Globally, school meal programs aim to meet the nutritional needs of school-aged children, promising a better future for participating countries. However, the implementation of these programs varies among countries. In those with such programs, strong policy guidelines are essential to ensure their success. National policies related to school feeding, nutrition, health, food safety, agriculture, and the private sector play a crucial role in the effective implementation of food biofortification in the agricultural sector. This study aims to analyze (...) how these various policies affect the implementation of food biofortification in countries with school meal programs. Enhancing and strengthening these policies could improve biofortification practices among farmers, increase their involvement, and upgrade the supply chain for school meal programs. (shrink)

The study determined the dynamics of growing grain crops in Ukraine and the geography of their export. The problems of ensuring export logistics as a result of military aggression by russia in the context of ensuring food security are pointed out. The main directions of export logistics of grain crops from Ukraine and the peculiarities of transportation by railway, river and road transport were studied. The directions of diversification of export logistics of grain crops from Ukraine during martial law (...) in the context of ensuring food security have been determined. Further ways of ensuring the development of the export of grain crops from Ukraine and improving the logistics infrastructure are substantiated. A description of the directions of cooperation between Ukraine and the European Union countries regarding the promotion and support of export logistics to the main countries of importers of agricultural products to ensure food security is provided. Ways of post-war restoration of the logistics of export of agricultural products from Ukraine and ensuring the sustainability of agricultural producers are considered. (shrink)

The authors of the scientific monograph have come to the conclusion that ensuring food security during martial law requires the use of mechanisms to support agricultural exports, diversify logistics routes, ensure environmental safety, provide financial and marketing support. Basic research focuses on assessment the state of agricultural producers, analysing the financial and accounting system, logistics activities, ensuring competitiveness, and environmental pollution. The research results have been implemented in the different decision-making models during martial law, international logistics management, digital audit, (...) agricultural lending, integrated marketing system, risk management and diversification of Ukrainian agricultural exports. The results of the study can be used in the developing of food security policies, programmes and strategies, agricultural production development, decision-making at the level of ministries and agencies that regulate food security management processes. The results can also be used by students and young scientists in the educational process and conducting scientific research on food security during martial law and Ukraine’s recovery economy after the victory. (shrink)

The data used in this study was kindly provided by Food and Agriculture Organization (United Nations) and Data in Emergencies Hub (Food and Agriculture Organization).

On why agricultural innovation from the Global South can and should be used to adapt food production to climate change. Discussed on hand of three cases studies.

Consumers are increasingly aware of the health- and safety-related implications of the food which they can buy in the market. At the same time, households have become more aware of their environmental responsibilities. Regarding the production of food, a crucial and multifunctional role is played by agriculture. The way vegetables, fruits, and other crops are grown and how livestock is raised has an impact on the environment and landscape. Operations performed by farmers, such as water management, can (...) be dangerous for the soil and the whole ecosystem. Consequently, there is a search for natural ways of sustaining the impact of agriculture on the environment. In this context, one of the most popular ideas is organic agriculture. In the literature on the subject, there are many concepts that some authors consider to be synonymous even as others argue that these terms are not interchangeable. There is, for example, "organic agriculture," "alternative agriculture," "sustainable agriculture," "ecological agriculture," "biological agriculture," "niche farming," "community-supported agriculture," and "integrated pest management." Very often, techniques and products related to organic agriculture are described by marketing experts with the use of abbreviations such as "bio" and "eco." Products with such markings and labels are increasingly popular in stores that often give them separate shelves for their sale. Despite the higher price compared to conventional products, they are increasingly sought by consumers. The entry examines the various impacts of organic agriculture with a view to these trends. (shrink)

Today the relationship between food and cities is revitalizing urban areas, as food production practices transform locales one block and one neighborhood at a time. The key catalysts of this transformation include the commitment to address the root causes of inequalities within food systems and the desire to increase local control over food systems that have been increasingly industrialized and globalized. These goals, encapsulated by the terms “food justice” and “food sovereignty,” play major roles (...) in guiding local food initiatives in cities today. This study explores how justice-oriented urban agriculture projects transform city contexts in ways that reduce regulatory barriers – barriers that, when left in place, could perpetuate systems of oppression. The study ends with the argument that, by removing regulatory barriers, urban agriculture projects are transforming cityscapes in ways that cultivate justice at the system level. (shrink)

Food security is one of the major concerns in the Philippines. Although livestock and poultry production accounts for a significant proportion of the country’s agricultural output, smallholder households are still vulnerable to food insecurity. The current study aims to examine how livestock production and selling difficulties affect smallholder households’ food-insecure conditions. For this objective, Bayesian Mindsponge Framework (BMF) analytics was employed on a dataset of the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Data in Emergencies Monitoring (DIEM) system. (...) We found that production and selling difficulties significantly adversely affect food insecurity in the Philippines. However, their effects vary according to the severity of food insecurity. In particular, production and selling difficulties affect the households’ likelihood of eating less healthy and nutritious food equally. However, the production difficulties have more negligible impacts on the possibility of skipping meals and even ambiguous impacts on the likelihood of not eating for a whole day compared to the effects of selling difficulties. Moreover, we also found that the market plays a crucial role in facilitating not only livestock trading but also livestock production (e.g., purchase of feed and medicines). Based on these findings, we suggest that the livestock market needs to be expanded and regulated to maintain the balancing prices between livestock products and products and services used for livestock production, and facilitate the product-exchanging mechanism. (shrink)

