Food Production Methods Research Articles

Foodborne Disease Outbreaks Associated with Organic Foods in the United States

Consumer demand for organically produced foods is increasing in the United States as well as globally. Consumer perception often credits organic foods as being safer than conventionally produced foods, although organic standards do not directly address safety issues such as microbial or chemical hazards. We reviewed outbreaks reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Foodborne Disease Outbreak Surveillance System where the implicated food was reported to be organic. Information collected for each outbreak included the year, state, number of illnesses, pathogen, and implicated food. We identified 18 outbreaks caused by organic foods from 1992 to 2014, resulting in 779 illnesses, 258 hospitalizations, and 3 deaths; 56% of outbreaks occurred from 2010 to 2014. Nine outbreaks occurred in a single state, and nine outbreaks were multistate. Salmonella sp. (44% of outbreaks) and Escherichia coli O157:H7 (33%) were the most commonly occurring pathogens. Eight of the outbreaks were attributed to produce items, four to unpasteurized dairy products, two to eggs, two to nut and seed products, and two to multi-ingredient foods. Fifteen (83%) outbreaks were associated with foods that were definitely or likely U.S. Department of Agriculture certified. More foodborne outbreaks associated with organic foods in the United States have been reported in recent years, in parallel with increases in organic food production and consumption. We are unable to assess risk of outbreaks due to organic foods compared with conventional foods because foodborne outbreak surveillance does not systematically collect food production method. Food safety requires focused attention by consumers, regardless of whether foods are produced organically or conventionally. Consumers should be aware of the risk of milk and produce consumed raw, including organic.

Heavy Metals in Suburban Ecosystems of Industrial Centres and Ways of their Reduction

Abstract Technogenic contamination of ecosystems is one of the main dangers of our time. In order to reduce the harmful effects of this contamination and to provide cost-effective and environmentally safe food production methods, we are forced to look for ways of reliable analysis of the environmental situation, the selection systems of animal husbandry and regulations for the degree of impact of pollutants on the elements of the agroecosystem. This article presents the results of studies aimed at assessing the plight of the environment of a large industrial centre, and its anthropogenic impacts on every element of the suburban ecosystems. It presents data on maintenance and migration of anthropogenous pollutants in the trophic chains of pasturable ecosystems of the suburb of Volgograd. The authors have listed the industrial enterprises as the key sources of pollution. The features of the distribution of xenobiotics in the tissues and organs of calves and heifers of different breeds were analysed in the study. Conclusions were drawn on the accumulation of heavy metals and arsenic in cattle, and the impact of this factor on the quality of production. A comparative assessment of the resistance of different breeds of cows to the action of toxicants in the environment of the Lower Volga region was carried out. Ways to decrease the impact of pollutants on the cattle organism have also been suggested. The article pays attention to the environmental pollution of the industrial centre, the influence of these processes on all elements of an ecosystem including humans, and offers ways to minimize the damage.

Prolonged tempe-type fermentation in order to improve bioactive potential and nutritional parameters of quinoa seeds

The effect of 40 h solid-state fermentation with Rhizopus oligosporus on selected parameters of white and coloured quinoa was studied, as compared to standard (30 h) product and cooked seeds.The reducing power (RP) and the activity against synthetic free radicals of standard tempe were higher by on average 140% (white) and 64% (coloured quinoa) than that of cooked seeds. The OH scavenging activity was increased by more than 7 fold (white), and over 2 fold (coloured quinoa). Prolongation of the fermentation caused further improvement in this potential, on average by 27% (OH, RP) and 24% (DPPH, ABTS+ assays). The soluble phenols i.e. vanillic acid, protocatechuic acid and rutin levels in 40 h tempe were significantly higher than in cooked quinoa. Fermented products contained 470% (white) and on average 150% (coloured quinoa) more riboflavin and 100% more thiamine (white quinoa) than cooked seeds. The levels of total protein, free amino acids and proteins releasable during the in vitro digestion, were improved as a result of 40 h fermentation. The essential amino acids profile of quinoa tempe was consistent with the reference pattern.The prolonged tempe-type fermentation of quinoa can be recommended as a method of the value-added food production.

