Changes in Food Acquisition Source, Behaviors, and Perceptions During Early Months of COVID-19 Pandemic: Differences Between Those Living in and Not Living in Low Income Low Food Access Urban Areas

We examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on food access in US households located in low-income low-food access (LILA) zip codes and those in other areas. We explored changes in utilization of key food sources and in reported challenges, worries, and strategies related to obtaining food. Living in a LILA zip code was associated with a higher prevalence of using food programs, experiencing challenges finding help for food, worrying that food was unsafe, and worrying about losing access to food programs. Examining food acquisition during the pandemic may inform ways to reduce barriers to food access.Copyright © 2023 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Study on Food Supply Chain Integration of Epidemic Outbreak Based on AHP-Fuzzy

Food is a necessity of people's life, with its unique characteristics and irreplaceability. Due to the sudden, unpredictable and destructive nature of the epidemic, countries need to take particularly strict epidemic prevention measures to manage and control the epidemic in areas with severe development of the epidemic, which affects the trans-regional transportation of food and other agricultural products, and makes food supply become mainly local supply and become a limited resource. Through the integration of food supply chain in response to the outbreak of COVID-19, the service efficiency and cost can be improved, so that the community residents affected by the disaster can get high-quality food more quickly. © 2023 SPIE.

Food Sources May Affect the Symptom Rates of COVID-19, an Epidemiological Analysis Based on the Public Data in Gansu Province, China, During the Summer Epidemic Cycle in 2022.

According to the public data collected from the Health Commission of Gansu Province, China, regarding the COVID-19 pandemic during the summer epidemic cycle in 2022, the epidemiological analysis showed that the pandemic spread stability and the symptom rate (the number of confirmed cases divided by the sum of the number of asymptomatic cases and the number of confirmed cases) of COVID-19 were different among 3 main epidemic regions, Lanzhou, Linxia, and Gannan; both the symptom rate and the daily instantaneous symptom rate (daily number of confirmed cases divided by the sum of daily number of asymptomatic cases and daily number of confirmed cases) in Lanzhou were substantially higher than those in Linxia and Gannan. The difference in the food sources due to the high difference of the population ethnic composition in the 3 regions was probably the main driver for the difference of the symptom rates among the 3 regions. This work provides potential values for prevention and control of COVID-19 in different regions.

Development of nutritional biscuits for children, rich in Fe and Zn, by incorporation of pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima) seeds powder, a healthy pharma food in current post COVID 19 period

During preparatory operations of pumpkin, for cooking and processing, usually peel and seeds are discarded as waste but pumpkin seeds are rich in macro and micro nutrients, a potential source of pharma foods. In present study biscuits were developed from pumpkin seeds powder, rich in Fe and Zn, for children to strengthen innate and adaptive immune system to combat current COVID 19 outbreak scenarios. Chemical analyses of pumpkin seeds powder, white flour and developed biscuits, with 0, 5, 10 and 15% replacement level of pumpkin seeds powder, were performed. Ash, fat, fiber, Fe and Zn contents were significantly higher in pumpkin seeds powder as compared to white flour. By increasing the replacement level of pumpkin seeds powder with white flour, a significant increase in ash, fat, fiber, Fe and Zn, in biscuits was observed. In control (T0) the contents were, ash (0.57%), fat (30.36%), fiber (0.37%), Fe (2.44 mg/100 g) and Zn (1.45 mg/100 g) but when supplementation level was increased to 15% (T3) these contents were increased as, ash (1.65%), fat (32.46%), fiber (1.24%), Fe (4.23 mg/100 g) and Zn (4.37 mg/100 g). In current post COVID 19 scenario adequate supply of healthy diet, balanced with pharma foods could play a basic role in boosting immune system of the children. Concerns of the food processors has raised the choice of new food products enriched with immunity booster nutrients. These nutritious biscuits can be developed, marketed and consumed at mass levels to provide the basic nutrients to the developing communities.

