Are organics more nutritious than conventional foods? A comprehensive systematic review.

The growing consumer interest fueled by the belief in the superiority of organic foods raises questions about their actual nutritional superiority over conventional ones. This assumption remains a controversial issue. The present study addresses scientific evidence to clarify this controversy and provide relevant insights for informed decision-making regarding dietary choices. We collected 147 scientific articles containing 656 comparative analyses based on 1779 samples of 68 vegetable, fruit, and other (cereals, pulses, etc.) foods, 22 nutritional properties, and nine residues. Results show that in 191 (29.1%) comparisons, there were significant differences between organic and conventional foods. In a similar quantity of cases (190; 29.0%), there were divergences in the results since some studies reported significant differences while others did not. Finally, most of the comparative analyses (275; 41.9%) showed no significant difference between organic and conventional foods. Therefore, the results herein show no generalizable superiority of organic over conventional foods. Claims for nutritious advantages would eventually be applied to specific comparisons, depending on the food type and nutritional parameter.

Carbon Sequestration in Resin-Tapped Slash Pine (Pinus elliottii Engelm.) Subtropical Plantations.

Every year more than 150,000 tons of resin used in a myriad of industrial applications are produced by Brazilian plantations of Pinus elliottii Engelm. (slash pine), which are also used for timber. A pine tree can be tapped for resin over a period of several years. Resin is a complex mixture of terpenes, which are carbon-rich molecules, presumably influencing pine plantation carbon budgets. A total of 270 trees (overall mean DBH of 22.93 ± 0.11 cm) of 14-, 24-, and 26-year-old stands had their C content measured. Three different treatments (intact, wounded panels, and wounded + chemically stimulated panels, 30 trees each) were applied per site. Above- and belowground biomass, as well as resin yield, were quantified for two consecutive years. Data were statistically evaluated using normality distribution tests, analyses of variance, and mean comparison tests (p ≤ 0.05). The highest resin production per tree was recorded in the chemically stimulated 14-year-old stand. Tree dry wood biomass, a major stock of carbon retained in cell wall polysaccharides, ranged from 245.69 ± 11.73 to 349.99 ± 16.73 kg among the plantations. Variations in carbon concentration ranged from 43% to 50% with the lowest percentages in underground biomass. There was no significant difference in lignin concentrations. Soils were acidic (pH 4.3 ± 0.10-5.83 ± 0.06) with low C (from 0.05% to 1.4%). Significantly higher C stock values were recorded in pine biomass compared to those reported for temperate zones. Resin-tapping biomass yielded considerable annual increments in C stocks and should be included as a relevant component in C sequestration assessments of planted pine forests.

Assessing sectoral water stress states from the demand-side perspective through water footprint dimensions decomposition.

Due to its essentiality and scarcity, water is subject to stress from the supply and demand side. The SDG and many methods for assessing water stress (WS) are based on water supply, even though the total water supply is uncontrollable by humans in the short term. Conversely, from a water demand perspective, WS arises from the deliberate and manageable use of water to produce goods and services, with few methods proposing to evaluate WS. We propose a method to assess the sectoral demand-side water stress states (DWSS) to fill this gap. The method comprises a quantitative step followed by a qualitative analysis. Quantitatively, an environmentally extended input-output model integrated Brazilian water resource and economic data for 2010 and 2015, including the imported virtual water in the water footprint calculation. Three dimensions of water footprint (DWF) were calculated: consumptive use of water (CUWF), water consumption (CWF), and return to the environment (REWF). The variations in DWFs over time were used as criteria to define five DWSS ranging from weak to strong. Brazilian economy as a whole presented a moderately weak DWSS. Among economic sectors, the most frequent DWSS was moderately weak, with sixteen sectors. The Livestock and Forestry, fishing, and aquaculture sectors had a strong DWSS, while the Slaughter, meat, and dairy and Public administration sectors had weak DWSS. Despite its limitations, the demand-side analysis can complement the usual method from a supply perspective.

Emergy unsustainability index for agricultural systems assessment: A proposal based on the laws of thermodynamics.

