Reports – Page 13 – Sustainability

TABLE (website)

This is a dynamic collection of open-sourced resources that is regularly updated and expanded. Created by a collaboration between the University of Oxford, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), and Wageningen University and Research (WUR), it is grounded in robust, academic research. Supporters and funders of the project and contributors to specific resources are clearly identified. While the resource examines food systems issues globally, contributors and funders are exclusively from industrialized nation institutions and organizations.

TABLE is a global platform for knowledge synthesis, for reflective, critical thinking and for inclusive dialogue on debates about the future of food. TABLE’s mission is a recipe for better dialogue. TABLE seeks to facilitate informed discussions about how the food system can become sustainable, resilient, just, and ultimately “good”. They impartially set out the evidence, assumptions, and values that people bring to food system debates. TABLE’s goal therefore is to engage with a wide range of stakeholders and perspectives to reflect on values, to clarify the arguments, assumptions and evidence around issues of concern, and – where possible – to identify points of commonality.

Table has a wide range of food systems resources:

explainers (short, peer-reviewed introductions to concepts that are important for understanding food systems and food sustainability),
building blocks (shorter explanations of single concepts)
an interactive glossary
a frequently updated research library
a community platform
and their own TABLE publications and projects including reports, articles, interviews, webinars, and videos.

TABLE is the successor to the Food Climate Research Network (FCRN), based at the University of Oxford, which for 15 years conducted, synthesised, and communicated research on food sustainability.

Food Systems Academy (website)

This website is an openly available, educational site. The lectures are recorded with leading thinkers in food systems. They are transparent about where the ideas originate, and funding: it received initial funding from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation. All materials are available in English only. As of 2024, the blog is updated regularly as well as social media sites.

Food Systems and Environmental Sustainability Role Statement (2021)

The Food and Environment Interest Group of the Dietetic Association of Australia has created a role statement to identify the many key roles a dietitian plays within the topic of environmental sustainability and food systems. This role statement defines the potential roles of dietitians, their broad area of knowledge, and “advocates for dietetic services” in a food system around environmental sustainability.

This role statement was adopted in 2019 and was reviewed in 2021 and will be reviewed in 2022 again. Its priority focus is the population of Australia but can be adapted to fit a variety of geographic regions.

Food Systems Dashboard (2020)

This web-based tool is based in high-quality data sources from around the world. The authors and affiliations are clearly stated. The concepts and data are global in scope.

The Dashboard contains over 150 indicators that measure components, drivers, and outcomes of food systems at the country level. As new indicators and data become available, the Dashboard will be updated. Most data used for the Dashboard is open source and available to download directly from the website. Data is pooled from FAO, Euromonitor International, World Bank, and other global and regional data source

The Food Systems Dashboard combines data from multiple sources to give users a complete view of food systems. Users can compare components of food systems across countries and regions. They can also identify and prioritize ways to sustainably improve diets and nutrition in their food systems. In recent years, the public health and nutrition communities have used dashboards to track the progress of health goals and interventions, including the Sustainable Development Goals. It is intended for a variety of actors including policy makers and analysts, researchers, and students.

“The Food Systems Dashboard. Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and Johns Hopkins University. 2020. Geneva, Switzerland. ” https://www.foodsystemsdashboard.org. DOI: https://doi.org/10.36072/db.

Foresight – La démarche prospective

This study was commissioned by the Federal Office for Agriculture in 2016. Authors and affiliations are clear. It considers the Swiss population but is applicable to a wide-variety of populations around the world.

Global Nutrition Report (annual)

The Global Nutrition Report is an annually updated, web-based, data-led assessment of progress towards and challenges in ending global malnutrition.

The Global Nutrition Report has an Independent Expert Panel that is responsible for the report’s data analysis and conclusions and accountable for its quality and independence. It is produced annually by a stakeholder group consisting of government, donor organizations, civil society, multilateral organizations and business sector representatives. Members of this panel represent “wide-ranging expertise from across the nutrition community” and are clearly identified on the website.

Country, region and global level data are available. Country-level nutrition profiles and data as well as region-specific resources to help dietitians advocate for better nutrition outcomes through changes in policy and practice are available.

Eco-smart food choices

This resource was created by the Swedish Food Agency who is passionate about the environmental issues in the food sector. This resource is dynamic and transparent in terms content and information provided.

Climate Change and Food Systems (2012)

Vermeulen SJ, Campbell BM, & Ingram JS. Climate change and food systems. Annual Review of Environment and Resources 2012 37:1, 195-222. https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev-environ-020411-130608

This peer-reviewed article from 2012 reviews and uses a wide range of robust, academic studies. It considers information from a diversity of global contexts and data sources.

Abstract
Food systems contribute 19%–29% of global anthropogenic green-
house gas (GHG) emissions, releasing 9,800–16,900 megatonnes of
carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e) in 2008. Agricultural production,
including indirect emissions associated with land-cover change, con-
tributes 80%–86% of total food system emissions, with significant re-
gional variation. The impacts of global climate change on food systems
are expected to be widespread, complex, geographically and tempo-
rally variable, and profoundly influenced by socioeconomic conditions.
Historical statistical studies and integrated assessment models provide
evidence that climate change will affect agricultural yields and earnings,
food prices, reliability of delivery, food quality, and, notably, food safety.
Low-income producers and consumers of food will be more vulnerable
to climate change owing to their comparatively limited ability to invest
in adaptive institutions and technologies under increasing climatic risks.
Some synergies among food security, adaptation, and mitigation are fea-
sible. But promising interventions, such as agricultural intensification
or reductions in waste, will require careful management to distribute
costs and benefits effectively.

