From silos to systems: 5 ways to take action at the food-health nexus

Every year the UN State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report highlights the opportunities and barriers to ending hunger, achieving food security, and improving nutrition. The 2022 edition, published this week, presents the latest updates on the food security and nutrition situation around the world, including updated estimates on the cost and affordability of healthy diets. It is clear from the data that it has never been more essential to balance the health needs of people while protecting the planet.

To align with this release, the Global Alliance launched the complementary Creating Better Health for People, Animals, and the Planet: Food Systems Insights for Health Professionals report. Taking the form of 10 case studies from around the world, the resource is the latest in the Global Alliance’s efforts to promote collaboration between health and food systems actors.

As the stories shared exhibit, those working in the health sector are better situated than most to articulate the many connections between food and health. Clinicians and public health professionals are at the frontline of care, guiding people to choices that will improve their quality of life, today and in the future.

Food systems impact our health in a multitude of ways, and guaranteeing access to a nutritious diet should be as much a health priority as ensuring someone has access to essential primary care treatment.

In assembling these new stories, five interesting insights emerged. From the report, here are a few of the opportunities we identified for accelerating food systems transformation for better health and well-being:

• Greater collaboration between those working at the intersection of public health, food, animal health, and planetary health is key. As we wrangle with increasingly complex challenges, actors from across disciplines need to come together to create dynamic solutions. We saw this play out in a case study set at the edge of one national park in Uganda. That’s where the non-profit organization Conservation Through Public Health is protecting endangered gorillas, conserving ecosystems, and improving access to primary healthcare, family planning services, and nutrition education for people living around the park. The organization’s success can be attributed to its multidisciplinary, multi-pronged approach, and the recognition that the health of people, the planet, and wildlife must all be considered as one.
• Upholding lived experiences and Indigenous knowledge is key to better health outcomes. Unfortunately, the negative health effects of climate change and our broken food system are not distributed evenly. Indigenous People are one of the groups most severely affected, despite communities holding an abundance of knowledge about how to grow, hunt, and harvest foods on their traditional lands. In Canada, the Shkagamik-Kwe Health Centre uplifts this wisdom and provides Indigenous communities with the ability to self-determine their healthcare journey and practice traditional foodways. Across these case studies, we witnessed how the most impactful initiatives were those that truly understood the local context and culture and engaged with people to incorporate their lived experiences into solutions.
• We also saw how medical institutions and healthcare professionals are leading the way when it comes to supporting the availability of nutritious foods and promoting healthy food environments for their patients and communities. One of the best examples is in Taiwan, where the Tzu Chi Buddhist Medical Foundation grows produce on-site and uses it to prepare vegetarian meals in their zero-waste kitchen. Not wanting to only reach those once they’re in need of medical treatment, Tzu Chi staff also run outreach activities in local communities to promote the value of plant-based, culturally relevant diets. This story is also a fascinating example of how a religious organization applies its core principles in a secular space.
• Health sector professionals are well-positioned to influence government policy. In the United States, primary healthcare providers in California have been vocal advocates against the use of harmful agricultural pesticides through the Californians for Pesticide Reform coalition. They’ve seen firsthand the impact these pesticides have had on eaters, people living near fields, and farm workers — with the negative effects disproportionately affecting Latinx communities. By taking action alongside farm workers, environmental groups, and local communities, these health professionals have succeeded in shaping local pesticide policies and regulations at a state-wide and national level.
• Finally, the stories reveal the importance of advocating for culturally appropriate nutrition education, food literacy, and skills training in various settings. In Brazil and globally, the World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA) works with medical schools and other institutions to integrate planetary health into the curriculum — the understanding of how human health depends on the Earth’s natural systems. Many of WONCA’s primary care professionals also provide nutritional guidance to patients during routine check-ups, demonstrating that it’s best to take a preventative approach to talk about food and health.

There’s so much more to say about these case studies. We hope you’ll give them a read and see for yourself how action at the food-health nexus will not only improve good health but also contribute to climate action, restore biodiversity, and advance social, environmental, and racial justice.

Whether you’re a health sector professional, a food systems actor, or a policymaker, there’s something for everyone to learn from these stories. Let’s use them as a jumping-off point to continue transforming food systems with practical solutions that improve the health of people, animals, and the planet we all call home.