The anthropic effects of agriculture call for more sustainable systems. Agricultural sustainability conventionally communicates an idea of perennity. However, the sustainability of living open systems, like agricultural systems, can be regarded as a mere utopian idea when the effects of the laws of thermodynamics are taken into account. Under such physical laws, what really exists is the fact that any system alone has the property of unsustainability. The rate of entropy production can denote the potential level of the unsustainability of a system. The higher the rate of entropy production in an agricultural system, the higher its potential for unsustainability. Directly measuring entropy in living open systems is unfeasible. Even so, such systems are subject to the laws of thermodynamics. Indirect measurements of entropy in living open systems can be assessed by approximation through an analysis of the energy flows of the system. We used emergy analysis to account for the energy flows and compare the unsustainability among agricultural systems. However, the indicators proposed by emergy analysts have been more aligned with the perspective of sustainability. To change this perspective, we propose an emergy unsustainability index applied in this paper specifically to agricultural systems (EUIAS). EUIAS is not a simple inversion of the ESI obtained by the ratio between the Emergy Yield Ratio (EYR) and the Environmental Loading Ratio (ELR). The use of renewable exergy stored from one production cycle to another is one of the peculiarities of long-term agricultural systems. Therefore, quantifying the renewable and non-renewable fractions of resources used is fundamental to the EUIAS. A higher EUIAS means that an agricultural system is more dependent on non-renewable economic resources than renewable resources, and, in general, environmental impacts are higher due to the use of non-renewable resources.

Estimating the magnitude of the food loss and waste generated in Brazil.

The current global food production is enough to meet the caloric needs of the 7 billion individuals. On the other hand, 821 million people are currently malnourished. Living on a planet with this contradiction should lead to more effective actions in combating food insecurity. Food loss and waste contribute to this scenario, both in the economic sphere and in the use of inputs such as water, energy and work for the production process, and greenhouse gases emissions. The lack of data and a precise method of quantification should not prevent the producing countries and food suppliers, such as Brazil, from quantifying their food loss and waste. Through a methodology used by Oelofse and Nahman, we performed an exercise in quantifying FLW in the Brazilian food supply chain. Thus, an improved understanding of this topic can be initiated. An annual average of loss and waste of 82,200 tons was identified between the years 2007 and 2013. This represents 42% of the average national food supply for the period. The average amount of loss and waste were 427 kg/inhabitant/year. The edible portion corresponds to 327 kg/inhabitant/year. Specific studies that quantify and detail the loss and waste of food by the productive chain are necessary to assist in the resolution of this problem.

O governo e a mídia na configuração do macroambiente para os biocombustíveis líquidos no Brasil / Government and media in the configuration of the macroenvironment for liquid biofuels in Brazil

Este artigo identifica as dimensões nas quais o governo e a mídia do Brasil têm configurado o macroambiente para os biocombustíveis líquidos ao longo do tempo e testam a existência de similaridade entre esses meios de expressão da sociedade na configuração do macroambiente. Para atingir o objetivo, foi realizada uma pesquisa documental a partir das notícias sobre o tema "biocombustíveis líquidos" veiculadas pela mídia escrita e de documentos oficiais do governo brasileiro tratando do mesmo tema. Foram coletados documentos textuais em formato eletrônico para um período de 10 anos (1997 a 2006). A extração do conhecimento dos textos em formato eletrônico foi realizada por meio de mineração em textos, aplicando-se uma estrutura de análise específica contendo as dimensões macroambientais e suas respectivas "palavras-d", que foram definidas a partir das palavras mais frequentes nas áreas do conhecimento relacionadas a cada dimensão. Os resultados indicam que a configuração do macroambiente para os biocombustíveis líquidos pela mídia e pelo governo difere quanto ao uso das dimensões macroambientais. A configuração do macroambiente também apresentou variações ao longo do período analisado, tanto na mídia quanto no governo. Testes de similaridade, aderência e homogeneidade confirmam a existência de diferenças entre a mídia e o governo. As implicações dos resultados encontrados para a atividade de escaneamento macroambiental destinado ao planejamento estratégico das organizações em geral e dos biocombustíveis líquidos em particular são discutidas.

This article identifies the dimensions in which the Brazilian government and the media have shaped the macroenvironment for liquid biofuels through time, and tests the similarities among these means of expression of the society in the macroenvironmental setting. It conducts a documental research of the news on liquid biofuels published by the press and of official documents of the Brazilian government about the same subject. Electronic written documents covering a 10-year period (1997 to 2006) were collected and the information from them was extracted through text mining applying a specific analytical framework containing the macroenvironmental dimensions and their respective 'd-words', which were defined from the most frequent words in the knowledge areas related to each dimension. The results show that the configuration of the macroenvironment for liquid biofuels differs in the press and in the government. The setting of the macroenvironment also presented variations throughout the period. Similarity, adherence and homogeneity tests confirmed the existence of differences between the press and the government. The article discusses the implications of the results for the activity of macroenvironmental scanning related to the strategic planning of the organizations in general and of the liquid biofuels specifically.