Celebrated annually on October 16, World Food Day is a key global event focused on raising awareness about food security and hunger. Established by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 1979, this day highlights the ongoing challenges of hunger, malnutrition, and the need for sustainable food systems. World Food Day engages governments, communities, and organizations to take action towards ending hunger and achieving food security for all. This year's theme, “Hand in hand for better food and a better future!”, calls for global solidarity in building a more sustainable and equitable food system for all.
The content aligns primarily with SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) by emphasizing sustainable agriculture as a solution to food insecurity, while also supporting SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), SDG 13 (Climate Action), and SDG 15 (Life on Land) through its focus on climate resilience, sustainable diets, and ecosystem restoration. It further contributes to SDG 1 (No Poverty) and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals) by addressing the socio-economic dimensions of hunger and calling for collaborative, cross-sectoral action.
The content aligns with SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) and SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being) by promoting cellular agriculture as a means to enhance food security, improve nutrition, and reduce foodborne and zoonotic diseases. It also supports SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) and SDG 13 (Climate Action) by offering a more sustainable alternative to traditional animal agriculture that reduces environmental impact and antimicrobial resistance.
The content aligns with SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) by promoting the valorization of agroindustrial residues like rice bran to reduce waste and create value-added products. It also supports SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure) through its focus on research and development for industrial applications in biorefinery systems.
Agriculture faces the increasing demands of a growing global population amid simultaneous challenges to soils from climate change and human-induced contamination. Cover plants are vital in sustainable agriculture, contributing to soil health improvement, erosion prevention, and enhanced climate resilience, but their role in contaminant management is underexplored. Herein we review the utilization of cover plants for remediating contaminants such as metals, organic pollutants, nitrate, antibiotics, antimicrobial resistance genes, plastics, and salts.
In low- and middle-income countries, there is growing evidence that trees in landscapes can support healthy diets. Yet, the bulk of this evidence is based on broad-scale associations and thus fails to tease apart the contributions of different types of trees. Here, we examine how the use of on-farm trees for food, income, and fuel relates to micronutrient adequacy (vitamin A, zinc, iron, and folate) and food sourcing patterns in rural Malawi. We used data from socioeconomic, land use, and dietary surveys conducted with 460 women in both the dry and wet seasons.
The study reveals that achieving both environmental sustainability and nutrient adequacy in the diets of children and adolescents is challenging, as diets richer in nutrients tend to have a greater ecological footprint. While there is some evidence of recent improvements in diet-related environmental indicators, substantial capacity for change remains. The article calls for targeted interventions and population-specific dietary guidelines that consider both health and environmental impacts, particularly for vulnerable youth populations. More comprehensive research is needed to develop sustainable dietary strategies that do not compromise essential nutrition for growing children and adolescents.
Foods are essential for life, but foods can be life-threatening for people with food allergy. This collection of articles from the April 2025 issue of JACI: In Practice provides up to date information on many important aspects of food allergy
Foods are essential for life, but foods can be life-threatening for people with food allergy. This collection of articles from the April 2025 issue of JACI: In Practice provides up to date information on many important aspects of food allergy
Foods are essential for life, but foods can be life-threatening for people with food allergy. This collection of articles from the April 2025 issue of JACI: In Practice provides up to date information on many important aspects of food allergy
Foods are essential for life, but foods can be life-threatening for people with food allergy. This collection of articles from the April 2025 issue of JACI: In Practice provides up to date information on many important aspects of food allergy
Foods are essential for life, but foods can be life-threatening for people with food allergy. This collection of articles from the April 2025 issue of JACI: In Practice provides up to date information on many important aspects of food allergy
Foods are essential for life, but foods can be life-threatening for people with food allergy. This collection of articles from the April 2025 issue of JACI: In Practice provides up to date information on many important aspects of food allergy
This study applied sodium lignosulfonate (SL) and ZnO nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) as functional filler and structure components, respectively, on the cellulose nanofibers (CNFs)-based films, which shows promise towards improving shelf life in food packaging.
The article demonstrates that while healthier diets often align with reduced environmental impacts in several domains, significant trade-offs exist, particularly regarding water use and cost. Diet quality indexes that emphasize plant-based foods offer the most consistent sustainability benefits. However, no diet pattern is without drawbacks, underscoring the importance of nuanced, multidimensional assessments and the integration of nutrition and sustainability data to inform effective policy and clear public guidance.
