Determining Health: Food systems issue brief (2024)

This issue brief explores the connections between food systems and human health and well-being in the Canadian context, as part of the Determining Health series of the National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health. It is also available in French. This issue brief is intended for public health practitioners, decision-makers, researchers, and students looking to learn about the public health relevance of (industrial) food systems and the urgent need for their transformation.

The resource is divided into four sections:

  • Section 1 introduces food systems and their major components, defining food systems as the “webs of activities, people, institutions and processes that bring food from the fields, forests and waters to our plates, and beyond”.
  • Section 2 explains why food systems matter for public health policy and practice. It describes their importance for meeting populations’ nutritional needs and highlights key issues with Canada’s industrial food systems, the dominant type of food system in the country.
  • Section 3 draws on peer-reviewed and grey literature from 42 sources to explain five pathways linking industrial food systems to health inequities.
  • Section 4 concludes the document and underscores that all public health practitioners and organizations have a role in helping build healthier, more sustainable and just food systems.  

Use this resource to

  • Build understanding of food systems and their major components
  • Facilitate discussion on how industrial food systems contribute to health inequities in the Canadian context
  • Support food system-related public health interventions

View/download the resource

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