Consumer expenditure, elasticity and value of food waste: A Quadratic Almost Ideal Demand System for evaluating changes in Mexico during COVID-19.

Household food waste is driven by consumer habits and behaviors. The necessary measures implemented during the lockdown worldwide to contain the Covid-19 pandemic altered these consumer practices. This paper examines how household's culinary traditions and food management have changed in Mexico as a result of Covid-related restrictions, and their impact on food waste. We obtained 525 answers using an online survey about food habits distributed through social networks in Mexico between December 2020 and January 2021. The results show that the participating households increased their monetary expenditure on groceries and reduced food waste during the pandemic. The estimation of consumer responsiveness to waste, through the introduction of a framework based on a Quadratic Almost-Ideal Demand System, confirms that, even more during the lockdown, food waste has become a luxury good. The analysis of food category changes allows for a detailed study useful to curtail the level of food waste in Mexican households and to encourage transition towards sustainable and circular consumption behaviors.

Caring more about food: The unexpected positive effect of the Covid-19 lockdown on household food management and waste.

Over half of the total amount of food wasted in Europe concerns household food waste which is mainly due to incorrect food management habits and behaviour. During the Covid-19 outbreak, food management and consumption habits changed dramatically due to the tough lockdown restrictions imposed by governments to reduce infection. This study investigated how these dramatic changes in the daily lives of consumers influenced the generation of food waste at household level. A CAWI questionnaire was administered to a sample of 1078 Italian consumers during the lockdown (March-April 2020). The respondents were asked to self-estimate the percentage of food their households wasted before and during the lockdown and to explain their food management habits. We focused the analysis on the differences between the food the respondents declared to have wasted before and during lockdown, which revealed that most households threw away less food during the Covid-19 lockdown compared to the pre-Covid situation. We referred to Seemingly Unrelated Regression models to evaluate the association between the food waste behaviour in the two periods considered in the study and the other factors observed. The results disclosed that young consumers and people who started implementing good food management practices (shopping list, meal planning etc.) more frequently considerably reduced the food they wasted during lockdown. Also, the logistical difficulties of grocery shopping experienced by consumers during lockdown made them manage their household food consumption more carefully, which led to a reduction in the amount of food wasted.

Sensory variety in shape and color influences fruit and vegetable intake, liking, and purchase intentions in some subsets of adults: a randomized pilot experiment.

Dietary variety increases food intake, but it is unclear if sensory differences elicit increases in eating-related behaviors. Using a 4×3 between-subject pilot experiment, we examined if increasing sensory variety (control, color, shape, both color and shape) and priming individuals to notice differences or similarities in the foods (positive, neutral, negative) influenced ad libitum proximal intake, liking, and willingness to purchase pears and peppers among 164 Greater Boston adults >18y/o. MANOVA was used to examine associations between sensory variety (independent variable) and six dependent measures. We tested for interactions between sensory variety condition and individual-level factors that may influence food intake. There was no main effect of sensory variety condition for any dependent measure. However, interactions between sensory variety condition and age, overweight status, and prime were detected. Adults with overweight (vs. adults of normal weight) ate more pear with color variety (7.2 vs. 4.4 oz, p=0.01). Pear intake was also higher among adults with overweight in the color variety (7.2 oz) vs. combination variety (4.4 oz) condition. Adults ≥36y/o ate more peppers (3.5 oz) in the color variety condition versus other conditions (2.1-2.2 oz, p=0.04). Participants primed to notice differences were more willing to purchase pears in the color variety (5.0 ± 0.5) versus control (3.7 ± 0.5) condition. Color variety may modestly increase proximal intake, liking, and purchase intentions for fruits and vegetables in some subsets of adults. Our preliminary findings encourage more research to determine if color variety can be used to improve diet quality of targeted populations.

A multi-level intervention in subsidized housing sites to increase fruit and vegetable access and intake: Rationale, design and methods of the 'Live Well, Viva Bien' cluster randomized trial.

BACKGROUND: Adequate fruit and vegetable (F&V) intake is important for disease prevention. Yet, most Americans, especially low-income and racial/ethnic minorities, do not eat adequate amounts. These disparities are partly attributable to food environments in low-income neighborhoods where residents often have limited access to affordable, healthful food and easy access to inexpensive, unhealthful foods. Increasing access to affordable healthful food in underserved neighborhoods through mobile markets is a promising, year-round strategy for improving dietary behaviors and reducing F&V intake disparities. However, to date, there have been no randomized controlled trials studying their effectiveness. The objective of the 'Live Well, Viva Bien' (LWVB) cluster randomized controlled trial is to evaluate the efficacy of a multicomponent mobile market intervention at increasing F&V intake among residents of subsidized housing complexes. METHODS/DESIGN: One housing complex served as a pilot site for the intervention group and the remaining 14 demographically-matched sites were randomized into either the intervention or control group. The intervention group received bimonthly, discount, mobile, fresh F&V markets in conjunction with a nutrition education intervention (two F&V campaigns, newsletters, DVDs and cooking demonstrations) for 12 months. The control group received physical activity and stress reduction interventions. Outcome measures include F&V intake (measured by two validated F&V screeners at baseline, six-month and twelve-months) along with potential psychosocial mediating variables. Extensive quantitative and qualitative process evaluation was also conducted throughout the study. DISCUSSION: Modifying neighborhood food environments in ways that increase access to affordable, healthful food is a promising strategy for improving dietary behaviors among low-income, racial and ethnic minority groups at increased risk for obesity and other food-related chronic diseases. Discount, mobile F&V markets address all the major barriers to eating more F&V (high cost, poor quality, limited access and limited time to shop and cook) and provide a year-round solution to limited access to healthful food in low-income neighborhoods. LWVB is the first randomized controlled trial evaluating the effectiveness of mobile markets at increasing F&V intake. If proven efficacious at increasing F&V consumption, LWVB could be disseminated widely to neighborhoods that have low access to fresh F&V. TRIALS REGISTRATION: Clinicatrials.gov registration number: NCT02669472 First Received: January 19, 2016.

Working toward Healthy and Sustainable Diets: The "Double Pyramid Model" Developed by the Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition to Raise Awareness about the Environmental and Nutritional Impact of Foods.

The Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition has produced an updated version of the traditional food pyramid based on the Mediterranean diet in order to assess the simultaneous impact that food has on human health and the environment. The Double Pyramid Model demonstrates how the foods recommended to be consumed most frequently are also those exerting less environmental impact, whereas the foods that should be consumed less frequently are those characterized by a higher environmental impact. The environmental impacts resulting from three different menus were compared. All menus were equally balanced and comparable in terms of nutrition, but they differed in relation to the presence of absence of animal flesh and animal products. The first dietary pattern (omnivorous) included both animal flesh and products; the second (lacto-ovo-vegetarian) included animal products (eggs and dairy) but no flesh; and the third (vegan) was solely plant-based. The results obtained suggest that a diet based on the principles of the Mediterranean diet, as suggested by the Double Pyramid, generates a lower environmental impact compared to diets that are heavily based on daily meat consumption.