Pub Date : 2026-02-27DOI: 10.1038/s43016-026-01303-6
Zhencheng Xing, Yifan Liu, Maksym Chepeliev, Xiang Liu, Klaus Hubacek, Kuishuang Feng, Honglin Zhong, Zongwei Ma, Haikun Wang
Current estimates of PM2.5-related mortality associated with global food systems primarily focus on local food production, overlooking the impacts of food trade and food consumption across distant regions. Here we integrate four advanced global models to investigate how international food trade relocates air pollutant emissions from food production and its subsequent impacts on global air quality and public health. Our findings show that food-related emissions were responsible for an estimated 840,400 deaths due to PM2.5 pollution in 2017. Of these, approximately 11% (or 94,100 deaths) were linked to the global food trade, representing an economic value of a statistical life of around US$3.15 trillion. Shifting food exports from sparsely populated to densely populated countries has helped prevent 44,900 deaths in 2017. These findings underscore the potential of food trade partnerships for optimizing trade routes and thereby reducing global food-related health risks.
{"title":"Global food trade can mitigate substantial health burdens attributed to ambient PM<sub>2.5</sub> pollution.","authors":"Zhencheng Xing, Yifan Liu, Maksym Chepeliev, Xiang Liu, Klaus Hubacek, Kuishuang Feng, Honglin Zhong, Zongwei Ma, Haikun Wang","doi":"10.1038/s43016-026-01303-6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-026-01303-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Current estimates of PM<sub>2.5</sub>-related mortality associated with global food systems primarily focus on local food production, overlooking the impacts of food trade and food consumption across distant regions. Here we integrate four advanced global models to investigate how international food trade relocates air pollutant emissions from food production and its subsequent impacts on global air quality and public health. Our findings show that food-related emissions were responsible for an estimated 840,400 deaths due to PM<sub>2.5</sub> pollution in 2017. Of these, approximately 11% (or 94,100 deaths) were linked to the global food trade, representing an economic value of a statistical life of around US$3.15 trillion. Shifting food exports from sparsely populated to densely populated countries has helped prevent 44,900 deaths in 2017. These findings underscore the potential of food trade partnerships for optimizing trade routes and thereby reducing global food-related health risks.</p>","PeriodicalId":94151,"journal":{"name":"Nature food","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":21.9,"publicationDate":"2026-02-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147319285","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-26DOI: 10.1038/s43016-026-01328-x
Kate R Schneider, Roseline Remans, Tesfaye Hailu Bekele, Destan Aytekin, Piero Conforti, Shouro Dasgupta, Fabrice DeClerck, Deviana Dewi, Carola Fabi, Jessica A Gephart, Yuta J Masuda, Rebecca McLaren, Michaela Saisana, Nancy Aburto, Ramya Ambikapathi, Mariana Arellano Rodriguez, Simon Barquera, Jane Battersby, Ty Beal, Christophe Béné, Carlo Cafiero, Christine Campeau, Patrick Caron, Andrea Cattaneo, Jeroen Candel, Namukolo Covic, Inmaculada Del Pino Alvarez, Ana Paula Dominguez Barreto, Ismahane Elouafi, Tyler J Frazier, Alexander Fremier, Pat Foley, Christopher D Golden, Carlos Gonzalez Fischer, Alejandro Guarin, Sheryl Hendriks, Anna Herforth, Maddalena Honorati, Jikun Huang, Yonas Getaneh, Gina Kennedy, Amos Laar, Rattan Lal, Preetmoninder Lidder, Getachew Legese Feye, Brent Loken, Hazel Malapit, Quinn Marshall, Kalkidan A Mulatu, Ana Munguia, Stella Nordhagen, Danielle Resnick, Diana Suhardiman, U Rashid Sumaila, Bangyao Sun, Belay Terefe Mengesha, Maximo Torero Cullen, Francesco N Tubiello, Corné van Dooren, Isabel Valero Morales, Jose-Luis Vivero-Pol, Patrick Webb, Keith Wiebe, Lawrence Haddad, Mario Herrero, Jose Rosero Moncayo, Jessica Fanzo
