Food Requests Research Articles

Utilising User Data from a Food-Sharing App to Evidence the "Heat-or-Eat" Dilemma

Introduction & BackgroundPrevious literature has found that financially vulnerable households often make involuntary spending trade-offs between necessities, particularly energy and food. This effect is especially pronounced during winter, when homes require greater energy expenditure to maintain an adequate temperature. Despite frequent colloquial and journalistic references to the "heat-or-eat dilemma”, there remains limited recent empirical evidence of this phenomenon in the UK. This is a considerable knowledge gap, given recent economic hardship and rising energy costs. Objectives & ApproachThis study uses survey data (n=2877), collected during winter 2022 in London, UK, to analyse the sociodemographic and behavioural characteristics of respondents affecting self-reported heat-or-eat trade-offs. The survey was deployed via users of the food-sharing app, OLIO, and quota restraints were enforced to ensure the socioeconomic representativeness of the sample (based on Index of Multiple Deprivation). The survey question of interest (i.e., the dependent variable) was ""in the past year, how frequently did your household reduce or forego expenses for basic household necessities, such as medicine or food, in order to pay an energy bill?"" and responses were recorded using a discrete, ordinal scale: never; 1-2 months; some months but not every month; almost every month. Given the nature of the dependent variable, the Random Parameters Ordered Probit (RPOP) model, a statistical modelling framework used in the case of discrete, ordered outcomes, was considered suitable. The RPOP approach allows the effect of various independent variables to be explored, which in this case, are sociodemographic and behavioural characteristics of respondents. Relevance to Digital FootprintsThe relevance to the digital footprints theme is embedded in the study’s aim: to draw insights into social issues through the analysis of sociodemographic and behavioural data retrieved from the users of a mobile app. ResultsInitial results show that a considerable proportion (~37%) of the sample made heat-or-eat trade-offs at least one month of the year. Interestingly, this is several times higher than the official rate of fuel poverty in London (11.9%), suggesting that the government’s fuel poverty metric fails to capture many homes that display signs of energy unaffordability. The RPOP model estimation results show that a broad range of sociodemographic variables (including features of household composition and disability), as well as several behavioural features derived from the respondents’ use of the OLIO app, including the frequency of app usage and food requests, significantly affected the likelihood of heat-or-eat trade-offs. Conclusions & ImplicationsOur results can be used to guide remedial food and fuel poverty policies. It may be particularly useful to focus on the sociodemographic variables that lead to heat-or-eat trade-offs, given that the English fuel poverty metric places arguably unjust focus on a home’s energy efficiency, rather than occupant characteristics.

A Multidimensional Analysis of Food Security, Health and Ecological Situation

Demand for food is progressively becoming challenging for ever increasing population worldwide. Majority of the discussion have focused on growing crop yield which has continuously sustained a vital approach to lessen food insecurity. Nevertheless, in spite of the fact that adequate food is presently produced per capita to nourish the population worldwide but yet a reasonable population suffers from food insecurity especially in under-developed republics. Fulfillment of upcoming food request will be more intricate by harmful variations in climate and other ecological influences, global climate change. This current paper presents true picture of a food systems method to investigate the multifaceted food security arena and highlights numerous substitutes to cop up this situation. These encompass (i) giving a outline for organizing discussions intended at increasing food security and recognizing the variety of interested parties who should be intricate; (ii) participating studies of the complete network of food system doings starting from crop harvesting to consumption of the produced food by those of the food security results i.e. continuous supply chain over yearly, consumption and accessibility rather tan merely focusing on crop production (iii) serving to both evaluate the effects of global ecological conservation on food systems and find responses to the earth system from food system activities; (iv) helping to identify intervention points for enhancing food security and examining interactions and trade-offs between bionetwork facilities and food security, and community welfare results of diverse adaptation paths; and motivation of health-care institution for augmentation of human health services (v) pinpointing where innovative study is desired.

