Environmental and health crises: Anthropocene diseases that call for redesigning our food system

Since the middle of the 20th century, the impacts of human activities on ecosystems have beenincreasing. The erosion of biodiversity and climate change, as well as the pandemics of obesity and diabetes,are now compounded by the coronavirus pandemic. This is a set of environmental or health crises resultingin part from common factors and whose impacts can be combined and amplified. In this new context, ourmethods of food production, processing, distribution and consumption are particularly questioned. They arethe source of a significant share of greenhouse gas emissions, participate in the destruction of some naturalhabitats which are reservoirs of pathogens, and contribute to the emergence of human chronic diseases. As aresult, the need for a transition in our food system is a shared idea, even if the choice of the changes to bemade concretely raises many questions. Through a systemic approach to“global health”,reflecting theinterdependence of the state of health of humans, animals, and the ecosystems in which they evolve, weshow that synergies must be found between practices allowing to face environmental and health challenges.We show that it is possible to make doubly virtuous choices for the environment and health by transformingthe modes of production, processing, distribution and consumption of food: reorienting animal husbandry,lowering the degree of food processing, diversifying distribution methods and increasing plant food. Thesechanges contribute to set up territorialized food systems. Depuis le milieu du XXe siècle, les impacts des activités humaines sur les écosystèmes sont croissants. À l’érosion de la biodiversité et au dérèglement climatique, ainsi qu’au développement de maladies chroniques que constituent l’obésité et le diabète, s’ajoute désormais la pandémie du coronavirus. Il s’agit d’un ensemble de crises environnementales ou sanitaires qui résultent pour partie de facteurs communs et dont les impacts peuvent se conjuguer et s’amplifier. Dans ce contexte inédit, nos modes de production, transformation, distribution et consommation des aliments sont particulièrement interrogés. Ils sont à l’origine d’une part importante des émissions de gaz à effet de serre, participent à la destruction de certains habitats naturels réservoirs d’agents pathogènes et contribuent à l’émergence de maladies chroniques chez l’homme. De ce fait, la nécessité d’une transition de notre système alimentaire est une idée qui fait consensus, même si le choix des cha