Critical Decade report sets out urgent need for transformative change in the global food system
8 January 2026 – Clarity on the credibility and safety of novel technologies like alternative proteins, the adoption of practices such as regenerative agriculture, and a focus on food sovereignty, will be key as the global food sector approaches its most defining period, according to new research by BSI.
Food future 2035: The critical decade, sets out the need for the world to rethink, rebuild and reimagine how food makes it from source to the consumer in order to sustainably serve a population projected to reach 10.3 billion by 2080, amidst an onslaught of challenges from climate change to nutrient decline and geopolitics.
The report from business standards and improvement company BSI draws on data-driven simulations by futurist consultancy Synthesis, as well as insights from BSI’s Global Managing Director – Consumer, Retail and Food, Todd Redwood, and Futurist for Food, Tony Hunter. Noting pressing issues including population growth, soil degradation - forecast to impact up to 95% of the world’s soil by 2050 – and the sector’s sizable contribution to emissions, the research sets out three key areas for action.
• Adopting regenerative agriculture practices, which can help rebuild organic matter in soil and restore degraded soil biodiversity. The report notes the need to establish credible carbon traceability and auditable soil and water stewardship metrics.
• Scaling the production of alternative proteins and alternative food technologies, which can reduce environmental impact, improve food security, and drive sustainable economic growth. This requires frameworks to enable the credible verification of novel food production methods, including the food safety of bioreactors, input traceability, and validating environmental claims, in order to build trust with investors, regulators and consumers.
• Encouraging food sovereignty (the ability to produce a reliable base level of food domestically), reducing the impact of interruptions in the supply chain, enabled via investment in decentralized food production models, such as vertical farming, community-supported agriculture (CSAs) or urban farms. Standards and guidance for energy efficiency of local farms, for example, and models that can verify local production, will be key in making this a reality.
Crucially, the report sets out that meeting future global food needs requires comprehensive change, covering both how food is grown and consumed. It notes, for example, the urgency of manufacturers thinking now about how to utilize AI or considering what reformulations might be needed as GLP-1 treatments like Ozempic become mainstream. It also highlights the opportunity presented by AI for hyper-personalization of diets, whereby virtual physiological twins can be created, analysing the impacts of the many foods an individual consumes each year.
In the decade ahead, the authors highlight the necessity of a reduction in food waste, including by prioritizing circular valorization (encouraging the use of products deemed unsuitable for sale in their current form, or byproducts or production that would typically be discarded, to create new food products). Again, to scale circular models, the report says industry needs consistent metrics, shared definitions, and globally recognised standards for waste reduction and valorisation.
The report concludes by posing three critical questions, including where will we source food to raise production in a resource-challenged world, how can we stretch the resources we already have to accommodate a growing population, and how do we nourish future generations in a world that’s overfed, but undernourished?
Todd Redwood, Global Managing Director – Consumer, Retail and Food, BSI said: “The next decade will be pivotal, as the food industry responds to pressing global challenges at a time when need is only growing. Society must rethink how we produce food, rebuild soil health, and reimagine nutrition to align with human and planetary needs, and we must shift our thinking to prioritize food sovereignty.
“We are on the cusp of big changes to the way food goes from source to shelf, but this transition rests on there being global consistency and clarity on novel technologies like alternative proteins and practices such as regenerative agriculture. Success in the critical decade ahead for food will require collaboration between government, industry and consumers.”
The full report can be accessed here.
