Microbial Map Reveals Countless Hidden Connections Between Our Food, Health, and Planet

By Sadie Harley and Robert Egan

Researchers have mapped how microbes underpin our food systems—and how we can stop their decline. Published in Frontiers in Science, their map of "agri-food system microbiomes" reveals how players at every stage of the food system can restore and protect dwindling microbiomes to help boost human and planetary health.

When microbiomes are diverse and balanced, they keep our food safe, nutritious, and sustainable, and our planet healthy—but the quality of these networks is declining across the whole system. This can be seen in the uptick of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), crop failures, loss of microbial diversity in soil, water, and the human gut, and increased food spoilage.