Food systems are significant production systems in terms of global greenhouse gas emissions. Crippa et al. (2021) [9] created a database for this purpose, providing complete and consistent data on greenhouse gas emissions originating from the global food system, across time and space, including production to consumption, processing, transport, and packaging. According to these data, the largest contribution to greenhouse gas emissions comes from agriculture and land use/land use change activities (71%), while the remainder originates from supply chain activities (retail, transport, consumption, fuel production, waste management, industrial processes, and packaging) [9]. This data also reported that air pollutant emissions from food production systems have steadily increased over the last fifty years, originating from food systems. In 2018, over half of total nitrogen (N) emissions (and 87% of ammonia) and up to 35% of particulate matter emissions originated from food systems. Food system emissions have been identified as responsible for approximately 22.4% of global deaths attributable to poor air quality and 1.4% of global crop production losses [10]. These numbers are too serious to ignore.

In addition, irregular rainfall, droughts, and extreme weather events threaten traditional agricultural regions. Both climate variability and climate change are considered to threaten the safety of the food supply chain in different ways. These threats include a scarcity of safe water for irrigating agricultural products, increased pesticide use due to pest resistance, the difficulty of achieving a well-controlled cold chain and subsequent temperature violation, and sudden floods causing chemical pollutants to run off into natural waterways [11]. As a result of all these processes, as the cost and risk of agricultural production have increased, the livestock sector, in particular, has started to be questioned due to its creation of a large land and water footprint [12].

Today, consumers are no longer just asking what the food provides them; they are also asking where it comes from, how it is produced, and how it affects the planet. Within this context, animal welfare, fair trade, and local production become important issues, and the loss or waste of global food (from production to consumption) clearly demonstrates the inefficiency of the current system. Food waste is considered one of the most significant economic and environmental problems of the 21st Century [13].

In this complex picture, meat consumption, an important component of nutrition, is considered one of the main driving forces of global environmental change due to its multi-faceted dimensions, such as greenhouse gas emissions, land and water use, animal welfare concerns, impacts on human health, and modern agricultural practices [12]. Comparative studies on consumer acceptance emphasize the importance for alternative protein producers to explore new markets and approach these markets with the right strategies, especially in developing countries where meat consumption continues to increase [14]. Therefore, the PBM (plant-based meat) market is predicted to grow in the coming period due to its increasing awareness, familiarity, and knowledge. It is considered critically important for companies aiming for success in this market to focus on potential beneficial areas such as health, environment, and ethics, which will help consumers adopt PBM alternatives to influence their target audiences [15].

Precision Agriculture: Utilizing Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and satellite imagery to determine the minimum amount of water, fertilizer, or pesticide needed for each plant/animal. This will reduce the environmental impact while lowering input costs to more optimally use scarce resources.

Vertical Farming: Conducting agricultural production in closed, controlled environments to provide fresh produce to urban populations and minimize land use, helping to move towards the goal of localizing agricultural production.

Biotechnology: Increasing the climate resilience of raw food materials, enhancing nutritional value, and reducing allergens through genetic engineering.

Process Optimization: Integrating computer and artificial intelligence technologies into food production processes to determine optimal production conditions and prevent the waste of raw materials, labor, and energy.

It is anticipated that protein sources will inevitably diversify in future food systems, and consequently, the dependence on animal husbandry will also decrease:

Cellular Agriculture: Producing meat, seafood, or milk in a laboratory environment by taking cells from animals, thereby significantly reducing the land, water, and greenhouse gas footprint of conventional animal husbandry.

Cultured meat (also known as in vitro meat, lab-grown meat, or artificial meat), developed to meet increasing food demand alongside the growing human population, is presented as an alternative solution for individuals who wish to continue consuming meat but do so in a more responsible manner [16]. The recent pandemic and the increase in global demand for meat production have highlighted the necessity for developing alternative systems to traditional animal husbandry [17]. Cultured meat production is being evaluated as an alternative to the problems caused by traditional systems. This system has the potential to be a solution for issues such as animal slaughter, foodborne illnesses, antibiotic resistance, excessive resource use, and greenhouse gas emissions [18]. Cultured meat technology, while contributing to environmental protection and animal welfare, also raises ethical and cultural discussions, such as consumer acceptance, whether it is a “natural” product, and its compliance with halal-kosher traditions [16, 19].

Insects (Entomophagy): Making insects an important sustainable protein source in the feed industry and food supplements due to their high protein and micronutrient content, and minimal land and water requirements. Implementing R&D processes for insect-based food products.

As the global population increases and environmental concerns intensify, adopting more sustainable protein sources is becoming increasingly important [20]. The pursuit of alternatives to traditional animal protein sources plays a critical role in the ability of food systems to achieve sustainability goals. A significant alternative to laboratory-produced animal products is edible insects (entomophagy). Insects are thought to become a potential global solution to this problem due to their nutritional profiles and low environmental footprints [21]. Insects possess a source of high-quality protein, polyunsaturated fatty acids, fiber, vitamins, and minerals [22]. In addition, they also contain various bioactive compounds such as antioxidants, antihypertensives, anti-inflammatories, antimicrobials, and immunomodulatory agents, which have a positive effect on human health [23]. Furthermore, insect farming has also been confirmed to have various beneficial environmental effects. The use of edible insects as food and feed is also thought to significantly improve the environmental sustainability of food [24].

