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Understanding the interactions among land use functions from an efficiency perspective is crucial for making options that optimize benefits among multiple, often contradictory land-use objectives closely related to food, economy and ecology towards sustainable landscape management. Here, we propose a theoretical framework for evaluating multiple land use functional efficiencies—food functional efficiency (FdFE), economic functional efficiency (EcFE), and ecological functional efficiency (ElFE)—in terms of ideal reference and key indicators across different landscapes. The framework was empirically applied to Jiangsu Province, a typical economically developed region in eastern China, to reveal the spatial-temporal characteristics of FdFE, EcFE, and ElFE at different scales, as well as their trade-offs and synergies. Results showed that FdFE decreased significantly from 2000 to 2020 with an average value of 69.3%, while both EcFE and ElFE increased slightly with an average value of 69.4% and 64.9%, respectively, indicating a great potential for functional improvement in land use in Jiangsu Province. Few regions (4.95%) can simultaneously improve on FdFE, EcFE, and ElFE. Complex trade-offs or synergies with significant temporal dynamics and spatial patterns were common in the interactions among FdFE, EcFE, and ElFE at different scales. Especially, 78.57% of synergies and 76.47% of trade-offs were both related to ElFE, highlighting the critical role of ecological protection in land use. Meanwhile, trade-offs between pair-wise efficiencies at the landscape level during 2000–2020 mostly occurred in FdFE—EcFE and ElFE—EcFE, while stable and enhanced synergies occurred in FdFE—ElFE, and the magnitude of these interactions varied greatly at different spatio-temporal scales. This study provides new ideas for better understanding the multifunctional benefits of land use and their interactions, thereby providing useful information for optimizing land multifunctional use and landscape management from local to regional scales. [Display omitted] • Proposing a framework for land use functional efficiency (LUFE) based on ideal reference and key indicators. • Revealing the remarkable spatio-temporal changes of LUFEs in food, economy and ecology at multiple scales. • Identifying improvement and degradation clusters of LUFEs at multiple scales. • Assessing the spatio-temporal evolution and scale effects of trade-offs and synergies among multiple LUFEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]