Business Plan

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to present a complete business plan for the launch of" Saman Al Dar," a special product leveled at offering customers an authentic taste of Emirati cuisine. The plan encompasses numerous aspects, involving team structure, legit compliance, marketing strategies, fiscal protrusions, and ethical considerations.
 Methodology: The methodology involved in casting this business plan comprehended thorough request exploration to understand consumer preferences and request trends in the UAE food assiduity. The plan also incorporates rudiments of request blend proposition, Porter's competitive strategies, and SWOT analysis to develop a robust program for success. Also, a detailed analysis of cost, profit aqueducts, and return generation was conducted to insure fiscal viability.
 Findings: The finding of this study disclose a clear roadmap for founding Saman Al Dar successfully. Fiscal protrusions indicate encouraging profit generation implicit, especially with operative marketing and division strategies in position. Key findings carry the identification of target customer seeking authentic Emirati flavors, the significance of strategic marketing across different channels involving social media, and the significance of legit compliance and ethical practices in the food assiduity.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: This business plan contributes to proposition, practice, and procedure in several ways. The operation of request blend proposition, Porter's competitive strategies, and SWOT Analysis demonstrates their applicability and connection in the environment of entrepreneurial gambles in the food assiduity. Scholars of entrepreneurship can work these rulings to enrich their understanding of business planning and program perpetration. Likewise, policymakers can exercise the rulings to inform the evolution of a legit environment that fosters entrepreneurship, especially in the hospitality region, by ensuring regulatory frameworks that support invention and compliance while securing consumer interests. Also, entrepreneurs can profit from the perceptivity provided in this study, as the ideas and strategies offered are directly workable to their own business trials. In conclusion, this business plan for Saman Al Dar represents a holistic path to founding a special product in the UAE food request. By incorporating rigid exploration, strategic planning, and ethical considerations, it lays the foundation for a prosperous entrepreneurial adventure that not only delivers value to customers but also contributes to the wider academic and policy discourse surrounding entrepreneurship in the hospitality region.

Use of a toll-free call center for COVID-19 response and continuity of essential services during the lockdown, Greater Kampala, Uganda, 2020: a descriptive study.

on March 21, 2020, the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Uganda. A total lockdown was initiated on March 30 which was gradually lifted May 5-June 30. On March 25, a toll-free call center was organized at the Kampala Capital City Authority to respond to public concerns about COVID-19 and the lockdown. We documented the set-up and use of the call center and analyzed key concerns raised by the public. two hotlines were established and disseminated through media platforms in Greater Kampala. The call center was open 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. We abstracted data on incoming calls from March 25 to June 30, 2020. We summarized call data into categories and conducted descriptive analyses of public concerns raised during the lockdown. among 10,167 calls, two-thirds (6,578; 64.7%) involved access to health services, 1,565 (15.4%) were about social services, and 1,375 (13.5%) involved COVID-19-related issues. Approximately one-third (2,152; 32.7%) of calls about access to health services were requests for ambulances for patients with non-COVID-19-related emergencies. About three-quarters of calls about social services were requests for food and relief items (1,184; 75.7%). Half of the calls about COVID-19 (730; 53.1%) sought disease-related information. the toll-free call center was used by the public during the COVID-19 lockdown in Kampala. Callers were more concerned about access to essential health services, non-related to COVID-19 disease. It is important to plan for continuity of essential services before a public health emergency-related lockdown.

The food and beverage marketing monitoring framework for Canada: Development, implementation, and gaps

As many countries are considering the restriction of marketing to children for unhealthy foods and beverages to improve population health, systematic monitoring of this marketing to inform and evaluate policies is critical. The objective of this research was to develop and describe the Food and Beverage Marketing Monitoring Framework for Canada, a framework commissioned by Health Canada to help guide their monitoring efforts. Following a literature review and expert consultation, the questions to be answered by the framework, the frequency and scope of monitoring activities, the short-/long- term outcome indicators and the methodologies to be employed were determined. The resulting Framework aims to assess the frequency and power of food marketing in various media and settings and monitor children and adolescents’ exposure to food marketing, food company practices, and changes in children’s attitudes, behaviours, and health. It proposes that monitoring occur annually in six regions across Canada. Considering probable budget constraints and research capacity, television, digital media, schools, convenience stores, packaging and children’s sport/event sponsorship were identified as priority media/settings. Short- and long-term outcomes include: food marketing (e.g., advertising rate, marketing technique use), company-level (e.g., ad expenditures, product reformulation) and behavioral/health indicators (e.g., children’s marketing awareness and recall, food requests and consumption). While significant efforts have been made in monitoring food marketing in Canada via the implementation of the Framework into the Health Canada M2K Monitoring Strategy, gaps remain (e.g., within diverse sociodemographic groups). The Framework can be leveraged to inform policy in Canada and the development process and content of the Framework could be adapted and implemented for global use.