Food consumption pattern Far Away From Home as a source of household food protein in Indonesia

The pattern of food consumption determines the level of household welfare, but for households with low income, the share of food expenditure is dominated by carbohydrate food. Protein foods are the second food consumed after carbohydrate staple foods. This study analyzes food consumption patterns away from home as a source of protein for households in Indonesia. The research data uses secondary data in the form of Susenas data in 2020 which covers of thirty-four provinces and the samples cover 334,127 households in total. The research data is in the form of total household expenditure data, data on the number of household members, consumption and expenditure data of FAFH as a source of household protein in Indonesia covering eight types of food, namely 1) soup namely soto, gule, sop, rawon 2) satay, tongseng 3) meatball noodles, chicken noodles 4) cooked fish 5) cooked chicken or meat 6) processed meat 7) chicken porridge, and 8) dumplings, batagor. The consumption preference model approach uses the Probit Model. The results showed that all FAFH foods had a high significant effect on FAFH consumption patterns. However, the household size variable shows a negative relationship. The higher the household size, the lower the possibility of consuming FAFH. The findings of this study demonstrate that, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the intake of FAFH protein is increasing, albeit at a very slow rate. This also demonstrates that FAFH food is a source of protein for households in Indonesia.

Politics, Economics and Demographics of Food Sustainability and Security

Driven by several factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic and armed conflicts around the world, global hunger is growing again. Recent estimates suggest that in 2050 we will have a population of about 10 billion, with an expected increase in the global food demand by 35%–56% between 2010 and 2050. With these premises, feeding people around the world without harm the planet appears quite challenging. In this scenario, public authorities and non-governmental actors have an important role to play in achieving sustainable food security, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations 2030 Agenda. This chapter aims to briefly describe the framework of actions that may be taken in the agricultural sector to achieve food sustainability and security goals by 2030.

Contract Owner’s Best Commanding for Sweet Potato Farming Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior

The purpose of this study is to examine and compare different psychological and sociodemographic factors for contracting sweet potato production for farmers with different statuses based upon the theory of planned behavior (TPB). Sustainable production provides contract owners with a sufficient amount of both food crops and a source of bioethanol clean energy. The impact of such factors on potential farmers based on the TPB for a particular contract type is estimated with the data collected in three major sweet potato production cities/counties in Taiwan through the probit model and multinomial logit model. The average size of the surveyed farms is 1.64 ha. The results consistently show that the factors of attitude toward the advantages of contract farming, subjective norms regarding contract farming, perceived contract farming control, and behavior intention have very significant impacts on the selection of contract farming types for professional farmers and brokers. These results indicate that the contract owners will gain the greatest advantage through commanding any factor in TBP for these two groups of farmers, as they have an incentive to manage the sources of sweet potatoes at the best conditions before they have the agreement with the contract owners, either as the supply of bioethanol energy raw materials, supply of food crops, or supply of food processing materials.

How can childhood obesity prevention policy be more effective and equitable following the COVID-19 pandemic?

