Food Supply Policy Research Articles

Food environment within the context of the neoliberal food regime: a case study in Curitiba, Brazil

This paper uses the ecological research method to analyze the macroenvironment for food in the city of Curitiba through the lens of a neoliberal food regime in order to understand the organization of fruit and vegetable supply, factors related to social vulnerability, and the nutritional status of the population. We found that the most vulnerable areas of the city had a higher prevalence of overweight adults and little to no access to fruits or vegetables. In the private food macroenvironment, we did not detect any statistically significant correlation between density of establishments selling this produce, income, level of precariousness, or nutritional state. In the more settled regions, we observed denser retail networks as well as a negative correlation with nutritional status. The food supply policies in Curitiba were determined to be in line with the neoliberal food regime, in which areas with better living conditions are better served by public food supply policies.

Consumer food environments change over a 5-year period.

Evaluate the 5-year changes in the consumers' food environment in the area of a health promotion service in Brazilian primary health care. Our hypothesis is that the consumers' food environment in the areas with primary healthcare services has changes that may favour healthy eating habits over time. Longitudinal study. The territory around the primary healthcare services in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. All food stores and open-air food markets that sell fruits and vegetables around the primary healthcare services in 2013 (n 272) and in 2018 (n 265). Fruit diversity increased by 13·4 % (P < 0·001) and vegetables variety and quality by 16·1 % (P = 0·003) and 12·5 % (P < 0·001), respectively. Corn snacks showed an increase in availability (13·5 %; P = 0·002). The increase in advertising was observed for fruits and vegetables (34·6 %; P < 0·001) and ultra-processed foods (47·6 %; P < 0·001). Supermarkets showed an increase in the Healthy Food Store Index (three points; P < 0·001), while fruits and vegetables stores showed a decrease of one point in the index (P < 0·001). The unequal changes in the consumers' food environment according to the food stores types demonstrate the importance of food supply policies that promote a healthy environment and favour the maintenance of traditional healthy food retailers.

Background commentary on the Researching the Obesogenic Food Environment (ROFE) project.

The objective of this commentary is to provide an overview of the rationale and objectives of the Researching the Obesogenic Food Environment (ROFE) project that was conducted in Ghana and South Africa. Narration has been used to describe the main objectives, phases as well as the methods used for the conduct of this project. The project described in this commentary was conducted in Khayelitsha and Mount Frere in South Africa and Ahodwo and Ejuratia for Ghana. Participants of the study described here include households in South Africa and Ghana, stakeholders and policymakers, and various actors within the food chain in both countries. The ROFE findings provide a good understanding of the extent of the impact of the food environment on consumption, characteristics of value chains of healthy and unhealthy foods, as well as the potential for improved governance and policy that is relevant to the region. The supplement provides the opportunity to share the extensive findings of the ROFE project. Nine papers that describe the process and findings of the three phases of the ROFE project have been presented. Some of the papers focus on phases of the ROFE, while others cut across different phases and explore the linkages between the phases. Briefly descriptions of key findings of some of the papers in the supplement are provided. Together, the findings of the ROFE study presented in this supplement have increased understanding of how communities in SA and Ghana interact with their food supplies and have led to identification of specific opportunities to improve food supply policies, in ways that create incentives for the production and consumption of healthy, relative to unhealthy foods.

A longitudinal analysis of the fluctuation of food stores in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

BackgroundChanges in food environments have the potential to affect consumption, nutritional status, and health, and understanding these changes is of utmost importance. This study, therefore, aimed to examine the fluctuation of food stores that sell fruits and vegetables over five years in the health promotion service area of Primary Health Care (PHC) in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.MethodsThis was an ecological study that used data from a food environment audit conducted in the realm of Brazilian PHC. Buffers of 1 mile (equivalent to 1600 m) were created around health promotion services to define food environments. All food stores and open-air food markets that sold fruits and vegetables (FV) within this buffer area were considered eligible. The data collection was performed during two periods: the baseline, in 2013, and after five years, in 2018. This study compares the fluctuation by the type of stores and according to the health vulnerability index (HVI).ResultsAfter 5 years, 35.2% of the stores were stable; 154 stores were closed, and 155 were opened. The stability was greater in low-vulnerability areas, and the fluctuation differed by type of store only for areas with high vulnerability. The number of supermarket decreased in high HVI territories; and local stores, showed greater stability when compared to specialized FV markets.ConclusionsThe differences in store fluctuations according to the vulnerability of areas demonstrate the importance of food supply policies considering the local characteristics to reduce inequities of access to healthy foods.