Research and Development Strategy in Biological Technologies: A Patent Data Analysis of Japanese Manufacturing Firms

Biological technology allows us to invent new medical approaches, create effective food production methods and reserves and develop new materials for industrial production. There is a diversity of biological technology types, and different technologies have different priorities for invention. This study examines the factors that are important for the invention of biology-related technologies in Japan using patent application data and a decomposition analysis framework. As the results show, patent applications related to biochemistry and biotechnology increased until 1995 because of the expanded scale of R&D activities and the high priority assigned to biological technology. However, the number of patent applications stagnated after 1995, because the importance of biochemistry, especially waste-gas treatment technologies, decreased. Additionally, patent applications for medicines and disease-related technologies increased rapidly from 1971 to 1995. The primary determinant of rapid growth is an increase in research priority, especially among firms in the chemical industry whose technologies are related to supplemental foods and foods with health-promoting benefits. Finally, patent applications involving foodstuff- and agriculture-related technologies increased from 1971 to 1995 due to increased R&D and the increased priority of biological technology.

Perspectives of Public, Private and Civil Sectors in the Development and Maintenance of a Local Food System

A local food system has not been formally defined but is commonly characterized by the distance food has traveled between producer and grower. Other characterizations of a local food system incorporate aspects relating to sustainable food production methods, fair labor practices and social relationship, and economic development and/or sustainability. The food system encompasses all entities of society from the individual consumers to the public and private sectors. The purpose of this study was to explore multiple sectors involved in the development and maintenance of a local food system and identify areas of divergence and convergence between groups. For this study, 27 people representing the governmental, civil, or business/production sectors of a metropolitan city in the Midwestern US were interviewed. A general interview guide was used to explore participants’ perspectives of the local food system, future needs and possibilities. Each interview was transcribed verbatim and three trained qualitative coders used grounded theory to explore the local food system. Coding, constant comparison, and memo‐writing were used for the data analysis. Common themes emerged and were compared across sectors. Similar themes included: the need for nutrition education and awareness of local foods in individual community members, limited human, financial and infra structural resources for developing a strong local food system, lack of local, governmental policies supporting the local food system efforts, and the importance of collaboration through the development of a strong, stable food policy council. Areas of divergence were as follows First, governmental representatives identified the lack of resources within the public sector as a main barrier to the development of the local food system. Second, civil representatives insinuated the importance of having a local food system that was all inclusive of all socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds and was culturally‐appropriate. Third and finally, producers asserted that the local food system should not be reliant up the public sector but to be self‐sustaining. In conclusion, it is important for each to understand the perspectives of other sectors and collaborate together in an organized manner to enable the development and maintenance of a strong, integrated local food system. This study provides a conceptual lens to examine other communities in a similar fashion.Support or Funding InformationNo funding source to disclose.

Deliberate choices or strong motives: Exploring the mechanisms underlying the bias of organic claims on leniency judgments

Organic claims can influence how a product is perceived in dimensions that are unrelated with the food production method (e.g., organic food is perceived as more healthful and less caloric than conventional food). Such claims can also bias how the consumers of organic food are perceived and how other people judge their behavior. Schuldt and Schwarz (2010) have shown that individuals evaluating a target with a weight-loss goal are more lenient in judging the target forgoing exercise when the target had an organic (vs. conventional) dessert. This impact of organic claims on leniency judgments has been interpreted either as a halo or a licensing effect. In the current research we aim to replicate and extend Schuldt and Schwarz's (2010) results by examining the mechanisms that are more likely to explain the observed leniency judgments. In Experiment 1, we observed that leniency towards a target that has consumed an organic meal is only observed when the target intentionally chooses such organic meal (vs. choice determined by the situation). These findings suggest that the impact of organic claims on leniency judgments is not merely based on a halo effect. Instead, a licensing account emerges as the most probable mechanism. In Experiment 2, we further found that stronger (vs. weaker) motives for forgoing exercise influenced leniency judgments to the same extent as having had an organic meal. Understanding the mechanisms that shape consumers' decisions may have important implications to prevent bias in their judgments about food and exercise.

A Seat at the Table: Implications of Structure and Diversity in Community Food Assessments

Food insecurity associated with adverse physical and psychological health conditions is an issue faced by 12.5 percent of Canadian households. Current methods of food production and distribution serve to propagate rather than ameliorate these problems. A growing emphasis on the promotion of community food security aims to address not only the challenges of food security but also the underlying inequities and quality of life issues. Community food assessments are being employed in efforts to gain an understanding of the food system and its impacts. Conducted in conjunction with the Saskatoon Regional Food Assessment (SRFA), this study explores structures that contribute value and promote engagement among participants. While implementation is guided by best practices, currently the assessment process lacks theoretical grounding to allow a deeper understanding of the process. SRFA steering committee members were invited to participate in a two-stage interview examining their experience and perceptions of the process. Existing ideological perspectives of committee members played a significant role in their perceptions of the current food system and the effectiveness of implementing community food security approaches. Systemic change for enhanced community quality of life will require a highly structured collaboration and a strong central vision for participants to find common ground for mutual benefit.