{"title":"Author Correction: Governance and resilience as entry points for transforming food systems in the countdown to 2030.","authors":"Kate R Schneider, Roseline Remans, Tesfaye Hailu Bekele, Destan Aytekin, Piero Conforti, Shouro Dasgupta, Fabrice DeClerck, Deviana Dewi, Carola Fabi, Jessica A Gephart, Yuta J Masuda, Rebecca McLaren, Michaela Saisana, Nancy Aburto, Ramya Ambikapathi, Mariana Arellano Rodriguez, Simon Barquera, Jane Battersby, Ty Beal, Christophe Béné, Carlo Cafiero, Christine Campeau, Patrick Caron, Andrea Cattaneo, Jeroen Candel, Namukolo Covic, Inmaculada Del Pino Alvarez, Ana Paula Dominguez Barreto, Ismahane Elouafi, Tyler J Frazier, Alexander Fremier, Pat Foley, Christopher D Golden, Carlos Gonzalez Fischer, Alejandro Guarin, Sheryl Hendriks, Anna Herforth, Maddalena Honorati, Jikun Huang, Yonas Getaneh, Gina Kennedy, Amos Laar, Rattan Lal, Preetmoninder Lidder, Getachew Legese Feye, Brent Loken, Hazel Malapit, Quinn Marshall, Kalkidan A Mulatu, Ana Munguia, Stella Nordhagen, Danielle Resnick, Diana Suhardiman, U Rashid Sumaila, Bangyao Sun, Belay Terefe Mengesha, Maximo Torero Cullen, Francesco N Tubiello, Corné van Dooren, Isabel Valero Morales, Jose-Luis Vivero-Pol, Patrick Webb, Keith Wiebe, Lawrence Haddad, Mario Herrero, Jose Rosero Moncayo, Jessica Fanzo","doi":"10.1038/s43016-026-01328-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-026-01328-x","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":94151,"journal":{"name":"Nature food","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":21.9,"publicationDate":"2026-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147313719","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-25DOI: 10.1038/s43016-026-01293-5
Giulia Vico, Alessio Costa, Monique E. Smith, Timothy Bowles, Amélie C. M. Gaudin, Christine A. Watson, Guido Baldoni, Antonio Berti, Andrzej Blecharczyk, Krzysztof Jonczyk, Martina Mazzon, Claudio Marzadori, Francesco Morari, Lorenzo Negri, Andrea Onofri, José Luis Tenorio Pasamón, Boël Sandström, Inés Santín-Montanyá, Zuzanna Sawinska, Jarosław Stalenga, Francesco Tei, Cairistiona F. E. Topp, Robin L. Walker, Riccardo Bommarco
Increased crop diversity in cereal-dominated rotations can enhance crop protection, nutrient use efficiency and climate change adaptation. Nevertheless, it is argued that replacing cereals in rotations diminishes food production, threatening food security. Here we compared outputs of calories and macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, fats) for human consumption from cereal monocultures, cereal-only rotations and rotations including two or three functionally distinct crop types (cereals plus root and oil crops, legumes or ley) in 16 long-term experiments across Europe. Rotations with three functional types produced more calories and macronutrients than cereal monocultures and cereal-only rotations with forage crops used to produce milk. Carbohydrate gains depended on growing conditions and crop choice. Advantages increased over time but were lost with forage crops used for beef or biofuel. Functionally rich rotations provided macronutrient proportions closer to recommended human diets. Our analysis shows no trade-off between functionally rich rotations and food production or agricultural land expansion. While the benefits of crop diversity are known, doubts remain as to whether replacing cereals in rotations reduces nutrient production. A comparison of 16 long-term field experiments across Europe shows no trade-off between functionally rich rotations and food productivity.