SISTEM PEMBELIAN KREDIT UNTUK FOOD AND BEVERAGE PADA BEST WESTERN PLUS KEMAYORAN HOTEL

A system is a collection or set of elements, components or variables that are organized, interact with each other, are interdependent and integrated. Meanwhile, credit purchases are purchases made by companies by gradually repaying the payment fee. Food and Beverage or commonly abbreviated as F&B is a department in hospitality that focuses on food and beverage services to achieve customer satisfaction. Of course, the materials used in the F&B department must be provided by the purchasing department. This study aims to fulfill a final assignment in a diploma three accounting study program, in addition to knowing the credit purchasing system for food and beverage that exists at the Best Western Plus Kemayoran hotel. By using the observation method, documentation method, and literature study in conducting this research. It can be concluded from the results of this study, that purchase requests for food and beverage are made by the kitchen department, and the purchasing department will make purchases on credit in order to reduce hotel expenses. Due to requests that are almost every day.

A comparison of observed feeding practices of infants and young children aged 6-23 months to national responsive feeding recommendations in Sri Lanka.

To describe the extent to which Sri Lankan caregivers follow current national responsive feeding recommendations and the factors limiting and enabling those behaviours.Study design. This ethnographic substudy was conducted using a four-phase, mixed methods formative research design across rural, estateand urban sectors of Sri Lanka. Data collection methods. Data were collected using direct meal observations and semistructured interviews. Participants including infants and young children aged 6-23 months (n = 72), community leaders (n = 10), caregivers (n = 58) and community members (n = 37) were purposefully sampled to participate in this study. Data analysis. Observational data were summarized using descriptive statistics while textual data were analysed thematically using Dedoose. Findings were then interpreted vis-à-vis six national responsive feeding recommendations. During observed feeding episodes, caregivers were responsive to nearly all food requests (87.2% [34/39]) made by infants and young children. Many caregivers (61.1% [44/72]) also positively encouraged their infant and young child during feeding. Despite some responsive feeding practices being observed, 36.1% (22/61) of caregivers across sectors used forceful feeding practices if their infant or young child refused to eat. Interviews data indicated that force-feeding practices were used because caregivers wanted their infants and young children to maintain adequate weight gain for fear of reprimand from Public Health Midwives. Despite overall high caregiver knowledge of national responsive feeding recommendations in Sri Lanka, direct observations revealed suboptimal responsive feeding practices, suggesting that other factors in the knowledge-behaviour gap may need to be addressed.

Reducing traffic violations in the online food delivery industry-A case study in Xi'an City, China.

Online food delivery (OFD) is one of the top industries in the Online-to-offline (O2O) commerce sector. Deliverymen need to complete a large number of delivery orders in limited default time every day, which cause high working stress to them. Therefore, a high level of traffic violations and crashes by deliverymen and corresponding negative impact on public safety are observed. To reduce traffic violations by deliverymen and resulting crashes, a hierarchical online food delivery framework is proposed, which is based on data from questionnaire surveys conducted in Xi'an City, China. The study includes the analysis of the root cause correlated with traffic violations during online food delivery as part of an empirical study on the priority delivery fee by applying a conditional price sensitivity measurement (PSM) model. The feasibility and rationality of the framework are further investigated by using cross analysis of urban dwellers' occupation, income, and commuting cost. The results identify that, through rationally shunting the demand of online food delivery, prolonging the default delivery duration, and providing diversified delivery services, the proposed hierarchical online food delivery mechanism is able to relieve the stress of deliverymen during peak hours of food requests. This reduces the willingness of deliverymen to engage in traffic violations, and other risky behaviors during food delivery trips. All of which facilitate high-quality and timely online food delivery service while enabling improved safety of deliverymen and others as part of enhanced public safety and health.