BackgroundDespite being a public health priority in the UK for decades, rates of childhood obesity are continuing to rise along highly unequal lines. Investigating how families have engaged with food and food environments throughout the COVID-19 pandemic provides an opportunity to understand the conditions which shape peoples’ ability to consume nutritious diets.MethodsWe conducted a remote longitudinal qualitative study, engaging 62 parents of school or nursery age children across three case study sites in England;Bradford, Folkestone and London Borough of Brent. Participants were recruited purposively to represent the demographics of each study site and comprise a range of family structures. Methods informed by ethnographic and participatory approaches were adapted for a remote setting. These comprised: semi-structured interviews, photo-elicitation, participatory mapping, and oral diaries. Participants engaged with these methods three times at six-month intervals between October 2020 and December 2021. Data from each time point was analysed cross-sectionally and the whole data set longitudinally using trajectory analysis.ResultsCOVID-19 and its early impacts necessitated a reorganisation of daily routines and food practices, an adjustment of existing food practices, and/or an establishment of new ones. Some of these changes persisted beyond the context of lockdowns, such as households who had pivoted to alternative means of sourcing food (e.g. vegetable boxes) initially to avoid COVID-19 transmission maintaining this long-term due to perceived cost-saving and health benefits. Other changes were largely confined to the context of lockdown, such as the use of baking and cooking from scratch to provide entertainment in the absence of other opportunities for leisure. Households’ ability to enact and maintain practices beneficial for both nutrition and wellbeing was dictated by the availability of finances, time and social support systems. Changes to diet perceived as negative came about through financial insecurity, the gendered division of care work and mental health impacts associated with this burden.ConclusionCOVID-19 has revealed the multiple resources and systems of support that underpin families’ ability to eat well and, when disrupted, can limit capacity to procure and prepare nutritious foods. These contexts have the capacity to occur again both on a large scale in society (e.g. financial recessions and periods of food system disruption) and in the context of an individual’s lifetime (e.g. ill health, job loss or loss of social support networks). Policy now has a window of opportunity to implement learnings from this period and shape obesity prevention policy to be more effective and equitable.

The impact of COVID-19 on local food production and food security in a small island developing state: a mixed method study

BackgroundComplex factors drive inconsistent access to safe and nutritious food among Small Island Developing States (SIDS), including geographic isolation, limited natural resources, urbanisation, and extreme weather events, leading to decreasing food production and increasing reliance on food imports. However, this may have been impacted by recent COVID-19 related restrictions. Our study aims to assess the impact of COVID-19 on food production and food security in St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), a middle-income SIDS.MethodsWe conducted a mixed-methods cross-sectional study between September 2021 and February 2022 with consenting adults (>=18) from 50 households within rural areas, participating in a backyard garden intervention. Survey tools were the adapted version of the Caribbean COVID-19 Food Security & Livelihoods Impact Survey and the COVID-19 version of the Food Insecurity Experience Scale Survey Module for individual respondents. The qualitative component aimed to gain in-depth and contextual insight on the impact of COVID-19 on own food production. Open-ended interviews were undertaken with one family member of 10 of the 50 intervention families, over a six-month period. Qualitative data were recorded, transcribed, and coded using ATLAS-ti to facilitate thematic analysis.ResultsNinety-three participants completed the survey. Most participants were 50–69 years old, female, completed a primary school level education, resided in a household of > four members, and were self-employed. Almost half of the participants were unable to secure their necessities during the pandemic with more than a third changing their main food source. Own food production as the main food source decreased from 46% to 37%. Engagement in farming and backyard gardening decreased by 8% from 93%. Using FAO standards, 66% of participants were classified as moderately or severely food insecure and more than half of the participants attributed these challenges to the pandemic. The qualitative data highlighted that while own food production was perceived as a means for household food security, lower importation and the consequent increased cost of food supplies impacted most. Social distancing and other restrictions hampered social networking and shared labour activities.ConclusionAt the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, an assumption was that local food systems would be strengthened, through self-sufficiency farming. Here, in this small study, it appears that one impact of the pandemic is an increased burden to engage in local food production with findings that are similar to outcomes observed in Pacific SIDS and with FAO data.

The next pandemic is coming — now is the time to unite

Speed read The hunt is on for Disease X COVID-19 has weakened global surveillance One Health approaches critical The COVID-19 pandemic has ushered in a new era of disease risk as global surveillance systems reach breaking point, while rising meat consumption forces animal species together at an unprecedented rate. In the global South, demand for animal protein has more than tripled meat production over the past 50 years, with milk production nearly doubling and egg output rising more than three-fold. Scientists say stronger biosecurity measures in the global food system could help prevent future outbreaks of zoonotic diseases — those that jump from animals to people.

