‘Anticipatory’ reproduction by small mammals cannot succeed without enhanced maternal access to protein food

Although organic agriculture (OA) is praised unequivocally for its environmental and health benefits, its potential for food security is often questioned because of its perceived lower yield. Least developed countries (LDCs), which have a high prospect of conversion to OA, are underrepresented in the literature related to the yield potential of OA, and its impact on regional food security. This paper aims to assess food and nutrient (calorie, protein, and fat) supply, thereby contributing to food security, from OA using yield ratio (YR) in LDCs and to compare this with North America (NA). Literature is the main source of data to estimate YR. Food supply data available in FAOSTAT for 1963–2013 along with the YR is used to estimate food and nutrient supply from OA in 2013. YR of crops shows a higher yield from OA in LDCs compared to NA. The food supply in LDCs between 1963 and 2013 increased at a higher rate than in NA. However, per capita nutrient supply is growing at a meager rate in LDCs; calorie and protein supply are just above the minimum threshold level and fat supply is still below the threshold level. Cereal is the single most important food item contributing to nutrient supply in LDCs, indicating a lack of dietary diversity. Thus, with relatively higher yields and crop diversity, and localized production and distribution systems, OA will have important contributions in dealing with persistent food insecurity in LDCs. However, a concerted effort is necessary to achieve yield gain and wider acceptance of OA.

Transitions to sustainable food systems require shifts in food production and availability, particularly the replacement of animal-based protein with plant-based protein. To explore how this transition may relate to demographic patterns, we undertake an ecological analysis of global associations between age-specific mortality, total national macronutrient distributions, and protein substitution. Our dataset includes per capita daily food supply and demographic data for 101 countries from 1961–2018. After adjusting for time, population size, and economic factors, we find associations between low total protein supplies and higher mortality rates across all age groups. Early-life survivorship improves with higher animal-based protein and fat supplies, while later-life survival improves with increased plant-based protein and lower fat supplies. Here, we show that the optimal balance of protein and fat in national food supplies, which correlates with minimal mortality, varies with age, suggesting that reductions in dietary protein, especially from animal sources, may need to be managed with age-specific redistributions to balance health and environmental benefits.

Protein diversification

Owing to an increasing world population and a rising demand in protein for food and feed, alternative protein sources are needed. In addition, existing food and protein supplies such as wild and farmed fish need to be secured. Insects and more specifically the black soldier fly (BSF;Hermetia illucens) larvae, are discussed as an alternative animal protein source and a potential fish meal (FM) replacer in aquaculture. They can be sustainably reared on biogenic residues. In a literature study, the technical potential of occurring biogenic residues in Germany for the production of BSF larvae is estimated and their suitability as a FM replacement in aquafeed for the production of rainbow trout is evaluated. According to literature, up to 50% of FM can be substituted by BSF larvae meal in the feed of rainbow trout. For the annual German rainbow trout production of 8,466 t, 2,699 t BSF larvae meal (40.7% protein d.m.) is required to replace 1,556 t FM (70.9% protein d.m.). The demand for biogenic residues to feed the BSF larvae amounts to 22,942 t (d.m.). A large amount of biogenic residues occurring in Germany, such as forestry residues, animal excrements, straw and the biogenic fraction of municipal waste, have too poor nutrient contents or are inapplicable due to legal restrictions as feed for farmed animals. However, an alternative utilisation of approximately 1.26 Mt (d.m.) of biogenic industrial residues by far exceeds the demand for BSF larvae feed. Further investigations are needed on the environmental impact and profitability of using biogenic residues for BSF larvae production and competing utilisation pathways as well as of using resulting BSF larvae meal as FM replacement in feed for rainbow trout. Graphical abstract – Annual technical potential of a biogenic residue-based production of black soldier fly (BSF) larvae as aquafeed for farmed rainbow trout in Germany (M = million, based on dry weight unless indicated otherwise).

