaning, 1,946 food items and their TAC values were analyzed using two hierarchal linear models (alpha: p<0.05). MPF had the highest mean TAC (10.79 ± 0.87 mmol/100g) and were 11.31-fold and 10.72-fold higher than PRF and UPF, respectively (p=0.023). Plant-based and Mixed foods had a higher mean TAC (8.55 ± 0.68 and 1.12 ± 0.11 mmol/100g, respectively) and were 22.67-fold and 2.98-fold higher compared to animal-based foods (p<0.001). Food processing did not change mean TAC in Mixed and Animal-based foods; however, plant-based MPF had a higher mean TAC (11.49 ± 0.93 mmol/100g) and were 9.88-fold and 15.12-fold higher compared to plant-based PRF and UPF, respectively (p<0.001). Mean TAC differed between NOVA processing groups for three categories of food: Vegetables, Beverages, and Beans, Nuts & Seeds (p<0.001). Across all food items, and especially plant-based foods, mean TAC decreased with food processing. The lower TAC of UPFs may at least partially explain why their consumption promotes inflammatory chronic disease.

Food policies: balancing health and market in the era of ubiquitous ultra-processed foods

As the development of modern food systems continues to reshape dietary habits, the need for effective food policies to counter the rise of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) becomes increasingly urgent. UPFs are industrial formulations of several highly refined ingredients and additives with little or no nutritional value but potentially harmful health effects. In this paper, we develop a simple model of duopolistic competition in which food manufacturers compete by choosing the degree of food sophistication of their products (i.e., the degree of food formulation and processing). We show that when firms compete for market shares, an unhealthy degree of food sophistication is a strategically stable Nash–Bertrand equilibrium outcome. Furthermore, we compare the effectiveness of alternative health-related food policies. Our model highlights the shortcomings of nutrient-to-limit regulations and suggests that policy interventions should prioritize whole-food reformulation-based approaches within an 'ecological' regulatory framework.

Millets a Pathway to Nutrition Security for Sustainable Agriculture

Millets, a group of small-seeded grasses, have been cultivated for thousands of years and are an integral part of traditional diets in many regions of the world. The nutritional value, resilience to harsh environmental conditions, and potential for sustainable agriculture, millets have been largely overlooked and underutilized in modern food systems, the nutritional benefits of millets, their role in ensuring food security, and strategies for promoting their cultivation and consumption. Millets are rich in essential nutrients, including protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals, and offer numerous health benefits, such as reducing the risk of chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease. Additionally, millets are well-suited to climate-resilient agriculture, requiring less water and fertilizer than many other cereal crops. By promoting the cultivation and consumption of millet, policymakers, researchers, and agricultural stakeholders can enhance food security, support small-scale farmers, and promote sustainable food systems and the need for increased investment in millet research, the development of value chains, and consumer education to realize the full potential of millets in addressing global food security challenges.

Examining the effectiveness of food literacy interventions in improving food literacy behavior and healthy eating among adults belonging to different socioeconomic groups- a systematic scoping review

BackgroundIn high-income countries, significant diet-related health inequalities exist between people of different socioeconomic backgrounds. Individuals who face socioeconomic challenges are less likely to meet dietary guidelines, leading to increased incidence and prevalence of morbidity and mortality associated with dietary risk factors. To promote healthy eating, strategies may focus on individual-level factors (e.g., knowledge, skills, and behavior) along with broader societal factors (e.g., social determinants of health). The concept of food literacy is considered an individual-level factor and has been framed as a skill set that individuals must possess to effectively navigate the complexities of the modern food system. Food literacy interventions can be a complementary but effective tool for encouraging healthy eating behavior among diverse populations, including those facing socioeconomic disadvantage. However, there is limited evidence to guide the design of food literacy intervention for vulnerable population groups. In the process of developing an ideal portfolio of solutions and strategies to promote food literacy and healthy eating for people experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage, this systematic scoping review aims to comprehensively examine the effects of food literacy interventions on promoting food literacy behavior and healthy eating in adults (18 years and above) from various socioeconomic groups (SEGs) in high-income countries.MethodsThe review includes both qualitative and quantitative papers obtained from academic databases, including MEDLINE (via EBSCOhost), Embase, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. In addition to the electronic search, manual forward and backward citation searching will be conducted to identify additional relevant papers. Food literacy interventions will be evaluated across four domains: planning and management, selection, preparation, and consumption. Papers included in the review will be analyzed for process, impact, and outcome evaluation. The main outcome of a food literacy intervention is the modification in eating behavior, while the mechanism for this action will be through impact measure of food literacy behaviors. Implementation factors will be extracted for process evaluation. This review will also include a range of dietary behavior measures, such as diet quality index and dietary intake indicator. The screening process for all citations, full-text articles, and abstract data will be carried out by two reviewers independently. In case of any potential conflicts, they will be resolved through discussion. The quality of quantitative studies will be reviewed using the JBI critical appraisal checklist for analytical cross-sectional studies. The “Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Studies (COREQ)” will be used to report on the quality of qualitative papers. Systematic review registration: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/TPNKU

