• Food needs focus on intrinsic requirements of production, such as access to a plot of fertile land and a good water supply with which to grow the food and the ability to distribute products to consumers.
• The intensity of production required to meet the needs of ever growing populations means that upstream production processes can have adverse impacts on the environment.
• Concerns about environmental sustainability focus on preventing the degradation of arable land, preventing loss of water resources and finding sources of energy.

In contrast, more developed countries are not generally faced with food security issues and many problems are related to over-consumption rather than deficiencies.

• Food is available in abundance and consumers needs are focused on maintaining their particular life styles.
• Food is expected to be safe, of high quality, available in abundant variety and prepared and packaged in a convenient form.
• Downstream production processes required to meet quality and convenience expectations place additional burdens on the environment as well as those generated by upstream food production.
• Sustainability issues are concerned with minimising the resource intensity of downstream processing and packaging activities.

Irrespective of these different imperatives, the factors that ultimately govern the environmental sustainability of food production are common, and most nations face challenges in all these areas:

• conservation of soils and nutrient status
• wise use of fertilizers
• selection and preservation of productive genetic stock
• careful use of agents for controlling disease and insect blight
• efficient use of resources, in particular water and energy
• protection of water quality though the careful disposal of wastes
• minimisation of wastes and productive use of by-products