Cover provides shelter, food, nesting opportunities and protection from predators. The behavioural response of small mammals to reduced cover has been well documented. However, very little is known about the effect of cover on community and population dynamics. Australian small mammals generally inhabit extremely dynamic ecosystems, where cover and food supplies are greatly affected by fire. Species are described as early or late seral specialists, generally returning to a disturbed area once their habitat requirements are met. Habitat requirements have loosely been interpreted as cover and food supply, however, these factors are not mutually exclusive and few studies have attempted to determine the driving factors behind small mammal succession. In this study, we manipulated specific aspects of cover in the eucalypt forests of Fraser Island and show that the behaviour and population dynamics of small mammals were greatly affected. A reduction of cover from grass‐trees (Xanthorrhoea johnsonii) did not affect small mammal species composition, however, the abundance and size structure distribution of the dominant species (Rattus fuscipes) decreased. Patch use by rodents also decreased after cover was reduced. Rattus fuscipes must trade‐off remaining in an environment with increased risk of predation, or disperse to an area with greater cover but increased competition. Juveniles dominated (>60%) populations of R. fuscipes after cover was reduced, however, size distributions of control sites were relatively more even (<25% juvenile). While adult R. fuscipes are either killed by predators or disperse to other areas, juveniles that remained or immigrated to an area of reduced cover gained a selective advantage over those in control sites, because reduced competition with adults increased body condition of juvenile R. fuscipes.

Food allergy presents a problem for many parts of society, including sensitive subjects, schools, health authorities, and the food industry. Once food allergy is diagnosed, dietary avoidance is the principle method of management. Because trace levels of peanuts can elicit an adverse to fatal reaction, unintentional exposure to the offending allergens may have devastating consequences to sensitive individuals. However, determination of trace amounts of unintentional peanut contamination in our food supply is very difficult. Recently, we developed polyclonal antibodies specific to peanut proteins that do not cross-react with 22 legumes, tree nuts, or other common snack ingredients. An antiserum containing the polyclonal antibodies was used to develop a sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for determination of peanut proteins in snack foods. This study reports the first successful ELISA test to detect trace amounts of peanut allergens in a variety of foods. The concentration of peanut protein that inhibited 50% of antibody-antigen binding (IC50) was 12 ng/mL, the linear range was 1-63 ng/mL, and the detection limit was 400 ng/g (ppb) for the various foods tested. Recoveries ranged from 68 to 90%, with coefficients of variation of 2-22%, depending on the commodity. Using this new procedure, allergy-related complaint samples from various food groups were analyzed, and undeclared peanut proteins were identified in some products.

The fishery is a source of food. Ambon City as an area that has an ocean area of ​​52% can rely on the fishery sector as a source of protein food. The level of fish consumption in Ambon City in 2019 was 37.01 kg/capita/year with the most consumed type of fish being the type of tuna/ skipjack/tuna. Pelabuhan Perikanan Nusantara Ambon (PPN) is one of the fish landings centers that contribute to the provision of fish food, including skipjack (Katsuwonus pelamis) in Ambon city. The production of skipjack which landed at the Nusantara Fisheries Port (PPN) Ambon in 2014-2020 fluctuated with an average production of 613.51 tons or 32.03%. The highest production was in 2014 at 1,093.54 tons and the lowest was in 2015 at 161.07 tons. Based on the average production of skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis), PPN contributes 21.14% to the supply of fish food in Ambon City.

Purpose This study aims to investigate the transformative potential of blockchain technology in enhancing financial cost accounting and profit coordination in food sourcing and supply chain systems by addressing key challenges such as data credibility, integrity and information asymmetry. Design/methodology/approach The research develops a blockchain-based cost accounting framework specifically tailored for the food supply chain. It introduces a dual-contract coordination mechanism that combines joint revenue-sharing and cost apportionment. A detailed case study involving Z Food Company is conducted to empirically test and validate the proposed model. Findings The analysis reveals a blockchain application cost threshold of 8.17 million yuan, below which overall system profitability reaches 14.16 million yuan. This represents a 33.6% profit increase compared to traditional decentralized decision-making approaches. The proposed mechanism employs an income-sharing coefficient (e) and a cost-apportionment coefficient (s), facilitating synchronized profit optimization for producers and retailers and achieving Pareto efficiency. Originality/value This paper contributes to the literature by providing a novel, blockchain-based methodological approach to financial cost accounting and supply chain profit coordination. It offers significant managerial insights into how blockchain can effectively mitigate persistent issues in traditional food supply chains, thus enhancing overall operational efficiency and transparency.