Overcoming Food Security Challenges within an Energy/Water/Food Nexus (EWFN) Approach

The challenge of feeding nine billion people by 2050, in a context of constrained resources and growing environmental pressures posed by current food production methods on one side, and changing lifestyles and consequent shifts in dietary patterns on the other, exacerbated by the effects of climate change, has been defined as one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century. The first step to achieve food security is to find a balance between the growing demand for food, and the limited production capacity. In order to do this three main pathways have been identified: employing sustainable production methods in agriculture, changing diets, and reducing waste in all stages of the food chain. The application of an energy, water and food nexus (EWFN) approach, which takes into account the interactions and connections between these three resources, and the synergies and trade-offs that arise from the way they are managed, is a prerequisite for the correct application of these pathways. This work discusses how Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) might be applicable for creating the evidence-base to foster such desired shifts in food production and consumption patterns.

Web Based Automatic Soil Chemical Contents Monitoring System

The need for finding new, more efficient and sustainable methods of agricultural cultivation and food production has become more critical especially in the developing countries. In order to facilitate this, there are needs to design a precision agriculture system capable of providing farmers with useful data about the conditions of the soil available in their farmlands in a user friendly and easily accessible manner. This work therefore presents a web based automatic soil chemical contents monitoring system. The work combined the use of pH probe, an Arduino sink node and other devices to automate the processing of soil chemical contents data obtained from farmland. Three solutions were used in testing the efficacy of the proposed method and comparing it with the existing method. The result showed that, the proposed design was able to extract the chemical contents of the soil from the farmland and transferred the same to Liquid Crystal Display and a web page.

Agricultural Loans, as Catalyst for Food Production in Nigeria: The Problems and Prospects

The global demand for food is on the increase as a result of the growing world population. Many governments of the developing economy, Nigeria being one of them, have recognized these facts and have initiated various policies to ensure that loans are granted to agriculture. In recognition of the vital role agriculture plays in food production, the Nigerian government has established specialized banks and agricultural funds to carter for the financial needs of Nigeria farmers. However, the problem is the method of food production. Mechanized farming which ensures large-scale production is capital intensive, considering the assertions that agricultural loan is a sine qua non to food production. Therefore, this paper evaluates the impact of these agricultural loans on food production, the problems and prospects. Data for the study were sourced through secondary means and hypotheses formulated in order to attain the objective of the research. The data were analysed with SPSS (multiple regression) and formulated hypotheses tested with F-ratio and student t-test. Findings revealed that agricultural loans have significant and positive impact on food production in Nigeria. Hence, there is need to increase and sustain the amount of credits disbursed to the sector if the rate of food production is to meet with the pace at which the population is growing.

Market Potentials for Selected Organic Leafy Vegetables

ABSTRACTIncreased consumer awareness has raised concerns over food safety and production methods. In Nigeria, consumption of organic produce is low. This study assessed consumer willingness to pay for selected organic leafy vegetables. Data from 129 respondents were obtained using a simple random sampling technique. Conjoint analysis and contingent valuation were used to analyze willingness to pay and determinants of willingness to pay. Contingent valuation indicated that 84.5%, 76%, and 62.8% of the respondents were willing to pay extra for Amaranthus cruentus L., Celosia argentia L., and Cochorus olitorius L., respectively. Average willingness to pay a price premium was 46%, 42.4%, and 35.8% for A. cruentus, C. argentia, and C. olitorius, respectively. Conjoint analysis indicated that quality was the most valued attribute of leafy vegetables with relative importance of 42.2%. Income, health status, and work experience were key determinants of willingness to pay; all increasing the likelihood of willingness to pay. Income was significant with marginal effects of 0.005 and 0.006 for A. cruentus and C. olitorius, respectively. Health status was significant with marginal effects of 0.366 and 0.225 for A. cruentus and C. olitorius, respectively. Work experience was significant for all species. There is strong market potential for organic leafy vegetables, especially if quality is high and prices are reasonable.

Experiential learning and the visceral practice of ‘healthy eating’

ABSTRACTConsumer disconnections with food production methods remain of concern to those promoting food knowledge and healthy food attitudes. Knowing food is central to bridging this disconnection – as is demonstrated by third sector projects that promote growing and cooking skills. In recent years ‘celebrity’ chefs' promotion of practical food skills has helped to shape government policies. Many of these initiatives have focused on educating children about healthy eating through cookery lessons. However, there is little evidence whether these more hands-on educative policies will be effective in changing consumption habits. This article enters into the debate through an exploration of a cooking workshop undertaken with primary school pupils that directly involved the children in the food production-consumption cycle. Using ethnographic research undertaken on two new allotment sites in south Somerset, it describes how the children helped harvest the produce, as well as prepare and eat it, and explores how the close, experiential nature of preparing the lunch made the produce become accepted as food. The findings indicate how visceral practices can change not only their access to food, but also widen children's food experiences. An investigation of the close, embodied interactions between the children and the material of the plot helps to explain how these processes unfold.

