The central technical and political aspects of the activities of the food system are shown around the three components of production, distribution and consumption. The food system is a complex network of activities involving production, processing, transportation and consumption. Issues related to the food system include the governance and economics of food production, its sustainability, the degree to which we waste food, how food production affects the natural environment, and the impact of food on individual and population health. Moving to sustainable food systems, including by switching from consumption to sustainable diets, is an important component in addressing the causes of and adapting to climate change.
They have been associated with the 100-mile diet and the low-carbon diet, as well as with the slow food movement. Concerns about transparency and traceability have increased due to food safety issues, such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and Escherichia coli (E. Lower food costs and greater variety of foods can be directly attributed to the evolution of conventional food systems). The term “conventional” when describing food systems is largely due to comparisons made by advocates of other food systems, collectively known as alternative food systems.
The food system is one of the main sources of greenhouse gas emissions, attributable to between 21 and 37% of global emissions. Food systems belong to agri-food systems, which encompass the full range of actors and their interrelated value-added activities in the primary production of agricultural food and non-food products, as well as in storage, aggregation, post-harvest handling, transportation, processing, distribution, marketing, disposal and consumption. The term food system describes the interconnected systems and processes that influence nutrition, food, health, community development and agriculture. The IPCC and EU reports concluded that it is feasible to adapt the food system to reduce the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions and food security problems, while moving to a sustainable diet.
Organic food systems are characterized by less dependence on chemical inputs and a greater concern for transparency and information. After the Second World War, the advent of industrialized agriculture and stronger global trade mechanisms have evolved into the models of food production, presentation, delivery and disposal that characterize today's conventional food systems. As a result, a food systems approach has been widely adopted to identify, analyze and evaluate the impact and feedback of the different actors, activities and outcomes of the system in order to help identify points of intervention to improve food security. Organic agriculture is promoted by the ecological benefits of reduced application of chemicals, the health benefits of lower consumption of chemicals, the economic benefits that farmers obtain through a price premium, and the social benefits of greater transparency in the system alimentary.
The need to reduce production costs in an increasingly global market may cause food production to move to areas where economic costs (labor, taxes, etc.) A sustainable food system is a type of food system that provides healthy food to people and creates environmentally, economically and socially sustainable food systems that surround food. .
