ArticlePloS one2018
When too much isn't enough: Does current food production meet global nutritional needs?
Article in PloS one, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 43 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
43 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The Water Footprint of Diets: A Global Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2020Pooled it
- Power and entitlement: Addressing the structural drivers of food insecurity and malnutrition.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- The psychobiotic revolution: comprehending the optimistic role of gut microbiota on gut-brain axis during neurological and Gastrointestinal (GI) disorders.World journal of microbiology & biotechnology · 2025Review
- Mismatches between UK food supply and dietary guidelines: a dietary gap assessment.Public health nutrition · 2025Article
- Global analysis reveals persistent shortfalls and regional differences in availability of foods needed for health.Global food security · 2025Article
- Applying nutritional ecology to optimize diets of crickets raised for food and feed.Royal Society open science · 2024Article
- Influences of Stocking Density on Antioxidant Status, Nutrients Composition, and Lipid Metabolism in the Muscles ofAntioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Food environment change on wild food consumption in rural Tanzania.Food security · 2024Article
- An overview of approaches for assessing the environmental sustainability of diets - a scoping review for Nordic Nutrition Recommendations 2023.Food & nutrition research · 2024Article
- Isolation of aFrontiers in microbiology · 2024Article
- Plant root associated chitinases: structures and functions.Frontiers in plant science · 2024Article
- Cost and affordability of healthy diets in Vietnam.Public health nutrition · 2023Article
- The impacts of okra consumption on the nutritional status of pregnant women, west Ethiopia.Food science & nutrition · 2023Article
- Molecular dissection and testing of PRSS37 function through LC-MS/MS and the generation of a PRSS37 humanized mouse model.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Healthy Diets from Sustainable Food Systems: Calculating the WISH Scores for Women in Rural East Africa.Nutrients · 2023Article
- Recent Trends and Advancements in CRISPR-Based Tools for Enhancing Resistance against Plant Pathogens.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- When increasing vegetable production may worsen food availability gaps: A simulation model in India.Food policy · 2023Article
- Genome editing for improving nutritional quality, post-harvest shelf life and stress tolerance of fruits, vegetables, and ornamentals.Frontiers in genome editing · 2023Review
- Sustainable Nutrition for Increased Food Security Related to Romanian Consumers' Behavior.Nutrients · 2022Article
- Functional phenomics for improved climate resilience in Nordic agriculture.Journal of experimental botany · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
21 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Sustainably feeding the next generation is often described as one of the most pressing "grand challenges" facing the 21st century. Generally, scholars propose addressing this problem by increasing agricultural production, investing in technology to boost yields, changing diets, or reducing food waste. In this paper, we explore whether global food production is nutritionally balanced by comparing the diet that nutritionists recommend versus global agricultural production statistics. Results show that the global agricultural system currently overproduces grains, fats, and sugars while production of fruits and vegetables and protein is not sufficient to meet the nutritional needs of the current population. Correcting this imbalance could reduce the amount of arable land used by agriculture by 51 million ha globally but would increase total land used for agriculture by 407 million ha and increase greenhouse gas emissions. For a growing population, our calculations suggest that the only way to eat a nutritionally balanced diet, save land and reduce greenhouse gas emissions is to consume and produce more fruits and vegetables as well as transition to diets higher in plant-based protein. Such a move will help protect habitats and help meet the Sustainable Development Goals.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.