Interface of Climate and Environmental Change on Food Systems-A Report from the "Agriculture and Diet: Value Added for Nutrition, Translation, and Adaptation in a Global Ecology" (ADVANTAGE) Project Working Group 3.

As the climate changes, investigation at the intersection of climate and food systems is critical to understand broader impacts on human nutrition and health. This work seeks to 1) identify reciprocal interactions of climate and environmental change (CEC) and food systems, 2) illuminate research gaps in CEC interactions with food systems, and 3) identify paths to respond to and mitigate the impact of CEC on food systems. We discuss CEC and food system interactions via 4 pathways. Food systems are influenced by CEC through shifting climate normals and altered instances of extreme events. The physical systems necessary to support food systems are also affected by CEC through ocean conditions, freshwater availability, soil systems, ground-level ozone, and surface water quality. The biological systems underpinning food systems are also altered by CEC, through shifts in pest, weed, and pathogen pressure, wild pollinator populations, and biodiversity changes. The agricultural production system driving food systems is also influenced by CEC via labor shifts and productivity changes, disruptions to supply chains, and spoilage and foodborne diseases. Each of these pathways can alter growing conditions for crop- and animal-based foods, leading to shifts in productivity and nutrient composition and altering food safety, distribution, access, and availability. Adapting food systems to CEC requires qualitative and quantitative interventions, emphasizing system adaptability and mitigation of climate change. Although relationships between CEC and food systems are well studied, research gaps highlight the need to assess the impacts of simultaneous climate factors on crop yields, nutrient density, and food quality; to refine cultivars, technologies, and management practices for resilient food production; to identify social, economic, and political strategies to facilitate global food security goals; to utilize bridging data for robust modeling; and to advance nonagricultural nutrient production systems.