Agriculture, food and health: Perspectives on a long relationship

Agriculture produces food fundamental for human health. It therefore seems obvious that agriculture, food and health are related. Agriculture affects whether people have enough food to eat, whether it is of sufficient nutritional value and whether it is safe, all of which affect human health. But it is not so simple: history has taught that there are different ways of looking at the relationships between agriculture, food and health. Agricultural connections to food and health are mediated by the natural environment, human culture and technological change. The challenge today of how to achieve equitable food production that delivers optimum nutrition for health requires an ever better understanding of the interplay between agriculture and environment, culture and technical capacity and how it has changed over time.