Food-related Tasks Research Articles

Cognitive load reduces the reinforcement of ventral striatum by anterior insula in taste processing: An fMRI study on self-control.

Recent studies have shown that cognitive overload disrupted the affective processing of taste attributes in food-related tasks, which is difficult to explain using dual-system theories with their reflective and impulsive systems (involved in the cognitive and affective processing of stimuli, respectively). The tripartite neurocognitive model proposes an additional interoceptive system that regulates the activities of reflective and impulsive systems. Using this framework, we studied self-control over food choices and hypothesized inferior processing of both affective (taste) and cognitive (health) components of choice-relevant attributes under increased cognitive load. We expected increased cognitive load to decrease the coupling between interoceptive and impulsive systems (represented by anterior insula (AI) and ventral striatum (VS), respectively), and to strengthen decoupling between interoceptive and reflective system (represented by dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC)). In an fMRI scanner, 49 participants made 60 food choices requiring self-control (i.e., between a healthier and tastier item) twice: in high (HL) and low working memory load (LL) conditions. We found that functional connectivity between the right AI and VS was weaker in HL compared to LL condition. We also revealed an expected trend towards a stronger negative connectivity between the right AI and DLPFC in HL compared to LL condition. Our findings suggest that cognitively demanding task concurrent to food self-control task overloads AI and reduces the reinforcement of VS by AI. This helps in explaining how and why the affective processing of taste attributes, together with the cognitive processing of health attributes, may be disrupted under cognitive overload.

Food purchasing and preparation patterns by gender during the COVID-19 lockdown in Chilean workers/Patrones de compra y preparación de alimentos según género durante la cuarentena por COVID-19 en trabajadores chilenos

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the demands that workers face regarding household food-related tasks, such as grocery shopping and cooking. The literature shows that there are differences in these demands by gender, but also based on other sociodemographic characteristics, such as schooling level. The aim of this study was to compare food purchasing and preparation patterns by gender in Chilean workers, before the COVID-19 lockdown and during the first six weeks of lockdown. The study was cross-sectional, and data was collected for the first wave of a multi-country study in April 2020. The sample was composed of 317 participants who were employed during lockdown (67.8% women, mean age of 38.14). Participants answered sociodemographic questions and reported their food purchasing and preparing practices before and during lockdown. Analysis of comparison of proportions was used. On average, during lockdown, men increased their involvement in grocery shopping while women cooked more. Overall, female workers have turned to food-related tasks more often during the pandemic than male workers. This study shows the extent to which workers have changed their degree of involvement in food-related tasks, accounting for conditions such as gender roles, schooling level and working from home. These findings can inform interventions and policies that reinforce advantageous changes brought on by lockdown measures (e.g., home-cooking) to contribute to workers’ and their families’ food-related well-being during and in the aftermath of the pandemic.

Paediatric obesity and metabolic syndrome associations with cognition and the brain in youth: Current evidence and future directions.

Obesity and components of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) are associated with differences in brain structure and function and in general and food-related cognition in adults. Here, we review evidence for similar phenomena in children and adolescents, with a focus on the implications of extant research for possible underlying mechanisms and potential interventions for obesity and MetS in youth. Current evidence is limited by a relative reliance on small cross-sectional studies. However, we find that youth with obesity and MetS or MetS components show differences in brain structure, including alterations in grey matter volume and cortical thickness across brain regions subserving reward, cognitive control and other functions, as well as in white matter integrity and volume. Children with obesity and MetS components also show some evidence for hyperresponsivity of food reward regions and hyporesponsivity of cognitive control circuits during food-related tasks, altered brain responses to food tastes, and altered resting-state connectivity including between cognitive control and reward processing networks. Potential mechanisms for these findings include neuroinflammation, impaired vascular reactivity, and effects of diet and obesity on myelination and dopamine function. Future observational research using longitudinal measures, improved sampling strategies and study designs, and rigorous statistical methods, promises to further illuminate dynamic relationships and causal mechanisms. Intervention studies targeted at modifiable biological and behavioural factors associated with paediatric obesity and MetS can further inform mechanisms, as well as test whether brain and behaviour can be altered for beneficial outcomes.

