Recent and important perspectives have emphasized the role of wheat in human nutrition and health and the potential contribution of whole wheat grains in improving diets and food systems worldwide. The UK government-commissioned National Food Strategy has highlighted the urgency for the national-scale transformation of the food systems for improved human and planetary health. To support the direction of this goal, it is imperative to evaluate the contribution of population diets and the UK’s key food crop to this transition and scrutinize its associated sociodemographic driver, sustainability impacts and entry points for interventions. Taking a sustainable diet perspective, our work aims to examine the socioeconomic and health impacts of UK diets using two public (National Diet and Nutrition Survey and Living Costs and Food Survey) food expenditure and diet datasets and assess the role of key food groups (whole grains, vegetables and fruits, dairy foods, and protein foods) in achieving sustainable diets and nutrition security in the UK. Further, using a systems approach, this work aims to identify conflicts or synergies in objectives and strategies across, or trade-offs between, food systems actors, value chains, and drivers in the wheat supply chain. Finally, recognising the need to meet future food demand for wheat, our work aims to identify resilient agricultural production systems that deliver on needed yield and nutrient composition for wheat and understand the trade-offs with other production systems. Our work is built on evidence of the significance of adopting a systems approach and taking a sustainable diet perspective in understanding and transforming any agrifood system.
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