Linking Sustainable Agriculture and Public Health: Opportunities for Realizing Multiple Goals

The realms of nutrition, public health, and sustainable agriculture have historically functioned as distinct, nonoverlapping disciplines. A simple analysis of farm production policy and dietary guidelines quickly illustrates this reality. However, it is increasingly clear that public health dietary guidelines around diet cannot be met without a simultaneous focus on sustainable agriculture and food production. This article explores the degree of disconnect between public health dietary guidelines and agricultural production. Building on this discordance, it presents a strategy for using a food system, rather than food supply, strategy for approaching public health nutritional goals for the American population and thus enhance our ability to develop sustainable food systems. This strategy brings other sectors of interest into the discussion—especially environmental, economic, and community development—and enables expanded partnerships in communities across the country. Two case studies—fruits/vegetables and dairy—are briefly presented to illustrate the opportunities.