Exploring Young Women’s Perceptions of Their Food Skills

Many young adults mistakenly perceive that they have good food safety knowledge and are unlikely to experience foodborne illness. Young women’s food skills are of partic- ular importance because women are responsible for most food-related tasks in the home and many children learn food skills from their mothers. This descriptive qualitative study explored young women’s perceptions of food skills in three domains: food selection and planning, food prepara- tion, and food safety and storage. Through individual inter- views, 30 young women aged 17 to 30 years answered the following three key research questions: (i) What do food skills mean to you? (ii) How did you learn them? and (iii) In what areas are you most and least confident? Few participants mentioned food safety in their top-of- mind definition of food skills. More than half were least confident in the domain of food safety and storage. Fear prompted avoidance of cooking meat – even by those who were not vegan or vegetarian. Food skill interventions or curricula should emphasize food safety and storage so that young adults can reap the dietary and financial benefits of preparing all types of food. Consistent with others’ recom- mendations, the two most important food safety topics for educating young adults should be (i) cross-contamination and sanitation procedures and (ii) safe times and tempera- tures for cooking or storing food.

How and why a touchscreen interface impacts psychological ownership and its downstream consequences

Touchscreen interfaces (e.g., smartphones and tablets) provide marketers with an excellent opportunity to reach more consumers. This research investigated how and why the interface mode (touchscreen vs. non-touchscreen) impacts psychological ownership and its downstream consequences in the food domain. In a series of three experiments, participants were asked to complete food-related tasks through either a touchscreen (e.g., smartphone) or a non-touchscreen (e.g., personal computer) interface. The results show that touchscreen (vs. non-touchscreen) interfaces induce higher psychological ownership. Two experiments demonstrated the mediating role of mental imagery using the measurement-of-mediation (experiment 1) and experimental-causal-chain design (experiment 2), respectively. The results also show that touchscreens (vs. non-touchscreens) result in positive product evaluations (i.e., willingness to pay and purchase intentions), and these effects are mediated through mental imagery and psychological ownership (experiment 3). Additionally, the results show that the effect of interface mode on mental imagery and the corresponding mediation effects are more likely to occur among unrestrained (vs. restrained) eaters (experiments 1&3). The results of an exploratory study found that consumers think these effects are undesirable and that they would benefit from avoiding these effects.

“Neurotic people tend to eat less when disinhibited”: The mediating role of food-related cognitive flexibility in restrained eaters

ObjectivesThis study aims to reveal the individual differences in Neuroticism and cognitive flexibility among successful restrained eaters (SREs), unsuccessful restrained eaters (UREs), and non-restrained eaters (NREs). Moreover, this study is dedicated to investigating whether certain personality traits and cognitive flexibility could concurrently influence disinhibited eating behaviors among restrained eaters and reveal the pathways through which they interact. MethodsFemale participants aged 17 and 24 years (NREs = 23; SREs = 24; UREs = 23) were assessed with body mass index (BMI) and appetite state measurement, the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ), the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI), and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule. To measure behavioral and neural responses related to cognitive flexibility, participants were required to complete a food-related switching task, and their brain activities were recorded through the technique of electroencephalography (EEG). Here we analyzed two widely investigated components—the N2 and P3 components that separately relate to conflict monitoring and response inhibition. ResultsThe behavioral performance of food-related task switching did not show significant between-group differences. However, in comparison to NREs and SREs, UREs elicited larger N2 and lower P3 amplitudes during task switching. In addition, UREs exhibited a lower level of Neuroticism than SREs and NREs. Furthermore, food-related task switching induced N2 amplitude fully mediated the association between Neuroticism and disinhibited eating behavior in restrained eaters controlled for BMI and negative affect. Importantly, when a parallel mediation model with N2 and P3 was built concurrently, N2 was still able to fully mediate the association. ConclusionAccording to behavioral and neural evidence, increased N2 amplitude induced by food-related task switching totally mediated the negative association between Neuroticism and disinhibited eating in restrained eaters.

Development and Evaluation of a Virtual Reality Puzzle Game to Decrease Food Intake: Randomized Controlled Trial.

BackgroundVirtual reality (VR) has gained popularity in daily life, and VR food cues seem to elicit food cravings, similar to real food cues. However, little is known about the impact of VR food cues on actual food intake.ObjectiveIn real life (RL), exposure to food cues in a situation in which the desire to eat food interferes with the completion of a food-related task reduces the subsequent food intake (ie, the pre-exposure effect). In this study, we examine, on the one hand, whether the pre-exposure effect could be replicated in RL and, on the other hand, whether this effect could be extended to VR contexts.MethodsThe study used a 2 (stimulus type: food vs nonfood) × 2 (mode: VR vs RL) between-subject design (n=175). Participants were randomly assigned to 1 of the 4 conditions.ResultsWe found the main effect of mode on food intake, with a higher food intake after both VR conditions than after RL conditions (P=.02). In addition, among female participants, we found that exposure to both food cues (ie, VR and RL) resulted in lower food intake than exposure to both nonfood cues (P=.05). In contrast, this effect was not observed among male participants (P=.34). Additionally, VR and RL cues generated similar emotional and behavioral responses (eg, arousal and game difficulty).ConclusionsWe were unable to replicate the exposure effect in our complete sample. Subgroup analyses, however, showed that for women, exposure to food cues (either in VR or in RL) reduces food intake, indicating that a VR pre-exposure procedure may effectively be applied exclusively for women.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT05169996; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05169996

Worker task organization in incipient bumble bee nests

Bumble bees (Bombus: Apidae) are a long-standing model system for understanding animal behaviour, ecology and evolution. However, how workers in this system are organized to perform fundamental tasks related to brood feeding and food collection remains unclear. Bumble bees undergo dramatically different life stages, across which the social environment, and therefore task organization, changes over time. Queens initiate nests solitarily, and when the first cohort of workers emerge, they help the queen carry out brood-feeding and food collection tasks, whereas the queen transitions to primarily egg laying. Although task organization has been studied in mature colonies, few studies to date have explored how these tasks are organized in young, incipient nests. Here, we explored how food-related tasks, including brood feeding and food collection, are organized by workers in incipient colonies. We found that food-related tasks were nested, in that the majority of workers fed brood, a subset also collected nectar and a smaller subset also collected pollen. These patterns suggest that brood feeding is a task shared by most workers, and that the distinction between pollen collecting versus nonpollen collecting might be the most important axis of division of labour in bumble bee nests, at least at the early nesting stage.

Calorie deprivation impairs the self-control of eating, but not of other behaviors

Objective Sustained weight loss is difficult to achieve, and weight regain is common due to biological and psychological changes caused by calorie deprivation. These changes are thought to undermine weight loss efforts by making self-control more difficult. However, there is a lack of evidence showing a causal relationship between calorie deprivation and behavioral self-control. Design In this longitudinal field experiment, we tested whether a ten-day period of calorie deprivation leads to the impairment of behavioral self-control. Participants were randomly assigned to either restrict their calorie intake or to continue eating normally for the study period. Main Outcome Measures Participants were given a box of food and non-food ‘treats’ (i.e., chocolates and lottery tickets) that they were asked to resist until the end of the study. On the last day, researchers recorded the number of treats that remained for each participant. Results Nonparametric permutation tests revealed that calorie-deprived participants ate significantly more chocolates than control participants did (p = 0.036), but that participants did not differ in the number of lottery tickets ‘scratched’ by condition (p = 0.332). Conclusion This pattern of findings suggests that calorie deprivation impairs food-related self-control, but that this self-control deficit may not generalize beyond food-related tasks.

Food preference and nutrient composition in captive bonobos (Pan paniscus).

Food preference has been studied in a range of Hominoidea in the wild and in captivity, allowing for interspecific comparisons. Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) prefer low-fibre, high-sugar foods, suggesting that frugivory and their dietary overlap are a result of their shared preference for the same nutrients. Comparable tests of the nutritional preference of bonobos do not exist. In this study we examined food preferences of five captive bonobos for 23 familiar and ten novel food items. We performed paired-choice food tests, resulting in a clear rank order in food preference, with minor individual differences. Fruits were more preferred than vegetables. We correlated nutritional composition of the food items with the bonobos' preference. We found that preferences for familiar food items were positively correlated with total energy and carbohydrate content and negatively correlated with water and micronutrient (sodium, calcium, phosphorus, iron, zinc, manganese, selenium) content. Food preference for the novel food items also showed a significant positive correlation with total energy and carbohydrate content. Our study supports the idea that food preference among bonobos follows the pattern of the other great apes and that the shared frugivorous diets may be the result of a common preference for the same nutrients. In the wild, these preferences may be less clear due to the interference of preferred nutrients with secondary compounds. Combining food preference data and nutritional information can help in providing a healthy diet with a balanced nutrient composition in captivity. Individual food preferences can help in optimizing food choice for positive reinforcement training and food-related tasks in future research.