Association between Socio-Demographic Factors and Owners' Beliefs and Attitudes to Pet Cats Fundamental Dietary and Physical Exercise Needs, in City of Belfast.

Simple SummaryPet cats need their humans for shelter, food, water, and company while, humans are responsible for providing such standard of care so as to ensure good health and welfare of their animals. This study investigated if owners’ beliefs and perceptions of pet cats’ needs and selected behaviours are associated with socio-demographic factors, in order to assess standards of fundamental care provided to animals. We found that selected socio-demographic factors, e.g., owner’s occupation or gender, are significantly associated with the owner’s beliefs/opinions and practices of care provided to their pet cats, e.g., type and amount of food or exercise provided to pet cats. The results of this study indicate that some owners may not have sufficient knowledge to provide an appropriate level of care to their cats and thus additional training in fundamental care for non-professionals (as opposed to veterinary and animal science professionals) would benefit the animals.A cross-sectional survey questionnaire was developed in-house to investigate pet cat owners’ beliefs and attitudes related to the fundamental care of their pet cats. The questionnaire consisted of questions which were grouped into the following sections: (i) owners’ socio-demographics; (ii) cat(s) body weight and body condition monitoring; (iii) owners’ attitudes to cats’ dietary preferences, needs and satisfaction, (iv) owners’ perceptions of their cats’ physical exercise needs and satisfaction. The sample size of 376 was estimated to be required to represent the population of the given geographical location (Belfast, NI, UK). Hard copies of the questionnaires were distributed in January and February 2019 and in total 402 completed questionnaires were collected; questionnaires which included >20% of missing or incomprehensible responses were excluded from the database, resulting in 398 questionnaires being included in the final database. The study identified a number of socio-demographic factors associated with owners’ beliefs and attitudes that directly affect care provided to pet cats, e.g., the owner’s occupation has been identified as a factor associated with owner perception of certain cats’ behaviours, e.g., a cat brushing against the owner as food requests by their animal (Chi-Square 7.711 (df1), exact p = 0.006). Furthermore, most female respondents, aged 26–67 years and in an occupation not related to animals, reported selecting cat food based on their animal preferences (Chi-Square 10.332 (df1), exact p = 0.003). In contrast, female owners in animal and veterinary occupations were significantly more likely as compared to other respondents (Chi-Square 15.228 (df1), exact p < 0.001), to select cat food based on its perceived health benefit to the cat. Analysis of the respondents’ opinions of cats’ abilities to self-regulate physical activity showed that owners age was the main differentiating determinant, i.e., cat owners over 25 years old were significantly more likely than younger adults to believe that pet cats can regulate their own physical activity to keep healthy (Chi-Square 6.313 (df1), exact p = 0.025). Furthermore, respondents’ opinions of their cat’s ability to self-regulate feed intake were mainly associated with owner’s education level (Chi-Square 6.367 (df1), exact p = 0.036). The study results indicated that the attitude and beliefs behind the fundamental care practices provided to pet cats depends on particular demographic factors, especially owners’ education and occupation.

Why hunt? Why gather? Why share? Hadza assessments of foraging and food-sharing motive

Over the last half century, anthropologists have vigorously debated the adaptive motivations underlying food acquisition choices and food-sharing among hunter-gatherer groups. Numerous explanations have been proposed to account for high-levels of generosity in food-sharing, including self- and family-provisioning, reciprocity, tolerated theft and pro-social- or skill-signaling. However, few studies have asked foragers directly and systematically about the motivations underlying their foraging and sharing decisions. We recruited 110 Hadza participants and employed a combination of free-response, yes/no, ranking and forced-choice questions to do just this. In free-response answers, respondents typically gave outcome-oriented accounts of foraging motive (e.g., to get food) and moralistic accounts of sharing motive (e.g., I have a good heart). In ranking tasks, participants gave precedence to reciprocity as a motive for sharing food beyond the household. We found small but clear gender differences in foraging motive, in line with previous predictions: women were more likely than men to rank family-provisioning highly whereas men were more likely than women to rank skill-signaling highly. However, despite these gender differences, the relative importance of different motivations was similar across genders and skill-signaling, sharing and family-provisioning were the most important motivators of foraging activity for both men and women. Contrary to the expectations of tolerated theft, peer complaints and requests for food ranked very low. There are several compelling reasons that evolutionary thinkers, typically interested in ultimate-level adaptive processes, have traditionally eschewed direct and explicit investigations of motive. However, these data may yet provide important insights.