Konsumencka percepcja nowych technologii stosowanych w produkcji żywności

Celem badania było poznanie postaw konsumentów wobec nowych technologii stosowanych w produkcji żywności, które mierzono za pomocą skali Food Technology Neophobia Scale. Badanie ankietowe przeprowadzono w 2013 roku w ogólnopolskiej grupie 1000 konsumentów. Do analizy danych zastosowano analizę częstości, tabele krzyżowe oraz analizę czynnikową. Do stwierdzenia różnic istotnych statystycznie między zmiennymi wykorzystano test Chi2, przy poziomie istotności p < 0,05. Wykazano neutralny lub raczej negatywny stosunek do nowych technologii stosowanych w produkcji żywności. Bardziej pozytywne postawy były reprezentowane przez kobiety i osoby w wieku 26–35 lat, natomiast bardziej negatywne przez mężczyzn, osoby starsze oraz osoby z niższym wykształceniem. Eksponowanie informacji o zastosowanej metodzie produkcji w przypadku osób z negatywną, także z neutralną postawą wobec stosowanych technologii może być barierą w nabywaniu produktów żywnościowych, co wskazuje na ostrożne wykorzystywanie tej informacji w komunikatach marketingowych lub prowadzenie edukacji konsumenckiej w tym zakresie.

Faces of sustainability in Italian ecovillages: food as ‘contact zone’

AbstractEcovillages are intentional and experimental communities that embrace ecological values and green consumption practices which result in a sustainable lifestyle considered the best response to the global ecological crisis. The main ecovillages’ goal is to regenerate social and natural environments through communal living, refounding a dimension of proximity with the land and the natural environment. Environmental ecology is primarily pursued focusing on self‐sufficient food production and alternative farming methods, such as permaculture and organic farming practices. The use of these methods represents a way to criticize the economic logic of equivalent exchange, preferring instead a culture of gifting and the establishment of relations of reciprocity and solidarity on a small scale. In this way not just a particular and specific food style is put in practice, but an holistic view of living, characterized by a new political‐aesthetics in which pleasure, conviviality and restoring relationships of trust and sharing become essential in the pursuit of personal satisfaction and in the construction of taste, following a process of individual and environmental renaturalization. The article is based on ethnographic data related to my ongoing doctoral research on the topics of sustainability and food self‐sufficiency in Italian ecovillages. The research adopts a qualitative methodology, involving participant observation and a period of field work in the ecovillages located in Tuscany and in the South of Italy in Apulia region. These ecovillages are part of the Italian Ecovillage Network that interacts with the more broad international web called Global Ecovilaage Network.

Neurofunctional correlates of ethical, food-related decision-making.

For consumers today, the perceived ethicality of a food’s production method can be as important a purchasing consideration as its price. Still, few studies have examined how, neurofunctionally, consumers are making ethical, food-related decisions. We examined how consumers’ ethical concern about a food’s production method may relate to how, neurofunctionally, they make decisions whether to purchase that food. Forty-six participants completed a measure of the extent to which they took ethical concern into consideration when making food-related decisions. They then underwent a series of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans while performing a food-related decision-making (FRDM) task. During this task, they made 56 decisions whether to purchase a food based on either its price (i.e., high or low, the “price condition”) or production method (i.e., with or without the use of cages, the “production method condition”), but not both. For 23 randomly selected participants, we performed an exploratory, whole-brain correlation between ethical concern and differential neurofunctional activity in the price and production method conditions. Ethical concern correlated negatively and significantly with differential neurofunctional activity in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC). For the remaining 23 participants, we performed a confirmatory, region-of-interest (ROI) correlation between the same variables, using an 8-mm3 volume situated in the left dlPFC. Again, the variables correlated negatively and significantly. This suggests, when making ethical, food-related decisions, the more consumers take ethical concern into consideration, the less they may rely on neurofunctional activity in the left dlPFC, possibly because making these decisions is more routine for them, and therefore a more perfunctory process requiring fewer cognitive resources.

