All elements and activities that relate to production, processing, distribution, preparation and consumption of food. This Commission focuses on two end-points of the global food system; final consumption (healthy diets) and production (sustainable food production).

The food system is understood to include all relevant actors, resources in a broad sense, and activities relevant for the production and consumption of food and beverages and their associated wastes, and their impact on the economy, environment and society (including health)[1]. It considers the processes, infrastructures and interactions involved in feeding a population. 

Source: JRC: Bock, A., Bontoux, L. and Rudkin, J., Concepts for a sustainable EU food system, EUR 30894 EN, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2022, ISBN 978-92-76-43727-7 ​ (online), doi:10.2760/381319 ​ (online), JRC126575.

A food system gathers all the elements (environment, people, inputs, processes, infrastructures, institutions, etc.) and activities that relate to the production, processing, distribution, preparation and consumption of food, and the outputs of these activities, including socio-economic and environmental outcomes.

Source: HLPE. 2017. Nutrition and food systems. A report by the High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition of the Committee on World Food Security, Rome