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Soc. Sci. Med. Vol. 47, No. 7, pp.

853863, 1998
# 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved
PII: S0277-9536(98)00104-X Printed in Great Britain
0277-9536/98 $19.00 + 0.00

A CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF THE FOOD AND


NUTRITION SYSTEM
JEFFERY SOBAL,1* LAURA KETTEL KHAN2 and CAROLE BISOGNI1
Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University, Room 303, MVR Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853-4401,
1

U.S.A. and 2Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30341, U.S.A.

AbstractThe food system is a widely used concept, but few systematic frameworks model the full
scope and structure of the food and nutrition system. Bibliographic searches, a modied Delphi tech-
nique, focus groups and interviews with experts on the topic were conducted to identify existing models
of agriculture, food, nutrition, health and environmental systems. These models were examined, classi-
ed and synthesized into an integrated conceptual model of the food and nutrition system. Few existing
models broadly described the system and most focused on one disciplinary perspective or one segment
of the system. Four major types of models were identied: food chains, food cycles, food webs and
food contexts. The integrated model developed here included three subsystems (producer, consumer,
nutrition) and nine stages (production, processing, distribution, acquisition, preparation, consumption,
digestion, transport, metabolism). The integrated model considers the processes and transformations
that occur within the system and relationships between the system and other systems in the biophysical
and social environments. The integrated conceptual model of the food and nutrition system presents
food and nutrition activities as part of a larger context and identies linkages among the many disci-
plines that deal with the food and nutrition system. # 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved

Key wordsmodel, food, nutrition, health, agriculture, diet, systems

INTRODUCTION food production, food consumption and nutritional


The concept of a food system is widely used in agri- health. Food serves many purposes, including pro-
culture, food science, nutrition and medicine to viding pleasure, earning a livelihood, maintaining
describe the complex set of activities involved in social traditions and supplying nourishment.
providing food for sustenance and nutrients for However, all of these purposes could be achieved in
maintaining health. The series of transformations other ways except nourishment, for which food is
involved in the food system are often characterized the sole provider. If it were not for the biological
necessity of providing nutrients and energy to main-
by statements like ``from eld to table'' or ``land to
tain health and prevent disease, food would not be
mouth'' (Kneen, 1989). This paper examines the
produced and consumed on the scale and with the
existing literatures on food and nutrition systems
attention that it currently has. Therefore, physio-
and synthesizes them into an integrated framework.
logical requirements for eating sucient nutritients
Models of food and nutrition systems are concep-
and avoiding dangerous toxicants need to be
tual tools for thinking about relationships between
included as part of the food and nutrition system.
agricultural, industrial, economic, ecological, social,
Denitions of the food system exist (Kneen,
health and other factors involved in food and nutri-
1989; LaBianca, 1990, 1991; Tansey and Worsley,
tion. Such frameworks portray the scope of the sys-
1995), although most discussions of the food and
tem, reveal connections between parts of the system
nutrition system do not oer specic denitions.
and suggest analyses for problems related to the
This paper denes the food and nutrition system as
system. Although models of food and nutrition sys-
the set of operations and processes involved in trans-
tems have been developed (LaBianca, 1990, 1991;
forming raw materials into foods and transforming
Heywood and Lund-Adams, 1991), currently there
nutrients into health outcomes, all of which functions
is no one source which discusses the system wholis-
as a system within biophysical and sociocultural con-
tically and integrates past work on the topic. This
texts.
paper attempts to ll that gap.
While the term ``food system'' is common, the
The concept of ``food and nutrition system'' is
concept of a system is often used loosely and not
used here instead of simply ``food system'' to
linked with systems theory, although the latter has
emphasize and focus on the vital links between
been incorporated in agricultural and farming sys-
tems (Dalton, 1975; Duckham et al., 1976;
*Author for correspondence. Spedding, 1979, 1990, 1996; Jones and Street, 1990)
853
854 J. Sobal et al.