Countries’ vulnerability to food supply disruptions caused by the Russia–Ukraine war from a trade dependency perspective

Disruptions of key food and fertilizer exports from Russia and Ukraine have exposed many countries to challenges accessing some commodities since these countries’ war began. We evaluated the short-term, external, and direct impacts of disruptions of six food commodities and three types of fertilizer supplies from Russia and Ukraine on food access for all trading partners of the two countries by applying a set of trade and socioeconomic indicators. We found that the external food supplies of 279 countries and territories were affected to varying degrees; 24 countries—especially Georgia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Mongolia—are extremely vulnerable because they depend almost entirely on a variety of food imports from Russia and Ukraine. Access to fertilizers was affected in 136 countries and territories, particularly Estonia (potassic fertilizer), Mongolia (nitrogenous fertilizers), Kazakhstan (mixed fertilizers), and Brazil, the United States, China, and India (all types of fertilizers). An integrated assessment of countries’ import types, purchasing power parity per capita, and populations indicated that the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Egypt, and Pakistan are most vulnerable to such supply disruptions. Development of research into diversification and decentralization strategies for food access is needed to guide stable food supply policies.

The Impact of COVID-19 Policy Response on Food Prices: A Case Study in China

The COVID-19 pandemic has threatened human lives and caused an unprecedented impact on the global economy, notably on the global food system. COVID-19 itself and its policy response have severely affected food prices. This paper analyzes the short-term and long-term impacts of COVID-19 cases and policy responses (government response index (GRI), economic support index (ESI), stringency index (SI)) on food prices (Chinese cabbage price (CP), pork price (PP), flour price (FP), rice price (RP)) in China’s major food producing areas and major food selling areas through the autoregressive distribution lag error correction (ARDL-ECM) method and graphical analysis. as the purpose is to provide evidence for food security policy regulation to stabilize food prices and improve the food system’s ability to withstand similar emergencies in the future. This study finds that the short-term impact of COVID-19 policy responses on food prices is larger, while the long-term impact is smaller. The impacts of COVID-19 itself and COVID-19 policy responses on food prices vary by food type and food production and consumption region. For food type, the Chinese cabbage price was most affected by the COVID-19 policy response, followed by pork, and the staple food prices (flour price and rice price) were least affected. For regions, the Chinese cabbage price in food producing areas was more influenced by COVID-19 and the pork price in food selling areas was more influenced by COVID-19. For the single indexes, GRI and SI had uneven effects on different food prices. However, ESI had a significant positive impact on the Chinese cabbage price (CP) and pork price(PP), except in Guangdong and Hubei. Staple food prices were almost unaffected by COVID-19 confirmed cases and policy responses. Then, taking the Chinese cabbage price in Beijing, Shandong, and Hubei as an example, we find that “dynamic clearance” influenced the Chinese cabbage price in the short term, and Chinese cabbage price increased largely in the first stage. Finally, the reasons behind the research results of this paper are analyzed, and scientific suggestions are put forward for the implementation of food supply policies to ensure food price stability and food security in the face of similar pandemics in the future.

Strengthening Governance and Institutional Capacity at the Nutrition-Food Supply Policy Nexus Comment on "What Opportunities Exist for Making the Food Supply Nutrition Friendly? A Policy Space Analysis in Mexico".

Cervantes et al have provided an insightful addition to the policy literature by identifying the contextual, political, and policy factors that create constraints and opportunities for putting nutrition at the center of the food supply chain policy process. This commentary discusses important elements and features when aiming for reconciling nutrition goals and food supply policy, provides some examples of the salience of nutrition of non-health policies in countries with different income levels, and argues for improving governance for better nutrition outcomes and inspiring institutional interest and idea of food supply policy actors around population nutrition. Cervantes et al highlight the political context that favors nutrition outcomes, nutrition advocacy in the public agenda, and multisectoral mechanisms which can keep the nutrition objective moving forward in the food supply sector. However, a wider view on governance and institutional capacity is needed, recognizing government action by multiple sectors, with diverse sets of actors. The expanded understanding of nutrition, which includes considering nutrition as an emerging facet of food systems, by policy actors is needed. Enhancing discourse involving nutrition and food supply actors is important in order to appeal to the wider public and opinion leaders across the political spectrum. Accomplishing this also requires political will and an advocacy movement, especially by civil society and grassroots movements.