Der Rotmilan (Milvus milvus) im Unteren Eichsfeld.

Over the past decades, both the quantity and quality of food supply for millions of people have improved substantially in the course of economic growth across the developing world. However, the number of undernourished people has resumed growth in the 2010s amid food supply disruptions, economic slowdowns, and protectionist restrictions to agricultural trade. Having been common to most nations, these challenges to the food security status of the population still vary depending on the level of economic development and national income of individual countries. In order to explore the long-run determinants of food supply transformations, this study employs five-stage multiple regression analysis to identify the strengths and directions of effects of agricultural production parameters, income level, price indices, food trade, and currency exchange on supply of calories, proteins, and fats across 11 groups of agricultural products in 1980–2018. To address the diversity of effects across developing nations, the study includes 99 countries of Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa categorized as low-income, lower-middle-income, and upper-middle-income economies. It is found that in low-income countries, food supply parameters are more strongly affected by production factors compared to economic and trade variables. The effect of economic factors on the food supply of higher-value food products, such as meat and dairy products, fruit, and vegetables, increases with the rise in the level of income, but it stays marginal for staples in all three groups of countries. The influence of trade factors on food supply is stronger compared to production and economic parameters in import-dependent economies irrelevant of the gross national income per capita. The approach presented in this paper contributes to the research on how food supply patterns and their determinants evolve in the course of economic transformations in low-income countries.

The pattern of social spacing in small mammals differs from that observed in many other vertebrates. Small mammals frequently have non-exclusive territories and tolerate a large amount of overlap with other conspecifics. The determinant factors of home range or territory size in small mammals are not known for most species. We carried out a study of the determinant factors of home range size in a model small mammal, the eastern chipmunk, Tamias striatus. The population was studied for five years. The effect of experimental perturbations on food supply and population density offered strong evidence that the mean home range size in the population was determined by resource abundance. Changes in population density had little or no measurable effect. We noted that even when mean home range size decreased significantly in response to an increase in available food, a great deal of variability in individual home range sizes remained. We hypothesized that this pattern of variation among individuals was also resource related; large home ranges would be located in areas of low resource density and small home ranges would be located in areas of high resource density. Our data to date do not offer support for this hypothesis; however our research has shown that the data needed to convincingly reject the null hypothesis are very complex. We discuss the evidence required to study patterns of individual variation, and how models of optimal territory size may be useful. Research that examines patterns of individual variation are few in number, yet studies of individual variation will ultimately provide the best insights on the dynamics of evolutionary ecology.

Food supply in the nesting territories of species has a key role to the species diet composition and their breeding success. Red-footed falcon (Falco vespertinus) preys predominantly on larger insect species with a supplementary portion of smaller vertebrates. In the breeding periods 2014 and 2016 their food supply, focusing on Orthoptera, Mantodea, Rodentia and Eulipotyphla, was analysed at five historical nesting sites of the species in Slovakia. Preference for these prey groups in the diet was also studied at the last active nesting site in this country. Overall we recorded 45 Orthoptera species (of which 23 species are known as the food of the red-footed falcon), one species of Mantodea, 10 species of Rodentia (of which 2 species are known as the food of the red-footed falcon) and 5 species of the Eulipotyphla order in the food supply. With regard to the availability of the falcons' preferred food, in both years the most suitable was the Tvrdošovce site, which continuously showed the greatest range and abundance of particular species. In the interannual comparison the insects showed lower variability in abundance than the small mammals. In 2014 the growth of the common vole (Microtus arvalis) population culminated and with the exception of a single site (Bodza) a slump in abundance was recorded in 2016. In comparing the diet composition with the food supply at the last Slovak breeding site Rusovce (Special Protection Area Sysľovské polia), we recorded significant preference for grasshopper Caliptamus italicus (in 2014), common vole (in 2016) and cricket Tettigonia viridissima (in both years) in the falcons' diet. They did not prey on the Apodemus sylvaticus species belonging among the abundant small mammal species in that locality. Conservation measures in the agricultural landscape are discussed in relation to homogeneous red-footed falcon breeding territories.

