Food Systems

Abstract

The UN Food System Summit seeks to alter food systems to be healthier, safer, more sustainable, more efficient, and more equitable. This paper aims to inform the public and stakeholders interested in the Food Systems Summit about concepts and definitions of food systems and determinations of their change. To foster a clear understanding of food systems, especially with regard to the upcoming Food Systems Summit, we first present a general food system concept. We then introduce a concept based on science that provides a definition that the Food System Summit can use with the five goal-oriented Action Tracks (serving SDG2) and their interlinkages. We suggest a food system definition that encompasses food system thinking and the broad set of actors and drivers, embedding the concept of sustainability within it.