Agrifood Sustainability Transitions in Firms and Industry: A Bibliographic Analysis of Research Themes

There is a growing consensus that the modern food system lies at the centre of the great challenges facing humanity and that urgent and profound changes are required in the way that food is produced, processed, distributed and consumed. This review analyses sustainability transitions within agrifood systems, focusing on the role of firms and industries as defined by the Sustainable Transitions Research Network (STRN). This paper conducts the first systematic literature review using bibliometric analysis to assess the current state of research on this theme. The findings reveal a significant increase in publications related to firms and industries associated with agrifood sustainability transitions. Furthermore, the focus of current research is geographically concentrated in the European Union. The review identifies four key themes in the literature, based on the co-occurrence of keywords. These are agriculture, innovation, governance, food systems and agroecology. The review identifies an increasing awareness of the role of farmers in driving sustainability transitions at the farm level. Furthermore, there is an increasing awareness of the interrelated characteristics of the agrifood system, which acknowledges the need for sustainable innovations to occur at multiple stages of the agrifood system. The review also shows that there is growing evidence that innovations can occur through disruptive as well as incremental innovation and highlights the importance of governance influencing transitions. The existing literature raises questions about alternative food networks as sustainable innovations, their potential for significant change in the established food system and the validity of their claims regarding food equity and environmental sustainability. A key theme emerging from the literature is an ecological perspective that identifies the complex biological processes and ecosystems that form an integral part of agricultural production. These findings provide a greater understanding of the current literature landscape of agrifood sustainable transitions relating to firms and industries and lay a foundation for future research.

NUS so fast: the social and ecological implications of a rapidly developing indigenous food economy in the Cape Town area

The modern global food system is highly unsustainable, shaped by industrialisation and corporate consolidation, with negative repercussions on the environment and biodiversity as well as human health. This paper looks at the burgeoning economy in neglected and underutilised species (NUS) in the Western Cape, South Africa, as a potential innovation that could make the local food system more socially and ecologically resilient. Although, at present, NUS are only marginally included in the local food system and policy discussions, NUS increasingly appear in the high-end food industry, driven by international gastronomic trends. These species hold potential as climate resilient, nutritionally dense, and socially and culturally significant foods in the region, but they also carry ecological and social risks. We critically examine the fledgling NUS economy in the Cape Town area to unpack the motivations and challenges associated with the potentially transformative inclusion of these foods into the local food system. We demonstrate that the main risks associated with NUS are negative ecological repercussions, privatisation of the NUS economy, and the reproduction and further entrenchment of unequal power and race dynamics in the region. To mitigate these risks and actualise the related benefits associated with NUS, engagement with the ecological, social, and political context of NUS needs to be significantly deepened. This is particularly true for those working in the high-end food industry, who appear to be driving the NUS economy, and will require education around sustainability and Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), as well as a foregrounding awareness of power dynamics.

Unveiling the Potential of Spirulina Biomass—A Glimpse into the Future Circular Economy Using Green and Blue Ingredients

The present work aims to explore Spirulina biomass’ functional and technological marvels and its components, such as C-phycocyanin (C-PC), in modern food systems from a circular economy perspective, evaluating a decade of insights and innovations. This comprehensive review delves into the pivotal studies of the past decade, spotlighting the vital importance of maintaining stability in various food matrices to unleash the full biological impacts. Through the lens of food science intertwined with circular economy principles, this analysis meets health and environmental requisites and explores the harmonious synergy between food systems, economy, and industry. While Spirulina has typically served as a supplement, its untapped potential as a fundamental food ingredient has been unveiled, showcasing its abundant nutritional and functional attributes. Technological hurdles in preserving the vibrant color of C-PC have been triumphantly surmounted through simple temperature control methods or cutting-edge nanotechnology applications. Despite the gap in sensory acceptance studies, the emergence of blue foods introduces groundbreaking functional and innovative avenues for the food industry.

