While our current food system has been effective at delivering food to global markets, it is simultaneously causing significant climate, health and ecological damage. As we all witnessed during COVID-19, our food system is also remarkably vulnerable to disruptions and, most critically, is failing to adequately nourish the global population.

Millions of people around the world are facing hunger, food insecurity, obesity or diet-related diseases while our industrial-scale food system drives greater biodiversity loss, poverty, debt, and irreversible damage to our air, water, and soil. Incremental changes to this unsustainable model will not be enough. A bold and transformational shift is required, and a growing global consensus agrees that comprehensive government actions are needed to target the food system as a whole.

Last year, WRI launched a cross-cutting project to empower subnational governments with the awareness, tools and resources needed for meaningful action on their local food environments. The project combines the expertise of the WRI Diets team at the intersection of climate, food and nutrition with that of WRI's global Cities team, which has a deep understanding of urban development and service provision.

As part of this work, WRI gathered with a group of food system stakeholders from across Europe at the Urban Future conference this past May in Lodz, Poland, to discuss what sustainable, affordable and healthy diets meant to them. The outcome of these conversations will help shape a toolkit that will provide subnational governments with a suite of interventions to accelerate local shifts in diets at scale.

Understanding the Food Environment

We consider the food environment as the when, where and how in which people make decisions about the food they consume. This includes the physical infrastructure — like proliferation of supermarkets in a certain area or the proximity of local farms to farmers markets — but it also includes prices, advertisements, labeling and so many other dynamic elements that ultimately shape a buyer’s behavior.

Approaching food system problems from a food environment perspective allows for a more comprehensive understanding of how buying decisions take place, which are often beyond an individual’s control. That’s why we think subnational governments have a unique opportunity and a responsibility to shape food environments that are healthier, more sustainable and more affordable. 

Defining a Sustainable Urban Future

To better understand the complex world of sustainable, affordable and healthy food, we convened more than 20 food system stakeholders including members of government, research, food policy networks and NGOs to share their perspectives. Participants covered a diversity of European geographies and represented a range of experiences from local food initiatives in Poland to the national food policy council networks of Italy and Germany (a list of participating organizations can be found at the bottom of this page).

The convening featured a live research activity where stakeholders workshopped three concepts independently: sustainable diets, affordable diets and healthy diets. Stakeholders were divided into three groups and facilitators worked their way around the room to discuss each topic with each group. While these three elements are critical to improving local food environments, we wanted to tease apart the similarities and differences among them and understand how each concept plays a role in shaping the resulting food environment. Here is what we heard:

The sustainable diets conversation touched on a range of issues beyond the carbon intensity of the food. Our audience spoke with passion about the systems that produce food, protection of biodiversity, water, soil and nature, as well as climate impact. Stakeholders also identified challenges, such as, a lack of incentives for farmers to produce a more sustainable food supply and the short-termism of governments and regulators that prioritize industrial over local production. The stakeholders were keen to advise that we should consider environmental impact in the broadest sense — encouraging consideration of regenerative agriculture and agroecology to promote improved circularity of agricultural resources.

Stakeholders considered an affordable diet to be one that is accessible to everyone, regardless of income, ensuring basic nutritional needs are met without financial struggle. Going beyond mere survival, the groups discussed the importance of purchasing culturally appropriate, healthy and nourishing food that supports daily life and participation in society. The stakeholders recognized that in the current food system, affordable food is often unhealthy and overly processed. As such, better quality food should not have a higher price tag and instead pricing could respond to buyer needs through programs and subsidies — especially those with low incomes. Corporate control over everything from seeds to land to pesticides was identified as a key challenge to more affordable food, as well as a lack of understanding among governments and decision-makers on the connection between better diets and stronger communities.

On healthy diets, key themes emerged around food that is nutritious, varied, rich in fruit and vegetables, and not overly processed. The group discussed how healthy diets enable people to learn, work, play and thrive in their daily lives, and how needs change over the course of their lives. At a societal level, it was discussed how healthy diets reduce the burden of disease and ill health on people and health care systems. To reduce this burden, healthy diets require the reduction of meat consumption, sugar, salt, fat and other heavily processed foods. Sufficiency was seen as a key element for healthy diets — having enough food and balancing diets between food groups and seasonal products.

Alongside physical health, a link to mental health was made; food is wrapped into daily rituals and plays an important role in living a happy life. In addition to the health of the people eating the food, the group also said that it is important to take a holistic perspective and consider the health of people involved in the production of food, exposure to chemicals and poor working conditions, as well as animal welfare and the wider impacts food systems have on the health of ecosystems, future generations and the planet as a whole. Stakeholders discussed how the fast-paced and hyper-urbanized industrial lifestyles in Europe tend to limit personal time for cooking healthy meals with fresh ingredients, as well as the larger challenge of shifting entrenched consumer food habits. The resources supporting advertising for unhealthy food was also identified as a key barrier.

Creating a Sustainable, Healthy and Affordable Food System

To put sustainable, healthy and affordable food systems into practice, stakeholders mentioned a range of ideas that cross-pollinate across the three focus areas. Stakeholders emphasized the need for a fundamental transformation of the current food system to prioritize health, sustainability and affordability over corporate monopolies and lobbying that maintain the status quo. This involves policies that support local and small producers, conscious public procurement and fair pricing that pays farmers well. The idea of the “true cost” of food was also mentioned, with subsidies to ensure accessibility for all.

Stakeholders were adamant that higher quality food (healthy, organic, local and less processed) be made affordable and visible through a mix of regulations and taxation, public food infrastructure and conscious public procurement to ensure dignified access to nutritious food for all. The group suggested shorter food chains, localized production and community initiatives like local gardens, kitchens and food sharing to enhance accessibility and address issues like food poverty and social stigma. Implementing social solidarity schemes, providing universal programs like free school meals, and reducing food waste were all crucial components identified, as well as nutritional guidelines and comprehensive educational programs on diets, cooking skills, food systems and sustainability.

These insights have been essential in developing a comprehensive approach to understanding and changing local food environments. Over recent months, our team has continued to speak to representatives of local governments across Europe to understand what they can implement on the ground and the barriers preventing concrete action. Next, we plan to share guidance for subnational governments to pursue sustainable, healthy and affordable diets for people living in their regions, which we intend to pilot with select subnationals to empower decision-makers and accelerate action.

List of participating organizations in WRI's Poland food system stakeholder convening, May 21, 2025: