Based on panel data from 30 Chinese provinces (excluding Xizang, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) from 2013 to 2021, and building on the theoretical analysis, this paper empirically tests the impact of digital economy on the high-quality development of food industry and its transmission mechanisms. The results show that the digital economy can significantly promote the high-quality development of the food industry, with a greater impact on the eastern region. The mechanism analysis reveals that the digital economy fosters regional innovation capacity, thereby driving high-quality development in the food industry.. Furthermore, the high-quality development of food industry exhibits significant spatial agglomeration and spatial dependence, with high-quality talents playing an key role in transmitting the spatial spillover effects of this development of food industry. Therefore, it is important to leverage talent, stimulate the innovation- driven growth of the development of the digital economy, promote the deep integration of the new generation of information technology with agricultural land, food processing and circulation, and facilitate the integration of urban and rural areas as well as internal and external regional connections within the region, to achieve a high-quality development of food industry.