Food production needs to increase to feed a growing world population. In addition, diets in developing countries include increasing amounts of meat. This comes with an increase of the adverse environmental effects of food production, including the loss of biodiversity (from change in land use), the emission of greenhouse gases, nutrient pollution, and the emission of toxic compounds. To address these impacts, a systemic shift in the current agri-food system is needed – and that requires the fact-based decision-making that life cycle assessment (LCA) supports like no other. In this article, we will discuss the impacts of food production in some detail, as well as how LCA can be a part of the solution.