REFRESH is a practical, reliable tool for assessing dietary patterns that benefit both human health and the environment. Its simplicity and strong validity make it suitable for clinical, epidemiological, and self-assessment purposes, enabling broader promotion and adoption of sustainable healthy diets. By bridging the gap between health and sustainability in diet evaluation, REFRESH supports health professionals and the public in making informed dietary choices, contributing to improved health outcomes and reduced environmental impacts.
Global water savings can be achieved by trading crops from countries with higher to lower water productivity. However, strengthening such water-saving trade links could intensify global water stress if exports come from water-stressed countries to less stressed ones. Here, we explore whether international crop trade can alleviate global water stress using a virtual scarce water saving/loss indicator and refined trade matrices for 109 crops across 150 countries.
The study demonstrates that adopting more climate-friendly diets, which typically involve reduced animal-based food consumption and lower absolute micronutrient intakes, does not substantially increase the risk of micronutrient deficiencies for most nutrients. These findings underscore the importance of assessing both dietary intake and actual nutrient status when evaluating the nutritional consequences of sustainable eating patterns, supporting the potential health and environmental benefits of shifting toward climate-friendly diets.
The article concludes that advancing sustainable diet research and policy in the United States requires regular federal updates and integration of the Food Commodity Intake Database within the national nutrition data system. The FCIDs unique ability to link dietary data to multiple sustainability domains makes it indispensable for comprehensive analysis. Without timely updates and coordinated efforts, research will remain limited and policy decisions inadequately informed, hindering progress towards healthier, more sustainable food systems. Increased federal investment and interagency collaboration are necessary to build robust data infrastructure supporting sustainable diet initiatives and improved public health outcomes.
This review focuses especially on the convertibility of CO2 reduction to generate ethylene technology in practical applications and provides a detailed summary of the latest technologies for the efficient production of ethylene by CO2RR and suggests the potential application of CO2RR systems in food science to further expand the application market of CO2RR for ethylene production
The article concludes that meeting South East Asia s protein needs demands a dual focus on both quantity and quality, tailored to population-specific requirements and life stages. Sustainable solutions should leverage a mix of animal, plant, and novel protein sources, prioritizing local resources and innovations that enhance nutritional value and consumer acceptance. It cautions against simplistic shifts to plant-based diets, given persistent undernutrition and socioeconomic disparities, and stresses that future food policies and innovations must be guided by nutrient adequacy, environmental sustainability, safety, and cultural relevance to ensure robust and equitable improvements in regional nutrition.
The article concludes that the Mediterranean diet (MD) stands out as a model for sustainable and healthy eating, offering significant benefits for both human and planetary health. While it does not outperform vegetarian or vegan diets in terms of environmental impact, its nutritional quality, cultural acceptance, and moderate environmental footprint make it a practical and valuable dietary pattern. To maximize its benefits, policy and educational efforts should promote MD adherence and integrate sustainability considerations into dietary recommendations, addressing the challenges posed by globalization and shifting food preferences. Standardizing environmental impact measurements and considering broader sustainability indicators remain important areas for future research.
Sustainable healthy diets in South Asia require a deeper understanding of food choice drivers at household, adolescent, and market levels. Addressing knowledge gaps through interdisciplinary research, improved measurement tools, and collaborative efforts is vital for guiding policy and program interventions. As food systems rapidly transform and ultraprocessed foods proliferate, targeted research and evidence-based strategies are essential to promote healthy, equitable, and sustainable diets for all populations in the region.
Foods are essential for life, but foods can be life-threatening for people with food allergy. This collection of articles from the April 2025 issue of JACI: In Practice provides up to date information on many important aspects of food allergy
This perspective highlights strategies for modeling salt tolerance mechanisms, including root system architecture adaptation, salt filtration, adaptation of plant hydraulics, ion compartmentalization, and stomatal responses, to improve model representation and prediction.
The article advocates for the Mediterranean Lifestyle Pyramid as a comprehensive, evidence-based framework to improve the health of children and adolescents. By integrating balanced nutrition, physical activity, sleep, social connections, and environmental sustainability, the pyramid addresses both individual well-being and broader ecological concerns. Early adoption of these habits can reduce future chronic disease risk and promote a healthier, more connected society. The pyramid is recommended for use by families, educators, and policymakers to foster lifelong healthy behaviors and support planetary health.
This study examines how multilingual elementary students use concept maps in an after-school science club to communicate scientific ideas, revealing that they position themselves as competent learners by making flexible language choices and incorporating personal experiences.
