Promoting Diversity in Agricultural Production Towards Healthy and Sustainable Consumption

The challenges facing contemporary production and consumption patterns are reflected most clearly in the agri-food system, which accounts for one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions. Technological advances have led to homogenous agricultural landscapes and the standardisation of animal breeds, which places the expansion of farming at risk. This homogeneity is the basis for the supply of ultra-processed foods, which rely on a few agricultural products that are transformed by chemical ingredients, making them attractive to the consumer. Contemporary scientific literature also corroborates the link between ultra-processed foods and the global obesity pandemic. Multilateral cooperation boosted by G20 initiatives can help reduce the adverse outcomes of the current agri-food system and improve local, healthy, and diversified production. This requires both a drastic reorientation in subsidies for agriculture and livestock farming globally, as well as policies that encourage the diversification of production and diets to promote human health.