What Opportunities Exist for Making the Food Supply Nutrition Friendly? A Policy Space Analysis in Mexico.

As part of a global policy response for addressing malnutrition, food system actions have been proposed. Within food system interventions, policies directed to supply chains have the potential to increase the availability and affordability of a healthy diet. This qualitative study aimed to identify opportunities to integrate nutrition as a priority into the food supply policy space in Mexico. Data were collected through analysis of 19 policy documents and 20 semi-structured stakeholder interviews. As an analytical framework, we used policy space analysis and embedded the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) and the steps of the food chain of the conceptual framework of food systems for diets and nutrition. Policy issues relevant to nutrition were viewed differently in the economic and agricultural sectors versus the health sector. Overall, the main policy objective related to nutrition within the economic and agricultural sectors was to contribute to food security in terms of food quantity. Nutrition was an objective in itself only in the health sector, with a focus on food quality. Our policy space analysis reveals an opportunity to promote a new integrated vision with the recent creation of an intersectoral group working on the public agenda for a food system transformation. This newer integrative narrative on food systems presents an opportunity to shift the existing food security narrative from quantity towards considerations of diet quality. The political context and public agenda are favorable to pursue a food system transformation to deliver sustainable healthy diets. Mexico can provide a case study for other low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) for putting nutrition at the center of food policy, despite the ongoing constraints on achieving this.

Abinõud viljapuuduse leevendamiseks Eestimaa ja Põhja-Liivimaa valdades 1860. aastatel

Abinõud viljapuuduse leevendamiseks Eestimaa ja Põhja-Liivimaa valdades 1860. aastatel

Solidarity Policy in Defense of Life: A Hope in Brazil’s Pandemic

First paragraphs: The current Brazilian political situation together with the advance of coronavirus (COVID-19) has reinforced inequalities to food access in Brazil, generating uncertainties about satisfying basic human needs. Before the COVID-19 boom, Brazil had already been showing the effects of a long political and economic crisis, largely a result of the 2016 coup, which has led to more than 11% of the population unemployed and more than 40% in informal work. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s statements have made explicit his denialist policy by prioritizing the economy over life. Bolsonaro’s government has been undoing social security and food security poli­cies through the reform of the social security system, the dismantling of public universities, the shut­down of agrarian reform, the disassembling of food supply policies, and the end of the National Council for Food and Nutrition Security. Bolsonaro starts from an authoritarian policy, based on the neoliberal ideology and fear in which agribusiness and other large private corporations are prioritized rather than strengthening the collective alternatives that could help ensure a healthy diet for the Brazilian population. The COVID-19 pandemic, therefore, adds another societal stress factor, bringing back food insecurity and “the ghost of hunger” in Brazil.

Does access to healthy food vary according to socioeconomic status and to food store type? an ecologic study

BackgroundThe food environment can influence opportunities and barriers to food access. This study aimed to investigate whether access to healthy foods varies according to store types and the socioeconomic status of the users of the public health promotion program in Brazil, known as the Health Academy Program.MethodsA total of 18 Health Academy Program centers were selected via simple conglomerate sampling. Health Academy Program users living up to 1 km from the food stores were evaluated (n = 2831). Their socioeconomic status was investigated via face-to-face interviews. The food stores were audited through direct observation. Variables included the community nutrition environment (type and location) and consumer nutrition environment (healthy food store index, involving variables such as availability, variety, and advertising of healthy and unhealthy products). Multiple linear regression analysis was performed to examine the association between access to healthy foods, socioeconomic status, and food store type.ResultsA total of 336 stores were investigated. The majority were specialty fruit and vegetable markets/stores or open-air food markets. Access to healthy food was only associated with the food store type. An increase of 1% in the availability of specialized fruits and vegetable markets or open-air food markets and supermarket raised healthy food store index values by 0.12 and 0.07, respectively.ConclusionsPublic food supply policies aimed at improving the diet quality of the population and reducing inequality in access should prioritize the implementation of stores of better quality, such as specialty fruit and vegetable markets and open-air food markets.

