Chemistry and food do not go together in most people’s minds, but chemistry has always been food’s natural companion. Food supplies the energy and nutrients we need to make our bodies’ biochemistry run, and chemical innovations continue to transform our food supply—from fertilizing crops to keeping food from spoiling on store shelves.

In this issue, C&EN wanted to dig into how science is changing sustenance. With that in mind, we’re serving up stories on nutritional advances for ultraprocessed foods, the science of bringing flavor to lab-grown meat, and companies using bioreactors to make food production more sustainable. We also look at ecofriendly advances in food packaging and how policymakers are grappling with advances in genetically modified food, and we chat with an ethnobotanist about agriculture and food biochemistry.

Bon appétit!