Systems Thinking in Food
System Thinking: What can it do for Healthy Eating and Food Safety
In the world of public health, few challenges are as complex—and as vital—as ensuring that communities have access to healthy and safe food. Yet too often, our efforts to tackle food-related issues are fragmented: nutrition campaigns run separately from food safety inspections, while food poverty initiatives operate in isolation from agricultural policy. What if we approached these challenges not as isolated problems, but as interconnected parts of a larger system?
That’s the promise of systems thinking—a holistic approach that sees the bigger picture, identifies leverage points, and fosters collaboration across sectors. In Worcestershire and beyond, systems thinking is beginning to reshape how we promote healthy eating and food safety, with promising results.
What is Systems Thinking?
Systems thinking is a way of understanding how things influence one another within a whole. Rather than breaking problems into isolated parts, it focuses on the relationships, feedback loops, and patterns that shape outcomes over time. It shifts our perspective from linear cause-and-effect to circular causality, helping us anticipate unintended consequences and identify high-leverage interventions.
As Donella Meadows, author of Thinking in Systems: A Primer put it:
“A system is an interconnected set of elements that is coherently organised in a way that achieves something.”
Understanding the Food System as a Whole
A food system isn’t just about what ends up on our plates. It encompasses everything from agricultural production and supply chains to marketing, consumption, and waste. Each part influences the others—and ultimately, public health.
For example, intensive livestock farming contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and antimicrobial resistance, which in turn affect air quality and human health. Meanwhile, food insecurity and poor nutrition are linked to chronic diseases, mental health issues, and increased healthcare costs.
Systems thinking helps us map these relationships and identify where interventions can have the greatest impact. Instead of treating symptoms, we address root causes.
Systems Thinking in Worcestershire
In Worcestershire, systems thinking is already shaping public health strategy. Our Priority Neighbourhood Development (PND) Strategy has championed multi-agency approaches that integrate community action, local authorities, commercial businesses and healthcare partners into influencing healthy eating, food security, physical activity and mental health. We’ve seen measurable improvements in health and statutory service demand in very deprived areas, with the project winning the national LGC Public Health Award in 2025 and leveraging significant extra investment.
This kind of strategic integration is a hallmark of systems thinking. It moves beyond organisational boundaries and encourages collaboration between health professionals, local government, educators, and community organisations.
Leading Thinkers in Systems Thinking
Several innovators have helped shape the field of systems thinking:
Donella Meadows – Author of Thinking in Systems, she introduced key concepts like feedback loops and leverage points for systemic change
Jay Forrester – Founder of system dynamics at MIT, he developed models to understand urban decay, industrial growth, and social systems.
Dr. Bruce Cameron – Director of MIT’s System Architecture Lab, he emphasises systems thinking as essential for managing complexity and long-term innovation
Russell Ackoff – A pioneer in organisational systems thinking, he advocated for holistic problem-solving in management and planning.
These thinkers have shown that systems thinking isn’t just a tool—it’s a mindset that transforms how we approach challenges.
Why It Matters Now
The urgency of applying systems thinking to food policy has never been greater. Climate change, economic inequality, and shifting demographics are putting pressure on our food systems. Without a coordinated response, these pressures will exacerbate health disparities and undermine food safety.
By adopting a systems lens, public health leaders can anticipate unintended consequences, align efforts across sectors, and design interventions that are both effective and sustainable.
Conclusion: A Call to Action
Promoting healthy eating and safe food isn’t just about changing diets—it’s about changing systems. Whether it’s through community gardens, strategic procurement, or integrated public health programmes, systems thinking offers a roadmap for meaningful, lasting change.
The answer lies in systems thinking. It’s time to connect the dots—and build a healthier, safer future for all.
Further Reading
Davis ST, Sasaki H. Systems Thinking. In: Encyclopedia of Sustainable Management. Springer; 2021. Available from: https://link.springer.com/rwe/10.1007/978-3-030-02006-4_538-1
Pisapia J, Jelenc L, Mick A. The Foundations of Strategic Thinking: Effectual, Strategic, and Causal Reasoning. In: Neostrategic Management. Contributions to Management Science. Springer; 2025. Available from: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-18185-1_4
Zhang BH, Ahmed SAM. Systems Thinking—Ludwig Von Bertalanffy, Peter Senge, and Donella Meadows. In: Akpan B, Kennedy T, editors. Science Education in Theory and Practice. Springer Texts in Education. Springer Nature Switzerland AG; 2020. p. 419–440. Available from: [https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/978-3-030-43620-9_28.pdf]