An Analysis of Importance-Performance on School Meal Support and Local Food Supply Policy

An Analysis of Importance-Performance on School Meal Support and Local Food Supply Policy

Environmental, social and health dimensions of food supply policies and proposals in Brazil

ABSTRACT Objective To analyze the presence and characteristics of social, environmental and health dimensions identified in the current national food supply policy proposals and policies. Methods This is a study with a qualitative approach using a documentary analysis technique referring to the period between 2003 and 2015, in addition to the Agricultural Policy of 1991. Results The results of the analyzes of the documents of the Federal Executive Power and the Public Policy Councils are similar, policies that seek alternatives to the negative impacts of the hegemonic model of food supply, different from the document of the Federal Legislative Power and Agricultural Policy, which superficially approach alternatives to these impacts, or are limited to strengthening the dominant productive system. Conclusion Thus, a national food supply policy is needed for the planning of actions, considering social, environmental and health impacts and taking as reference the initiatives already built by sectors of the Executive Power and by the Public Policy Councils.

Improving policy coherence for food security and nutrition in South Africa: a qualitative policy analysis

Like most other low and middle-income countries, South Africa must address a rising burden of diet-related chronic disease in a situation of persistent food insecurity and undernutrition. Supply-side policy interventions are a critical component of action to address the double burden of malnutrition. However, the food supply is governed by a number of different policy sectors, and policy incoherence can occur between government action to promote a healthy food supply and objectives for economic liberalization. We analysed the coherence of food supply policy content with respect to nutrition and food security in South Africa, and conducted 14 in-depth interviews with 22 public and private sector actors to identify opportunities to improve policy coherence across sectors governing the food supply. Drawing on Sabatier’s conceptualization of actors as influential in shaping policy outcomes, we identified three coalitions of actors related to food security and nutrition in South Africa: the dominant Economic Growth coalition, the Food Security coalition, and the Health coalition. Understanding the frames, beliefs and resources held by these coalitions offers insights into the policy tensions faced by the Government of South Africa with respect to the food supply. The analysis indicates that the current reconsideration of economic policy agendas favouring liberalization in South Africa, including the termination of most bilateral investment treaties, may present an opportunity for increased recognition of food security and nutrition priorities in food supply policy making. Opportunities to strengthen policy coherence across the food supply for food security and nutrition include: specific changes to economic policy relating to the food supply that achieve both food security/nutrition and economic objectives; creating links between producers and consumers, through markets and fiscal incentives that make healthy / fresh foods more accessible and affordable; increasing formal avenues for engagement by Civil Society in nutrition and food security policy making; and including consideration of the nutritional quality of the food supply in policy objectives across sectors, to create a framework for policy coherence across sectors relating to the food supply.

The National Kitchen in Britain, 1917–1919

This article provides the very first history of the ‘national kitchens’ of the First World War, which existed between 1917 and 1919, and argues that as one of several techniques for feeding Britain they formed a popular arm of British wartime food supply policy. It outlines how the Ministry of Food tried to position the new phenomenon of state-sponsored communal dining within national cultural parameters: culinary, social, and political. It explores the functioning of the ‘national kitchen’ in the final years of the war and accounts for its demise with reference to a trade culture of ‘fair play’ which clashed with the collectivist ethic of wartime consumption. Drawing on original archival material, this piece details the main personalities and tensions within this most under-documented of wartime cultural ventures.

Toward Food Policy for the Dual Burden of Malnutrition: An Exploratory Policy Space Analysis in India.