Secure meat-hungry food systems to prevent next pandemic

Speed read Intensive agriculture for animal protein source of emerging diseases, experts say But, understanding of animal pathogen spillover incomplete, making pandemic prediction difficult Investment needed in early warning systems, One Health preparedness Sustainable agriculture and better health monitoring needed to break chain of disease transmission in food systems. Environmental hotspots Agriculture and meat production are significant contributors of greenhouse gases, both directly and through land-use change — Andersen notes that the drivers of pandemics are often the same drivers of climate change and biodiversity loss. "Climate change results in changing environmental conditions, which impacts on the ecosystem characteristics and as a result, it changes the distribution of animal species, and therefore also of any microorganisms which they carry,” Dirk Pfeiffer, a professor of veterinary epidemiology at City University of Hong Kong and the Royal Veterinary College in London, tells SciDev.Net.

A Comparative Photographic Review on Higher Plants and Macro-Fungi: A Soil Restoration for Sustainable Production of Food and Energy

The Kingdom of Plantae is considered the main source of human food, and includes several edible and medicinal plants, whereas mushrooms belong to the Kingdom of fungi. There are a lot of similar characteristics between mushrooms and higher plants, but there are also many differences among them, especially from the human health point of view. The absences of both chlorophyll content and the ability to form their own food are the main differences between mushrooms and higher plants. The main similar attributes found in both mushrooms and higher plants are represented in their nutritional and medicinal activities. The findings of this review have a number of practical implications. A lot of applications in different fields could be found also for both mushrooms and higher plants, especially in the bioenergy, biorefinery, soil restoration, and pharmaceutical fields, but this study is the first report on a comparative photographic review between them. An implication of the most important findings in this review is that both mushrooms and plants should be taken into account when integrated food and energy are needed. These findings will be of broad use to the scientific and biomedical communities. Further investigation and experimentation into the integration and production of food crops and mushrooms are strongly recommended under different environmental conditions, particularly climate change.

Using bibliometric analysis to map innovative business models for vertical farm entrepreneurs

Purpose>This paper aims to explore the literature on vertical farming to define key elements to outline a business model for entrepreneurs. The research aims to stimulate entrepreneurship for vertical farming in a smart cities' context, recognising urban agriculture as technology to satisfy increasing food needs.Design/methodology/approach>The research conducts a structured literature review on 186 articles on vertical farming extracted from the Scopus. Moreover, the bibliometric analysis revealed the descriptive statistics on this field and the main themes through the authors' keywords.Findings>Different perspectives showed the multidisciplinary nature of the topic and how the intersection of different skills is necessary to understand the subject entirely. The keywords analysis allowed for identifying the topics covered by the authors and the business model's elements.Research limitations/implications>The research explores a topic in the embryonic stage to define key strands of literature. It provides business model insights extending George and Bock's (2011) research to stimulate entrepreneurship in vertical farming. Limitations arise from the sources used to develop our analysis and how the topic appears as a frontier innovation.Originality/value>Originality is the integration of literature strands related to vertical farming, highlighting its multidisciplinary nature to provide a holistic understanding of the themes. In smart cities' context, innovations allow traditional business models to be interpreted in a novel perspective and revealed the elements for transforming vertical farming from innovative technology to an effective source of food sustenance. Finally, the paper suggests a new methodology application for the analysis of word clusters by integrating correspondence analysis and multidimensional scaling analysis.

