The food system is locked in a vicious circle of increasing production, environmental degradation and rising public health costs. Yields have plateaued but demand is rising while diet is becoming progressively more unhealthy and unsustainable. Rob Bailey and Bernice Lee call on the need for a clear alternative vision to break this vicious circle.

At this workshop leading experts discussed what action across government, business and civil society can steer us towards healthy and sustainable diets. Spanning technologies, policies and actors, an action agenda that can unlock ambition, increase resources and continue innovation to take steps towards a healthy and sustainable diet was identified.

The dialogue explored tools to shift societal preferences and support more sustainable consumption behaviours. It analysed lessons from experiences of ‘nudging’ and other efforts in policy areas such as food, energy, buildings and infrastructure, and identified promising opportunities where interventions that target demand-side shifts could deliver more sustainable outcomes. Participants were from industry, government, international organizations, NGOs, academia, foundations and think tanks.

Land Economy for Sustainability Dialogue Series This first dialogue took place in early 2017. It explored key elements for a scalable strategy for reducing land-based emissions, drawing on lessons learnt from the past decade on the strategic transformation of the energy sector. It also discussed some of the critical ‘no regret’ interventions that could be scaled up immediately, and identified levers needed to create the preconditions for disruptive change beyond 2030.

Technology and new business models make it possible to do much more with much less. But Bernice Lee asks, will governments and companies seize the opportunity?