Production of Natural Food Colorant with Organic Mordant Solutions and Incorporation into Modern Food Systems

Abstract Colorants are an important exposure that affects the way we feel and judge foods. The food colorant is normally associated with the flavor, safety and nutritional value of the food product. Colorant are obtained from natural plants and minerals. In today’s world, synthetic oxidative food colors are used. It contains a high chemical composition and is derived from petroleum or crude oil. Sunset yellow, carmine, amaranth and azorubine are examples of common synthetic food colors. It leads to some diseases such as asthma, allergy reactions and cancer. Hence, natural food colors were produced from natural plants. The plants contain several pigments, such as betacyanin, anthocyanin and curcumin. The fruit juice of Opuntia ficus-indica, in particularly it contains betacyanin pigments, which can be used as a natural red-purple food colorant. In order to improve the results, we extracted the juice from Opuntia ficus-indica and banana pseudo-stem. Next, we qualitatively analyzed the juice to find out whether flavonoids, triterpenoids, proteins, alkaloids, carbohydrates, saponin, tannin, and phenol was present. Opuntia ficus-indica has antioxidant properties, as does banana pseudostem sap, which has antioxidant, antithrombotic and anti-haemolytic properties. Then analyzed physical parameters of color strength were measured (using a UV spectrophotometer) at 450 nm to determine color strength and that the results were good with pH, viscosity, smell and taste. And toxicity analyses of aflatoxin and ochratoxin shows good results. This colorant has been used successfully in two food systems: ice cream and milkshakes. which is preserved after one month in the refrigerator.

Processing and preservation technologies to enhance indigenous food sovereignty, nutrition security and health equity in North America.

Indigenous foods are carriers of traditional native North American food culture and living philosophy. They are featured by the wide varieties in fresh and processed forms, richness in nutrition, flavor, health benefits and diversity in origins, but are usually misunderstood or underrepresented in the modern food systems. Conventional processing and cooking methods are sometimes labor-intensive, less efficient and lack science-based guidelines to prevent unseen safety risks and food loss. Global and regional climate change have caused additional challenges to conventional cooking/processing, and increased native communities' reliance on externally produced foods, which have resulted in increasing nutritional unbalance and prevalence of diet-related health issues. Current and emerging technologies, such as storage and packaging, drying, safety processing, canning, pickling, and fermentation, which treat foods under optimized conditions to improve the safety and extend the shelf-life, are increasingly used in current food systems. Therefore, exploring these technologies for indigenous foods offers opportunities to better preserve their nutrition, safety, and accessibility, and is critical for the sovereignty and independence of indigenous food systems, and sustainability of indigenous food culture. This mini-review focuses on identifying adoptable processing and preservation technologies for selected traditional indigenous foods in North America, summarizing education, extension, and outreach resources and discussing the current challenges and future needs critical to expanding knowledge about indigenous foods and improving food sovereignty, nutrition security, and health equity.

Settler Colonial Classifications of Edibility

The pastoral economies introduced during the colonial invasion have radically transformed Australian diets, cultures, and ecosystems. Stolen land was tenured to settlers and emancipated convicts to develop profitable and productive enterprises for the British Empire. Land rights and animal care are intrinsically linked to modern food systems, yet there is a gap in Australian literature regarding the legacy of colonial pastoralism and its connection to current food systems. This essay questions how introduced species evolved to command the Australian diet. Wallabies and kangaroos were legally relegated to national emblems, and thus inedible. Their conditions of being, whether edible, iconic, or wild, were dictated by the Commonwealth Government. The taboo nature of these native marsupials leaves them largely unconsumed, and therefore, unprotected. Modern conditions of edibility are less concerned with physical metabolic matters, instead driven by historic cultural attitudes and political and economic motives. Nourishment was commodified. My research uses Tasmanian legal archives in conjunction with cookbooks and popular iconography to trace the historical legacies of foodways since the invasion. Scholarship around waste, sociology, ecology, and food justice and sovereignty are incorporated to consider how modern agricultural practices perpetuate violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and ecosystems. Modern agriculture affects every being on the planet, both human and more-than-human. My research goal is to encourage people to question their metabolic practices to ascertain how everyday acts of consumption implicate them within unjust systems. Though consumptive wallaby culling is legal, the industry remains privatized, and Indigenous Australians have little agency to influence how their native species are used, and who profits from their utility. By sharing these concerns with researchers from a broad range of disciplines, I hope to connect with individuals who can help to make future metabolic matters more inclusive, more ethical, and more sustainable.

