Strategic Pathways to Sustainable Food Choices: Insights from Sweden

Summary Current food production and consumption drive serious health and environmental problems, including obesity, nutrient deficiencies, cardiovascular disease, climate change, biodiversity loss and social inequalities. These issues threaten future food security, making more sustainable consumer choices essential. Global and regional policies such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the EU Green Deal, and the ‘Farm‐to‐Fork’ strategy emphasise linking human, societal and planetary health, treating food as a common good. Strong governance is needed to empower consumers and mobilise all actors in the food chain toward sustainable practices. This article explores how to facilitate sustainable food choices and prioritise actions, drawing on in‐depth interviews with Swedish stakeholders from the food industry, government agencies and academia. Short‐term actions include developing affordable, convenient sustainable products, innovating production processes and improving public sector management, supported by policy incentives and procurement standards. Long‐term transformation relies on education, applied research, cross‐sector collaboration and cultural change. The greatest system‐level impact comes from redesigning rules, structures and goals, supported by new governance models and coordinated markets. Achieving this requires a shared vision for the future food system to unite stakeholders and address both urgent needs and the complex, long‐term challenges of a sustainable transition.