News & Views

Inadequate intakes of animal-derived foods, fruits and vegetables contribute to widespread malnutrition and nutritional deficiencies in Bangladesh. Combining aquatic food with crop production can maximize the nutritional and economic output of smallholder farms.

A global-level quantitative synthesis fills current knowledge gaps on the potential effects of agricultural diversification on ecosystem services and the socioeconomic benefits of rice.

Agriculture-related air pollution in China affects human and environmental health. A county-level campaign shows it is possible to coordinate efforts among smallholders for ammonia reduction.

Dual-sensory fusion, self-powered technology has the capability to analyse triboelectric signals between liquids and solids and to gather characteristics of unknown liquids, providing a powerful solution to effective and low-cost smart taste sensing for monitoring food quality and safety.

There is further evidence that food production can respond to food price rises in the short term, potentially offsetting the effects of higher prices in households of agricultural workers. Additional research is needed, however, to identify enabling policies and conditions.

Diverse coping experiences among wheat importing nations during the Russia–Ukraine conflict highlight the value of open trade, food reserves and international assistance, while reinforcing the need for long-term, coherent investments in agricultural productivity and food systems resilience.

A risk assessment of land-based food supply in the United States reveals a high risk of forced labour in domestic production and processing.

A framework for analysing connectivity in US food flow networks reveals locations that are vital leverage points for well-functioning domestic agri-food supply chains. Planning around these logistics hubs could help build resilience to various threats and disruptions facing food systems.

Some food is lost at the production stage or is wasted by consumers. Policies aimed at avoiding this may have rebound effects through food availability and food prices, thus requiring alternative measures.

Variations in land and water footprint accounts should not shift attention away from the potential to reduce the environmental impact embedded in food choices.

Increased yields, reduced food waste and loss, and a shift to healthier diets are key to achieve carbon neutrality, food security and global sustainability simultaneously.

Rural dietary diversity largely depends on farmers’ access to wild food and forests. The policy environment on achieving global food security must consider managing multi-functional landscapes for a diverse array of goods and services, including food.

Future rice supply for African rice consumers is affected by domestic trends of population growth, per capita consumption, socioeconomic developments, trade and climate change. Strong import dependency makes African consumers dependent on trends and shocks in Asia; a new study models the impacts of trends and shocks.

Food consumption has triggered considerable quantities of greenhouse gas emissions at various stages of the food supply chain. Tracking food-related emissions along supply chains is key to systematically identify their sources, drivers and mitigation opportunities.

Adopting healthier diets is key to ensure food security and can bring other benefits, but might also be associated with trade-offs. A new study reveals how the partial transition towards the EAT-Lancet diet by 2030 would affect food affordability, food loss and waste and other environmental indicators.

A new high-resolution map of cocoa plantations in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana allows for large-scale accurate studies of the impact of cocoa cultivation on the landscape and better understanding of priority areas where improvements of cultivation practices are needed.

A wireless miniaturized sensor can report a ‘spoiler alert’ via a mobile phone by detecting volatile biogenic amines that are produced by spoiled protein-rich foods, providing a feasible solution to identify and prevent food spoilage and promote food safety.

The time has come to include the wellbeing of animals in cost–benefit evaluations that inform agricultural policy. By doing so, we would account for those with the most to gain — or lose — from our choices.

By analysing recipes, it is possible to gain insights into the impacts of food preparation and consumption in different geographical contexts.

Empirical analyses of historical yields paired with manipulative experiments reveal that extreme rainfall reduces rice yields in China by physically disturbing the panicle and by reducing available soil nitrogen. Such mechanistic understanding aids prediction and mitigation of damages from climate change.