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The challenge facing society in the 21st century is to improve the quality of life for all citizens in an egalitarian way, providing sufficient food, shelter, energy, and other resources for a healthy meaningful life, while at the same time decarbonizing anthropogenic activity to provide a safe global climate, limiting temperature rise to well-below 2°C with the aim of limiting the temperature increase to no more than 1.5°C. To do this, the world must achieve net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050. Currently spreading wealth and health across the globe is dependent on growing the GDP of all countries, driven by the use of energy, which until recently has mostly been derived from fossil fuel. Recently, some countries have decoupled their GDP growth and greenhouse gas emissions through a rapid increase in low carbon energy generation. Considering the current level of energy consumption and projected implementation rates of low carbon energy production, a considerable quantity of fossil fuels is projected to be used to fill the gap, and to avoid emissions of GHG and close the gap between the 1.5°C carbon budget and projected emissions, carbon capture and storage (CCS) on an industrial scale will be required. In addition, the IPCC estimate that large-scale GHG removal from the atmosphere is required to limit warming to below 2°C using technologies such as Bioenergy CCS and direct carbon capture with CCS to achieve climate safety. In this paper, we estimate the amount of carbon dioxide that will have to be captured and stored, the storage volume, technology, and infrastructure required to achieve the energy consumption projections with net zero GHG emissions by 2050. We conclude that the oil and gas production industry alone has the geological and engineering expertise and global reach to find the geological storage structures and build the facilities, pipelines, and wells required. Here, we consider why and how oil and gas companies will need to morph from hydrocarbon production enterprises into net zero emission energy and carbon dioxide storage enterprises, decommission facilities only after CCS, and thus be economically sustainable businesses in the long term, by diversifying in and developing this new industry.

Over last two decades, the research and evaluation paradigm in agri-food sector has shifted towards comprehensive perspective called sustainable food system. The heavy pressure on earth bio-capacity and massive environmental externalities, biodiversity loss, climate change impacts on agricultural supply and food security, food safety and health issues, and consumers’ cultural concern are major factors induced to change the perspective from agri-food supply chain to sustainable food system. Although the sustainable food system perspective has become important paradigm in researches and impact evaluation studies on agri-food system recently, the studies at this perspective are missing in Türkiye. The aim of this study is to fulfil this gap in literature and provide evidences for policy makers. This study evaluates the food system and agri-food policies in Türkiye consisting of the state of the agri-food sector, historical evaluation of agri-foo policy transform, climate change policies and environment, rural development measures, agri-food policy impact studies, and the performance level of sustainable food system indicators. Türkiye initiated the process of transformation of food systems in 2019 with an aim “to create sustainable, resilient and equitable food systems”. National Program for Agricultural Support Policy is announced each year as a Presidency Decision. The scope of agricultural support measures and its relative importance in GDP has not considerable changed much for over three decades. Nevertheless, it has been observed a positive development in most of the sustainable food system indicators. However, especially food and nutrition indicators have not considerable improved and it has been even worsened in some subcategories during the last decade. Although national policy agenda and documents cover the transition towards sustainable food system, monitoring-evaluation system and assessment of national agri-food policies considering sustainability dimension data and indicators is lacking.

Food preferences, systems, and policies influence the health of individuals and communities both directly, through food consumption choices, and indirectly, through environmental, economic, and social impacts. To aid student understanding of these complex determinants of food choice, a student-driven, community-engaged learning course on food systems and food choices was developed. Guided by the socio-ecological model for health and the goals of the Emory Sustainability Initiative and supported by the Center for Community Partnerships (CFCP), the course objectives, curriculum, and activities were determined by the students in collaboration with the faculty advisor and community partners. Two central components of the course were student-led learning modules and community-engaged research on food systems. The four learning modules included: (1) determinants of individual food preference and choice; (2) food and agriculture systems; (3) food access and food justice; and (4) agricultural policy. Community research projects described the role of farmers' markets, community supported agriculture, conventional markets, community gardens, and farm-to-table restaurants in the production and distribution of food in metro Atlanta, with an emphasis on locally produced fruits, vegetables, meats, and milk. Where possible the projects mapped the reach of these distribution models to low-income communities and food deserts, and identified strategies to improve access to healthy food options in these communities. The course culminated in a student-organized symposium for community members and in research reports for community partners. The symposium drew diverse participants, including growers, farmers' market managers, advocacy groups, public-health scientists, policy-makers, students, and academicians. Discussions with symposium participants assisted in refining the research reports for community partners and helped identify strategies and topics for future collaborative efforts and course improvements. A grant from Emory's CFCP facilitated collaboration with community partners, community research, and dissemination of research findings.