By minimizing food waste and optimizing production through predictive analytics and real-time monitoring, as well as by enhancing product quality and safety to improve food security and access to nutritious food the proposed framework reaches optimum organic food production. The alignment of production with demand forecasts also helps reduce waste and ensure the availability of the right products.
Consumers' negative emotions like food neophobia and disgust, driven by evolutionary risk assessment mechanisms, hinder acceptance of future foods. To promote sustainable food innovation, these behavioral responses must be addressed, as novel foods often signal danger and are readily rejected despite their safety.
This study examines factors influencing preprimary teacher turnover in peri-urban Ghana, finding that 22% of teachers left their positions within a school year. Psychological well-being, including depression, anxiety, and job satisfaction, was the strongest predictor of turnover and mediated the impact of personal stressors. The findings emphasize the importance of holistic support addressing both personal and professional needs to improve teacher retention and education quality.
This research underscores the potential of aquaponic systems to contribute to sustainable urban food production while emphasizing the importance of stringent water quality and hygiene practices to ensure food safety in global food systems.
Afghanistan faces severe food insecurity, with millions suffering hunger and malnutrition, especially children, due to economic hardship, climate change, and poor infrastructure. Improving agricultural practices, healthcare, and safety standards is crucial for enhancing the country's food security and well-being.
This case study of K-12 educators in British Columbia explores how teachers’ motivations influence their approaches to food systems education. Findings reveal a strong emphasis on helping students understand food’s role in sustainability and its links to environmental, economic, and social issues. The study highlights how educators’ intentions shape the practices they adopt in teaching about food systems.
This review highlights how essential oils can be effectively used as natural food preservatives through advanced delivery and packaging techniques, supporting the shift toward environmentally friendly alternatives to synthetic chemicals in global food systems while addressing sensory and regulatory challenges.
A high plant-based diet index was associated with a lower risk of frailty in older Chinese adults, especially in men and those with healthy lifestyles. Consistently maintaining a high plant-based diet over time significantly reduced the risk of frailty. The protective effects of a plant-based diet against frailty were not observed in women and those unhealthy lifestyles, suggesting gender and lifestyle-specific differences.
This article highlights the vulnerability of ready-to-eat fruits and vegetables to bacterial contamination from various pre- and post-harvest sources, emphasizing that understanding pathogen-plant interactions is essential for safeguarding global food systems and reducing foodborne illness outbreaks.
Presentation of a data-driven, personalized nutrition risk assessment algorithm that utilizes food frequency questionnaires to identify dietary diversity clusters and examine their associations with health outcomes among middle-aged and older individuals in Taiwan. The study identified four dietary diversity clusters and found that the "most diverse" cluster had lower risks of developing hypertension, diabetes, and mortality compared to the "least diverse".
This article examines the association between the Chinese version of the MIND diet (cMIND) and cognitive impairment in older Chinese adults. The study found that higher adherence to the cMIND diet was associated with a lower risk of cognitive impairment.
This cohort study found that decreasing the consumption of overall and healthful plant-based di was associated with a higher risk of total mortality, whereas decreasing the consumption of an unhealthful plant-based diet was associated with a lower risk of total mortality in older adults.
Diet has a large impact on greenhouse gases with those that consume more animal protein seen as generating higher emissions. This study examines Asian diet preferences and finds that most are unpersuaded to shift their diet, but self-enhancement framing can be helpful.
Global food insecurity persists despite increased production, highlighting the need for sustainable solutions like "Smart Foods" such as buckwheat, which is nutrient-dense, climate-resilient, and rich in bioactive compounds. Leveraging buckwheat’s genetic potential and diverse applications can promote health benefits and help address future nutritional challenges.
The study evaluated the effects of a personalized dietary strategy based on individualized foods and digital tools on the overall health status and quality of life in older adults with overweight or obesity. The precision approach demonstrated significantly better outcomes compared to standard recommendations, including improvements in body weight, body composition, metabolic health, and quality of life.
Foods are essential for life, but foods can be life-threatening for people with food allergy. This collection of articles from the April 2025 issue of JACI: In Practice provides up to date information on many important aspects of food allergy.
This study examines Australian teachers' experiences with preventive health programs, revealing that past initiatives were seen as unsustainable and ineffective. Teachers emphasized the need for co-designed, relevant interventions focusing on mental wellbeing, social connections, and practical activities but faced barriers like heavy workloads and unsupportive school cultures.
