Impact of Population Age Structure on Food Consumption Structure of Residents in Beijing

Based on the Beijing panel data from 1990 to 2019, this paper expands the traditional Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS) model by introducing the nutritional needs indicators by age structure and quantitatively analyzes the structure and characteristics of household food consumption in Beijing. The study estimates and compares the income elasticity, price elasticity, nutritional demand elasticity of food consumption structure, and the per capita food consumption in Beijing is predicted. The results show that commodity prices and income are still the key factors affecting consumer demand. The change in the population's age structure also has a corresponding impact on the consumption structure. The consumption structure of Beijing is in the stage of optimization, and relevant departments should formulate relevant policies to increase farmers' income and stabilize prices.

Food Waste of Italian Families: Proportion in Quantity and Monetary Value of Food Purchases

Halving per capita food waste (FW) is one of the objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals. This study aims to evaluate the weight and monetary values of food waste among a sample of Italian families. In a representative sample of 1142 families, the adults responsible for food purchases and in charge of preparing meals were assessed with a self-administrated questionnaire measuring quantity and typology of FW. These data were linked with food purchases figures measured as an average of four weeks. Italian families wasted 399 kg of food per week (4.4% of the weight of food purchased), which correspond to a monetary value of €1.052 (3.8% of the overall food expenditure). Clustering the food groups according to waste quantity, typology, and monetary value made it possible to show that price has a role in the generation of food waste, as the lower the unitary cost, the higher the quantity of waste. Consequently, foods with high unitary costs were less wasted. The results of this study showed that Italian consumers are sensitive to the economic impact of waste and this should be considered in sensitization campaigns.

Analysis of Food Production and Consumption Based on the Emergy Method in Kazakhstan

The imbalance in the supply and demand for resources is a thorny issue that many countries have to face. Food is a basic resource throughout the world. Understanding the exact situation of food production and consumption is an important foundation for sustainable development. This paper aims to explore the quantity and pattern changes in food production and consumption in Kazakhstan. This can reflect the level of residents’ standard of living and the situation of natural resource use. This paper focuses on the quantitative relationship between animal-based food and plant-based food and the tendency towards changes in urban and rural residents’ food production and consumption in Kazakhstan based on the emergy analysis method. The data of food production and consumption were mainly obtained from the official statistics of the FAO, the World Bank, Statistical Commission of the Ministry of National Economy of Kazakhstan, and literature. The research results showed that, over time, Kazakhstan residents’ food consumption patterns have become more varied, and the proportion of meat consumption to total food consumption has increased. Although the rural per capita food consumption is significantly different from that of urban residents, this gap decreased in 2019. In Kazakhstan, the consumption of several types of food still relies on imports. Food production and consumption are affected by economic, social, and ecological factors. The results of this research can provide scientific support for reasonable and sustainable production and consumption strategies in Kazakhstan.

Urban household food waste: drivers and practices in Toronto, Canada

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to understand determinants of food waste through analysing patterns of practices including shopping, planning, consumption of leftovers and attitudes around best-before dates.Design/methodology/approachA survey and waste composition analysis of 142 households was conducted in the City of Toronto. Bivariate analyses and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using a structural equation model were used to identify relationships between per capita food waste, household socio-demographic characteristics and household food practices.FindingsConstructs related to planning practices and best-before date practices were identified through the CFA. Household size and the best-before construct were negatively correlated with per capita food waste. The planning construct had no correlation, which may be attributed to the influence of the retail environment in encouraging unplanned purchases. The best-before construct was significantly correlated with the presence of children in the home, an indicator of the compromises that parents make in domestic provisioning to ensure healthy foods for their children, such as more caution in handling items after their best-before dates.Originality/valueThis is the first study of its kind that uses directly measured per capita food waste from a waste composition study in a structural equation model with a construct related to best-before dates to determine drivers of food waste. It is also the first to find that children in the home can have an indirect influence on food waste through the household's best-before practices.

Citizen Science for Quantifying and Reducing Food Loss and Food Waste

Food loss and food waste are urgent global problems relating to environmental and social challenges including biodiversity loss, climate change, health, and malnutrition. Reduction targets have been set, including Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12.3, which aims to halve per capita food waste at retail and consumer levels globally by 2030, as well as reduce food losses along production and supply chains. Citizen science, the engagement of members of the public in data collection and other elements of the scientific process, can play a role in tackling the problem of food waste and food loss. In this paper, we scope opportunities for using citizen science to answer 26 priority research questions identified by experts in the field of food waste and food loss as being critical to achieving SDG12.3. We describe how citizen science can be used to quantify and understand causes of food loss and waste. Crucially, we demonstrate the value of citizen science in being not just a data gathering tool but also a method of bringing about change through influencing action, from individual behavior to policy making. Furthermore, we argue the need to bring together all actors in the food system in citizen science projects in order to build shared understanding that will ultimately lead to reduced loss and waste across the food system.

Ancestral ecological regime shapes reaction to food limitation in the Least Killifish, Heterandria formosa

In populations with contrasting densities of conspecifics, we often see genetically-based differences in life histories. The divergent life histories could be driven by several distinct agents of selection, including, amongst other factors, variation in per-capita food levels, the intensity of crowding-induced stress, rates of pathogen transmission, mate encounter rates, and the rates with which waste products accumulate. Understanding which selective agents act in a particular population is important as the type of agents can affect both population dynamics and evolutionary responses to density-dependent selection. Here we used a full-factorial laboratory experiment to examine whether two populations of a small live-bearing freshwater fish, characterised by high-density/low-predation or low-density/high-predation conditions, are adapted to different per-capita food levels. As expected, fish from the higher density regime handled food limitation better than those from the lower density regime. Although the lower food level resulted in slower growth, smaller body size, delayed maturation and reduced survival in both populations, especially survival to maturity showed a highly significant population x food-level interaction. At low food, 75% of fish from the low-density population died, compared to only 15% of fish from the high-density population. This difference was much smaller at high food (15% vs. 0% mortality), and was mediated, at least partly, through a larger size at birth of fish from the high-density regime. While we cannot preclude other agents of selection from operating differently in the study populations, we demonstrate that selection at higher density confers a greater ability to cope with low per-capita food availability.

Household Engagement in Both Aquaculture and Horticulture Is Associated with Higher Diet Quality than Either Alone

The consumption of high-quality diverse diets is crucial for optimal growth, health, and wellbeing. Objective: This study assessed the diet quality of households by their type of engagement in homestead aquaculture and/or horticulture. Socio-demographic determinants of diet quality were also studied. Method: Diet quality was assessed using a nutrient adequacy ratio (NAR), based on the preceding 7 days’ dietary recall at the household level. Adult male equivalent units (AMEs) were used for age- and sex-specific intra-household distribution of household intakes. Mean adequacy ratios (MAR) were computed as an overall measure of diet quality, using NAR. Results: Better diet quality (mean ± SD) was associated with households engaged in both homestead aquaculture and horticulture (0.43 ± 0.23; p < 0.001) compared to only one type of agriculture (0.38 ± 0.20) or none (0.36 ± 0.20). Tukey’s post-hoc test confirmed significant differences in diet quality between both and either engagement (0.05 ± 0.01, p < 0.001), both and no engagement (0.07 ± 0.01, p < 0.001), and either and no engagement households (0.02 ± 0.01, p < 0.001). Beyond farm production of nutrient-rich foods, generalized estimating equations showed that diet quality was influenced by the higher educational level and occupation of adult household members, higher daily per capita food expenditure, sex, family size and region. Conclusions: Projects that promote and support household engagement in both homestead aquaculture and horticulture have the potential to improve the diet quality of households.