Food systems are complex. They combine all the decisions governments, businesses, agencies, families, and individuals make about food: what, where and how to grow, process, store, transport, market, advertise, prepare and eat. To find data on food systems, policymakers, business leaders and analysts have to look at least 30 different sources. The sources are poorly documented and the data of differential quality, and poorly displayed and visualised. If the costs of assembling and using such data are high, then food systems decisions are less likely to be evidence based. This inevitably will mean that scarce resources that have alternative uses will be squandered. The world simply does not have the time nor the resources for that to happen as so many food system indicators on hunger, nutrition, climate, biodiversity, jobs and resilience are moving in the wrong direction for people, planet and prosperity.