Novelty and Novel Objects Increase c-Fos Immunoreactivity in Mossy Cells in the Mouse Dentate Gyrus.

The dentate gyrus (DG) and its primary cell type, the granule cell (GC), are thought to be critical to many cognitive functions. A major neuronal subtype of the DG is the hilar mossy cell (MC). MCs have been considered to play an important role in cognition, but in vivo studies to understand the activity of MCs during cognitive tasks are challenging because the experiments usually involve trauma to the overlying hippocampus or DG, which kills hilar neurons. In addition, restraint typically occurs, and MC activity is reduced by brief restraint stress. Social isolation often occurs and is potentially confounding. Therefore, we used c-fos protein expression to understand when MCs are active in vivo in socially housed adult C57BL/6 mice in their home cage. We focused on c-fos protein expression after animals explored novel objects, based on previous work which showed that MCs express c-fos protein readily in response to a novel housing location. Also, MCs are required for the training component of the novel object location task and novelty-encoding during a food-related task. GluR2/3 was used as a marker of MCs. The results showed that MC c-fos protein is greatly increased after exposure to novel objects, especially in ventral DG. We also found that novel objects produced higher c-fos levels than familiar objects. Interestingly, a small subset of neurons that did not express GluR2/3 also increased c-fos protein after novel object exposure. In contrast, GCs appeared relatively insensitive. The results support a growing appreciation of the role of the DG in novelty detection and novel object recognition, where hilar neurons and especially MCs are very sensitive.

Regularized uncertainty-based multi-task learning model for food analysis

Food plays an important role in several aspects of our daily life. Several computer vision approaches have been proposed for tackling food analysis problems, but very little effort has been done in developing methodologies that could take profit of the existent correlation between tasks. In this paper, we propose a new multi-task model that is able to simultaneously predict different food-related tasks, e.g. dish, cuisine and food categories. Here, we extend the homoscedastic uncertainty modeling to allow single-label and multi-label classification and propose a regularization term, which jointly weighs the tasks as well as their correlations. Furthermore, we propose a new Multi-Attribute Food dataset and a new metric, Multi-Task Accuracy. We prove that using both our uncertainty-based loss and the class regularization term, we are able to improve the coherence of outputs between different tasks. Moreover, we outperform the use of task-specific models on classical measures like accuracy or F1.

A qualitative study of the drivers of socioeconomic inequalities in men\u2019s eating behaviours

BackgroundMen of low socioeconomic position (SEP) are less likely than those of higher SEP to consume fruits and vegetables, and more likely to eat processed discretionary foods. Education level is a widely used marker of SEP. Few studies have explored determinants of socioeconomic inequalities in men’s eating behaviours. The present study aimed to explore intrapersonal, social and environmental factors potentially contributing to educational inequalities in men’s eating behaviour.MethodsThirty Australian men aged 18–60 years (15 each with tertiary or non-tertiary education) from two large metropolitan sites (Melbourne, Victoria; and Newcastle, New South Wales) participated in qualitative, semi-structured, one-on-one telephone interviews about their perceptions of influences on their and other men’s eating behaviours. The social ecological model informed interview question development, and data were examined using abductive thematic analysis.ResultsThemes equally salient across tertiary and non-tertiary educated groups included attitudes about masculinity; nutrition knowledge and awareness; ‘moralising’ consumption of certain foods; the influence of children on eating; availability of healthy foods; convenience; and the interplay between cost, convenience, taste and healthfulness when choosing foods. More prominent influences among tertiary educated men included using advanced cooking skills but having relatively infrequent involvement in other food-related tasks; the influence of partner/spouse support on eating; access to healthy food; and cost. More predominant influences among non-tertiary educated men included having fewer cooking skills but frequent involvement in food-related tasks; identifying that ‘no-one’ influenced their diet; having mobile worksites; and adhering to food budgets.ConclusionsThis study identified key similarities and differences in perceived influences on eating behaviours among men with lower and higher education levels. Further research is needed to determine the extent to which such influences explain socioeconomic variations in men’s dietary intakes, and to identify feasible strategies that might support healthy eating among men in different socioeconomic groups.

