TY - JOUR
T1 - Food system policy, public health, and human rights in the United States
AU - Shannon, Kerry L.
AU - Kim, Brent F.
AU - McKenzie, Shawn E.
AU - Lawrence, Robert S.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2015 by Annual Reviews. All rights reserved.
PY - 2015/3/18
Y1 - 2015/3/18
N2 - The US food system functions within a complex nexus of social, political, economic, cultural, and ecological factors. Among them are many dynamic pressures such as population growth, urbanization, socioeconomic inequities, climate disruption, and the increasing demand for resource-intensive foods that place immense strains on public health and the environment. This review focuses on the role that policy plays in defining the food system, particularly with regard to agriculture. It further examines the challenges of making the food supply safe, nutritious, and sustainable, while respecting the rights of all people to have access to adequate food and to attain the highest standard of health. We conclude that the present US food system is largely unhealthy, inequitable, environmentally damaging, and insufficiently resilient to endure the impacts of climate change, resource depletion, and population increases, and is therefore unsustainable. Thus, it is imperative that the US embraces policy reforms to transform the food system into one that supports public health and reflects the principles of human rights and agroecology for the benefit of current and future generations.
AB - The US food system functions within a complex nexus of social, political, economic, cultural, and ecological factors. Among them are many dynamic pressures such as population growth, urbanization, socioeconomic inequities, climate disruption, and the increasing demand for resource-intensive foods that place immense strains on public health and the environment. This review focuses on the role that policy plays in defining the food system, particularly with regard to agriculture. It further examines the challenges of making the food supply safe, nutritious, and sustainable, while respecting the rights of all people to have access to adequate food and to attain the highest standard of health. We conclude that the present US food system is largely unhealthy, inequitable, environmentally damaging, and insufficiently resilient to endure the impacts of climate change, resource depletion, and population increases, and is therefore unsustainable. Thus, it is imperative that the US embraces policy reforms to transform the food system into one that supports public health and reflects the principles of human rights and agroecology for the benefit of current and future generations.
KW - Agricultural policy
KW - Agroecology
KW - Diet-related disease
KW - Food policy
KW - Right to food
KW - Right to health
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84925235319&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031914-122621
DO - 10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031914-122621
M3 - Review article
C2 - 25785888
AN - SCOPUS:84925235319
SN - 0163-7525
VL - 36
SP - 151
EP - 173
JO - Annual review of public health
JF - Annual review of public health
ER -