A food system is the interconnected set of activities, actors, resources and institutions involved in producing, processing, transporting, distributing, marketing, consuming and disposing of food, together with the social, economic and environmental outcomes these generate. Conceptualised as a network of value chain…
A food system is the interconnected set of activities, actors, resources and institutions involved in producing, processing, transporting, distributing, marketing, consuming and disposing of food, together with the social, economic and environmental outcomes these generate. Conceptualised as a network of value chains, it spans primary production on farms and in fisheries, post-harvest handling, manufacturing and packaging, storage and logistics, retail and food service, household consumption, and the management of loss and waste. Food systems are shaped by powerful drivers, including climate variability and land availability, economic incentives and markets, demographic change, consumer demand, and technological innovation such as remote sensing, food-safety analytics and the development of alternative protein sources. They operate within finite natural resources, linking agricultural land use and the food-security implications of climate change to the nutritional quality and safety of what reaches the consumer. Analysis of food systems considers how spoilage and contamination are controlled, how peri-urban and rural land dynamics influence supply, and how processing affects nutrient content. The overarching goals of a food-systems approach are sustainability, ensuring production remains within environmental limits; nutrition security, delivering safe and adequate diets; and resilience, maintaining the capacity to supply food in the face of shocks and long-term change.
12 peer-reviewed articles, ranked by relevance. Each links to its DOI.
The 12 articles above have been cited 81 times in the scholarly literature. Citation data via OpenAlex and Crossref, updated Jun 2026.
A sample of recent works citing this journal's research on Food Systems, linking to each citing work.