and ecological energy analysis (Steinhart and Delphi process


Steinart, 1975; Pimentel and Pimentel, 1996). The authors used their own experience and infor-
Systems theory attempts to avoid disciplinary com- mation from the literature review to identify indi-
partmentalization by integrative thinking (Boulding, viduals knowledgeable about food and nutrition
1956; Bertalany, 1968; Lilienfeld, 1978; Miller, systems, seeking both depth of knowledge and
1978). diversity of orientation and background to cover
Systems theory takes a holistic perspective in many perspectives and components of the system.
examining system boundaries, delineating subsys- A brief survey was sent to 121 individuals, asking
tems and their relationships, emphasizing the pro- them to identify others knowledgeable about the
cess of homeostasis and considering relationships topic, suggest key references on the subject and to
between systems. Systems are viewed as sets of el- provide other information and ideas. Seventy-one
ements that function together as collective units. (59%) responded. Another 68 individuals were
Boundaries exist between a system and its environ- identied through the initial surveys and an ad-
ment, and may be more or less open or closed ditional 25 (37%) survey responses were obtained
because of varying permeabilities. Whole systems from them. This ``snowball'' sampling (Coleman,
have properties greater than the sum of their com- 1970) provided information about the network of
ponent parts. Subsystems exist within systems. individuals working on the food and nutrition sys-
Systems are dynamic, with homeostatic processes tem and identied some considered to be experts by
that attempt to maintain stability when a change in many respondents.
one part of the system inuences other portions of
the system or adjustment to external inuences Focus groups
occurs. Materials, energy and information ow
between parts of a system and its subsystems and Two groups of experts who responded to ques-
between the system and its environment. Systems tionnaires were convened for focus group discus-
oer multiple routes to an outcome, the concept of sions about the food and nutrition system. A
equinality describes how an end state can be diverse group of 8 people was included in each dis-
reached from dierent initial states through many cussion. Participants drew a diagram of the food
possible paths. and nutrition system, wrote a denition of the sys-
A systems theory perspective was used to exam- tem, and provided feedback about preliminary
ine existing models and conceptualizations of the models we had developed. Discussions were audio-
food and nutrition system and to synthesize them taped and notes were taken, and were later
into an integrated framework. Systems theory pro- reviewed. Several key people identied in many sur-
vided a broad perspective in which to examine the veys as experts were interviewed individually and
components of the food and nutrition system, how asked to react to ideas and models we developed. A
changes occur and the context in which the system few individuals identied as experts on food and
operates. nutrition systems commented on this manuscript.

Analysis
METHODS FOR REVIEWING EXISTING MODELS AND
DEVELOPING AN INTEGRATED MODEL
Drawing upon systems theory and the variety of
data collected from the literature, Delphi process
To gather information about existing models and and focus groups, the investigators reviewed, classi-
conceptualizations of food and nutrition systems, ed, summarized and integrated existing models of
this investigation performed a literature review, soli- the food and nutrition system. The analysis
cited information through a modied Delphi pro- included qualitative coding (Miles and Huberman,
cess and conducted focus groups and personal 1994) to identify patterns, themes and examples in
interviews with experts. existing models of food and nutrition systems. A
rst step was to identify major types of food and
Literature review nutrition models or typologies (Novak and Gowin,
Review of the literature on food and nutrition 1984). The goal was to synthesize existing work
systems searched for key terms of ``food system'', into more comprehensive models. Coding criteria
``food web'', ``food chain'' and others in computer- included: content of the model (stages and pro-
ized bibliographic databases, including Agricola, cesses), form of conceptualization (linear, circular,
Medline, Psychinfo, Sociole, Econlit and Biosis. network, ecological), scope (number of levels, levels
Citations from these searches were screened and rel- beyond the home discipline), complexity (linkages,
evant references reviewed. Citation lists in these feedback) and detail (generality, specicity).
publications were examined for other useful cita- Analysis of the models was used to develop an inte-
tions. Manual searches of relevant journals, books grated model that included essential elements of
and reports were conducted and suggestions for key existing models. The analysis also oered insights
references were solicited from experts. Key publi- into the advantages and limitations of available
cations were traced forward with citation indexes. models and applications of the integrated model.
Conceptual model of the food and nutrition system 855