Current food systems fail to directly link urban consumers with rural producers. City-regional strategies need to reconnect consumers with producers through sustainable local food systems. This research developed and distributed a survey questionnaire to 400 consumers in Bangkok. Findings prove that there is a statistically significant association between urban-rural relation and sustainable urban consumer behavior (Pearson’s Chi-square test for independence resulting in a significance level of p < 0.05). Sustainable consumer behavior is influenced by environmental, sociocultural, economic and health drivers, while lack of food traceability, lack of rural experience, lack of access to rural communities and negative social perception disrupt consumer-producer links. Community-based gastrotourism emerges as one of the best practices to link urban consumers with rural producers and plan sustainable food systems in mega-cities like Bangkok.

Is the Food System prepared for 2030? Considering that Zoomers (Generation Z) will be the largest global cohort in the world at that time, the purpose of the study is to identify what can be learned now from their eating habits to diversify and create a more resilient Food System prepared for the future. Researchers have discovered that the Food System should encourage sustainable and healthier food production by empowering a resilient local production. These changes are aligned with Zoomer preferences for local and organic food, considering their moral, ethical, and economic implications. To gather data, a quantitative investigation was performed among university students from Romania using an online survey in which 343 responses were recorded. A direct logistic regression was performed, similar to the one presented by Wilson and Lorenz (2015), to assess the impact of factors on the changing eating habits of Zoomers. The results showed significant changes in the diet of Zoomers who are facing an increased internationalization of the food consumption; they seek convenience but are also more eager to consume healthy food. For a more resilient Food System, special importance should be given to these preferences, through local and organic production, improving delivery methods, and enhancing the food experience in a responsible and ethical manner in order to prepare it for the next majoritarian cohort. These findings can be further developed by adapting the current Food System to emerging food eating habits and also by addressing how Zoomers’ food choices can improve the environmental impact of the Food System.

The European Commission's Farm to Fork (F2F) strategy, under the European Green Deal, acknowledges that innovative techniques, including biotechnology, may play a role in increasing sustainability. At the same time, organic farming will be promoted, and at least 25% of the EU's agricultural land shall be under organic farming by 2030. How can both biotechnology and organic farming be developed and promoted simultaneously to contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? We illustrate that achieving the SDGs benefits from the inclusion of recent innovations in biotechnology in organic farming. This requires a change in the law. Otherwise, the planned increase of organic production in the F2F strategy may result in less sustainable, not more sustainable, food systems.

