Over the last two centuries, technology has reduced the ever-present risk of starvation, enabling the world to feed itself despite exponential population growth. However, this achievement has come at a cost that renders the current food system unsustainable. We cannot rely on linear approaches to solve it, but rather, a systems approach is required.

The food system can be described in terms of its component parts, its sustainability dimensions, its interactions with other systems, its drivers and outcomes, as well as in terms of its interactions between its component parts and feedback loops. Each part of the system affects the other parts, in a complex cycle of actions and reactions. Given this complexity, actions should be designed to optimize synergies and minimize negative consequences.