Quality perception throughout the table egg supply chain

Purpose:This research shows how the perception of quality differs through the table egg chain and highlights the main quality characteristics for each studied chain participant (farm, retail, consumer).Design/methodology/approach:Observing the change in perception starts from the farm, through retail to the end consumer using the customer–supplier interaction, while looking back from the consumer to the farm, the application of the quality function deployment (QFD) was used. The study included 30 farms, 50 retail stores, 1,000 customers and 300 households.Findings:The farm–retail comparison highlights the type of production as the dominant factor affecting egg quality for both of these participants, followed by hen diet and the type of laying hen hybrid from the farmer's point of view, while retail focuses on packaging and egg damage. Egg quality aspects from the retail–household perspective emphasize the shell appearance and the origin of the eggs, while shelf life and egg class are equally important characteristics for both participants. The application of the QFD throughout the entire egg chain emphasizes quality vs price as the most important characteristic.Originality/value:This study could serve to food policy makers as an introduction to further research and production orientation in relation to the set of quality requirements associated with the egg supply chain.

Everyday life of Ukrainians during the years of mass artificial famine of 1921–1923. According to narrative sources

This article examines the daily life of Ukrainians during the years of mass artificial famine. The aim of our article is to analyze the perception of Ukrainians of the new everyday life: the Bolshevik occupation of Ukraine, their food policy, which caused a mass artificial famine and took the lives of 3.5 million Ukrainians. The author analyzes narratives (memories, diaries of contemporaries of events and interviews collected directly by the author and colleagues during ethnographic expeditions). According to the author, the narratives, despite a certain subjectivity, most fully reflect the essence of the era, convey the feelings and experiences of people who found themselves in the grip of a mass artificial famine caused by the policies of the communist regime. As a result of the study, the author concludes that the effects of mass artificial famine were long-lasting. We mean not only the economic, but, first of all, the humanitarian component. The psychology of the people has changed: many Ukrainians have been forced to humiliate themselves to get miserable food, some have been forced to lose their moral face and dare to steal, and anger and hatred for people have intensified. According to medical research, hunger causes anger, greed, cruelty, misanthropy, immorality. Hunger is able to activate atavistic human instincts. Children were the most affected by the mass artificial famine. They were suffered from food shortages, starved, some of them died forever. Those who survived had poor health and a broken psyche. After the mass artificial famine of 1921 – 1923, Ukrainian society transformed its identity. However, the final loss of national origins will occur during the Holodomor genocide of 1932 – 1933.

The administrative state in food policymaking: a fait accompli

PurposeThis paper analyzes scholarly literature and the development of a nonstate food strategy in Canada, the Conference Board of Canada's Canadian Food Strategy, to explore the role of the administrative state in food policymaking.Design/methodology/approachThis research is based on an exploratory case study drawing data from 38 semistructured interviews, including elite interviews. It also draws on policy documents from the nonstate food strategy.FindingsThis paper shows that various nonstate actors, including large food industry players, identify a role for the state in food policy in two ways: as a “conductor,” playing a managing role in the food policy process, and as a “commander,” taking control of policy development and involving nonstate actors when necessary. The complex and wicked aspects of food policy require the administrative state's involvement in food policymaking, while tamer aspects of food policy may be less state-centric.Originality/valueThis paper fills gaps in studies exploring food policymaking processes as well as the administrative state's role in food policymaking in a governance era. It contributes to a better understanding of the state's role in complex and wicked policy domains.

Introduction of food distribution in the conditions of the supply crisis before the revolution of 1917 (based on the materials of Kostroma Province)

By the end of 1916, the food issue had been escalating in the Russian Empire. The Russian government faced the need to supply not only the army, but also the provinces with consuming bread, and the civilians were hostages of the transport crisis. The fixed prices for bread introduced in September 1916 led to the restriction of market trade. An important step in the state regulation of the bread market was the unfolding of bread. The article provides an analysis of food policy before the introduction of the unfolding. The food distribution of the tsarist government was an attempt to mobilise grain resources for the needs of the army and the civilians. The peculiarity of the reform was the combination of the principle of duty and payment of the product at a fixed price. The expansion is considered both from the all-Russia positions, taking into account the experience of grain-producing provinces, and in terms of Kostroma Province, which had lack of developed agriculture. The article pays special attention to the measures of local authorities. The governor, the zemstvo, the volost peasant gatherings were not ready to complete the tasks in full. The article concludes that the food distribution in the bread-consuming province, experiencing a crisis of planned supply, could not end successfully.