Climate Change: Unpacking the Burden on Food Safety

This document is produced by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, and authors and perspectives clearly stated. The document is static in that there are no explicit plans for updating regularly. The evidence they rely on is included in an extensive list of references. The perspective is global in scope.

EAT (website)

EAT is a non-profit founded by the Stordalen Foundation, Stockholm Resilience Centre, and the Wellcome Trust, dedicated to transforming our global food system through sound science, impatient disruption, and novel partnerships. EAT is governed and managed by a board of trustees, while the advisory board provides management with strategic advice. EAT partners with a range of foundations, academic institutions, organizations, and companies with whom we collaborate on programs and who provide strategic advice, knowledge, and financial support to EAT.

EAT-Lancet Report: Healthy Diets from Sustainable Food Systems (2025)

The 2025 EAT-Lancet Commission Report on Healthy, Sustainable, and Just Food Systems, presents the most comprehensive global scientific evaluation of food systems to date. Key findings:

Shifting global diets could prevent up to 15 million premature deaths per year.
Food systems are the largest contributor to the transgression of five planetary boundaries.
Food systems currently account for roughly 30% of total greenhouse gas emissions globally. Transforming food systems could cut these emissions by more than half.
Fewer than 1% of the world’s population is currently in the ‘safe and just space’, where people’s rights and food needs are met within planetary boundaries.
The wealthiest 30% of people drive more than 70% of food-related environmental impacts.

Building on its influential 2019 report, the new Commission – comprising leading international experts in nutrition, climate, economics, health, social sciences, and agriculture from more than 35 countries across six continents – finds that shifting global diets could prevent approximately 15 million premature deaths per year. At the same time, concerted global efforts to transform food systems could bring us back within planetary boundaries and cut annual greenhouse gas emissions from food systems by more than half compared with a business-as-usual scenario.

The Commission’s findings stress that just food systems will be essential to achieving improved health and social development outcomes. Fewer than 1% of the world’s population is currently in the ‘safe and just space’, where people’s rights and food needs are met within planetary boundaries. According to the report, currently almost a third (32%) of food systems workers earn below a living wage. Meanwhile, the wealthiest 30% of people drive more than 70% of food-related environmental impacts, and despite global calorie sufficiency, more than 1 billion people remain undernourished.

In this moment of increasing instability,
food systems still offer an unprecedented opportunity
to build the resilience of environmental, health, economic, and social systems,
and are uniquely placed to enhance human wellbeing
while also contributing to Earth-system stability.

The analysis warns that even with a complete global transition away from fossil fuels, food systems could still push temperatures beyond 1.5°C. The planetary boundaries framework defines nine key Earth system processes that regulate life on Earth. The world has already passed six of these nine boundaries: climate, biodiversity, land, freshwater, nitrogen and phosphorus pollution, and novel entities (pesticides, antimicrobials, and microplastics). Food systems are the largest contributor to five of these transgressions and contribute around 30% of greenhouse gas emissions globally.

Other EAT Initiatives

To translate knowledge into scalable action, EAT programs, partnerships, and communities of action focus on indigenous peoples, youth, children, countries, cities, chefs, farmers/fishers, health professionals, businesses, policymakers, trade, and finance aiming to bring about change.

Below are highlights of a few initiatives that are useful for Dietitians-Nutritionists, but there are many. Do visit their website!

EAT Brief for Healthcare Professionals Download PDF

EAT Brief for Healthcare Professionals (2024)

This is a 2-page flyer with key points from the report, useful for busy professionals. Download under the image.

Note: A slight tweak in the brief would have been ideal, as ‘a food’ can be sustainable or not sustainable – it depends on the system the food comes from and how much we use. At the end of the brief there is a great point about “Focusing on sustainably grown [and processed] food to provide healthy foods and beverages from sustainable food systems to a high standard.” This could have been moved to page 1 and slightly edited to include processing to set the tone of ‘sustainable systems’ throughout the brief, along with a few other edits to match.

EAT-GlobeScan Grains of Truth report (2024)

The report offers a comprehensive look at the evolving global food landscape through the eyes of consumers. Highlighting a growing interest in plant-based diets, the report explores how economic factors, taste preferences, and regional differences are shaping—and sometimes slowing—the shift toward more sustainable eating habits. Based on a robust online survey of over 30,000 adults across 31 countries conducted in mid-2024, the findings reveal both the optimism driving change and the challenges that remain on the path to a global dietary transformation. Download the report here.

EAT Communities for Action (2025)

From Knowledge to Action: Driving the Food System Change We Need. In the lead up to the October release of the 2025 EAT-Lancet Commission report, EAT, working in collaboration with global partners, is running a series of structured dialogues to accelerate progress towards healthy, sustainable, and just food systems. At the center of this initiative are nine Communities for Action, each representing a distinct stakeholder group within the global food system. These communities are composed of frontline actors working to improve how food is produced, distributed, and consumed. Click through to join.

Updated February 2026