Policy and law: the case of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer

Agriculture occupies more than a third of the world’s land with many, large-scale impacts on the environment and human health. This article investigates the failure of policy to manage these impacts, asks whether private law can fill the gap, and what this means for policymakers. The investigation takes the form of a case study of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer (SNF) in English policy and law. The SNF industry has been chosen because, by its own account, it underpins the modern food system, which is recognized as needing urgent transformation. The article first assesses the damage caused by SNF to health and the environment and the potential legal remedies. It then assesses industry claims that SNF (a) provides food security, (b) is beneficial to soil and water, and (c) reduces greenhouse gas emissions. If misleading, these representations could amount to unlawful ‘greenwashing’. While private law can never replace good policy and regulation, the article concludes that there is evidence to enable private law to supplement policy, and that this role is made possible as well as necessary by the absence of effective regulation and enforcement. Private litigation could catalyze policymakers to implement the robust regulatory regime that agriculture demands. As the law must focus on scientific evidence and causation, it can also help elucidate and publicize the science on which policy is based. Finally, because of the strict constraints within which private litigation must operate, it can direct policymakers towards strategic interventions (or tipping points) that could catalyze systemic change.

Creating pathways to just and sustainable food systems with citizen assemblies

Food systems affect and are affected by the interrelated crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, resource depletion and health, amongst others. Transforming to sustainable approaches is vital, yet entangled with uncertainties, complexity and a great value diversion with stakeholders. Deliberative processes such as citizen assemblies offer a valuable contribution to such a transformation, since the crises and their responses affect everyday life, and therefore inviting individual and collective action. Still, who is included and whose knowledge counts affects outcomes. Theoretically anchored in concepts of environmental justice, our study analyses three nation-wide citizens’ assemblies on climate change and food systems from Western Europe. It assesses (a) how citizens’ assemblies can incorporate a broad set of viewpoints and design more substantive political answers to current crises, and (b) whether citizens’ assemblies include environmental justice aspects to facilitate social change. The paper argues that systematic and methodologically reflected inclusion of various positionalities can inspire decision-making processes in that they incorporate procedural, recognition, and distributional justice to address problems of climate change or modern food systems. It concludes with offering further approaches to include more than scientific knowledge in deliberative processes for a just transformation towards sustainability.

Opportunities and challenges for strawberry cultivation in urban food production systems

Societal Impact StatementCultivation of strawberry plants in urban production systems, whether in green open‐air spaces or under some form of protected horticulture such as vertical farming, has demonstrated to be challenging to new farmers and businesses. Commercial strawberry producers have an advanced understanding of strawberry plant physiology, enabling them to grow the crop successfully and profitably. Lack of knowledge exchange between commercial growers and new urban farmers seems to result in the abandonment of strawberries as crop of choice in urban systems. This review will confront the specific plant science challenges urban growers need to address to incorporate this nutritional crop into their revolutionary urban growing systems, whilst achieving good quality produce with high yields.SummaryTo ensure a sustainable future of farming, urban horticulture (UH) will need to be a key part of our everyday life. There are increasing demands for higher productivity and more locally produced food, even close to densely populated urban areas, to address environmental pressures and accelerate the resilience of modern food systems. UH is a broad term and can include numerous cultivation methods; rooftop gardens, public spaces, vertical walls, indoor vertical farms, as well as an array of crops including, salads, soft fruits and trees. Crops such as strawberries are expected to soon make a significant contribution to UH. Urban strawberry production promises all‐year round fruit availability, reduced reliance on imports, increased self‐sufficiency, lower food miles, a supply of high‐quality fresh fruits from hyper‐local spaces, increased employment opportunities, welfare benefits and an opportunity to promote a sense of community. Strawberry is a complex perennial crop with agronomical challenges, which requires specialist knowledge that is not always available to new urban farmers. Achieving an urban version of a strawberry field will require knowledge exchange between the commercial rural strawberry producers and the newly entered urban growers. Plant physiology, management of plant pathogens, choice of propagation material, fertigation, pollination and environmental requirements are the most common challenges for urban strawberry production. This review aims to consolidate the common bottleneck challenges of UH for new urban strawberry facilities.