EXISTING MODELS consideration of inuences from outside the chain,


The literature review revealed that the concept of bias towards sequential issues in the system and the
a food and nutrition system was broadly used. tendency to focus on limited parts of the chain with
Many terms were commonly used to describe the the omission of preceding or succeeding factors.
concept, including food system, food chain, food
Food cycle
web, food path, food pipeline, food complex and
others. While the concept was widely mentioned, Food cycle models focus on feedback within the
relatively few specic discussions of the concept food and nutrition system, considering how objects
``food system'' existed. Many case studies examined and information link back across dierent stages or
the system or parts of the system, but few theoreti- levels (e.g. Kramer, 1973). Food cycle models are
cal analyses were available. An example of theoreti- used to address concerns about the outputs at each
cal analysis of the system is that of LaBianca (1990, level of the system, especially how waste products
1991) who suggested a framework for food systems accumulate and inuence the operation of prior
research and analyzed cycles of food system intensi- steps (e.g. Kim and Curry, 1993). Such models con-
cation and abatement using archeological data. sider both short feedback loops, such as the build
Most discussion of the concept of the food sys- up of waste products in a eld and consequent low-
tem was implicit and limited. The system was ering of crop yields, as well as larger feedback
usually referred to in words rather than visually. loops, such as the water cycle entering and leaving
However, we located over 70 diagrams and gures the food and nutrition system. Attractive features
presenting various depictions of the food and nutri- of food cycle models are the consideration of mech-
tion system. Most were ancillary to the main topic anisms that link dierent parts of the system and
of the publication, although a few focused speci- the eects on other stages of action at each specic
cally on describing the system or one component. point in the system. Food cycle models help concep-
Most existing models were not comprehensive tualize the entire ``life cycle'' of foods and nutrients,
and focused on placing a specic issue into a larger examining how stages link back to prior stages.
context. Most were discipline or profession bound. Limitations include the rigidity of feedback loops as
For example, some models were agricultural, others links between dierent parts of the system, and
focused on food distribution, while still others
examined only nutritional processes. Some models
narrowly treated only one segment of the entire sys-
tem, examining only a specic issue, commodity or
nutrient. Citation and discussion of other models
rarely occurred.

Types of system models


Analysis of existing models of the food and nutri-
tion system revealed four major types: food chains,
food cycles, food webs and food contexts (Fig. 1).
Each type focused on a dierent aspect of the food
and nutrition system, while paying less attention to
other characteristics.

Food chain
Food chain models focused on the ow of ma-
terials or objects through a sequence of steps,
emphasizing movement and transformation through
a series of stages that are often ordered and linear.
The food chain approach is the dominant type of
model found in the literature (e.g. Hitchcock, 1980;
Austin and Zeitlin, 1981; Marion, 1986; Blanford et
al., 1993; King and Burgess, 1993) and is often con-
ceptualized as a stream or series of streams with
dierent channels that interlink (e.g. National
Commission on Food Marketing, 1966). Attractive
features of food chain models are that common
units, such as nutrients or energy, can be used to
follow materials through the entire system, and that
the ordered steps in the system are delineated.
Limitations of food chain models include lack of Fig. 1. Types of human food and nutrition system models.
856 J. Sobal et al.