{"title":"Functionally rich crop rotations increase calorie and macronutrient outputs across Europe","authors":"Giulia Vico, Alessio Costa, Monique E. Smith, Timothy Bowles, Amélie C. M. Gaudin, Christine A. Watson, Guido Baldoni, Antonio Berti, Andrzej Blecharczyk, Krzysztof Jonczyk, Martina Mazzon, Claudio Marzadori, Francesco Morari, Lorenzo Negri, Andrea Onofri, José Luis Tenorio Pasamón, Boël Sandström, Inés Santín-Montanyá, Zuzanna Sawinska, Jarosław Stalenga, Francesco Tei, Cairistiona F. E. Topp, Robin L. Walker, Riccardo Bommarco","doi":"10.1038/s43016-026-01293-5","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43016-026-01293-5","url":null,"abstract":"Increased crop diversity in cereal-dominated rotations can enhance crop protection, nutrient use efficiency and climate change adaptation. Nevertheless, it is argued that replacing cereals in rotations diminishes food production, threatening food security. Here we compared outputs of calories and macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, fats) for human consumption from cereal monocultures, cereal-only rotations and rotations including two or three functionally distinct crop types (cereals plus root and oil crops, legumes or ley) in 16 long-term experiments across Europe. Rotations with three functional types produced more calories and macronutrients than cereal monocultures and cereal-only rotations with forage crops used to produce milk. Carbohydrate gains depended on growing conditions and crop choice. Advantages increased over time but were lost with forage crops used for beef or biofuel. Functionally rich rotations provided macronutrient proportions closer to recommended human diets. Our analysis shows no trade-off between functionally rich rotations and food production or agricultural land expansion. While the benefits of crop diversity are known, doubts remain as to whether replacing cereals in rotations reduces nutrient production. A comparison of 16 long-term field experiments across Europe shows no trade-off between functionally rich rotations and food productivity.","PeriodicalId":94151,"journal":{"name":"Nature food","volume":"7 2","pages":"185-193"},"PeriodicalIF":21.9,"publicationDate":"2026-02-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-026-01293-5.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147275141","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-23DOI: 10.1038/s43016-026-01309-0
Nguyen Tien Hoang
A new modelling framework provides the most comprehensive picture yet of how agricultural and forestry commodities drive global forest loss and carbon emissions, revealing major gaps in current monitoring efforts.
{"title":"Unmasking deforestation footprints across the global food system","authors":"Nguyen Tien Hoang","doi":"10.1038/s43016-026-01309-0","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43016-026-01309-0","url":null,"abstract":"A new modelling framework provides the most comprehensive picture yet of how agricultural and forestry commodities drive global forest loss and carbon emissions, revealing major gaps in current monitoring efforts.","PeriodicalId":94151,"journal":{"name":"Nature food","volume":"7 2","pages":"128-129"},"PeriodicalIF":21.9,"publicationDate":"2026-02-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147275140","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-23DOI: 10.1038/s43016-026-01305-4
Chandrakant Singh, U. Martin Persson
Rapid agriculture-driven deforestation poses considerable challenges to achieving climate and biodiversity targets. However, the limited scope and comprehensiveness of the datasets available for linking deforestation to food production restrict their effectiveness in supporting forest conservation and climate change mitigation efforts. By integrating the best available spatial and statistical datasets, our deforestation attribution framework (DeDuCE) provides a detailed quantification of deforestation associated with the production of agricultural and forestry commodities. DeDuCE reports 9,332 unique country–commodity deforestation–carbon footprints across 179 countries and 184 commodities annually from 2001 to 2022. Our findings indicate that while global efforts to curb deforestation appropriately focus on cattle meat, oil palm, rubber, soya, cocoa and coffee, global monitoring efforts have largely overlooked staple crops such as rice, maize and cassava. Given their substantial contribution to deforestation and carbon emissions, balancing food security with forest and climate conservation will require greater attention to these crops. By integrating the best available spatial and statistical datasets, this analysis estimates the deforestation associated with the production of 184 agricultural and forestry commodities across 179 countries from 2001 to 2022.