Currently, the consumption of insects as food is observed in certain regions of the world. It is reported that billions of people worldwide consume over 1900 species of insects [25]. These include caterpillars, wasps, ants, bees, grasshoppers, crickets, cicadas, aphids, termites, dragonflies, and flies. More than 500 edible insect species have been recorded in Mexico [26]. Insects have a potential not only for humans but also as a source of nutrients and active compounds for poultry [21]. However, the integration of insects into the global food system brings significant challenges that must be overcome, both in terms of consumer acceptance and safety. These risks are:

Allergen Risk: Current information regarding the allergenicity of edible insects is still very limited. They may cross-react with other commonly consumed foods such as crustaceans, as well as common invertebrate respiratory allergens like HDM (House dust mites) [27].

Food Safety and Processing: Risks of microbial contamination (bacteria, fungi), pesticide residues, heavy metals, or accumulation of veterinary drugs are present during the farming and harvesting of insects. This necessitates the development of new industrial standards that must be meticulously controlled, since edible insects are a rich food source that can provide an excellent growth medium for various microorganisms [23]. In addition, the risk of heavy metal accumulation in insects is also of importance [22, 28].

Consumer Acceptance (Neophobia): The fundamental motivations determining insect consumption are known to be related to gender, age, sustainability, nutritional value, sensory characteristics, tradition/culture, fear of food novelty, disgust, and familiarity with past experiences. In regions where insects are consumed, these preferences are influenced by factors such as sensory characteristics, availability, and affordability. However, in Western societies, factors such as nutritional value, sustainability, benefits, familiarity and past experience, tradition and culture, fear of food novelty, and disgust are more influential [29]. Changing this perception will require long-term education and marketing strategies since insect consumption is generally negatively reviewed [25].

Production Scalability: Producing high-quality, consistent, and sustainable insect protein on a global scale and in an economically competitive manner involves technological and infrastructural challenges that have not yet been fully resolved. For example, the processing of insects can affect their nutritional value in many ways, the most common is the destruction of vitamins and the denaturation of proteins due to heat [22]. Therefore, a greater number of R&D studies will be needed to ensure the safe production of insect-based food products.

In light of these challenges, it is clear that ensuring future food security and sustainability requires a focus on a diversified protein portfolio, rather than relying on a single alternative protein source. In this portfolio, plant-based nutritional strategies and advanced processed plant proteins should assume a central role as complements to insect-based proteins.

Plant-Based Foods: Producing next-generation substitutes such as fermented fungus (mycoprotein) and algae-based products, in addition to staple sources like soy and peas, in order to reduce the resource consumption caused by livestock farming and promote fair and sustainable production processes.

Plant-based nutrition (especially proteins derived directly from plant sources such as legumes, grains, and nuts) has a lower profile regarding most of the allergen and neophobia risks associated with insect consumption. A study found that plant-based foods are more easily accepted than insects in terms of neophobia [20].

Plant-based diets generally contain higher fiber content and lower saturated fat levels [30]. It is thought that a well-planned diet consisting of whole, plant-based foods, including various vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and legumes, would be a tool that could help physicians and patients in coping with chronic lifestyle diseases that many people struggle with today [31]. Plant-based diets are environmentally more sustainable than meat-based diets and have a lower environmental impact, including lower levels of greenhouse gas emissions [32].

In the future, the importance of plant proteins will further increase thanks to innovation. Advanced processing technologies, such as precision fermentation, algal protein production, and the continuous development of plant-based meat alternatives, are bringing the nutritional value, functionality, and sensory characteristics of plant proteins closer to those of traditional animal products. These developments will make plant-based proteins one of the fundamental pillars shaping the new era of food sciences, both in terms of food safety and sustainability.

Developing systems that recycle and adapt food waste to the process, rather than viewing it as a loss, is important for circular sustainability. For this purpose, bio-packaging and upcycling systems, likely to be part of future food processing systems, will become more common.

Bio-Packaging: The proliferation of biodegradable packaging, derived from food waste or algae, to be used instead of petroleum-based plastics.

Upcycling: Converting by-products leftover from food production (e.g., fruit peels, pulp) into new food products with high nutritional value or into bio-packaging.

Supply Chain Optimization: Instant monitoring of supply chains using blockchain technology and AI to identify points where loss and waste occur most frequently, enabling rapid intervention.

Food safety is no longer an isolated discipline; it has become associated with broader sustainability goals such as environmental impact, resource efficiency, and social justice. Increasing temperatures and irregular weather conditions caused by global climate change directly affect the toxicological risk maps in food production, complicating food safety.

The fact that a significant portion of the food produced each year is lost or wasted is not only an ethical and environmental disaster but also a fundamental food safety issue since it results from spoilage and contamination.

In this context, it will be of great importance for all food stakeholders involved in food production, from farm to fork, and all scientific disciplines influencing the process to work together to create safer food systems.

The success of food science in the future is possible through a systemic perspective. A “food system transformation” approach must be adopted, addressing the food system not just as production, but with all its links such as agriculture, processing, distribution, consumption, and waste management.

Furthermore, repositioning food science under the umbrella of One Health is vital. It is estimated that more than 70% of risks to food safety originate from animals. This necessitates food scientists collaborating with veterinarians and environmental scientists to develop integrated solutions, especially concerning antimicrobial resistance and the spread of zoonotic pathogens.

The main directions that should be focused on in the coming period are:

Governance-Policy Integration: Effective governance models, multi-stakeholder approaches, and appropriate regulatory frameworks must be developed for safe and sustainable food systems. State policies, laws, control mechanisms, and the media are of great importance.

Metrics and Monitoring: The development of sustainability metrics is necessary; a common methodology has not yet been established in this area. The transparent sharing of integrated sustainability data by all food stakeholders will enable us to better understand the process from production to consumption.

Industry-Academia Collaboration: The transfer of findings produced in academia to the industry and policy spheres will increase the practical relevance of the links between food safety practices and sustainability goals.