minimal consideration of inuences that occur out- AN INTEGRATED CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF THE FOOD
AND NUTRITION SYSTEM
side ows through the system.
The integrated model of the food and nutrition
Food web
system uses a systems perspective to present re-
Food web models are network models that focus lationships between agriculture, food, eating, and
on the interrelationships among diverse nodes in health. The core of the model emphasizes a linear
the operation and control of the food and nutrition ow, where each subsystem and stage ows into
system. Food webs are commonly used to show the subsequent one. The linear ow components of
particular relationships between many and often the system include three subsystems: producer,
distant points of food and nutrition systems, and consumer and nutrition (Fig. 2). Each subsystem
the relationship of those points to other important involves three stages that accomplish input, trans-
points inside and outside the system (e.g. formation and output. Nine stages represent key
Silverstein, 1984; Senauer, 1992). The attractive fea- processes in the overall system: production, proces-
ture of food web models is the articulation of the sing, distribution, acquisition, preparation, con-
many, diverse and changing relationships that shape sumption, digestion, transport and metabolism.
and control the system. Limitations include the lack Flow through the system transforms raw materials
of representation of consistent patterns and struc- into crops which are processed into foodstus that
tures among interrelated points, the tendency to not are distributed to consumers who cook and eat
specify ows of foods and nutrients within the sys- foods that contain nutrients which have health
tem and the de-emphasis of the environment within outcomes.
which food webs operate. The food and nutrition system operates within a
context consisting of other systems that can be dif-
Food context
ferentiated into biophysical and social environments
Food context models take an ecological perspec- (Fig. 3). Feedback loops and webs of relationships
tive focusing on relationships of the food and nutri- operate within the system and between the food
tion system with its environments, which are made and nutrition system and the systems that make up
up of many other systems (e.g. Burns et al., 1983; its environments.
Maretzki, 1991; Bowler, 1992). Contexts can be Storage exists at every stage of the food and
delineated with various degrees of specicity, ran- nutrition system in some form. While dierent
ging from listing weather or economics as external things are stored (e.g. raw materials, agricultural
inuences to providing detailed elaboration of the commodities, cooking ingredients, nutrients,
political or biological outcomes of specic food pro- energy), the purposes of storage are common
duction decisions. Contexts for the food and nutri- throughout the system. The general functions of
tion system include both the physical and social
environments and the other systems that exist in
these environments. Attractive features of food con-
text models include consideration of external inu-
ences and constraints and the delineation of the
inputs and outputs that the system exchanges with
its environments. The major limitation is lack of
specicity about the structure of the food and nutri-
tion system itself.

DEVELOPMENT OF AN INTEGRATED CONCEPTUAL


MODEL

The four types of models identied in the litera-


ture were synthesized to develop an integrated con-
ceptual model of the food and nutrition system.
Integrating food chains, cycles, webs and contexts
produced a more wholistic and multi-perspective
conceptualization of the system. The integrated
model recognizes the ow of elements through a
series of processes and transformations, feedback
cycles, webs of relationships and contexts within
which the system operates. The next section
describes the integrated conceptual model of the
food and nutrition system. Fig. 2. Food and nutrition system: subsystems and stages.
Conceptual model of the food and nutrition system 857

PRODUCER SUBSYSTEM
The producer subsystem receives resources from
several environments. These are used in the stages
of production, processing, and distribution of foods
as outputs into the consumer subsystem.