{"title":"Global patterns of commodity-driven deforestation and associated carbon emissions","authors":"Chandrakant Singh, U. Martin Persson","doi":"10.1038/s43016-026-01305-4","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43016-026-01305-4","url":null,"abstract":"Rapid agriculture-driven deforestation poses considerable challenges to achieving climate and biodiversity targets. However, the limited scope and comprehensiveness of the datasets available for linking deforestation to food production restrict their effectiveness in supporting forest conservation and climate change mitigation efforts. By integrating the best available spatial and statistical datasets, our deforestation attribution framework (DeDuCE) provides a detailed quantification of deforestation associated with the production of agricultural and forestry commodities. DeDuCE reports 9,332 unique country–commodity deforestation–carbon footprints across 179 countries and 184 commodities annually from 2001 to 2022. Our findings indicate that while global efforts to curb deforestation appropriately focus on cattle meat, oil palm, rubber, soya, cocoa and coffee, global monitoring efforts have largely overlooked staple crops such as rice, maize and cassava. Given their substantial contribution to deforestation and carbon emissions, balancing food security with forest and climate conservation will require greater attention to these crops. By integrating the best available spatial and statistical datasets, this analysis estimates the deforestation associated with the production of 184 agricultural and forestry commodities across 179 countries from 2001 to 2022.","PeriodicalId":94151,"journal":{"name":"Nature food","volume":"7 2","pages":"138-151"},"PeriodicalIF":21.9,"publicationDate":"2026-02-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-026-01305-4.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147275133","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-23DOI: 10.1038/s43016-026-01300-9
Sarah M. Collier, Noah Janzing, Mary Fudge, Alan Ismach, Jorge Rivera-Gonzalez, Elizabeth Abraham, Jennifer Schmitt, Marie L. Spiker, Jennifer J. Otten
Beef, pork and broiler producers face complexities in prioritizing sustainability actions. We use Q methodology to explore diverging patterns in how US producers approach sustainability priorities, even among same-species and same-scale operations, with emphasis on animal well-being and environmental stewardship. Three distinct worldviews emerged: one prioritizing animal welfare, another emphasizing holistic environmental stewardship, and a third focused on balancing business viability with other concerns. Our findings can inform strategies for aligning producer actions and consumer expectations for sustainable meat production. A sample of US producers’ worldviews on sustainable meat production fall into three categories, which can guide decision-makers towards actions with broad support and highlight those requiring more targeted efforts.
{"title":"Distinct worldviews determine how meat producers navigate competing sustainability priorities in the United States","authors":"Sarah M. Collier, Noah Janzing, Mary Fudge, Alan Ismach, Jorge Rivera-Gonzalez, Elizabeth Abraham, Jennifer Schmitt, Marie L. Spiker, Jennifer J. Otten","doi":"10.1038/s43016-026-01300-9","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43016-026-01300-9","url":null,"abstract":"Beef, pork and broiler producers face complexities in prioritizing sustainability actions. We use Q methodology to explore diverging patterns in how US producers approach sustainability priorities, even among same-species and same-scale operations, with emphasis on animal well-being and environmental stewardship. Three distinct worldviews emerged: one prioritizing animal welfare, another emphasizing holistic environmental stewardship, and a third focused on balancing business viability with other concerns. Our findings can inform strategies for aligning producer actions and consumer expectations for sustainable meat production. A sample of US producers’ worldviews on sustainable meat production fall into three categories, which can guide decision-makers towards actions with broad support and highlight those requiring more targeted efforts.","PeriodicalId":94151,"journal":{"name":"Nature food","volume":"7 2","pages":"132-137"},"PeriodicalIF":21.9,"publicationDate":"2026-02-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-026-01300-9.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147275142","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-18DOI: 10.1038/s43016-026-01298-0