Background: The climate emergency is now widely acknowledged with an international rise in environmentalism to maintain planetary habitability. Most greenhouse gas emissions from food production are caused by energy and water consumption. Conscious and responsible consumer behaviour is a long-term process that heavily depends on social, political, and commercial considerations to achieve the sustainability paradigm. The current South African food system and emanating consumer food choices directly impact climate change. South Africans are consuming resource-intensive foods, a diet high in animal foods and processed foods. This is evident in the high prevalence of obesity, which currently co-exist with stagnant high levels of stunting. South Africa is regarded as food secure, but the divide in access to resources and high unemployment continues to render a significant proportion of citizens’ food and nutrition insecure at the household level. In South Africa, subsistence agriculture has been eroded by apartheid land policies and overcrowding. Inadequate agricultural extension services have resulted in rural households increasingly relying on processed food from the formal retail system. Policy actions to promote sustainable diets have been superseded by other climate change agendas as more pressing in South Africa, and thus, little is known about the environmental consequences of diet and food choices. The 27th Conference of the Parties (COP 27) forefronted nutrition in the agenda, advocating the development of policies with cobenefits for nutrition and the environment, mitigating the impact of climate change on human health and well-being. In this study, sustainability will be explored from the young consumer perspective to advance transformative strategies for sustainability, climate change goals, and enhanced health. Aim: This study aimed to investigate food and nutrition sustainability knowledge and practices among university students at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) and to appraise the diet quality and the impact of diet on the environment, culminating in an event to advance consciousness towards food and nutrition sustainability. Methodology: In this cross-sectional study, awareness, knowledge and attitudes toward food and nutrition sustainability were investigated among 405 registered university students at the DUT using a validated questionnaire. Respondents were conveniently selected at key hub areas at the university and recruited through informed consent. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics, chi-square goodness-of-fit-test and one sample t-test. Dietary data of respondents was captured through the 24-hour food recall using the multiple pass method for two nonconsecutive days, including a weekend day by trained field workers. The repeated 24-hour food recall data was captured onto the FoodFinder 3 software program of the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), to analyse the diet; the data was run through Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The prevalence of inadequacy (POI) was calculated using the cutpoint method, highlighting specific nutrient deficits among the men and women. The dimensions of diet quality were further assessed for nutrient adequacy and non-communicable disease (NCD) risk using the Global Diet Quality Score (GDQS). The environmental impact of respondents’ diet was calculated using the Plate Up for the Planet carbon footprint calculator, which estimated the amount of CO2 produced per kilogram of specific foods. Lastly, the South African Food Boost University Challenge (SAFBUC) was developed using a student-led participatory approach and implemented to raise awareness about food and nutrition sustainability among students at DUT. Results: Regarding knowledge and awareness of food and nutrition sustainability, a substantial 54.8% of students were unfamiliar with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the remaining 45.2% heard of it but lacked knowledge. Significant proportions of students never heard of product environmental footprint (65.2%), life cycle assessment (66.2%), greenwashing (64.9%), and food miles (58.5%) (p < 0.001). A significant 77% (n = 313) of students relied on the internet as the primary source of information about foods that do not harm the environment (p < 0.001). There was significant agreement that students knew what a healthy diet comprised of; they understood the impact of a diet on health, and they knew what a sustainable diet consisted of (p < 0.001). One of the food choice drivers that contributed to students being unable to have a healthy diet is that they found it difficult to avoid unhealthy food options (n = 120), and some claimed that the cost of healthy foods was too expensive (n = 103). Food preferences and taste were significant, followed by cost and ease of purchase (p < 0.001). Thirty-two-point-six per cent of respondents rarely looked for any eco-label on the packaging to evaluate a product, 30.9% rarely considered the environmental friendliness of the products they purchased, and 29.4% seldom paid attention to where the food was produced or grown. Regarding diet, this study revealed that while most male respondents met or exceeded their carbohydrate (310.8 g) and protein (88.06 g) needs, which were well above the Estimated Average Requirements (130 g and 56 g, respectively), they exhibited notable deficiencies in various essential micronutrients, such as calcium (74.3% showed a POI), magnesium (96.7% showed a POI), vitamin D (92.8% showed a POI), vitamin K (89.5% showed a POI), and folate (94.1% showed a POI). The data highlighted several critical nutrient inadequacies among the women, particularly in dietary fibre, calcium (94.0% showed a POI), magnesium (93.1% showed a POI), vitamin D (93.1% showed a POI), vitamin K (83.1% showed a POI), and folate (92.3% showed a POI). The GDQS was used to assess diet quality, nutrient adequacy and NCD risk among respondents. This study showed that 99% of students were at high risk for developing nutrient inadequacy and associated NCD risk. In this study, the carbon footprint from the diet was higher for males (308060 CO2e) compared to females (23910 CO2e). To promote food and nutrition sustainability, the SAFBUC was implemented to promote fruit and vegetable consumption. This university-wide challenge allowed students to develop products using fruits and vegetables that they would like to consume. Seven products were developed among students from various faculties in the university. The products were showcased at a campus event, and students were invited to taste samples and obtain information about the sustainability of the products. Students and staff conducted sensory analyses of the developed products. The top three products were: fruit and yoghurt popsicles, sweet potato long chips, vegetable pasta, tangy delights (yoghurt with strawberries and chocolate popsicles), ultimate veggie burger, sweet potato, avocado and feta muffins and an okra smoothie. Conclusion: This study highlights the lack of knowledge and awareness related to food and nutrition sustainability among young university adults. The study underscores the need for targeted educational interventions to bridge the knowledge gap and empower young adults to make informed and sustainable food choices. The study’s objectives were achieved, and implementing the SAFBUC at the DUT shows tremendous promise for success at the higher education institution level. The food environment within university campuses has a significant impact on the diet of students. Therefore, policy interventions to change the university food environment and create a sustainable food system are imperative for the future of the youth in South Africa.