CONCENTRATION OF CADMIUM IN MEAT AND SELECTED MEATS PRODUCTS

The cadmium concentrations depend on the environmental conditions and food production methods. The monitoring of cadmium concentration in meat is important for human health. The concentrations of cadmium in meat and meat products collected from central Slovakia, in the central Europe region and from different countries of West Europe were assessed using by AA spectrometer with graphite furnace (PerkinElmer AAnalyst 80, MA, USA). Within starting materials we detected the highest values of cadmium in beef from foreign production (0.1101 ppm), followed by pork from foreign production (0.0901 ppm) in Lovecka salama and pork thigh (0.0523 ppm) in selected ham. In Lovecka salami we were found the highest concentration of cadmium in final samples from foreign starting materials, followed by homogenized samples from foreign starting materials, final samples from domestic starting materials and homogenized samples from domestic starting materials (0.3728, 0.3549, 0.2387, 0.2112 ppm, respectively). The highest concentration of cadmium in selected ham were found in final products from foreign starting materials, homogenized samples from foreign starting materials, final products from domestic starting materials and homogenized samples from domestic starting materials (0.1453, 0.1382,0.0810, 0.0734 ppm, respectively). The obtained results suggested that the concentrations of cadmium are higher in homogenized samples and final products in Lovecka salami and selected ham in comparison with to starting materials. Technological process of meat processing can create a potential source of heavy metals in final products.

Optimal Production Systems in Highland Communities in Chiang Mai Province

Abstract Countries around the world are facing increasing problems related to rapid resource depletion, especially due to a reduction in highland agricultural area which affects the country's economy, society and the environment. The farmers feel pressurized to move away from traditional methods of food production in order to improve their economic well-being by switching to mono-crops with high retail values. This has also led to social changes in the highland communities as some farmers are more successful than others for a variety of reasons. The primary purpose of this study is to research agricultural production systems which are both environmentally friendly and capable of providing the farmers and their families with food security and an improved standard of living. The study area in Pang Daeng Nai Royal Project Extensions collected a sample from 185 households. The input and output prices were an average taken from the three years and the data was analyzed by a multiple goal and multi-period programming model. This aimed to optimize resource management by considering four objective goals. These were to maximize income, ensure rice sufficiency for the household consumption, to minimize chemical costs and to minimize fertilizer costs. The analysis was subject to the constraints estimated from household consumption and income levels which were used for the household consumption model. The coefficients for the main crop were estimated from the production frontier function and this resulted in a 5 year planning framework. The primary results of this analysis indicate that it is possible to reach the optimization goals. For an average farm of 17.85 rai, the study suggests that the land should be allocated as follows: 27% for rice cultivation, 46% for field crop conservation farming (maize-legume relay-cropping), 11% for perennial trees (mango), and 17% for semi-perennial crops (passion fruit). This production system can generate of 92,600 -101,400 THB per year cash income per household. This will produce on average 1,261 kilograms of rice per year per household. By following this optimal land use, it could reduce the cost of chemicals and fertilizers by 6,600 -10,200 THB per household per year. If decisions on optimal land use are done in highland community, land would be allocated to mix perennial and semi-perennial fruit trees including without waste burning from production that the optimized production plan is environmentally sustainable.

The Civic Life of Food Production

The Civic Life of Food Production

Introducing a Special Issue on the Reinvention of Food

This introduction to a special issue forwards “the reinvention of food” as an analytical framework within which to make sense, together, of current projects valorizing “traditional” methods of food production as well as efforts to reimagine more sustainable or transparent food provisioning schemes.

An international survey of aquaponics practitioners.

Aquaponics, a combination of fish farming and soilless plant farming, is growing in popularity and gaining attention as an important and potentially more sustainable method of food production. The aim of this study was to document and analyze the production methods, experiences, motivations, and demographics of aquaponics practitioners in the United States (US) and internationally. The survey was distributed online using a chain sampling method that relied on referrals from initial respondents, with 809 respondents meeting the inclusion criteria. The majority of respondents were from the US (80%), male (78%), and had at least a high school degree (91%). The mean age of respondents was 47±13 years old. Most respondents (52%) had three years or less of aquaponics experience. Respondents typically raised tilapia or ornamental fish and a variety of leafy green vegetables, herbs, and fruiting crops. Respondents were most often motivated to become involved in aquaponics to grow their own food, for environmental sustainability reasons, and for personal health reasons. Many respondents employed more than one method to raise crops, and used alternative or environmentally sustainable sources of energy, water, and fish feed. In general, our findings suggest that aquaponics is a dynamic and rapidly growing field with participants who are actively experimenting with and adopting new technologies. Additional research and outreach is needed to evaluate and communicate best practices within the field. This survey is the first large-scale effort to track aquaponics in the US and provides information that can better inform policy, research, and education efforts regarding aquaponics as it matures and possibly evolves into a mainstream form of agriculture.