Specifically in 2023, China endured record-breaking heatwaves during the summer, with temperatures peaking at 41.8 oC in Beijing and a staggering 52.2 oC in Xinjiang’s Turpan, and more than 40 high-temperature warnings. Heat stress has exceeded the upper limit for optimal crop growth4, leading to reduced yields, premature ripening and greater susceptibility to pests and diseases. Rising temperatures

If people with unhealthy or typical dietary patterns in the UK were to follow the Eatwell Guide recommendations or longevity-associated dietary patterns, they would likely see substantial gains in life expectancy.

Today’s nutrition crisis is a manifestation of the broader malfunctioning of our global food system. The specific factors linking the two warrant further investigation.

Simple dietary changes could cut carbon footprints, but the impact on other aspects of environmental sustainability and nutrition must be carefully considered.

Food systems transformations are necessary, but will be difficult to achieve without disrupting current political framings and governance mechanisms. The academic community can do more to drive change at the science–policy interface to open a larger political, social and economic space for progress.

To address the concern about 2,4-DNT pollution, Jian-Jie Gao from the Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China, et al. have designed engineered rice plants that can consume and utilize 2,4-DNT. The team constructed a vector with a 2,4-DNT degradative pathway that included five biodegradative enzymes with eight gene expression cassettes in a tandem manner. The recombinant vector was transformed

Forslund et al. used a global biomass model, adjusted for livestock feed parameters, to explore food supplies in 21 world regions and 33 agri-food products. They identified that achieving healthy diets in 2050 without further farmland expansion would not be possible in several parts of the world, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa due to pastureland needs, India, parts of Asia, Near- and Middle-East

Laury Sellem, from the Sorbonne Paris Nord University and Université Paris Cité, et al. have studied the consumption of food additive emulsifiers in the diet on the risk of cardiovascular disease from the NutriNet-Santé prospective cohort. The study involved 95,442 adult participants (>18 years of age) with no prevalence of cardiometabolic disease. Emulsifier intake was quantified from at least three

Public health policies can have implications beyond their intended outcomes. A causal-loop diagram for sugar-sweetened beverage taxes was developed using a systems-thinking approach, emphasizing the trajectory of different outcomes over time.

With a better understanding of the soil microbiome and its interactions with plants, designing a synthetic bacterial community may complement current agricultural practices to enhance plant performance on marginal soils.

This year’s World Food Day is themed around water, in recognition of the essential connection between water and food. More research on the food–water nexus is key to guide effective solutions for our food and water crises.

A global assessment of agricultural production reveals a surplus or deficit of food compared to requirements for a healthy diet in many regions, flagging opportunities to reduce the coexistence of undernutrition and obesity.

The many roles of animals in modern agriculture and food systems have come under considerable scrutiny in the context of sustainability. A recent Correspondence1 presented The Dublin Declaration of scientists, outlining the societal roles of meat, as well as the key messages aimed to rebalance contemporary debates on the role of meat and livestock (first presented in a special issue on the same topic

Model simulations show regional disparities in the responses of national crop productions to a suite of solar geoengineering scenarios that reflect sunlight to cool Earth.

Nutrient recycling is key for the circularity and sustainability of food systems. Understanding the movement of phosphorus through trade enables better geospatial planning and highlights opportunities for more effective global phosphorus governance.

The success of the European Union’s Farm to Fork strategy depends on the success of the expected legislative framework for sustainable food systems and the design and implementation of a new food systems governance architecture. Key elements include deliberative food systems governance and democracy, science–policy interfaces, independent progress monitoring, obligatory reporting rules and strategic

Minister Mark Spencer announced in May 2023 a reversing of the decision to develop a strategy for horticulture. Instead, the government says it now wants to focus on a labour review and a farming innovation programme. Dimbleby’s independent review in 2021 (ref. 6) had set out how UK diets will need to change over the next ten years to meet the government’s targets on health, climate and nature. By

Zeller et al. collected more than 4,000 nasal swabs from pigs in Cambodia between March 2020 and July 2022; the authors then performed whole-genome sequencing and evolutionary and phylogeographic analyses to explore virus strains and spread. The H1N1 subtype was present in 80% of samples. European avian-like (EA) H1N2 reassortant genotypes were generated through the intercontinental movement of different

Charlotte Debras, from the Sorbonne Paris Nord University, et al. have studied the associations between the consumption of artificial sweeteners — aspartame, acesulfame-K and sucralose — in the diet and the risk of T2D within the NutriNet-Santé cohort. The cohort comprises 105,588 participants who were followed for a median of 9.1 years. Artificial sweetener consumption reported in repeated 24-h dietary

Our recent research exploring AISP impact on diets in Malawi2,3 — specifically, the impact of the country’s Farm Input Subsidy Programme (FISP), implemented from 2005 to 2020 — highlights the need for caution with repurposing subsidies. Here, we explore three key reasons for it: apart from policy implementers, the beneficiaries themselves shape policy outcomes; vested interests also shape policy processes

Africa is still battling with hunger and malnutrition. While there are reasons for hope, accelerated transformation depends on curbing predatory behaviour and ensuring that change comes from the continent itself.

Recent studies have estimated the potential yield impacts of pesticide reductions in the European Union. While these estimates guide policy design, they are often based on worst-case assumptions and rarely account for positive ecological feedbacks that would contribute to sustainable crop yields in the long term.

Inadequate intakes of animal-derived foods, fruits and vegetables contribute to widespread malnutrition and nutritional deficiencies in Bangladesh. Combining aquatic food with crop production can maximize the nutritional and economic output of smallholder farms.

Agriculture-related air pollution in China affects human and environmental health. A county-level campaign shows it is possible to coordinate efforts among smallholders for ammonia reduction.

Now, Xu-Wen Wang, from Harvard Medical School, et al. have analysed dietary intake collected daily, monthly or over a year from five different cohorts. Within each cohort, the authors assessed the relative change in the food and nutrient profiles of selected participants, by counting food items and the amount of each nutrient in grams, respectively. They found that the food intake profile within a

To dissect the genetic diversity in the section, Ilayda Bozan, from McGill University, Canada, et al. constructed a pangenome of Petota composed of 296 accessions representing a broad range of wild species, landraces and cultivars with different ploidy levels. The team found that the mean gene count of wild species is considerably lower compared to the landraces and cultivars, and, in general, the

Now, Kaela Connors, from the Harvard School of Public Health, and colleagues have explored the association between women’s empowerment and farm-level crop diversity. Statistical analyses were applied to cross-sectional data from studies conducted in Burkina Faso, India, Malawi and Tanzania. Women’s empowerment was measured across five domains that integrate the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index

Hassell and colleagues collected data from human, livestock and wildlife species faecal samples, and their shared environment in household settings, and then performed whole-genome sequencing on 1,428 Escherichia coli isolates. Transmission potential networks constructed from pairwise sharing of mobile genetic elements and incorporated in a multilayer network framework demonstrated that transfer of

After the UNFSS +2, it is time to look at grassroots movements and bottom-up efforts to improve food systems — and to work towards their convergence.