The COVID-19 pandemic is both a wake-up call to the vulnerability of our food systems and an insight into the ongoing threat posed by the climate crisis to nutritional security and our collective health. Although these two crises threaten food systems through different mechanisms, they share a disproportionate impact on the most vulnerable and emphasise the need for a global food systems transformation.1

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, market supply chain and trade disruptions have been predicted to limit food accessibility, especially in areas that are already substantially affected by food insecurity.2
Furthermore, some areas of the world could experience an increase in food prices and global models predict that the number of people living in poverty could substantially increase—exacerbating poverty and hunger in developing countries.

Over the course of the coming year, our food system will be put to the test and we must ask whether a food system that is already strained is capable of providing for a projected population of 10 billion people by 2050, in the context of a rapidly changing climate.

A 2019 Lancet Commission emphasised the crucial role of food systems in relation to both human and planetary health. Food insecurity and low-quality diets cause undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, and rising overweight and obesity rates, which in turn are notable risk factors for admission to hospital and death due to complications from COVID-19.
Not only do our food systems fail to sustain us nutritionally, but they are also the single greatest driver of environmental degradation, causing unprecedented biodiversity loss, environmental pollution, and water shortages.6
In 2019, the EAT–Lancet Commission, Food in the Anthropocene: healthy diets from sustainable food systems
proposed the planetary health diet. The diet emphasises a high intake of fruits and vegetables, in addition to legumes, nuts, fish, and whole grains, and calls for reduced animal-source food consumption (in high-income countries), highly-processed foods, and free sugars.

Furthermore, the report's authors proposed that it might not be possible to meet the Paris Agreement without substantial changes to each of agricultural production practises, dietary patterns, and food loss and waste.
The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is the primary global forum dedicated to climate change. Despite increasing attention to food security in UNFCCC processes and outcomes over the past decade, including in the preamble of the Paris Agreement and Koronivia workshops, dietary practises have thus far been relatively neglected.

We found a statistically significant increase in non-governmental organisations (5·32/10 in 2019 vs 3·85/ 10 in 2011; p<0·0001) and Party delegates' (6·04/10 in 2019 vs 4·77/10 in 2011; p=0·0006) views about the importance of health in UNFCCC negotiations and outcomes (appendix p 1). There was also a statistically significant increase in perceptions of how important health should be in UNFCCC processes in the non-governmental organisation delegate group (9·02 in 2019 vs 8·19 in 2011; p<0·0001; appendix (p 1). Although we appreciate our small sample size, we conclude that as presence and representation of health grows at UNFCCC meetings, delegates are considering health to be increasingly important to climate change mitigation and adaptation. We believe the topic should become even more prominent.

All delegates—including farmers and individuals from low-income and middle-income countries—believed that dietary practises should be almost as important as food production practises in UNFCCC negotiations and outcomes (Farmers Q6 7·2/10 vs Q8 6·8/10, individuals representing low-income and middle-income countries Q6 8·39/10 vs Q8 7·75, overall delegate average Q6 8·30/10 vs Q8 7·58/10 (appendix p 2). Propositions to bring about global dietary shifts have drawn criticism surrounding the viability of such changes in low-income and middle-income countries, as well as the potential impact on agricultural livelihoods.