Agriculture is also the single largest driver of biodiversity loss and eutrophication of water bodies. Further, the homogenisation of our food system towards high-calorie processed foods and drinks with low nutritional quality, has led to an explosion of obesity rates, diabetes and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) worldwide. At the same time, nearly nine hundred million people still go hungry and we throw away about a third of all the food we produce, a symptom of the distributional challenges that also characterise the way our food system currently operates.

Yet this challenge also presents major opportunities. The research community is increasingly recognising the need for an integrated approach to addressing the food-health-sustainability nexus, and thereby to conduct research across the formerly siloed fields of sustainability, public health, nutrition, and food and veterinary sciences. Assessing the environmental and health impacts of food systems in tandem can help identifying major win-win solutions and innovations across the food supply-chain, benefiting both human health and the environment. Solutions that enable lesser pesticide or antibiotics use are just two examples of such win-wins.

There is also significant scope for cost mitigation in the public sector by implementing integrated measures for reducing the health and environmental impacts of food systems. A business-as-usual trajectory is projected to cost the global economy some US$47 trillion over the next two decades, and the loss of ecosystems due to land use change has been estimated to cost society US$ 4.3-20.2 trillion per year this past decade. Hence, policy measures incentivising healthier and more sustainable food production within the private sector are key in enabling this transition and the associated cost savings. There are many first-mover businesses already implementing best practice on the ground – these need stronger policy support, and the scalability of their business models needs being assessed more closely by the research community.

Policy also needs to step up the effort in providing incentives that encourage consumers to make healthier and more sustainable food choices. The better food options should be the cheapest and most easy access – the current paradigm is defined by the opposite. The private sector, and particularly retailers, also have a major role to play in ‘nudging’ consumers to choose better food alternatives, for instance through in-store product placement. Ultimately, it is us consumers that vote with our wallets, and it is our moral duty to inform ourselves about the food we eat, where it comes from and how it is produced. We need to recognise that our daily food choices can have tremendous positive impact. Let’s therefore use this leverage and improve the health of people and planet – bite by bite!