Working conditions in food systems remain precarious across the globe. Little scientific guidance exists on what works where when it comes to initiatives aimed at addressing this issue. Investments in large-scale, nationally representative agricultural worker data are needed to properly document the scale and nature of working conditions and better guide policy design and implementation.

Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) are essential carbohydrates for the early development of infants. In this study, the intrinsic carbohydrate anabolism of plants is leveraged to produce a variety of HMOs, highlighting the potential of this method for commercial applications.

Crop production data from 131 nations covering six decades reveal that the stabilizing effects of crop diversity are stronger as national land area increases, with only limited stabilizing effects in the smallest nations.

Knowing how consumers allocate their budget among different food categories helps us understand their preferences, priorities and economic accessibility. This study investigates the convergence of budget shares for total food, stimulants, raw food categories and ultra-processed foods and beverages across more than 90 countries over the past decades.

Destruction of the Kakhovka Dam in 2023 caused water shortages in two-thirds of Ukraine’s irrigated regions, highlighting the need for localized and climate-resilient irrigation strategies to support future crop production in Ukraine.

China’s feed imports have a considerable environmental impact globally. This modelling study quantifies China’s potential protein self-sufficiency by simulating farming spatial relocation according to irrigation water and nitrogen surplus, as well as technological innovations and demand-side measures.

Reducing China’s methane emissions is key to achieving carbon neutrality. Using four national-scale field surveys, a high-resolution dataset of Chinese methane emissions over the period 1990−2020 is compiled and used to estimate past and future emission trajectories while highlighting cost-effective mitigation measures.

Data on chemical concentrations in commonly recommended diets are sparse. This study estimates the association between adherence to three dietary patterns considered healthy and exposure to environmental chemicals in a multi-racial pregnancy cohort, underscoring the need for increased regulation and monitoring of environmental contaminants.

This study reveals that wheat migration as a strategy for climate adaptation lacks sustainability in the North China Plain. Irrigation and fertilization management provide mitigation opportunities to reduce negative environmental impacts and avoid carbon leakage.

Policies for supporting domestic grain production propose converting large areas of marginal and low-grade arable land into strategic cropland reserves. This process will require advances in science and land engineering, and presents opportunities to revitalize social, economic and ecological systems in rural China.

Despite decades of resistance in the USA, agroecology is gaining momentum as a catalyst for food systems transformation, calling for coordinated action between science, practice and movement to dismantle the dominant industrial paradigm.

Working conditions in food systems remain precarious across the globe. Little scientific guidance exists on what works where when it comes to initiatives aimed at addressing this issue. Investments in large-scale, nationally representative agricultural worker data are needed to properly document the scale and nature of working conditions and better guide policy design and implementation.

Crop pest invasions and their interactions with climate change may have been overlooked in crop yield projections, hindering the development of climate-resilient and sustainable agriculture. A harmonized strategy is proposed to integrate such interactions into crop yield projections and management under climate change scenarios.