Production
Food production transforms resources into crops
and commodities. Production operates by growing
crops and animals husbandry by farmers and by
collecting foods from the environment by hunting,
shing and gathering. Many types of food pro-
duction exist (Whittlesey, 1936; Grigg, 1969, 1974,
1995; Turner and Brush, 1987). In subsistence so-
cieties most of what is produced is intended for
self-consumption, while in developed societies most
crops are produced for consumption by others.
After production, crops not used by producers are
exchanged as commodities in markets ranging from
local to global in scale. Exchanges may be simple as
in the direct marketing of produce by farmers to
Fig. 3. The food and nutrition system. consumers or mediated by others in the roles of
buyers, brokers or wholesalers (Senauer et al.,
1991). Many non-food uses of agricultural products
storage at all stages are to ensure access to vital el- occur, with various farm products moving out of
ements in the face of varying supplies and to pro- the food and nutrition system (Spelman, 1994).
tect supplies from deterioration or diversion.
Processing
The following sections address resource inputs,
three subsystems, nine stages, and health outputs of Food processing transfers raw agricultural goods
the food and nutrition system. Then the network of and harvested food resources into foodstus and
relationships in the system is discussed, followed by foods that may be distributed to households for
interaction of the system with the biophysical and preparation or eaten directly. In industrial societies
social environments. food processing is a major manufacturing industry,
seeking value added prots for processors.
Resource inputs Processing may include a wide variety of crude
Resources from the environments of the food and (cleaning, milling, etc.) and nished (cooking,
nutrition system provide basic inputs into the sys- packaging, etc.) transformations of commodities
tem. These include biophysical factors such as ma- using mechanical, physical and chemical operations
terials, bioplasm, energy, air, land and water and to separate, assemble and preserve foods (Kohls
social factors such as human capital, economic capi- and Uhl, 1990; Hui, 1992). Food preservation per-
tal and technological knowledge. Scarcity of inputs mits more extensive distribution across space and
can limit the ability of the system to function. longer storage times, extending the ability to disse-
minate durable foods in the system (Thompson and
Subsystems and stages Cowan, 1995).
Subsystems operate as components of the larger
system, performing specialized roles in conjunction Distribution
with each other in a division of labor within the Distribution is the transfer of output from pro-
system. Each of the three subsystems of the food duction and processing through multiple channels
and nutrition system has a dierent focus and has to places where food acquisition occurs in the con-
traditionally used dierent indicators to measure its sumer subsystem (Lewin, 1951; Barkema, 1994).
performance. The producer subsystem emphasizes Many distribution transfer points exist in complex
the creation of foodstus and uses economic indi- food systems, with considerable hybridization
cators as key measures of commodity production. between dierent types of food distribution outlets.
The consumer subsystem focuses on obtaining The wholesale and retail stream distributes food-
foods and uses utilities of various types as measures stus through supermarkets, food cooperatives,
of food consumption. The physiology subsystem farmers markets, consumer supported agriculture,
focuses on obtaining nutrients and avoiding con- etc. (Epps, 1989; Senauer et al., 1991). The food-
taminants and uses physiological indicators as service industry stream prepares and distributes
measures of biological functioning. foods to consumers (Senauer et al., 1991) channel-
858 J. Sobal et al.

ling them into restaurants, cafeterias, vending ma- erages (Fieldhouse, 1996). Consumption also
chines and caterers. Other food-service channels involves food distribution in commensal relation-
include government programs providing commodity ships, with dierential serving patterns to various
foods and congregate meal programs for the elderly types of individuals (Gittelsohn, 1991).
or schoolchildren, as well as private assistance in Consumption without eating may occur in the
food banks, soup kitchens and food pantries medical procedures of enteral and parenteral nutri-
(Poppendieck, 1994). Although some consumers tion that provide nutrients through other channels
may rely on home food production and processing, than usual oral consumption (Rombeau and
most use market distribution channels as points of Rolandelli, 1997). The ingestion of foods is the
access for foodstus and foods in industrialized transforming link between the consumer subsystem
societies. and the nutrition subsystem.

