Food not only supports human life; food production side-streams are also used for bio-fuel or bio-based products. Food has important historical, social, cultural, environmental and economic dimensions. Currently the EU and global food systems are affected by major challenges such as climate change, migration, a growing world population, urbanisation and resource scarcity, in addition to the “triple burden” of malnutrition (undernutrition, obesity, and hidden hunger), ageing and food poverty. Research and innovation (R&I) is key to developing high-impact solutions to future-proof our food systems. There is a pressing need to avoid fragmentation, ensure policy coherence, and align programmes in order to adopt a food system approach that can effectively address multiple objectives.