Beef as a Functional Food for Improving Human Nutrition and Health

Beef is an abundant source of all proteinogenic amino acids (AAs;in both adequate amounts and balanced ratios) and physiologically essential nonproteinogenic AAs (taurine and β-alanine). The content and bioavailabilities of proteinogenic AAs in beef are greater than those in plant-sourced foods. Taurine (a potent anti-oxidant) is essential for the integrity and functions of tissues, including eyes, heart, and skeletal muscle, whereas β-alanine is required for the production of antioxidative and neuromodulatory dipeptides. Furthermore, beef contains a large amount of creatine (essential for energy metabolism in tissues, particularly brain and skeletal muscle), anti-oxidative dipeptides (carnosine and anserine), and 4-hydroxyproline (an anti-inflammatory nutrient that maintains intestinal integrity and inhibits colitis). There are myths that plants provide all nutrients that are available in animal-sourced foods. However, taurine, vitamin B12, creatine, carnosine, and anserine are absent from plants, whereas β-alanine and 4-hydroxyproline are low or negligible in plants. Like other animal-sourced foods, beef plays an important role in the optimum growth of children and the prevention of anemia in humans, as well as maintaining muscle mass, delaying ageing, and mitigating sarcopenia in adults, while meeting the high demands of exercising individuals for high-quality protein. Some epidemiological studies raised concern that the consumption of red meat might increase risks for chronic diseases in humans, including obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, and cancers. However, findings from many epidemiological and clinical studies do not support these claims. Beef-derived AAs and other nutrients enhance the metabolism (e.g., nitric-oxide and glutathione syntheses) and the functions of monocytes, macrophages, lymphocytes, and other cells of the immune system, thereby helping the human host to kill pathogenic bacteria, fungi, parasites, and viruses. The latter include severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19). Therefore, beef is a functional food for optimizing human growth, development, and health.

Duckweeds as Promising Food Feedstocks Globally

Duckweeds are the smallest flowering plants on Earth. They grow fast on water’s surface and produce large amounts of biomass. Further, duckweeds display high adaptability, and species are found around the globe growing under different environmental conditions. In this work, we report the composition of 21 ecotypes of fourteen species of duckweeds belonging to the two subfamilies of the group (Lemnoideae and Wolffioideae). It is reported the presence of starch and the composition of soluble sugars, cell walls, amino acids, phenolics, and tannins. These data were combined with literature data recovered from 85 publications to produce a compiled analysis that affords the examination of duckweeds as possible food sources for human consumption. We compare duckweeds compositions with some of the most common food sources and conclude that duckweed, which is already in use as food in Asia, can be an interesting food source anywhere in the world.

Resilience of Agri-Food Systems

In considering resilience of agri-food systems, we need to take a holistic perspective of many factors that can influence supply chains and their logistics: declining availability of arable land, water and healthy soils;pests and diseases of crop plants and livestock;unpredictability of weather and changing climate;growth in emerging economies;aging and increasingly urbanized populations;greater demand for convenience foods;consumer interest in provenance and ethical values in food production. To look to the future, we should consider how far agri-food systems have progressed in recent times. Since 1971 (a year chosen because of its personal significance of submitting my PhD thesis and celebrating my wedding) the world’s population has doubled from four to nearly eight billion, yet the global average daily energy and protein consumption per person have increased by about 20–25% [8], indicating a significant boost to food production. On farms, real-time sensing technologies are used for: monitoring weather, soil conditions and water availability;the growth and health of crops and livestock;outbreaks of pests, diseases and weeds;spoilage in grain storage;and to provide decision support and land-use mapping tools. Interest in alternative food sources and obtaining more dietary protein from alternative sources such as plants or insects is generating important research questions on “green” methods for processing of raw materials and developing flavoursome and nutritious products attractive to consumers, and how such systems can add value to the agri-food chain, given that a significant amount of food production currently comes from livestock grazing on marginal lands unsuited to cropping.

Challenges of agri-food supply in city region food systems: an emerging economy perspective

Purpose>This paper explores the challenges of food security from source to consumption of agri-food value chain by considering urban–rural linkages in city region food systems (CRFSs) and proposes a strategic framework for CRFS identifying strategies to promote urban–rural linkages among multiple stakeholders.Design/methodology/approach>A qualitative case study approach to a fruit and vegetable value chain from rural source to consumption in the Colombo City region identifies the challenges of food security. A snowballing sampling method was used to gather information from retailers, wholesalers, commission agent, farmers and consumers. The data were collected through face-to-face interviews, observations and secondary data sources. The data were analysed using thematic analysis.Findings>Challenges in food security in the value chain related to five areas: input and production, infrastructure, public institutional support and policy, finance, and food market. Colombo city is heavily dependent on food sourced from other cities due to limited land and lack of locally situated commercially oriented farmers.Research limitations/implications>This research is limited to a selected number of fruits and vegetables in the Colombo city region and leaves out other food items.Originality/value>This study contributes to informing policy and decision-making processes to promote a more balanced rural to city food value chain in Colombo City that could benefit all stakeholders from rural small-scale producers to urban consumers.