CONSUMER SUBSYSTEM NUTRITION SUBSYSTEM


The consumer subsystem focuses on the house- The nutrition subsystem includes the stages of
hold as a unit which acquires foodstus and foods, digestion that involves ingestion and breakdown of
transforms them into meals and snacks and eats foods, Transport that distributes food components
them. Households range in scale from single indi- to various parts of the body and may involve bio-
viduals to large kinship groups. chemical transformations and metabolism that uses
food components in physiological processes. Food
Acquisition components may be positive, negative or neutral in
The acquisition involves procurement at various their physiological eects and include nutrients, tox-
outlets of foodstus and foods that may be raw, icants, micro-organisms and other substances.
processed or prepared. In industrialized societies Components of interest may occur naturally in the
foodstus are most often purchased through market unprocessed food or be added intentionally or unin-
distribution channels, although some consumers use tentionally during earlier stages of the food system.
institutional or interpersonal channels to provide
sustenance. Food acquisition may occur for im- Digestion
mediate consumption or may be used to provision Digestion is the rst stage in the nutrition subsys-
households for later preparation and consumption tem, where foods enter the gastrointestinal track to
(DeVault, 1991). Food choices and selections by be broken down into nutrients. Foods begin conver-
consumers are shaped by life course, social inu- sion as they are physically reduced in size by masti-
ences and personal systems for making choices cation in the mouth and chemically broken down
(Krondl, 1990; Shepherd, 1990; Falk et al., 1996; by gastric acid in the stomach. Processing into
Furst et al., 1996). smaller units permits absorption of nutrients into
the body through the walls of the small intestine.
Preparation Substances that were not absorbed during transit
The preparation stage involves the transform- through the small intestine move into the large in-
ation of raw foodstus into consumable foods. testine to be later excreted as waste products. As a
Cooking involves systematic manipulation of foods result of digestion and absorption, macronutrients
using a variety of methods that involve physical, (proteins, fats, carbohydrates, alcohols), micronutri-
chemical and water content changes (Rozin, 1983; ents (vitamins, minerals), water, allergens and toxi-
Fieldhouse, 1996). Food preparation requires cants enter the circulatory system and are able to
energy, skills and resources to perform preparation exert physiological inuences on the body and its
activities within the traditions of a particular cul- organs.
ture's cuisine. Many household preparation tech-
niques have parallels in the methods used in food Transport
processing, with both stages manipulating foods After being absorbed, food components are trans-
using physical processes to transform raw materials ported to specic sites in the body where they are
into food products. used or stored. Conversion of substances into dier-
ent forms is often necessary to facilitate transport
Consumption through the circulatory system. Other conversions
The consumption stage focuses on eating and may occur for storage prior to, during and after
involves selection, serving and ingesting food items. transport. Physiological mechanisms actively and
Consumption can occur in a variety of settings passively transport nutrients across cell membranes
where foods are consumed as part of food events to reach sites for utilization.
(Camp, 1989). Patterns of consumption cycle
through the year in major food events, through the Metabolism
day as meals and snacks, through meals as courses The nal stage within the food and nutrition sys-
and through courses as bites of food or sips of bev- tem involves the metabolism of particular nutrients
Conceptual model of the food and nutrition system 859

for use in the body, where food components are duced in one agricultural channel may lead to many
involved in metabolic processes and homeostatic diering outcomes, including disease, growth and/
mechanisms. Required nutrients are used for or activity.
specic biochemical and physiological functions, From a systems perspective there is no single ori-
and insuciencies and excesses of nutrients in meta- gin and no nal end point in the food and nutrition
bolic pathways may disrupt functioning. Excesses system. One conceptual starting point is the use of
may be stored or excreted. Toxicants may be detox- resources from the biophysical and social environ-
ied and eliminated or be activated and disrupt ments for production, but in order to utilize these
normal biochemical and physiological functioning. resources humans must be suciently nourished to
The outcome of these metabolic processes occurs as engage in activities such as farming or cooking.
the presence, absence, amount and types of food Conceptual endpoints may be seen as human waste
components inuence health and disease. and human health, both of which also link back
into the system at many points. An integrated sys-
Health outcomes tem model emphasizes interdependency within the
Health is the major outcome of the food and system and between the system and its environ-
nutrition system, although only some of the etiol- ments.
ogy of health and disease is dietary in origin.
Nutrients promote health when present in sucient Feedback and network aspects of the integrated food
amounts to maintain and enhance physiological and nutrition system
functions, but excesses or insuciencies may lead to In addition to a generally linear ow in the food
illness. Nutrients may interact with other factors, and nutrition system, there is also feedback
sometimes enhancing physiological processes that upstream between subsystems and stages that
maintain health and other times exacerbating dis- occurs in materials, energy and information.
ease processes by stopping repair, adding to damage Materials may return to earlier stages of the system
or spreading disease. Healthy outcomes include and then ow down again as in donation of foods
growth and development, maintenance and repair, purchased by consumers back to food banks. On a
provision of energy and performance and resistance larger scale, materials may be outputs into the en-
to physical and biological insults and pathogens vironment at one level which become inputs for
that cause disease. Illness outcomes include acute, other stages, producing complex and sometimes
chronic or mental diseases, lack of performance and unpredicted links. For example, byproducts of
breakdown of functional capabilities. Each nutrient industrial food processing may enter the water sys-
plays a dierent role in health and disease. A var- tem and be used for irrigation of crops.
iety of food components can lead to disease because Following a food web model, information feed-
of toxicity or deciency, and acute and chronic ill- back occurs at most stages of the system. For
nesses may result from chemical and microbial food
contaminants.

