From Plate to Power: Mobilizing the Private Sector for Nutrition Justice
22 October 2025The 2025 EAT-Lancet Commission recently published a landmark scientific update on how to transform food systems so that they do not exceed planetary boundaries. For ATNi (Access to Nutrition initiative), the message is clear: nutrition must be at the heart of this transformation, and the private sector must be part of the solution. From manufacturers to investors, from policymakers to procurement officers, every actor has a role to play in making healthy, sustainable diets accessible and affordable for all—and ATNi supports this transformation by measuring, monitoring, and mobilizing change.
It was inspiring to attend the EAT-Lancet launch event in Stockholm where members of the science, policy, business, and civil society community gathered around the common belief that change is possible when working together, backed by strong leadership and action. From public procurement and school meals, impact investing, true cost accounting, and data-driven accountability, a difference is already being made, but not fast enough.
The question is, how can ATNi’s work accelerate healthy, affordable, and accessible diets that protect our planet and leave no one behind?
“Food is the single largest lever to improve both human health and environmental sustainability on Earth.” The updated Planetary Health Diet (PHD) is a flexible, culturally adapted framework centered on diverse, plant-rich foods that promote both human and planetary health. Shifting to this dietary pattern could prevent up to 15 million premature deaths per year and halve food-related emissions. But this isn’t just about what’s on our plates — it’s about who gets to choose, and whether those choices are affordable, accessible, and empowering.
“We are not here to tell everyone what to eat. We are here to give everyone equal opportunity to choose.”
— Dr. Gunhild A. Stordalen, Co-founder and Executive Chair of EAT.
For ATNi, this reinforces the urgency of evaluating how major food companies contribute to, or hinder, access to nutritious, sustainable, and affordable diets. It also underscores the need to shift corporate strategies toward healthier product portfolios.
The private sector plays a central role in shaping food environments. The Commission calls for companies to move beyond voluntary commitments and embrace science-based targets for nutrition and sustainability. This includes reformulating products, improving marketing practices, and ensuring affordability and accessibility of healthy foods.
ATNi’s work in benchmarking and assessing corporate performance is more relevant than ever. Our tools — including our global and sector-specific indexes, product portfolio analysis, and cross-sector alignment initiatives — are designed to shift incentives, increase transparency, and support businesses in embedding nutrition and sustainability into their value propositions.
“We need to look at how food manufacturers can be part of the solution… Industry must embed responsibility in its value proposition.”
— Lynette Neufeld, Director, Food and Nutrition Division, FAO
The Commission’s findings offer a clear mandate: food businesses must become stewards of public health and planetary resilience.
One of the most striking insights from the Commission is the hidden cost of “cheap” food. The global food system generates trillions in health and environmental damages annually—costs not reflected in supermarket prices. Redirecting capital toward sustainable food systems is essential.
This opens a major opportunity for investors, banks, and development finance institutions. The Commission urges financial actors to integrate nutrition and sustainability into investment decisions, support regenerative agriculture, and divest from harmful practices.
ATNi’s investor engagement work is key here. By equipping investors with data and tools to assess food companies’ nutrition performance, ATNi helps shift capital toward healthier, more sustainable outcomes.
“Science is not enough. We need finance—and imagination—to help us move.”
— Anna Lappé, Executive Director of the Global Alliance for the Future of Food
Governments must lead the way in creating enabling environments for food system transformation. The Commission calls for integrated policies that align agriculture, health, climate, and trade. This includes fiscal measures (e.g. taxes and subsidies), public procurement standards, and stronger regulation of food marketing and labeling.
ATNi’s country-level work supports this shift by highlighting what companies are actually doing, and showing where mandatory policies are needed to change corporate practices. Policies also create a level playing field for companies, who are often hesitant to be the first mover. By linking corporate accountability with public policy, ATNi ensures that food system reforms are aligned with nutrition goals.
Accountability and monitoring: Measuring what matters
Transformation requires transparency. The Commission highlights the need for robust data and monitoring systems to track progress across sectors. Accountability is the bridge between ambition and action.
ATNi’s indexes and scorecards provide independent, evidence-based assessments of how food companies, retailers, and suppliers perform on nutrition. These tools empower stakeholders, from governments to investors to civil society, to hold companies accountable and advocate for change. Learn more about our latest benchmarks and insights here.
As the food industry plays a pivotal role in shaping both nutrition outcomes and environmental impacts, adopting a comprehensive food systems approach is essential. This means prioritizing strategies that deliver positive results for both nutrition and climate—or, at the very least, carefully evaluating and balancing the trade-offs.
ATNi has just released a new sustainability chapter as an add-on to the Global Index 2024. This chapter draws on the sustainability-related findings of the World Benchmarking Alliance’s (WBA) Food and Agriculture Benchmark, which assesses how major food and beverage manufacturers address environmental challenges that affect nutrition security.
The chapter focuses on five key areas: greenhouse gas emissions, protein diversification, soil health, agro-biodiversity, and food loss and waste—highlighting how each connect to nutrition goals. Aligned with the 2025 EAT-Lancet Commission’s pathway for transforming food systems, it identifies opportunities for companies to better connect sustainability and nutrition, turning ambition into measurable impact for people and planet. Find the chapter here.
In November, ATNi will also launch the Retail Assessment 2025, covering three major retailers in each of six countries. This assessment will include a pricing analysis comparing the relative cost and affordability of a healthier versus less healthy food baskets, based on the EAT-Lancet reference diet. Details will be published on ATNi’s website soon.
The EAT-Lancet Commission 2.0 is not just a scientific report—it’s a call to action. A call for longer tables, not higher walls. A call for brave conversations, not just bold statements. A call to imagine a better world and build it together. It challenges all actors in the food system to rethink their roles and responsibilities in building a sustainable, equitable, and healthy future—one that nourishes people, protects the planet, and leaves no one behind.
For ATNi, it validates the importance of accountability, transparency, and collaboration in driving meaningful change. As the world grapples with climate crises, health inequities, and economic instability, transforming food systems is no longer optional. It’s essential. ATNi stands ready to collaborate—with companies, investors, governments, and civil society—to turn imagination into implementation. Because the future of food is not just a challenge. It’s an opportunity. And it’s within reach.
Because fixing food means fixing the future.