Palm oil is the most consumed vegetable oil in the world, followed by soybean oil. The environmental, social, and economic impacts of vegetable oils have always been a matter of much debate despite their importance in food security and use in a wide array of products. Regardless of the criticism, vegetable oils play a central role in global trade, economic stability, food security, employment, and livelihoods of smallholder farmers globally. Recent disruptions in the worldwide supply caused by weather issues, armed conflict, supply chain disruptions, and labour shortages, which resulted in shortages and higher prices of vegetable oils, have reemphasized their importance. This paper attempts to quantify the contribution of the two most consumed vegetable oils to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) using 12 selected indicators. These selected indicators cover the three pillars of sustainable development, i.e., economic, environmental, and social. These are namely – Protein supply, saturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, land use, GHG emissions, contribution to GDP, jobs creation, productivity, water footprint, use of pesticides, fertilizers and food supply. These indicators are associated with 9 SDG goals. The study aims to analyze the complex web of interactions and effects of two primary vegetable oil crops on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It highlights significant data deficiencies related to their impacts on specific SDGs, notably 13 and 15 (Climate Action & Life on Land), indicating that both the environmental and social consequences of the vegetable oils sector are still inadequately comprehended.

Aquatic foods (includes farmed or wild-caught fish, molluscs, crustaceans, miscellaneous aquatic invertebrates, and aquatic plants or seaweeds) represent a valuable source of essential dietary nutrients for the world population. Although at the global level, aquatic animal food products supplied over 3.4 billion people with over 20% of their total animal protein food supply in 2022, this was not the case for all regions. The composition of aquatic species consumed also varied between geographic regions. In the African region, aquatic animal foods were dominated by fish species (primarily captured pelagic and marine fish), whereas in the Asian region, aquatic animal foods were dominated by cultured freshwater fish species. In general, these differences generally reflect the seasonal availability and cost of aquatic foods, the level of consumer income, culinary traditions and preferences, and the existence of an organized productive sector; fish products generally being the cheapest source of animal protein and food available in most Asian and many African countries.

Human nutrition is a key component of the definitions of both sustainable food systems and sustainable healthy diets, and features prominently in the Sustainable Development Goals. However, progress towards complete nutrition and food security for the entire global population is poor, and the burden of malnutrition and food insecurity is felt in countries of all income levels, including in Oceania. While countries like Australia and New Zealand (NZ) are widely perceived as sources of high-quality food exported overseas due to great surpluses above national requirement, this hides domestic issues. The international nutrition community recognises and are demanding that our food systems must be sustainable, which is not yet the case anywhere in Oceania. Food insecurity at the household level is not uncommon, nor are nutrient deficiencies. It is often presumed that, should the inequitable distribution of food be balanced, these challenges would disappear. However, food supply and trade data show that even at the national and regional levels, insufficient food and nutrient supplies to meet population requirements are the established norm. For example, it has been demonstrated that domestic vegetable production falls short of NZ dietary recommendations, with imports making a negligible difference other than via energy dense crops(1). Likewise, after consideration of trade, NZ has undersupplies of calcium, potassium, vitamins C and E, and dietary fibre compared to population requirements(2). A wealth of data exists quantifying food production, trade, and availability and various scales. Increasingly, researchers are matching these to human requirements, whether at the food or nutrient level, to identify gaps(3). Insights generated from these data-driven approaches are being directed at trade policy, enabling decisions that can realise aspirational goals to reduce food insecurity through international trade. Making this data accessible to all via interactive user interfaces promotes wider engagement, understanding, and dissemination of findings. It also allows stakeholders in various countries to identify their own vulnerabilities, both as a result of current undersupplies, and due to high reliance on trading partners for food and nutrition security. Trade data can also be connected to environmental measures to identify scenarios where trade can be leveraged to the benefit of both nutrition and broader sustainability goals(4). High level, data driven approaches are not a substitute for individual-based studies on nutrition, but are a useful complement to them. With regionally or nationally deficient food and nutrient supplies, complete nutrition for individuals cannot be attained. A holistic, system-wide understanding is necessary for any policy decisions to advance nutrition.