Food chain aspects of an integrated model of the


food and nutrition system
Description of the food and nutrition system thus
far has emphasized a linear, sequential approach,
where resources enter the system and proceed
through stages. This parallels the dominant theme
in most existing models, which portray a food
chain. While the ow may not be linear, it can be
conceptualized as a complex pattern of streams
owing through the system. Analysis of the food
and nutrition system may consider ``upstream'' and
``downstream'' events in the system.
Many channels exist in the food and nutrition
system, with primary and alternative paths.
Substitution occurs between channels, with alterna-
tives and redundancies being inherent parts of the
system. Changes in the system and its environment
inuence the rate and pattern of ow through
dierent channels. The equinality principle of sys-
tems theory states that any outcome can occur as a
result of many inuences (Bertalany, 1968). For
example, coronary heart disease may be promoted Fig. 4. Selected roles in the human food and nutrition
by fat in foods from many sources and fat pro- web.
860 J. Sobal et al.

example, if many individuals contract a nutritional components of the food and nutrition system.
illness, information about that disease may be com- Interactions of all of these systems occur as
municated back to households or the food industry. they operate together as a system of systems.
Information in the food and nutrition system passes Relationships between systems are especially signi-
through a complex web of social roles, such as cant as the food and nutrition system is increasingly
farmer, manufacturer, buyer, consumer, cook, globalized (McMichael, 1994; Sobal, 1998).
nutritionist, physician, etc. (Fig. 4). Information
about the food and nutrition system may be com- Orientation and terminology dierences in the food
municated directly between these roles, as between and nutrition system
a distributor and customer, or indirectly through Subsystems and stages within the food and nutri-
other roles who operate as food and nutrition infor- tion system have dierent and varying orientations.
mation brokers, such as government or media infor- They operate with dierent goals (prot, pleasure,
mation disseminators. Information ow tends to be health), units of analysis (commodities, foodstus,
most extensive within each stage in the system, less foods, nutrients, diseases), units of measurement
between adjacent stages and subsystems and least (dollars, utility, calories) and professional audiences
between systems and their environments. Some of (users, consumers, customers, clients, patients).
the relationships in the food web are tightly bound Interactions and comparisons between parts of the
together, whereas others are barely connected. system are often hampered by the inability to trans-
late inputs and outputs into common units of inter-
Relationships between the food and nutrition system est and diculties in converting one unit to another
and its environments (Dayal, 1981). Use of varying units may provide
The food and nutrition system is an open system dierent perspectives on the system. For example,
that exists within biophysical and sociocultural en- an economist may see some forms of food proces-
vironments, both of which are interrelated. Each sing as adding market value, while a nutritionist
environment operates on a dierent level of analysis may see the same types of food processing as sub-
(Sobal, 1991). The biophysical environment includes tracting nutritional value.
physical forces such as climate and energy; physical Comprehensive analysis of issues in the food
materials such as soil, water and chemical elements and nutrition system requires translation of the
and biological factors such as biodiversity. The frame of reference of each part of the system into
sociocultural environment includes economic factors that of others. Several system-wide units of analy-
such as capital and markets; cultural values and tra- sis have been used across the system, with each
ditions; individual satisfaction and utility; technol- providing a broad but limited orientation. For
ogy such as knowledge and skills and policies. example, economists translate activities at each
The biophysical and sociocultural environments stage of the system into dollars (Senauer et al.,
exchange resources and by-products with the food 1991). Ecologists have used energy as a common
and nutrition system as materials and information denominator, showing how it ows and is trans-
inputs and outputs. For example, plant germ plasm, formed throughout the system (Pimentel and
energy, air, water and soil are biophysical inputs Pimentel, 1996).
that are combined with knowledge, skills, technol- Subsystems in the food and nutrition system are
ogy and capital by farmers in the production stage often further partitioned into sectors using classi-
of the producer subsystem. Outputs from this stage cation schemes based on the orientation of a sub-
include food products as well as waste materials, system. The producer subsystem uses categories
new knowledge, jobs and investment opportunities. based on commodities, the consumer system uses
Exchange with the environments often creates press- foods and the nutrition subsystem uses nutrients.
ures that require responses by the food and nutri-
tion system. For example, the bio-physical
environment has limited renewable resources to pro-
vide for food production and a limited capacity to
handle by-products such as packaging materials and
agricultural chemicals. To remain sustainable, the
food and nutrition system must respond with modi-
cations (Board on Agriculture, 1989).
Other systems interact with the food and nutri-
tion system at many points. These systems include
the health care, economic, cultural, ecological, gov-
ernmental, transportation and other systems (Fig. 5).
Exchanges with other systems are essential for the
operation of the food and nutrition system and are
also important forces for change. Other systems Fig. 5. Relationships of the food and nutrition system to
have specic orientations and interests in particular selected other systems.
Conceptual model of the food and nutrition system 861