Plant-Based: A Perspective on Nutritional and Technological Issues. Are We Ready for "Precision Processing"?

The rapid evolution of consumers' preference despite being still rooted in taste is rapidly combining with an exponential growth of environmental awareness. Both are forcing innovation into the food industry sector. Today, it is common in the scientific literature to find awareness of nutrition and sustainability, functionality and freshness, taste, and pollution; the most relevant and recognized trends are evolving with unprecedent speed toward a new paradigm. The perfect storm of fast-growing population, together with an exploding level of environmental pollution, is combining with the request for functional foods with more defined health properties and is strongly pushing the food sector to new defined innovation objectives to keep and develop the economic role of most loved brands around the world. The most debated conundrum is how to provide healthy food for all human beings, without further affecting our Mother Earth. Innovation in food raw materials as well as innovation in food processing seems to be the magic solution to provide twice with half, that is, to double the food production combined with declining resources. One of the fastest growing segments in the food industry is the plant-based segment. The status of the available options in food processing applied to plant-based food will be discussed, with a special focus on novel physical processing technologies and atomic force microscopy as possible complementary weapons in science-based definition of a sustainable nutrition approach. A call for a new paradigm such as “precision processing” should be adopted to drive the evolution of the whole food system.

The impact of COVID-19 on the eating habits of families engaged in a healthy eating pilot trial: a thematic analysis

ABSTRACT Background The eating habits of children and adults have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, with evidence of increases in snacking and emotional eating, including eating to relieve boredom. We explored the experiences of families with children aged 4-8 years who had recently participated in a healthy eating pilot trial when the first national lockdown began in England. Methods Eleven mothers were interviewed in April and May 2020. Interview questions were developed based on the COM-B model of behaviour. Four main themes were constructed using inductive thematic analysis. Results The first theme related to an initial panic phase, in which having enough food was the primary concern. The second related to ongoing challenges during the lockdown, with sub-themes including difficulties accessing food, managing children's food requests and balancing home and work responsibilities. The perception that energy-dense foods met families' needs during this time led to increased purchasing of (and thus exposure to) energy-dense foods. In the third theme, families described a turning point, with a desire to eat a healthier diet than they had in the early stages of the lockdown. Finally, in the fourth theme, families reported a number of strategies for adapting and encouraging a balanced diet with their children. Conclusions Our results suggest that even if parents have the capability (e.g. knowledge) and motivation to provide a healthy diet for their family, opportunity challenges (e.g. time, access to resources, environmental stressors) mean this is not always practical. Healthy eating interventions should not assume parents lack motivation and should be sensitive to the context within which parents make feeding decisions.

EatLOCAL: a platform that connects local farmers, consumers, municipalities and non-governmental organisations

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges to public health and supply chain systems around the globe. Local farmers businesses were impacted by the lockdowns and they still face difficulties in commercializing their production while requests for social, economic and food support pile up at municipalities and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Meanwhile, working from home, constraints to workout, business and social life, are impacting citizens’ work-life balance, eating habits and impacting populations’ physical and mental health globally. EatLOCAL proposes to address this issue by providing a service that is supported in an innovative digital platform that strengthens connections between suppliers, consumers, municipalities and NGOs working on food privation issues. Besides maximizing the opportunities for business to local farmers, this platform also creates a facilitated channel that promotes de access to fresh food by citizens and minimizes the social impact of the pandemic in most vulnerable groups.