Quanbo Zhao (, ), Chenzhi Wang (, ), Xuhui Wang (, ), Ehsan Eyshi Rezaei, Christoph Müller, Enli Wang (, ), Heidi Webber, Liangliang Zhang (, ), Xiangyi Li (, ), Yuxing Sang (, ), Gang Zhao (, ), Christian Folberth, Atul Jain, Wenfeng Liu (, ), Masashi Okada (, ), Florian Zabel, Jonas Jäegermeyr, Hui Guo (, ), Yao Zhang (, ), Yu Jiang (, ), Feng Zhou (, ), Shilong Piao (, )
Exposure to extreme high temperatures is a major constraint on global crop productivity, yet most large-scale assessments rely on fixed temperature thresholds that overlook regional variation in genetics, environment and management. Consequently, the temperature thresholds at which heat exposure begins to cause substantial yield loss and their spatial variability remain unclear. Here we compiled subnational yield census over Northern Hemisphere (20° N–55° N) and analysed the extreme degree days (EDDs) to estimate a data-driven critical threshold (EDDthreshold). Our findings reveal EDDthreshold for maize and soybean are 34.8 ± 4.0 °C and 33.7 ± 3.9 °C, respectively. In contrast, state-of-the-art crop models significantly underestimated EDDthreshold and its spatial variations, leading to overestimated extreme heat exposure, partially explaining their underestimate in yield loss during extreme heat events. We estimate that without adaptations, growing-season extreme heat exposure could increase by 2.4%–16.1% for maize and 4.9%–16.0% for soybean by the end of the century, and sowing-date adjustment alone cannot fully offset the projected increase in extreme heat exposure. The depiction of crop exposure to heat stress is fundamental for reliably quantifying extreme-heat-induced yield loss and crop failure. Using more than 130,000 subnational yield records, this study estimated spatially explicit extreme degree day thresholds for maize and soybean across major Northern Hemisphere breadbaskets, revealing strong geographic heterogeneity.
{"title":"Temperature thresholds of extreme heat-induced yield loss in maize and soybean reveal geographic heterogeneity across the Northern Hemisphere","authors":"Quanbo Zhao \u0000 (, ), Chenzhi Wang \u0000 (, ), Xuhui Wang \u0000 (, ), Ehsan Eyshi Rezaei, Christoph Müller, Enli Wang \u0000 (, ), Heidi Webber, Liangliang Zhang \u0000 (, ), Xiangyi Li \u0000 (, ), Yuxing Sang \u0000 (, ), Gang Zhao \u0000 (, ), Christian Folberth, Atul Jain, Wenfeng Liu \u0000 (, ), Masashi Okada \u0000 (, ), Florian Zabel, Jonas Jäegermeyr, Hui Guo \u0000 (, ), Yao Zhang \u0000 (, ), Yu Jiang \u0000 (, ), Feng Zhou \u0000 (, ), Shilong Piao \u0000 (, )","doi":"10.1038/s43016-026-01298-0","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43016-026-01298-0","url":null,"abstract":"Exposure to extreme high temperatures is a major constraint on global crop productivity, yet most large-scale assessments rely on fixed temperature thresholds that overlook regional variation in genetics, environment and management. Consequently, the temperature thresholds at which heat exposure begins to cause substantial yield loss and their spatial variability remain unclear. Here we compiled subnational yield census over Northern Hemisphere (20° N–55° N) and analysed the extreme degree days (EDDs) to estimate a data-driven critical threshold (EDDthreshold). Our findings reveal EDDthreshold for maize and soybean are 34.8 ± 4.0 °C and 33.7 ± 3.9 °C, respectively. In contrast, state-of-the-art crop models significantly underestimated EDDthreshold and its spatial variations, leading to overestimated extreme heat exposure, partially explaining their underestimate in yield loss during extreme heat events. We estimate that without adaptations, growing-season extreme heat exposure could increase by 2.4%–16.1% for maize and 4.9%–16.0% for soybean by the end of the century, and sowing-date adjustment alone cannot fully offset the projected increase in extreme heat exposure. The depiction of crop exposure to heat stress is fundamental for reliably quantifying extreme-heat-induced yield loss and crop failure. Using more than 130,000 subnational yield records, this study estimated spatially explicit extreme degree day thresholds for maize and soybean across major Northern Hemisphere breadbaskets, revealing strong geographic heterogeneity.","PeriodicalId":94151,"journal":{"name":"Nature food","volume":"7 2","pages":"194-205"},"PeriodicalIF":21.9,"publicationDate":"2026-02-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146210217","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-13DOI: 10.1038/s43016-026-01301-8
