Twenty first century food systems are rife with paradoxes. Over 800 million people go hungry and nearly two billion are overweight or obese. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’ research indicates that the world needs to produce 60% more food by 2050, even though the world already produces more than enough calories to feed 9 billion people. While sustainable agriculture and agricultural intensification may seem to be mutually exclusive goals, “sustainable intensification” has become the leading paradigm in agricultural development agencies. These issues highlight the incredible complexity of food systems, which integrate natural and human, terrestrial and aquatic, and plant and animal systems. Yet, they also bespeak the need to critically assess agricultural production systems, and the opportunity to re-envision them. This symposium brings together a diverse group of scientists who are doing just that. Speakers will provide an overview of the environmental and human health impacts of conventional agricultural systems and will share research-driven approaches to developing more sustainable agroecosystems. Landscape management, ecosystem services, local foods, climate change adaptation, and agricultural development will all be addressed. The panel discussion will focus on how agro-ecologists can effectively contribute their expertise to global food system debates and how we can work across disciplines to make our research more relevant.