Giving Compass' Take:

• Food Tank interviews nutritionist and sustainable food expert Dr. Michael Hamm on how supply chains across the world are putting an incredible strain on our ecosystem, damaging both us and the environment.

• What can we do to help? One suggestion Dr. Hamm has is basing solutions on community-driven data rather than looking for a silver bullet that can solve everything.

• Here are ways to invest in order to strengthen the good food supply chain.

Dr. Michael Hamm is a human nutritionist, interested in community food security and sustainable food systems. He is the Michigan State University (MSU) C.S. Mott Professor of Sustainable Agriculture and founding director of the MSU Center for Regional Food Systems. Hamm is a chapter author of the new report from The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity for Agriculture and Food (TEEBAgriFood).

"One of the biggest issues on the horizon is not necessarily a consequence of our current food system, but a consequence of global development and population migration, and that’s urbanization. The European Union, U.S., and Canada have 70 percent of their populations living in urban-influenced environments. In the global South and developing world, it is moving in that direction, creating challenges and implications for food and nutrition security. When supply chains are unable to handle the volume of food necessary to provide food security in urban areas, there are going to be problems ...

"Funders and donors often make two mistakes. The first is thinking there’s a grand solution that can be applied universally, rather than basing strategies on data and principles integrated with community-driven knowledge. While every community is unique, there are often commonalities across them. Therefore, solutions may be similar, but will never be identical. The second mistake is when funders and donors find a new space, such as sustainable and local food systems, they don’t always complete their due diligence in the funding area to see what is already there and working, which often wastes money and creates animosity within the community."

Read the full article about dietary patterns and our ecosystem by Iain Murray at Food Tank.