The conflict in Sudan since April 2023 has displaced many academics and students, disrupting education and causing financial hardship. The study highlights how war-related inflation and destruction have worsened food insecurity and healthcare destruction, emphasising the urgent need for international aid to support recovery and rebuild the academic sector.
This article presents an integrated pest management solution that uses deep learning for semi-automated pest detection and an expert system for pest management decision making. The proposed system also aims to minimize the use of harmful pesticides, promoting more sustainable agricultural practices.
The full-process crop management and harvesting scheme with integrated space information can improve the intelligence and precision of crop management and harvesting processes. By optimizing field management, yield estimation, and harvesting path planning, the scheme can increase crop yields and quality, leading to higher economic benefits for farmers.
Foods are essential for life, but foods can be life-threatening for people with food allergy. This collection of articles from the April 2025 issue of JACI: In Practice provides up to date information on many important aspects of food allergy
Foods are essential for life, but foods can be life-threatening for people with food allergy. This collection of articles from the April 2025 issue of JACI: In Practice provides up to date information on many important aspects of food allergy
The intermittency of the food deserts positions Chile as halfway between the Global South and North models. The particularity of this model is that intermittently and regularly provides a healthy food environment within food deserts. Additionally, it has the potential to be planned for overcoming structural inequalities in spatial fresh food access. With a focus on Concepcion, Chile, this article analyses the importance of the spatiotemporal dimension in food access studies where a healthy diet depends on systems other than supermarkets characterized by intermittent operation over a week.
This study examines the 6-year longitudinal associations between dietary patterns, intrinsic capacity (IC), and IC sub-domains in community-dwelling Korean older adults. The key findings are that in older men, the "variety of healthy foods and alcohols" dietary pattern was positively associated with changes in IC score, while in older women, the "variety of healthy foods" pattern was positively associated with changes in IC score, IC score group, and psychological domain.
Digestate is a widely-used liquid alternative to mineral fertiliser, but nutrients readily leech from it, limiting its application. Here, the authors use a porous silicon material to enhance digestate, improving nutrient retention and crop yields.
Global industrial meat production drives major social and ecological harms, yet policy debates often neglect the role of corporate power in sustaining these impacts. Through case studies, this study shows how industry concentration, government ties, weak regulation, and cultural norms enable externalized costs, and calls for systemic policies that confront meat industry power within the broader food system
Crop rotation diversity can enhance agricultural sustainability and reduce climate-related risks, but adoption remains limited by economic and informational barriers. Analysis of 36,000 yield observations from long-term North American trials shows that while maize and soybean yields rise with rotation diversity, overall outcomes vary by site, with trade-offs from lower-yield crops but clear benefits under poor growing conditions
This article examines the development of a Nature Farming (NF) system standard for poultry production in Brazil, aiming to better communicate the sustainability attributes of NF products throughout the supply chain. Through qualitative research with various stakeholders, the study highlights the unique environmental, economic, social, ethical, and health dimensions of NF poultry and proposes clearer labeling and certification standards. The findings suggest that establishing a dedicated NF standard can enhance product differentiation, improve consumer communication, and support sustainable supply chain management.
The study explores democratisation processes that aim to increase popular control over the production of urban food environments. Based on a case study of East-Central London and using assemblage thinking as an analytical framework, this article explores how more democratic food environments are being (dis)assembled. Our findings highlight the complexity of (dis)assembling practices, which are shaping a partial and fragile version of urban (food) democracy, shifting control away from capitalist structures but, at the same time, relying on state's support for co-designing and co-managing democratic food environments.
The article explores the associations between three healthy dietary patterns (DASH, aMED, and HDS) and homeostatic dysregulation (HD), a measure of aging-related physiological dysregulation, in a large prospective cohort from less-developed ethnic minority regions in China.
In a bid to tackle the world’s growing demand for sustainable protein, South Korean scientists have successfully grown beef cells inside rice grains. The process involves enzyme-treating rice to support cell growth, then infusing it with bovine cells that develop into a pinkish, meat-like grain. Researchers say the hybrid food could offer a low-cost, low-emission alternative to traditional livestock farming — a potential breakthrough as nations grapple with climate pressures and food security challenges.
The global food system faces mounting pressures from climate change, resource competition, conflict, and markets, with the harshest impacts falling on nutritionally vulnerable populations. Meeting this challenge demands a paradigm shift in how food is grown and distributed, supported by new science, policy reforms, and broad transformations from farm to fork.