Продуктовий ритейл в Україні: тенденції та наслідки кризових трансформацій продовольчої системи

Sustainable transformations in some segments of the food system, which have recently occurred due to military conflicts, extreme climate events and epidemics, necessitate their in-depth study. Ensuring the population's physical and economic access to food to a certain extent depends on food retail (domestic retail trade), which, together with other components of the food system, has undergone transformation and requires an assessment of development trends. The article aims to identify development trends and transformations that occurred from 2012 to 2021 in Ukraine's food retail industry as a component of the food system. The study used general scientific and special methods: dialectical and logical to summarize the scientific basis for identifying transformations in food retail; economic-statistical – for processing and analyzing statistical data; tabular and graphical – for visualizing and summarizing the research results. The authors summarize conceptual approaches to the interpretation and essence of transformations in food systems and features of the formation of modern food policy. The differences in food retail transformations in modern and traditional food systems were revealed. Trends in the development and transformation of food retail during 2012-2021 were identified, including changes in the quantitative structure of stores and retail space, turnover volumes, profitability of trade, volumes of consumption of basic food products, consumer prices, etc. With the advent of Internet commerce, qualitative changes have occurred in serving consumers, mainly through creating online goods delivery services, mobile applications, and social networks. Using innovative food retail management technologies increases the efficiency of trade operations and improves product supply. As a result of the transformation of consumer priorities, health and sports nutrition stores and farm products have become stores with a focus on their safety and quality.

Innovative Applications of Tenebrio molitor Larvae in Food Product Development: A Comprehensive Review.

The utilization of alternative and sustainable food sources has garnered significant interest as a means to address the challenges of food security and environmental sustainability. Tenebrio molitor larvae, commonly known as mealworms, have emerged as a promising candidate in this context, as they are a rich source of nutrients and can be reared with relatively low resource input. This review article presents an in-depth analysis of the diverse range of food products developed using T. molitor larvae and the distinctive properties they bestow on these products. The review encompasses an exploration of the nutritional composition of the larvae, emphasizing their rich protein content, balanced amino acid profile, fatty acids with health benefits, vitamins, and minerals. It delves into how these attributes have been harnessed to enhance the nutritional value of a variety of food items, ranging from protein-rich snacks and energy bars to pasta, bakery goods, etc. Each of these applications is discussed with regard to how T. molitor larvae contribute to the nutritional content and sensory characteristics of the final product. Furthermore, this review sheds light on the innovative techniques and processing methods employed to incorporate T. molitor larvae into different food matrices. It addresses challenges related to taste, texture, and appearance that have been encountered and the strategies devised to overcome related problems. Overall, this comprehensive review elucidates the diverse food products that have been developed utilizing T. molitor larvae as a key ingredient. Highlighting the nutritional, sensory, and sustainability aspects of these products, this review offers valuable insights to harness the potential of this alternative protein source to meet the evolving needs of modern food systems.

Impact of heat-set and cold-set gelling polysaccharides on potato protein gelation: Gellan gum, agar, and methylcellulose

The plant-based meat market is growing due to concerns about the sustainability of the modern food system. Plant-based meats are often constructed from blends of food biopolymers, such as plant proteins and polysaccharides. This study characterizes the thermal setting properties of potato protein (10%) and polysaccharide (2 wt%) mixtures containing polysaccharides with different reversible gelling behaviors: agar (cold set); gellan gum (cold set); or methyl cellulose (heat set). Each sample was heated above the thermal denaturation temperature of the potato proteins to promote protein unfolding, aggregation, and network formation. The addition of the polysaccharides tended to increase the complex shear modulus of the biopolymer blends before heating but increase or decrease it after heating depending on polysaccharide type. The shear modulus and hardness of the gels formed after heating tended to increase after addition of the cold-set polysaccharides but decrease after the addition of the heat-set polysaccharides, especially at refrigerator temperatures. Differential scanning calorimetry data showed that the potato proteins underwent irreversible denaturation after heating for all samples. Zeta-potential analysis showed that the potato proteins and all polysaccharides were negatively charged under the pH conditions used. There was greater water loss during heating for the composite gels containing methyl cellulose, which may have been due to its increase hydrophobicity at high temperatures. Appearance and microstructure analysis showed that phase-separation occurred after mixing the polysaccharides with the potato proteins, which was attributed to a segregation mechanism. The knowledge obtained from this study may help the food industry to optimize protein-polysaccharide blends to create gels with characteristics and structures that can mimic different plant-based meat products.