Risk characterisation of milk protein contamination in milk-alternative ice cream products sold as frozen desserts in the United States

ABSTRACT Milk protein is recognised as one of the eight most common food allergens in the United States, and one of the most common causes of fatal or near-fatal food-induced anaphylactic reactions globally. Undeclared allergens in food products are the leading cause of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requests for food recalls, with undeclared milk protein as the most frequently cited allergen. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of milk protein contamination in milk-alternative ice cream products sold as frozen dessert in the U.S. and labelled as ‘non-dairy’, ‘dairy-free’, and/or ‘vegan’, and to characterise the potential risk for allergic individuals consuming these products. Thirty-two unique milk-alternative frozen dessert products, including flavours with and without inclusions, from 16 different brands, were tested for the presence of milk proteins using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Milk protein was detected in three of the tested products: two contained solid inclusions, and one did not have inclusions. One of the three products with detectable milk protein had an advisory statement indicating the product was made in a facility that processed milk. Although no consensus exists as to the minimal dose of milk protein necessary to elicit an adverse effect in a milk-sensitised individual, the milk protein quantities in one serving of each of the three products exceeded some of the published thresholds. These results suggest that one serving of certain milk-alternative frozen dessert products could potentially elicit an allergic response in highly sensitive individuals.

Molecular features and cooking behavior of pasta from pulses

AbstractBackground and objectivesPulse pasta is one of the latest responses of the food industry to meet the consumers request for healthy and sustainable foods. Among pulses, red lentils and chickpeas are the preferred raw materials for making 100% pulse pasta. This study aimed at addressing starch and protein features in commercial pulse pasta to provide an insight on how their molecular organization may affect cooking behavior.FindingsDifferences in starch pasting profile and in protein overall organization were found among commercial pasta samples. Considering the same pulse, the best performing pasta showed a protein network characterized by a more compact structure. Regardless of the producer, lentils gave pasta with the best cooking behavior (low cooking loss and high firmness).ConclusionsCooking quality of pulse pasta depends on both the type of pulse (chickpeas or red lentils) and pasta‐making process.Significance and noveltyThis study lays some molecular groundwork as for elucidating the role of individual pulses and of the pasta‐making process in determining the quality of pulse pasta.

Addressing Food Insecurity Among Graduate-Level Health Professional Students

Describe a program aimed at reducing graduate-level health professional student (GHPS) food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Food insecurity is inversely correlated with academic success, time to completion, graduation rates, and wellness. In 2018, 28.5% of graduate level health professional students (GHPS) (n=1,133) at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), reported food insecurity. Barriers to food security included limited availability, high food costs on campus, and lack of time for preparation. A student-initiated Grocery-Box Distribution Program (GBDP) was launched in May 2020 in response to food insecurity during the COVID 19 pandemic and reduced access to on-campus food resources. Initial funding was provided by the Provost and Student Health & Wellness, volunteers were recruited, space was identified in a convenient and safe location, and a university website was used to market and post a weekly-updated food request form. Food was purchased from local farmers and grocery stores and donations were received from the local food bank, food distributers, and OHSU Food and Nutrition Services. Food requests were filled and delivered by student volunteers and information was summarized to evaluate GBDP use. Over 40-weeks, 50 volunteers filled over 1000 orders placed by 299 unique users enrolled in a variety of OHSU programs. Foods offered included grains, canned fruits, vegetables, meat and beans, soups, milk and plant-based dairy alternatives, snacks, beverages, and hygiene products. The GBDP is an innovative initiative to address food insecurity experienced by OHSU students that could be applied to other institutions and modified for different populations.

COVID-19 and Indian Agriculture

Marked as a dark swan occurrence and compared to the monetary scene of World War Two the flare-up of COVID-19 has detrimentally affected worldwide medical care frameworks with a gradually expanding influence on each part of human life. Despite all the measures taking into account proceeding with limitations on developments of individuals and vehicular traffic, concerns have been raised with respect to negative ramifications of COVID-19 pandemic on the farm economy. With an expanding populace, there is a relating ascend in food request in India. A post-COVID circumstance offers that one of a kind chance to repurpose the current food and farming strategies for a more beneficial population. India, being trade surplus on objects like rice, meat, milk objects, tea, plant objects, and so forth might also additionally take benefit of the fortunate breaks via way of means of sending out such objects with a strong agri-trades policy. Development of fare steady framework and coordination would require ventures and backing of the private division that will be in the drawn out interests of ranchers in boosting their income. This is for sure uplifting news in the COVID situation, accepting agribusiness can rehearse to a great extent unscathed. Designing rural arrangements, post-COVID situation, must incorporate these goals for a food frameworks change in India. The end of the lockdown won’t end the issues. The need of great importance is to amplify potential outcomes of agriculture, which has shown its utility and flexibility in attempting times.

