Ecological regulation for healthy and sustainable food systems
Responding to the global rise of ultra-processed foods
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12152020 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Tanita Northcott (0000-0002-0834-1729, Deakin University, corresponding author), Mark Lawrence (0000-0001-5722-7503, Deakin University), C Parker (0000-0003-1870-5706, The University of Melbourne), Phillip Baker (0000-0002-0802-2349, Deakin University) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 40 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 1333-1358 |
| Publication date | 2023-01-13 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Agriculture and Human Values (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0889-048X • E-ISSN: 1572-8366 |
| Publisher | Springer Nature (Netherlands) (PUBLISHER • NL) |
| DOI | 10.1007/s10460-022-10412-4 |
| OpenAlex | W4315865119 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 160 |
Many are calling for transformative food systems changes to promote population and planetary health. Yet there is a lack of research that considers whether current food policy frameworks and regulatory approaches are suited to tackle whole of food systems challenges. One such challenge is responding to the rise of ultra-processed foods (UPF) in human diets, and the related harms to population and planetary health. This paper presents a narrative review and synthesis of academic articles and international reports to critically examine whether current food policy frameworks and regulatory approaches are sufficiently equipped to drive the transformative food systems changes needed to halt the rise of UPFs, reduce consumption and minimise harm. We draw on systems science approaches to conceptualise the UPF problem as an emergent property of complex adaptive food systems shaped by capitalist values and logics. Our findings reveal that current food policy frameworks often adjust or reform isolated aspects of food systems (e.g., prices, labels, food composition), but under-emphasise the deeper paradigms, goals and structures that underlie the rise of UPFs as a systems phenomenon, and its socio-ecological implications. We propose that a ‘leverage points’ framework illuminates where to intervene in food systems to generate multi-level changes, while the theory of ecological regulation highlights how to respond to complex multi-factorial problems, like the rise of UPFs, in diverse ways that respect planetary boundaries. More research is needed to better understand the transformative potential of ecological regulation to advance food systems transformation and attenuate whole of food systems challenges
Biology · Ecological systems theory · Economics · Food policy · Food security · Food systems · Framing (construction · Harm · Leverage (statistics · Planetary boundaries · Political science · Population · Sociology · Sustainability · Transformative learning · Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact · Computer Science · Consumer Attitudes and Food Labeling · Engineering · Food Waste Reduction and Sustainability · Ecology
Introduction to Special Issue on Food Packaging
Ultra-Processed Food ‘Fetishism’ is Undermining Efforts Seeking Healthy, Equitable, and Sustainable Diets Globally
How power in corporate-industrial meat supply chains enables negative externalities
Commercial Baby Foods
Governance challenges for sustainable food systems
System-practice entanglements and the harms of Ultra-Processed Foods
Global Business Regulation
Responsive Regulation
Nutritionism
Ultra-Processed Foods and Health Outcomes
Dietary Implications of Supermarket Development
Changes in food purchases after the Chilean policies on food labelling, marketing, and sales in schools
Ultraprocessed food and chronic noncommunicable diseases
Writing narrative literature reviews for peer-reviewed journals
The Global Syndemic of Obesity, Undernutrition, and Climate Change
Role of government policy in nutrition—barriers to and opportunities for healthier eating
A food systems approach to researching food security and its interactions with global environmental change
Decentring Regulation
Ultra-Processed Diets Cause Excess Calorie Intake and Weight Gain
A food policy package for healthy diets and the prevention of obesity and diet‐related non‐communicable diseases
Climate Change and Global Food Systems
Profits and pandemics
Ultra‐processed products are becoming dominant in the global food system
Ultra‐processed foods and the nutrition transition
Monitoring and benchmarking government policies and actions to improve the healthiness of food environments
Agroecological principles and elements and their implications for transitioning to sustainable food systems. A review
The Impact of Transnational “Big Food” Companies on the South
Ultra-processed food and the risk of overweight and obesity
Structural responses to the obesity and non‐communicable diseases epidemic
Towards unified and impactful policies to reduce ultra-processed food consumption and promote healthier eating
The Nutrition Transition and Obesity in the Developing World
What drives political commitment for nutrition? A review and framework synthesis to inform the United Nations Decade of Action on Nutrition
Consumption of ultra-processed foods and health outcomes
The nutrition transition to a stage of high obesity and noncommunicable disease prevalence dominated by ultra‐processed foods is not inevitable
Systems science and systems thinking for public health
Food in the Anthropocene
Global burden of 87 risk factors in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019
A typology of reviews
Ultra-processed foods should be central to global food systems dialogue and action on biodiversity
A leverage points perspective on sustainability
Food systems transformations, ultra-processed food markets and the nutrition transition in Asia
“The architecture of the state was transformed in favour of the interests of companies”
Market strategies used by processed food manufacturers to increase and consolidate their power
Non-communicable disease governance in the era of the sustainable development goals
Trade and investment liberalization and Asia’s noncommunicable disease epidemic
What are the ingredients for food systems change towards sustainability?—Insights from the literature
Greenhouse gas emissions from food systems
Understanding global health governance as a complex adaptive system
Policies to Create Healthier Food Environments in Canada
Understanding System-Level Intervention Points to Support School Food and Nutrition Policy Implementation in Nova Scotia, Canada
Assessment and prioritization of the WHO “best buys” and other recommended interventions for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases in Iran
Systems change for the social determinants of health
Nutrition policies in Germany
The role of foreign direct investment in the nutrition transition
Playing the policy game
Increasing consumption of ultra-processed foods and likely impact on human health
The regulatory governance conditions that lead to food policies achieving improvements in population nutrition outcomes
Ultra-processed foods
What are the benefits and risks of nutrition policy actions to reduce added sugar consumption? An Australian case study
Positioning food standards programmes to protect public health
Nutrition and health. The issue is not food, nor nutrients, so much as processing
Dietary guidelines to nourish humanity and the planet in the twenty-first century. A blueprint from Brazil
Trends in consumption of ultra-processed foods and obesity in Sweden between 1960 and 2010
The political construction of public health nutrition problems
Formulating policy activities to promote healthy and sustainable diets
An assessment of implementation gaps and priority recommendations on food environment policies
Have we compromised too much? A critical analysis of nutrition policy in Australia 2007–2018
A leverage points perspective on institutions for food security in a smallholder-dominated landscape in southwestern Ethiopia
Leverage points for improving gender equality and human well-being in a smallholder farming context
Leverage points for sustainability transformations
The rise of financial investment and common ownership in global agrifood firms
Conceptualizing food systems for global environmental change research
Trimming the excess
Social finance for sustainable food systems
Rights-based food systems and the goals of food systems reform
Food democracy
Feeding relations
Implementation of healthy food environment policies to prevent nutrition-related non-communicable diseases in Ghana
An Ecological Approach to Regulatory Studies
Price and convenience
Systems Science and Obesity Policy
Regulating the Food Industry
Leverage points for sustainability transformation
Disentangling governance
Can the hidden hand of the market be an effective and legitimate regulator? The case of animal welfare under a labeling for consumer choice policy approach
Transnational business governance interactions
Market regulation between economic and ecological values
The UN Decade of Nutrition, the Nova food classification and the trouble with ultra-processing
Transforming landscapes and mindscapes through regenerative agriculture
| Unique citing works | 6 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2023 - 2026 (4) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 6 |