Food Security and Food Sovereignty: The Difference Between Surviving and Thriving.

Previous research in American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities has documented high prevalence of food insecurity. Yet many AI/AN scholars and communities have expressed concerns that the dominant societal conceptions of food security are not reflective of the teachings, priorities, and values of AI/AN communities. Food security initiatives often focus on access to food and, at times, nutrition but little consideration is given to cultural foods, the spirituality carried through foods, and whether the food was stewarded in a way that promotes well-being not just for humans but also for plants, animals, land, and water. Despite the concerns of AI/AN communities that their needs are not centered in dominant societal food conceptualizations and food security programming, the food sovereignty efforts of AI/AN communities have captured national attention as a solution to modern food system inequities. Indigenous Food Sovereignty (IFS) is a holistic approach to food that incorporates values of relationality, reciprocity, and relationships. Fundamental differences exist between food security and food sovereignty, yet dominant society often reduces IFS as a solution to food security, rather than an entirely different food system that is predicated on values that contrast with that of dominant society. Despite calls to decolonize the definition and measurement of food security, we explore whether fixing the concept of food security is a worthy endeavor or whether efforts would be better spent supporting the resurgence and revitalization of AI/AN food values, food knowledge, and community food sovereignty initiatives.

Understanding the intertwined nature of rising multiple risks in modern agriculture and food system

Understanding the intertwined nature of rising multiple risks in modern agriculture and food system

Ancient Greenwashing

The strategy of greenwashing has come to occupy a powerful place in sustainable marketing by employing techniques aimed to alleviate the guilt of eco-conscious eaters while obscuring the realities of a company’s true environmental impacts. In this paper, we examine a particular kind of greenwashed marketing we call “ancient greenwashing,” which invokes references to ancient (precolonial) civilizations as a branding strategy targeted at consumers seeking a more authentic and sustainable way of eating. We contend that this marketing masks the colonial legacies that uphold and perpetuate the injustices of modern global food systems, and here we work to counter those claims by contextualizing them within the archaeological study of past sustainability and a discussion of green capitalism more broadly. In addition to compiling examples of ancient greenwashing of six so-called superfoods documented online, we also visited a sample of grocery stores to collect information about the accessibility, amount, and cost of ancient greenwashed quinoa and chia, and found a positive correlation between the brand prices of these foods and the presence of ancient greenwashing. We discuss these results and their implications for the ways ancient greenwashing works to mask deeper injustices in our food systems.

From dearth to excess: the rise of obesity in an ultra-processed food system.

More people now have obesity than suffer from starvation thanks to our modern food system. Agriculture was transformed over the 20th century by a variety of technological advancements that relied heavily on fossil fuels. In the United States, government policies and economic incentives led to surplus production of cheap inputs to processed food industries that produced a wide variety of heavily marketed, convenient, rewarding, timesaving, and relatively inexpensive ultra-processed foods. The energy available in the food supply increased by much more than the population needs, albeit with large inequities in nutrition security. While most of the rise in per capita food availability during the late 20th and early 21st centuries in the United States resulted in increased food waste, a variety of mechanisms have been proposed by which changes in the increasingly ultra-processed food environment resulted in excess energy intake disproportionately in people genetically susceptible to obesity. As populations continue to grow, substantial investments in coordinated nutrition and agricultural research are needed to transform our current food system to one that relies less on fossil fuels, preserves biodiversity, ensures environmental health, and provides equitable access to affordable, safe and nutritious food that reduces the prevalence of chronic diet-related diseases like obesity. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Causes of obesity: theories, conjectures and evidence (Part I)'.