How Aging Affects Grasping Behavior and Pull Strength in Captive Gray Mouse Lemurs (Microcebus murinus)

Prehension is essential for animal survival and fitness. It is involved in locomotion and feeding behavior and subject to physical and physiological constraints. Studies of prehension in primates have explored the importance of food properties and of the environment, but aging has rarely been studied although prehensile capacity may deteriorate with age in humans. To test the hypothesis that aging affects grasping abilities and to reveal possible behavioral adaptations to this, we quantified behavioral grasping strategies and pull strength in 10 young adult (2–3 yr old) and 10 aged (7–8 yr old) gray mouse lemurs (Microcebus murinus). We assessed grasping strategies in an experimental cage by quantifying grip types used to grasp static and mobile foods. We measured strength using a Kistler triaxial force platform. Our results show that 1) mobile and static foods affected individuals of different ages in similar ways; 2) older individuals used more mouth grasps than young ones; 3) aged individuals made twice as many attempts as young ones when grasping mobile food items but this difference was not significant; and 4) there were no differences in hand grip strength between age classes but young individuals showed a higher foot pull strength compared to old ones. These data suggest that the observed differences in behavior may be due to a decrease in foot grip strength, which in turn influences stability on narrow branches, forcing animals to use their hands to maintain stability and preventing them from using their hands for food-related tasks.

Food skills confidence and household gatekeepers' dietary practices

IntroductionHousehold food gatekeepers have the potential to influence the food attitudes and behaviours of family members, as they are mainly responsible for food-related tasks in the home. The aim of this study was to determine the role of gatekeepers' confidence in food-related skills and nutrition knowledge on food practices in the home. MethodsAn online survey was completed by 1059 Australian dietary gatekeepers selected from the Global Market Insite (GMI) research database. Participants responded to questions about food acquisition and preparation behaviours, the home eating environment, perceptions and attitudes towards food, and demographics. Two-step cluster analysis was used to identify groups based on confidence regarding food skills and nutrition knowledge. Chi-square tests and one-way ANOVAs were used to compare the groups on the dependent variables. ResultsThree groups were identified: low confidence, moderate confidence and high confidence. Gatekeepers in the highest confidence group were significantly more likely to report lower body mass index (BMI), and indicate higher importance of fresh food products, vegetable prominence in meals, product information use, meal planning, perceived behavioural control and overall diet satisfaction. Gatekeepers in the lowest confidence group were significantly more likely to indicate more perceived barriers to healthy eating, report more time constraints and more impulse purchasing practices, and higher convenience ingredient use. Other smaller associations were also found. ConclusionHousehold food gatekeepers with high food skills confidence were more likely to engage in several healthy food practices, while those with low food skills confidence were more likely to engage in unhealthy food practices. Food education strategies aimed at building food-skills and nutrition knowledge will enable current and future gatekeepers to make healthier food decisions for themselves and for their families.

Observed self-regulation is associated with weight in low-income toddlers

Obesity emerges in early childhood and tracks across development. Self-regulation develops rapidly during the toddler years, yet few studies have examined toddlers’ self-regulation in relation to concurrent child weight. Further, few studies compare child responses in food and non-food-related tasks. Our goal was to examine toddlers’ observed behavioral and emotional self-regulation in food and non-food tasks in relation to their body mass index z-score (BMIz) and weight status (overweight/obese vs. not). Observational measures were used to assess self-regulation (SR) in four standardized tasks in 133 low-income children (M age = 33.1 months; SD = 0.6). Behavioral SR was measured by assessing how well the child could delay gratification for a snack (food-related task) and a gift (non-food-related task). Emotional SR was measured by assessing child intensity of negative affect in two tasks designed to elicit frustration: being shown, then denied a cookie (food-related) or a toy (non-food-related). Task order was counterbalanced. BMIz was measured. Bivariate correlations and regression analyses adjusting for child sex, child race/ethnicity, and maternal education were conducted to examine associations of SR with weight. Results were that better behavioral SR in the snack delay task associated with lower BMIz (β = −0.27, p < 0.05) and lower odds of overweight/obesity (OR = 0.66, 95% CI 0.45, 0.96), but behavioral SR in the gift task did not associate with BMIz or weight status. Better emotional SR in the non-food task associated with lower BMIz (β = −0.27, p < 0.05), and better emotional SR in food and non-food tasks associated with lower odds of overweight/obesity (OR = 0.65, 95% CI 0.45, 0.96 and OR = 0.56, 95% CI 0.37, 0.87, respectively). Results are discussed regarding how behavioral SR for food and overall emotional SR relate to weight during toddlerhood, and regarding early childhood obesity prevention implications.

