Integrated data across multiple and diverse disciplines are essential for developing a sustainable food system

Abstract

The USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) conducts research of value to US agriculture and the food supply. Most research conducted in the past has been reductionist in nature and primarily one- or two-dimensional. However, the colliding challenges of feeding a burgeoning world population, maintaining a food supply that both provides sufficient nutrition without contributing to obesity and other chronic diseases and addresses the impact of agriculture on, as well as by, the environment, have changed the complexity of the task. Today's challenges have become multidimensional, requiring systems-type approaches across multiple and diverse disciplines. These projects cut across traditional boundaries and seek to optimize agricultural productivity within the context of reducing environmental impact and maintaining or increasing nutritional value that ultimately impacts public health. In short, new projects must take a systems approach, and the synergy gained from this approach is only made possible by simultaneous modeling of disparate data sets, demanding a new approach to data.