Evaluation of Macrophyte Community Dynamics (2015–2020) in Southern Lake Garda (Italy) from Sentinel-2 Data

Featured ApplicationThe improvement of effective remote sensing-based approaches to map macrophyte features can provide a baseline of adequate spatiotemporal resolution for 21st century monitoring applications equipped to play a prominent role in the context of medium–large-scale management programs of ecological conservation and scientific research.Macrophytes are of fundamental importance to the functioning of lake ecosystems. They provide structure, habitat, and a food source and are a required component in monitoring programs of lake ecological quality. The key aim of this study is to document the variation in spatial extent and density of macrophytes seasonally between 2015 and 2020 of the Sirmione Peninsula (Lake Garda, Italy), using Sentinel-2 imagery. In addition to this, our results were compared to previous data from imaging spectrometry;individual parameters affecting macrophyte communities were tested, and the possible effect of the COVID-19 lockdown on macrophyte colonization was evaluated. Satellite images allowed the mapping of the spatiotemporal dynamics of submerged rooted macrophytes in order to support monitoring of the shallow water ecosystem under study. Substantial changes were found in both spatial extent and density over the period from 2015 to 2020, particularly in 2019 when there was almost a complete absence of dense macrophytes. Variables found to influence the amount of macrophytes included transparency, chlorophyll–a, water level, winter wave height, and grazing by herbivores. A separate analysis focusing on areas associated with boat transit found a recovery in macrophyte coverage during the period of COVID-19 lockdown. The outcome of the study highlights a decline in the density of the macrophytes and a shift towards deeper areas compared to the situation in 1997. The area examined is part of an internationally important site containing the highest abundance and diversity of overwintering water birds in Italy. Exploiting satellite data at high frequency provided an insight to understand the dynamic changes and interactions with herbivorous birds, environmental factors, and anthropogenic pressures, revealing a delicately balanced and threatened ecosystem.

The Moderate Correlation Between 25(OH)D Serum and Saliva in Healthy People with Low Vitamin D Intake.

PURPOSE: The routine examination of vitamin D levels is carried out by checking serum 25(OH)D levels, while serum 1.25(OH)D levels are less frequently utilized. The proposition that testing for salivary vitamin D can show a correlation with serum levels in healthy people is questionable, especially with low vitamin D intake. This study aimed to find the correlation between vitamin D levels, which were assessed as 25(OH)D and 1.25(OH)D in saliva, and serum 25(OH)D and 1.25(OH)D levels in people with low vitamin D intake. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This study is a cross-sectional study involving healthy men and women, aged 18-60 years, carried out from August to November, 2020, in North Sumatra Province, Indonesia. The parameters studied were the 25(OH)D and 1.25(OH)D levels in saliva and serum, and vitamin D intake. The statistical analysis used was the Spearman correlation test, performed to determine the correlation between each parameter. RESULTS: This study involved 56 study subjects, who were rural adults (male or female) with a 78.6% deficiency in 25(OH)D found by examining saliva, and a 76.8% deficiency found by examining the serum. All of the subjects were categorized as having low vitamin D intake (less than 15 micrograms per day). The analysis showed a moderate correlation between levels of saliva 25(OH)D and serum 25(OH)D (p = 0.424), and a weak correlation between levels of saliva 1.25(OH)D and serum 25(OH)D (p = 0.339). CONCLUSION: In people with low vitamin D intake, there was a moderate correlation between serum 25(OH)D and saliva, but a weak correlation was found in the 1.25(OH)D assay. The use of saliva 25(OH)D levels to detect 25(OH)D in the circulation is a possible non-invasive alternative to serum testing.