Toward a new computer-based and easy-to-use tool for the objective measurement of motivational states in humans: a pilot study

The experimental methods currently used for assessing motivational processes in humans have two major limitations. Some of them rely on global subjective assessments while others evaluate these processes using food-related tasks often coupled with functional neuroimaging techniques that have however limited availability and important associated costs. Here we propose a novel experimental computer-generated and easy-to-use tool primarily based on the presentation of food images and designed to provide a quantitative and objective measurement of motivational states in humans. Two tasks evaluating respectively visual and time discrimination capacities were developed and tested on a sample of 30 healthy subjects. The subjects were asked to compare a food stimulus (food picture in color) and its devalued counterpart (same image in grayscale), at each trial, assessing either the size (task A) or the duration of presentation (task B). Geometric figures presented in color or grayscale were used as controls. The subjects were invited to perform tasks A and B during three separate experimental sessions, one under fasting and two under satiety. Relative to their devalued counterparts, the food images were judged significantly greater in size and shorter in time of presentation in fasting than in satiety. In fasting, the size and the time of presentation for the food images were respectively estimated significantly greater and shorter than for the control images when compared to their respective devalued counterparts. Conversely, there was no overall change in the perception of size or duration of presentation for the control images between fasting and satiety conditions. Our findings support that hunger specifically affects the perception of visual food stimuli, and suggest that this novel computer-based test is potentially useful for the study of motivational states in human diseases that are characterized by serious disturbances in reward processing.

A Call for Culinary Skills Education in Childhood Obesity-Prevention Interventions: Current Status and Peer Influences

D URING THE PAST DECADE, THERE HAS BEEN AN interest in resurrecting formal culinary skills education for youths (ie, school-aged children). These pursuits have been provoked by what policy makers, scientists, and food and nutrition practitioners suggest is a societal decline in culinary skills. Some stakeholders believe that this “de-skilling” represents a transition caused by sociodemographic shifts, such as nontraditional family structures, women in the workforce, and time constraints. Current consumers have new value equations for making food decisions. Although health, taste, cost, and convenience predict food choices, cost and convenience are weighted with more value than ever before. Cooking from scratch is no longer the norm in consumers’ kitchens. Dramatic changes in domestic cooking practices have led to decreased transference of essential cooking skills from parents to youths. Family cooking has become a means to an end, rather than a process for social connectedness, cultural expression, and life enhancement. As youths gain autonomy in their transition to young adulthood, they often lack the skills necessary to complete basic food-related tasks. Some believe that an emerging inability to prepare meals at home is predictive of poor dietary habits, contributing to childhood obesity. This commentary serves as an update on the call to incorporate culinary skills education in childhood obesityprevention interventions. Food, nutrition, and dietetics practitioners should evaluate investments in culinary skills education approaches. This commentary addresses the question of why culinary skills education is important within the childhood obesity epidemic context, how effective culinary skills education interventions have been at modifying obesity-related risk behaviors, and how to design more effective culinary skills education programs in the future by drawing upon peer influences.

Maine’s Food-Related Workforce: Characteristics and Challenges

As described in this article, people who produce, process, transport, sell, prepare, and serve food are a key part not only of the food system but the economy overall. In Maine, by a conservative estimate they are almost 17 percent of the total workforce and range from farmers and fishermen to truckers, cooks, waitstaff, and cashiers. Some work in food-related enterprises, while others perform food-related tasks in other kinds of organizations, such as schools or hospitals. Although the food-related workforce is diverse, the author points out that the majority of workers and entrepreneurs are poorly paid; many work only part-time; few have health insurance or other benefits; and many work under hazardous conditions. Sidebars in the article discuss sub-groups of this workforce: refugee agriculture (Amy Carrington), migrant workers (Juan Perez-Febles), and the increase in young farmers in Maine (Elizabeth Banwell).

Quality before quantity: Rapid learning of reverse-reward contingency by capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella).

Capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) were tested on a reverse-reward task involving different quantities of the same food, or an identical quantity of different foods. All monkeys tested first on the qualitative version spontaneously mastered the task, whereas only one of four spontaneously mastered the quantitative version. No monkey reached criterion when the tasks were switched, although almost all did so following remedial procedures after the study. The results suggest that (a) qualitative reverse-reward is easier than quantitative versions of the problem, (b) quality and quantity dimensions are processed differently in food-related tasks, and (c) capuchin monkeys can show rapid and spontaneous learning of reverse-reward contingencies.