The producer subsystem is divided by products Limitations exist in this eort to develop an inte-
based on food commodities (e.g. dairy foods, grated conceptual model. This analysis presented a
grains, meats, fruits, vegetables), or types of service broad conceptualization of the system to encourage
(e.g. canners, freezers, importers, wholesalers). The viewing the issue from the widest vantage point.
conceptualization of sectors is reected in the work Future work may use this model to provide a
of economists in developing commodity sector framework for detailed examination of specic
models (Bauer and Henrichsmeyer, 1989) or sociol- issues and cases. The model described the food and
ogists discussing global food regimes for grains, nutrition system of the global network of contem-
meats, etc. (Friedmann, 1991). porary industrialized societies. Past societies and
Consumer subsystem sectors are based on pro- more traditional cultures may exhibit variations
ducts, foods, dishes and meals. Foods are related to (Hay, 1978), but would be expected to share many
commodities, but are not identical to them. People commonalities. The review of existing models and
buy, prepare and eat foods for breakfasts, lunches, synthesis into an integrated framework described
dinners, snacks and other special food events. fundamental structures and processes of the existing
Consumers are often segmented according to life- food and nutrition system. Critique of the current
style, preferences or sociodemographic character- system was beyond the scope of this eort in assay-
istics (Senauer et al., 1991). ing and building models, but others may nd the
The nutrition subsystem has been organized model useful for appraising limitations in the sys-
around physiologically relevant food components, tem and identifying alternatives. A conceptual
including macronutrients, micronutrients, ber, rather than a quantitative model was developed
water, environmental contaminants and micro- because a clear conceptual framework is a prerequi-
organisms. Each nutrient has specic functions or site to quantication.
eects and has dosage levels that can be described Future work should nd utility in an integrated
in terms of physiological eects, such as no eect, model to analyze the operation of the food and
insucient, optimal, excessive and toxic. Health sec- nutrition system at global, national, regional and
tors based on disease and body functioning are also local levels. A wholistic perspective on the scope
used in the nutrition subsystem, such as dierentiat- and scale of food and nutrition systems strengthens
ing chronic and acute disease or growth/develop- social science work on agriculture, consumers and
ment, activity and maintenance functions. health. A benet of taking a systems perspective on
Because dierent parts of the food and nutrition food and nutrition is the capability to appreciate
system have dierent foci, goals, units and sectors, the multiple perspectives involved in the system and
communication problems often occur when people to understand linkages between the network of
from the dierent subsystems interact. For example, people and processes that constitute the food and
nutritionists who organize the world according to nutrition system.
nutrients or health risks may have diculties relat-
ing to producers who approach issues from a AcknowledgementsThis analysis was supported by
commodity perspective or consumers who use a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Cooperative State Research Service (CSRS) funding
taste perspective. Understanding the organizing
(Contract #92-34115-8073) to the Division of Nutritional
themes and sectors within the dierent subsystems Sciences at Cornell University. The authors thank partici-
can enhance appreciation of how each subsystem pants in the surveys, focus groups, interviews, readers of
is linked with other subsystems and the system as written reports for their cooperation and Soo-Kyung Lee
a whole. An integrated model of the food and for bibliographic assistance. A preliminary version of this
paper was presented at the annual meeting of the
nutrition system that extends from agriculture to Association for the Study of Food and Society (ASFS in
medicine facilitates multidisciplinary and multi- 1993).
professional communication.
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