 Serious disease and premature death are directly linked to a scarcity of nutritious food across the planet. This global malnutrition crisis is placing increasing pressure on healthcare services and economies worldwide. It's estimated that at least three billion people don't receive the nutrients needed for healthy daily life. Globally, two and a half billion people consume too many calories, while almost a billion people consume too few. Malnutrition in all its forms is a growing challenge around the world. It's critical that people, especially children, consume more nutritious foods to tackle this public health crisis. A solution might include eating less food associated with poor health, such as the empty calories of ultra-processed food. Commercial agriculture needs a fundamental change in approach. Currently, incentives encourage high-calorie, low-nutrient staple crop production instead of diverse systems that are healthier for people and the environment. Providing people with a better understanding of the food they eat and its effect on our health can help drive this change. But governments around the world must play their part. New food production policies need to repurpose current incentive schemes, particularly the subsidies that encourage large volumes of a small variety of commodity crops. By producing cheaper, more nutritious, and diverse food, and improving the understanding of the nutrition we consume, we can use food as a powerful tool to improve health and lives around the world.