In an analysis of food system sustainability challenges and solutions among Swedish food system actors using Q-methodology, five perspectives were identified. One of the main three perspectives placed the highest priority on reduced meat consumption, food waste, and climate impact in agriculture, but downplayed strategies highlighted in the national food strategy and social aspects, and can be interpreted as a diagnostic climate mitigation-oriented perspective that does not reflect current negotiated policy processes or ‘softer’ values of food. In an alternative regenerative perspective, industrialized large-scale farming and lack of internalization of external costs were regarded as the main problems, and diversity, soil health, and organic farming as the main solutions. Proponents of a third perspective regarded phasing out fossil fuels, increased profitability of companies, increased meat production, and self-sufficiency as high priorities. These contrasting views can be a major barrier to transforming the Swedish food system. However, a number of entry points for change (i.e. aspects highly important for some and neutral for others) were identified, including focusing on healthy diets and increased production of fruit and vegetables. Focusing on these can build trust among stakeholders before moving to discussions about the larger and more sensitive systemic changes needed.

The “circular bioeconomy” is extensively discussed in science and policy, and its implementation in practice is considered to be a panacea for fixing many current sustainability problems. The circular bioeconomy crucially depends on biological and technical processes capable of recycling nutrients in the right mix, at the right pace, and using only renewable energy. The current lack of circularity of nutrient flows is a critical factor that hampers sustainable food and bioeconomy systems. If we are serious about the sustainability of food and bioeconomy systems, we have to develop more robust tools to study (diagnose) and explore (simulate) the factors determining the circularity of nutrient flows. This paper applies a novel analytical framework to assess the circularity of nutrient flows in modern food systems. This framework can help understand the potentialities of proposed changes in relation to reducing nutrient losses and the dependence on nutrients mined from finite deposits. More specifically, in this paper, we illustrate a quantitative assessment of the flows of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and magnesium in a case study – the food system of the Okanagan bioregion in BC Canada. Our study suggests that the proposed approach is effective to inform nutrient management policies in bioregional food systems. In particular, an assessment of the openness of nutrient flows flags the importance of managing organic residuals for comprehensive nutrient recovery and reuse – an activity that is still often systematically neglected due to large feed and food imports and the availability of cheap synthetic fertilizers. This type of analysis is essential if we want to develop effective policies for more sustainable management of nutrients in food and bioeconomy systems.

Food insecurity and diet-related diseases do not only have detrimental effects to human health, but are also underpinned by food systems that are environmentally unsustainable and culturally disconnected. Ensuring access to a healthy, affordable, and sustainable diet is one of the greatest challenges facing many low- and middle-income countries such as South Africa. These challenges in accessing a diverse diet often persist despite biocultural richness. For example, South Africa is globally recognised for its rich biodiversity, an ecologically unrivalled coastline, and a rich body of traditional knowledge amongst wild-food users. In this paper, we explore the potential that coastal wild foods as neglected and underutilised species (NUS) can play in local food systems in South Africa's Western Cape Province. Following a previously established transformation lab (T-Lab) method, here we report the observations and outcomes emerging from a two-day workshop held in May 2019 with a group of 40 actors involved in the local food system in diverse ways. Farmers, small-scale fishers, indigenous knowledge holders, representatives from non-profit organisations, chefs, bartenders, academics, activists, conservationists, and government officials were brought together with the aim of strengthening an emerging coalition of coastal wild food actors. Findings highlighted the existence of a fledgling economy for coastal wild foods, driven by high-end chefs. The T-Lab was essentially a tool of knowledge co-production around food system transformation and helped to surface deeply embedded issues on land, race, history, and culture that warrant engagement if a better food system is to emerge. In a country that is drought prone and vulnerable to climate change, a more resilient and sustainable food system is a necessity. But defining alternative governance systems to shift towards a healthier, more sustainable, and more equitable food system will require concerted effort across all stakeholders.

Land relations—property, access, tenure, landscape—are a central underlying driver of the material form of food systems, from farm to distribution. Despite their fluidity and historical and geographical diversity, land relations have a tendency to become normalized through law, custom, and practice. In particular, the exclusionary private “ownership model” of property has come to be deeply entrenched in legal systems worldwide, particularly in the Global North. The power of this normalization is evidenced, for example, in how research and practice aimed at reshaping food systems from grassroots movement, policy-level, or biophysical perspectives often omit the role of land relations in bringing about agricultural sustainability and agrarian change. Understanding land relations as static thus potentially constrains or directs the kinds of sustainable agriculture and food transformations that can take place. Entrenched norms of property drastically limit the urgent possibilities of food system transformation. However, a confluence of political and ecological conflagrations may be placing land back on the agenda and in the forefront of people’s minds. In a moment when hegemonic understandings of land and property can also appear absurd and paper thin, we describe counter movements bubbling up to contest the status quo of the land food nexus from within the core. This article introduces a special feature centering the role of land in sustainable food transformations. The collection provides new understandings on how governance of land (property relations, land access, land tenure, landscape policy) mediates the potential for food system change. The special feature goes beyond understanding dynamics of the land food nexus to ask how land relations can be reformed to create favorable conditions for more just and sustainable food systems to emerge. We highlight 5 empirical domains of transforming land relations from within the Global North: legislating land reform, quasi-market reforms, remaking land for sustainability agendas, Indigenous claims to land in the settler state, and using municipal power to unlock land. Each domain has the potential to act as a non-reformist reform but each carries its own drawbacks and limitations. Nevertheless, if our argument holds that there will be no food system transformation without a parallel remake of land relations, it is time to start organizing a concerted effort for land reform bespoke to geographical and political contexts.

