A Food and Nutrition System Analysis of South Korea

The food and nutrition system is a network of processes linking agriculture, food, eating, nutrition, and health. The system includes a series of nine stages (production, processing, distribution, acquisition, preparation, consumption, digestion, transport, and utilization) and two types of contexts (biophysical and sociocultural). Analysis of whole food and nutrition systems provides information about the structure and processes involved in the complete scope of food and nutrition, assisting in the identification of ″upstream″ influences and ″downstream″ consequences in the system. The current analysis gathered existing data about the food and nutrition system in South Korea from public sources and professional publications, and interpreted that information to consider how different elements of the system contribute to health. The findings revealed that South Korea has substantial domestic food production and processing supplemented by imports, widespread food distribution in markets and a growing number of Korean and Western restaurants, a relatively low percentage of household income spent on food, growing use of new food preparation methods such as microwave ovens, a rice/vegetable/fish based three-meal consumption pattern, few recorded digestive problems, increasing calorie storage as body fat, and a relatively low chronic disease prevalence compared to other developed societies. Examination of the full scope of the food and nutrition system provides a broad perspective using whole system thinking that can identify potential strategies for future research and intervention.