Proof-of-Concept (POC) of Restaurant’s food requests in the Lisk Blockchain/sidechain

Request food online is daily present in the life of people, however, it is necessary to send delivery information to different restaurant systems and sometimes these restaurants share customer sensitive information with their partners without the authorization of the customer creating a security risk with customers data. Also, in most cases when a person travels to a different country and wants to request food online, it is necessary to use the local currency, requiring a currency exchange operation. This paper evaluates a proof-of-concept (POC) of the integration of blockchain in the food industry, allowing customers to order food online through a sidechain, an exclusive blockchain with specific custom transaction types for restaurants. The FoodTransaction type is responsible to order food and store cryptographically customer sensitive information that only the customer itself and the requested restaurant can read, hence it respects customer privacy. Furthermore, the blockchain cryptocurrency can be used anywhere in the world. The performance evaluation shows a great advance in throughput when compared to the use of the payment solution on Bitcoin applications. Finally, the results show the possibility to extend the restaurant sidechain business to several restaurants in the world and in different time zones.

P180 Food access challenges and social needs for people with cystic fibrosis

Introduction: The rate of food insecurity (FI) among Americans is 10.5%. A recent U.S. study found 33% of people with cystic fibrosis (PwCF) experience FI. We sought to understand the needs for those seeking assistance with food through Compass and how these needs changed due to COVID-19. CF Foundation Compass is a free, personalised case management service to help with insurance, financial, legal, and other issues PwCF are facing. Methods: We identified Compass calls between January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2020 related to food assistance. We reviewed whether callers had an additional need reported during the call. For 2020 calls, we also determined whether their needs could be met by community resources;2019 referral data was not available. Results: Compass received 174 requests for food assistance. Food requests almost tripled between 2019 (47) and 2020 (127). Of the 174 food requests, 60% of callers had an additional need and 38% had 2 or more additional needs. 75% of the additional needs related to other social factors including utility costs (33%), housing (27%), medical needs (13%), and car issues (5%). In 2020, half of food needs (44%) were not met by community resources. 17% of callers did not follow Compass recommendations. Conclusions: Given the unique caloric needs of PwCF, lack of food is a concern. Food access in the U.S. has been impacted by COVID-19 and community resources are scarce. People facing FI are more likely to have other social needs, such as affordable housing. CF clinicians are uniquely positioned to have sensitive conversations and address these factors to understand the need and improve quality of life for their patients. This can be accomplished by screening for social factors and collecting and evaluating the data. The CF Foundation has enhanced Compass training for responding to food inquiries and put together a Food Security Committee of clinicians and community members focused on research, education, quality improvement, and advocacy.

Grandparents’ perceptions of the barriers and strategies to providing their grandchildren with a healthy diet: A qualitative study

Grandparents are playing an increasingly important role in shaping their grandchildren's nutritional environment. Evidence-based interventions tailored to grandparents thus constitute a potential means of promoting healthy eating among children. For such interventions to be effective, they must account for the unique issues encountered by grandparents. However, research examining the potential needs of grandparents is limited. The present study thus explored (i) grandparents' perceptions of the barriers to providing their grandchildren with healthy food and minimizing consumption of unhealthy food and (ii) the strategies grandparents believe help increase their grandchildren's consumption of healthy food and reduce intake of unhealthy food. Seventy-nine grandparents, each of whom provided care to at least one grandchild aged 3–12 years, participated in one of ten focus groups. Transcripts from each of the groups were imported into NVivo for qualitative coding and semantic thematic analysis. The food preferences of their grandchildren, the promotion of unhealthy food consumption by their grandchildren's parents, advertising of unhealthy food, and peer pressure were the most frequently cited barriers to healthy food consumption. Grandparents reported using multiple strategies to increase their grandchildren's fruit and vegetable consumption and minimize unhealthy food intake. The most common were disguising vegetables, making fruit and vegetables appealing, managing child eating (e.g., limiting access to unhealthy food), saying no to requests for unhealthy food, involving grandchildren in meal planning and cooking, and using rewards. Findings suggest that grandparents may need support with managing food preferences and navigating and negotiating complex relations with parents regarding child feeding.