Socioeconomic, Eating- and Health-Related Limitations of Food Consumption among Polish Women 60+ Years: The ‘ABC of Healthy Eating’ Project

The study aimed at identifying the socioeconomic, eating- and health-related limitations and their associations with food consumption among Polish women 60+ years old. Data on the frequency of consumption of fruit, vegetables, dairy, meat, poultry, fish, legumes, eggs, water and beverages industrially unsweetened were collected with the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA®) and were expressed in the number of servings consumed per day or week. Three indexes: the Socioeconomic Status Index (SESI), the Eating-related Limitations Score (E-LS) and the Health-related Limitations Score (H-LS) were developed and applied. SESI was created on the base of two variables: place of residence and the self-reported economic situation of household. E-LS included: difficulties with self-feeding, decrease in food intake due to digestive problems, chewing or swallowing difficulties, loss of appetite, decrease in the feeling the taste of food, and feeling satiety, whereas H-LS included: physical function, comorbidity, cognitive function, psychological stress and selected anthropometric measurements. A logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the socioeconomic, eating-, and health-related limitations of food consumption. Lower socioeconomic status (vs. higher) was associated with a lower chance of consuming fruit/vegetables ≥2 servings/day (OR = 0.25) or consuming dairy ≥1 serving/day (OR = 0.32). The existence of multiple E-LS limitations (vs. few) was associated with a lower chance of consuming fruit/vegetables ≥2 servings/day (OR = 0.72), consuming dairy ≥1 serving/day (OR = 0.55) or consuming water and beverages industrially unsweetened ≥6 cups/day (OR = 0.56). The existence of multiple H-LS limitations was associated with a lower chance of consuming fruit/vegetables ≥2 servings/day (OR = 0.79 per 1 H-LS point increase) or consuming dairy ≥1 serving/day (OR = 0.80 per 1 H-LS point increase). Limitations found in the studied women were related to insufficient consumption of selected groups of food, which can lead to malnutrition and dehydration. There is a need for food policy actions, including practical educational activities, to eliminate barriers in food consumption, and in turn to improve the nutritional and health status of older women.

Precision Agroecology

In response to global calls for sustainable food production, we identify two diverging paradigms to address the future of agriculture. We explore the possibility of uniting these two seemingly diverging paradigms of production-oriented and ecologically oriented agriculture in the form of precision agroecology. Merging precision agriculture technology and agroecological principles offers a unique array of solutions driven by data collection, experimentation, and decision support tools. We show how the synthesis of precision technology and agroecological principles results in a new agriculture that can be transformative by (1) reducing inputs with optimized prescriptions, (2) substituting sustainable inputs by using site-specific variable rate technology, (3) incorporating beneficial biodiversity into agroecosystems with precision conservation technology, (4) reconnecting producers and consumers through value-based food chains, and (5) building a just and equitable global food system informed by data-driven food policy. As a result, precision agroecology provides a unique opportunity to synthesize traditional knowledge and novel technology to transform food systems. In doing so, precision agroecology can offer solutions to agriculture’s biggest challenges in achieving sustainability in a major state of global change.

Roles of Cities in Creating Healthful Food Systems

Over the past several decades, cities worldwide have attempted to reconfigure their food systems to improve public health, advance social justice, and promote environmental resilience using diverse municipal policies, often with the support of stakeholder-led governance mechanisms such as food policy councils. This article reviews the roles that cities have played in creating healthful urban food systems and the effects of those policies on public health. It explains that despite wide-ranging policy initiatives, disparities in food insecurity and malnourishment persist. It concludes by describing several promising pathways for urban food policy: engaging in food-focused urban planning to create equitable food environments; treating policies to address inequality and social justice as upstream food policies; considering the effects of new business models such as online food retail in urban food policy making; and using food procurement as a lever to influence regional, national, and global food systems. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Public Health, Volume 43 is April 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.