What 50 years of food systems transformation research reveal: Key insights from bibliometric review of manuscripts from 1972 through 2024

Food systems are the networks through which food is grown, processed, distributed, and shared—linking farmers, markets, ecosystems, and communities (Stefanovic, Freytag-Leyer, & Kahl, 2020). They shape not only what people eat, but the stability of economies, the health of populations, and the resilience of societies (Benton, Bieg, Harwatt, Pudasaini, & Wellesley, 2021). Yet these systems are under growing strain. Accelerating climate change, biodiversity loss, soil degradation, shifting dietary patterns, and disruptions in supply chains have exposed deep vulnerabilities across production, distribution, and consumption (Benton et al., 2021; Branca et al., 2019; Fan & Swinnen, 2020). As these pressures intensify, global conversation has broadened to integrate questions of yield and productivity along with questions of sustainability, justice, and long-term resilience. Calls for food systems transformation (FST) have underscored that incremental improvements are not adequate to sustain people or the planet. Without deeper structural change, progress toward global goals such as ending hunger, improving health, and addressing climate change will continue to stall (Willett et al., 2019).