This study examines the role of women’s leadership in the Wahana Usaha Jaya Cooperative in Bandung, Indonesia, in promoting household food waste reduction and community engagement. Findings show that WUJ’s spiritually motivated and economically empowering strategies effectively encourage waste reduction, particularly among women, despite ongoing infrastructural challenges. The study highlights that women-led, community-based cooperatives offer effective, context-sensitive models for urban environmental governance and advancing food security in the Global South.
This study examines the impact of living conditions on cognitive function in older adults in China, and explores the role of plant-based dietary patterns in mitigating the negative effects of poor living conditions. The key finding is that living in fair or poor conditions was associated with an increased risk of developing cognitive impairment, and this association was more pronounced in the "Low-stable-decreasing PDI" group compared to the "High-rapid-decreasing PDI" group.
Multiple-season farming is linked to greater crop diversity, higher food consumption, and improved food security—especially for better-off and male-headed households—though it shows no significant effect on child nutrition. This approach also suggests potential benefits for household resilience, highlighting the need to support poorer and female-headed households in accessing resources for multiple-season cultivation.
This study identified the gene PpNLR1 and its promoter variation as key factors conferring green peach aphid (GPA) resistance in peach, regulated by jasmonate-induced transcription factor PpERF109. Additionally, GPA salivary effectors activate the peach immune response through PpNLR1, offering valuable insights for breeding aphid-resistant peach cultivars.
Low-income citizens show the highest support for food labeling and educational campaigns, viewing them as effective and less intrusive, while taxation and checkout prompts are least accepted due to perceived invasiveness. Policy support is strongly influenced by perceived effectiveness, intrusiveness, and individuals’ existing behaviors, suggesting tailored approaches are needed to improve acceptance and impact.
As one of the most food-insecure countries of the Global South, Ethiopia has experienced significant land-use changes driven by economic development and population growth. This study examined the dynamic land use transitions in Ethiopia during the period 2000–2020 including the socio-economic factors driving land-use transitions and grain demand. Although the sustained growth in international trade coupled with increased productivity has benefited the country's food supply, the food security situation in low-income countries, including Ethiopia, will remain critical in the context of population growth.
With an estimated 2 billion people worldwide suffering from iron deficiency — a condition linked to anemia, impaired childhood brain development, and higher infant mortality — researchers are racing to find more effective nutritional interventions. MIT scientists have developed a promising solution: tiny crystalline particles known as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) that can be used to fortify everyday foods and beverages, mixed into foods such as bread or sprinkled directly into drinks like coffee or tea.
This study explores the food and nutrition security practices among artisanal and small-scale mining communities in Nigeria, revealing both strengths, such as access to local foods and purchasing power, and significant challenges, including meal skipping, poor water quality, and limited healthcare access. The findings emphasize the need for comprehensive interventions to improve nutrition, healthcare infrastructure, and social protection, which are essential for the well-being and sustainable development of these mining communities.
The ecological intensification index (EII) is a new tool that helps balance agricultural productivity with environmental sustainability by quantifying both crop yields and ecological services like soil carbon storage. It guides farmers and policymakers in adopting practices that maximize food production while minimizing ecological damage, supporting sustainable agriculture in a changing climate.
This study sequenced genomes from major Morchellaceae clades to clarify their ecological lifestyles, finding that true morels are primarily saprotrophic while some related truffles exhibit ectomycorrhizal traits. The research also reveals diversity in mating systems and provides new insights into the evolutionary nutrition strategies of these fungi.
This scoping review of 30 years of research on young children's eating practices in early childhood education and care (ECEC) highlights three areas of focus: how repeated exposure and modeling impact children's food intake, often focused on increasing fruit/vegetable consumption; teachers' nutritional knowledge, strategies for managing eating, and perceptions of mealtimes; teachers' feeding behaviors, children's participation and sociality, and additional learning (e.g. language) during mealtimes. The review highlights the need to consider cultural diversity, food allergies, and the practical challenges teachers face in promoting healthy eating in ECEC.
This article examines the association between dietary protein diversity and frailty risk in older Chinese adults. The key findings are: 1. Higher protein diversity was linked to lower frailty risk, with each 1-unit PDS increase reducing risk by 10%. 2. Consistently maintaining a high PDS over 4 years was associated with the lowest frailty odds.