Matthew M. Lee, Erica L. Kenney, Kathryn Carlson, Eliza Novick, Pamela Portocarrero, Eric B. Rimm, Jarvis T. Chen, Steven L. Gortmaker, Briana Joy K. Stephenson, Jeffrey Liebman
During COVID-19, Chelsea, a city in Massachusetts, USA, implemented an unconditional cash transfer (UCT) programme (‘Chelsea Eats’) that provided a nine-month benefit of up to US$400 per month to low-income households, allocated via lottery. UCTs are increasingly common, but their dietary impacts in high-income countries are unclear. In a randomized experiment, 905 individuals assigned to receive UCTs and 555 controls completed a 24-h diet recall after 4–6 months. At baseline, 90% identified as Latino/a, and 86% experienced food insecurity. At follow-up, average caloric intake was 1,351 kcal among those in control—far less than the approximately 2,060 kcal recommended by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The intervention led to increased kilocalories (+146 kcal), and increased fruit (+0.17 cup equiv.), vegetable (+0.14 cup equiv.) and unprocessed meat (+0.54 oz.) consumption. These findings suggest that a recurring UCT reduced caloric deficits and improved intake of nutrient-dense foods among this food-insecure population in the United States. In a randomized experiment in Chelsea, Massachusetts, USA, lower-income individuals who received cash transfers reduced calorie deficits and increased consumption of nutrient-dense, higher-cost foods. Their findings highlight the critical role that income support may have in a high-income country to reduce hunger.
{"title":"Randomized unconditional cash transfers improved diet quantity and quality in a low-income community in Massachusetts, USA","authors":"Matthew M. Lee, Erica L. Kenney, Kathryn Carlson, Eliza Novick, Pamela Portocarrero, Eric B. Rimm, Jarvis T. Chen, Steven L. Gortmaker, Briana Joy K. Stephenson, Jeffrey Liebman","doi":"10.1038/s43016-026-01301-8","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43016-026-01301-8","url":null,"abstract":"During COVID-19, Chelsea, a city in Massachusetts, USA, implemented an unconditional cash transfer (UCT) programme (‘Chelsea Eats’) that provided a nine-month benefit of up to US$400 per month to low-income households, allocated via lottery. UCTs are increasingly common, but their dietary impacts in high-income countries are unclear. In a randomized experiment, 905 individuals assigned to receive UCTs and 555 controls completed a 24-h diet recall after 4–6 months. At baseline, 90% identified as Latino/a, and 86% experienced food insecurity. At follow-up, average caloric intake was 1,351 kcal among those in control—far less than the approximately 2,060 kcal recommended by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The intervention led to increased kilocalories (+146 kcal), and increased fruit (+0.17 cup equiv.), vegetable (+0.14 cup equiv.) and unprocessed meat (+0.54 oz.) consumption. These findings suggest that a recurring UCT reduced caloric deficits and improved intake of nutrient-dense foods among this food-insecure population in the United States. In a randomized experiment in Chelsea, Massachusetts, USA, lower-income individuals who received cash transfers reduced calorie deficits and increased consumption of nutrient-dense, higher-cost foods. Their findings highlight the critical role that income support may have in a high-income country to reduce hunger.","PeriodicalId":94151,"journal":{"name":"Nature food","volume":"7 2","pages":"152-162"},"PeriodicalIF":21.9,"publicationDate":"2026-02-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146196027","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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