Food systems

The term 'food systems' refers to all the elements and activities involved in food production, processing, distribution, consumption, and disposal, along with their economic, health, social, and environmental impacts.

While food systems serve many essential functions, they are fundamentally responsible for three interconnected goals:

1. Delivering food security and improved nutrition for a growing global population
2. Supporting the livelihoods of millions of people, including smallholders, family farmers and food workers across the agri-food supply chain
3. Ensuring that food is produced, distributed, and consumed in an environmentally sustainable and climate-resilient manner

This is often referred to as the 'triple challenge'. In addition to these objectives, food systems must also become more resilient to shocks, such as climate change, conflict, and economic disruption.

Despite their importance, today’s food systems are struggling to meet the triple challenge:

• Many people still lack regular access to safe, sufficient, and nutritious food, while overweight and obesity rates are rising globally.
• Structural changes are placing pressure on the livelihoods of people working along the food supply chain.
• The environmental cost of food production remains high—food systems are responsible for nearly one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions.

These challenges highlight the need for more coherent, inclusive, and forward-looking food policies to transform the way food is produced, traded, and consumed.

Food systems are influenced by a range of policies. This creates important opportunities to design better, more integrated and harmonised policies that address the triple challenge of ensuring food security and nutrition, supporting agri-food livelihoods, and improving environmental sustainability.

OECD analysis of agricultural policies across countries has identified ways to improve existing frameworks so they contribute more effectively to sustainable and resilient food systems.

However, food systems are also complex, and policy actions in one area can lead to unintended consequences in another. Policymakers must therefore consider interactions, trade-offs, and potential synergies across sectors when designing new measures.

Historically, many policies related to food systems have been developed in silos—without taking into account their broader impacts on food security and nutrition, climate goals, or economic equity. This limits their effectiveness.

A more coherent approach should:

• Align with a broad set of objectives
• Combine complementary policy instruments that work across sectors
• Help shift consumption patterns, particularly in higher-income countries, to support better nutrition outcomes and reduce the environmental footprint of food systems

OECD analyses help policymakers understand these dynamics and make more informed, forward-looking decisions that align food systems with global sustainability goals.

Policies for food systems are often contested due to differing perspectives and priorities. These disagreements typically fall into three categories:

• Facts: While much is known about food systems, important evidence gaps remain. Public perceptions may also not always align with scientific findings. Building a shared understanding of the facts through regulatory impact assessments, scientific advice, and stakeholder consultations is essential for sound policy development.
• Interests: Policy changes can create winners and losers. While stakeholder engagement is valuable, it is vital to guard against policy capture, where decisions serve narrow interests rather than the public good. Transparent, accountable processes help reduce this risk.
• Values: Food systems involve questions that often reflect competing values. In some cases, policies can be adjusted to accommodate diverse views. In others, difficult trade-offs are unavoidable. Deliberative processes can help foster constructive dialogue and build legitimacy for decisions.

OECD work has identified good practices for designing inclusive, evidence-based policy processes that support balanced, forward-looking decisions and help manage diverse views around facts, interests, and values.