There is global consensus that a strong policy response is essential for addressing the dual burden of malnutrition. However, policy makers in low- and middle-income countries may perceive a conflict between food supply policies to combat persistent undernutrition and more recent recommendations for policies addressing rising rates of diet-related noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). This article explores the potential to use policy space analysis to identify food supply policy opportunities for addressing both undernutrition and diet-related NCDs and to support improved policy coherence. We conducted an exploratory policy space analysis to identify opportunities and constraints for integrated nutrition policy with respect to the food supply in India, where a dual burden of malnutrition has been well documented. We conducted a review of food supply policies and 27 key informant interviews (16 with stakeholders active in India's national nutrition policy space, and 11 with policy makers and experts in food supply policy). The analysis suggests several opportunities for an integrated food supply policy agenda, including targeting common foods of concern (such as highly processed foods) and foods that present common benefits (such as fruits and vegetables), and scaling up existing small-scale policy initiatives that support the availability of nutrient-rich foods. Challenges include policy inertia and competing priorities within the economic sector. This scoping study indicates that the policy space analysis framework used here can help to identify specific, contextually appropriate policy options and strategies for strengthening public health nutrition policy within sectors responsible for food supply policy.

La mise en place des politiques alimentaires locales dans la région métropolitaine de Stockholm : une gouvernance du malentendu ?

A travers le cas de la region de Stockholm, cet article s'interesse aux projets locaux valorisant l'alimentation et l'agriculture, comme moyen de territorialisation du developpement durable. L’analyse des jeux d’acteurs par la confrontation du discours communal dans trois territoires (Huddinge, Sodertalje et Enkoping) avec les pratiques des agriculteurs biologiques et des chefs cuisiniers des cantines scolaires, interroge les processus de construction d'une nouvelle gouvernance alimentaire des territoires, comme condition indispensable de la durabilite des systemes alimentaires. Le statut d’alimentation comme bien commun est questionne par le jeu des interets economiques des parties prenantes et par l’instrumentalisation des politiques publiques alimentaires a des fins plus pragmatiques.

Chaos in the Field: Soviet Karelia's Food Supply Detachments, 1918–1920

This article traces the creation, experiences and success of Karelia's food supply detachments during the Russian Civil War and focuses on three target provinces: Kursk, Simbirsk and Saratov. It emphasises the early political and economic stumbling blocks faced by the Bolsheviks in their attempts to implement the party's food supply policies in the periphery and indicates that, although the Soviet food supply system by mid-1919 was more centralised and resistance from local soviets lessened, improvements were only relative to the more chaotic conditions of the previous year.

Bread and Authority in Russia, 1914-1921.

Between 1914 and 1921, Russia experienced a national crisis that destroyed the tsarist state and led to the establishment of the new Bolshevik order. During this period of war, revolution, and civil war, there was a food-supply crisis. Although Russia was one of the world's major grain exporters, the country was no longer capable of feeding its own people. The hunger of the urban workers increased the pace of revolutionary events in 1917 and 1918, and the food-supply policy during the civil war became the most detested symbol of the hardships imposed by the Bolsheviks. Focusing on this crisis, Lars Lih examines the fundamental process of political and social breakdown and reconstitution. He argues that this seven-year period is the key to understanding the Russian revolution and its aftermath. In 1921 the Bolsheviks rejected the food-supply policy established during the civil war; sixty-five years later, Mikhail Gorbachev made this change of policy a symbol of perestroika. Since then, more attention has been given both in the West and in the Soviet Union to the early years of the revolution as one source of the tragedies of Stalinist oppression. Lih's argument is based on a great variety of source materialarchives, memoirs, novels, political rhetoric, pamphlets, and propoganda posters. His new study will be read with profit by all who are interested in the drama of the Russian revolution, the roots of both Stalinism and anti-Stalin reform, and more generally in a new way of understanding the effects of social and political breakdown.

War, State Economic Policies and Resistance by Agricultural Producers in Turkey 1939-1945

For governments in power during periods of war, securing the food supply of the urban areas and the military has been one of the most important economic problems. The expansion of the armed forces and the necessity to feed them better inevitably leads to increases in the demand for foodstuffs. In the more developed economies, the more mechanized and more flexible agricultural sectors have often been capable of responding to increased demand. The pressures of an emergency situation, however, have a much more severe impact on the agrarian structures in an underdeveloped economy, often leading to decreases in the levels of production. Under these circumstances, the food supply policies of the governments will have far-reaching implications for different strata of the peasantry and for the urban classes.