Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Current patterns of food production and consumption are widely recognised as unsustainable. This review explores opportunities to shift food systems towards healthy diets and secure food yields while remaining within planetary resource boundaries. Drawing on improved global data on the environmental impacts of different foods, we adopt a systems perspective to examine the interconnected nexus of health, diets and the global environment, with particular attention to the role of future urban food systems. As the global population becomes increasingly urbanised, cities have the potential to reshape food systems and urban infrastructure. Our analysis suggests that the Earth could feed some 10 billion people by the end of the century on less than half of today’s agricultural land if diets shift towards more plant-based and soilless foods, food waste is substantially reduced, and nutrients from urban waste streams are recycled as complementary fertilisers. Such changes could halve food-related air emissions, help restore biodiversity and contain the risk of crossing several planetary boundaries. They could also halt further expansion of cropland and pasture. From a health perspective, a shift towards predominantly plant-based diets, combined with lower intakes of calories, sugar, salt, fat, red meat and ultra-processed foods, could reduce obesity and non-communicable diseases, potentially extending life expectancy by up to a decade and preventing an estimated 15 million premature deaths annually. Importantly, many of these interventions could generate benefits within months or years, making dietary change and nutrient recycling potentially much faster levers for transformation than changes to long-lived infrastructure such as cars and roads.
Author: Jan-Olof Drangert
Institution: Linköping University
Language: English
Subfield: Ecology
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,353
OpenAlex ID: W7213465358