Remote sensing offers a low-cost method for estimating yields at large spatio-temporal scales. Here, we examined the ability of Sentinel-2 satellite imagery to map field-level maize yields across smallholder farms in two regions in Oromia district, Ethiopia. We evaluated how effectively different indices, the MTCI, GCVI, and NDVI, and different models, linear regression and random forest regression, can be used to map field-level yields. We also examined if models improved by adding weather and soil data and how generalizable our models were if trained in one region and applied to another region, where no data were used for model calibration. We found that random forest regression models that used monthly MTCI composites led to the highest yield prediction accuracies (R2 up to 0.63), particularly when using only localized data for training the model. These models were not very generalizable, especially when applied to regions that had significant haze remaining in the imagery. We also found that adding soil and weather data did little to improve model fit. Our results highlight the ability of Sentinel-2 imagery to map field-level yields in smallholder systems, though accuracies are limited in regions with high cloud cover and haze.

The COVID-19 pandemic unveiled the fragility of food sovereignty in cities and confirmed the close connection urban dwellers have with food. Although the pandemic was not the cause of the failures in food systems, it emphasised how citizens would accept and indeed support a transition towards more localised food production systems. The challenge is not to return to traditional small-scale economies that might not cope with the growing global population and demands, but to reconstruct, consolidate, and disseminate systems knowledge through harmonising the priorities of local governments and city-region food system initiatives to build more resilient and sustainable food systems. This chapter aims to investigate and analyse the concept of City Region Food Systems applied to a set of real case studies (food initiatives) at the macro and micro level to explore the conditions for their resilience and suggest food system innovation perspectives that encourage good practices.

The study aims to help rethink the future of food systems and food security in context of lessons learned from COVID-19 pandemic as global challenge from a qualitative perspective. The pandemic disrupted global food systems that were already at risk to many threats such as climate change, natural resources degradation, extreme weather events, regional conflicts, low productivity, high population growth, and economic slowdown. The paper uses qualitative perspective to analyse COVID-19 effects on food systems and food security, identifies ways to establish resilient and sustainable food systems, and presents a roadmap to achieving a food-secure world by 2030. The findings indicates that the COVID-19 impacted the cash flow at both local and international levels and the financial state of producers, and agri-businesses causing low productivity, limited market accessibility, loss of employment, increased health costs, increased poverty levels, malnutrition, and deaths. Building sustainable and resilient food systems requires; supporting small-medium sized enterprises, strengthening international markets, technological innovations, promoting shorter and more diversified food value chains, and supporting small-scale farmers and rural women is inevitable.

Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the most rapidly urbanising regions in the world. Achieving food and nutrition security is not only a rural challenge; the access to adequate (in terms of quantity and quality), healthy, nutritious and affordable food is also a growing concern for cities. The latest food crisis (2007/08) put food security back onto the political agenda as food prices increased significantly within just a few weeks and showed the world how vulnerable food systems are, particularly in cities. Food systems describe the ‘farm-to-fork’ processes, pathways and dynamics between interlinked actors and are embedded in a spatial context. The global discourse on food security happens without considering the urban context, just as the global discourse on the urban context happens without considering food security (Battersby 2016: 3). The controversial debate on the contribution of urban agriculture to food and nutrition security frames this study. Based on the perspective of a food systems approach this research seeks to understand the two case areas, City of Cape Town (South Africa) and City of Maputo (Mozambique), through local food production, pathways, dynamics and challenges. This paper shows early results of two baseline surveys amongst urban farmers in both cities, as well as in-depth interviews with urban farmers. Both case studies show similar challenges but different opportunities to increase the potential of urban agriculture to contribute towards a more sustainable food system.