In this special issue we will investigate, from the perspective of agricultural ethics the potential to develop a Responsible Research and Innovation approach to agriculture, and the limitations to such an enterprise. RRI is an emerging field in the European research and innovation policy context that aims to balance economic, socio-cultural and environmental aspects in innovation processes. Because technological innovations can contribute significantly to the solution of societal challenges like climate change or food security, but can also have (...) negative societal consequences, it is assumed that social and ethical aspects should be considered during the R&I process. For this reason, the emerging concept of RRI calls for ethical reflection on the nature, scope and applicability of responsibility and innovation in innovation practices in general, and the way social–ethical issues can be applied and addressed in agriculture. (shrink)

The primary responsibility of the US Food and Drug Administration is to protect public health by ensuring the safety of the food supply. To that end, it sometimes conducts risk assessments of novel food products, such as genetically modified food. The FDA describes its regulatory review of GM food as a purely scientific activity, untainted by any normative considerations. This paper provides evidence that the regulatory agency is not justified in making that claim. It is (...) argued that the FDA’s policy stance on GM food is shaped by neoliberal considerations. The agency’s review of a genetically engineered animal, the AquAdvantage salmon, is used as a case study to track the influence of neoliberalism on its regulatory review protocol. After that, an epistemic argument justifying public engagement in the risk assessment of new GM food is outlined. It is because risk evaluations involve normative judgments, in a democracy, layperson representatives of informal epistemic communities that could be affected by a new GM food should have the opportunity to decide the ethical, political or other normative questions that arise during the regulatory review of that entity. (shrink)

Abstract: Herders and farmers conflicts in Nigeria have enjoyed a lot of construal and different connotations. The confrontations mostly started as farmers and herder’s conflict, then the attacks of suspected Fulani herders, then rustlers and bandits and a lot of others. The mode of attacks and nature of the clashes varies in different times and different places. The conflicts have further opened ways to menace such as the spread of Fulani bandit, the rise of cattle rustlers and other criminalities such (...) as the activities of societal miscreants, and conflict entrepreneurs. All the attacks and confrontations often have negative bearings on people lives, properties, businesses, houses, food and agricultural produces. This study attempted to examine herders and farmers conflicts in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau State and how it has affected societal progression. The study generated data from array of both published and unpublished materials such as text books, journal papers, newspapers, magazines, white paper of reports of panel of investigation and commission of inquiry, internet materials, seminar and conference papers and a lot of others. The main instrument used to generate data was interview. In interpreting our data, the relationship between herders and farmers conflicts and development was established at both theoretical and empirical level. Empirically, we used a qualitative and historical method that was critical and analytical in providing descriptive and historical details. This was further complemented by descriptive analysis. It was established that the activities of groups such as the Bigol, bandit and some youth of the Berom who often indulged in cattle rustling is at the heart to the incessant attacks that are witnessing in the Local Government Area . The acts have enjoyed a lot of interpolation and have been eroded and broaden by different vices in the society. It was also found out that the attacks have negative impact on lives and properties, farm products, livestock, food production, business and a lot of others. Conclusion was drawn that the herders and farmers confrontation in Barkin Ladi is a migraine to socio-economic development. Recommendations such as control of borders, good governance, improve policing, religious tolerance and a lot of others were proffered. (shrink)

Providing equitable food security for a growing population while minimizing environmental impacts and enhancing resilience to climate shocks is an ongoing challenge. Here, we quantify the resource intensity, environmental impacts and nutritional output of a small (0.075 ha) low-input subsistence Mediterranean agroecological farm in a developed nation that is based on intercropping and annual crop rotation. The farm provides one individual, the proprietor, with nutritional self-sufficiency (adequate intake of an array of macro- and micro-nutrients) with limited labor, no synthetic (...) fertilizers or herbicides, and zero waste, effectively closing a full farm-table-farm cycle. We find that the agroecological farm outperforms conventional farming as practiced in the same country in terms of both lower environmental burdens, across all examined environmental metrics (63% lower on average) per kg produce, and higher nutritional score (66% higher on average). Per equal farmland, the environmental lopsidedness was even higher (79% lower than conventional farming on average), with nearly the same nutritional score (3% lower on average). Moreover, when considering total land area, which includes farmland and supporting non-agricultural lands, as well as postgate impacts and food losses, the advantage of the agroecological system over conventional farming is even more pronounced. Situated within a Mediterranean region that is undergoing rapid climate change, this food system is a unique case study of nutrition- and environment-oriented food production system. While its deployment potential is limited by lack of supportive policies, it nonetheless represents one of the most starkly bold alternatives to current food systems. (shrink)

Abstract: Lemons are an important fruit that have a wide range of uses and benefits, from culinary to health to household and beauty applications. Deep learning techniques have shown promising results in image classification tasks, including fruit quality detection. In this paper, we propose a convolutional neural network (CNN)-based approach for detecting the quality of lemons by analysing visual features such as colour and texture. The study aims to develop and train a deep learning model to classify lemons based on (...) their quality, evaluate the model's performance, compare it to traditional machine learning approaches, and identify key factors that affect the model's performance. The dataset used in the study consists of approximately 2533 images of lemons and an empty surface, divided into training, test, and validation data, and includes images of both good and bad quality lemons under different lighting conditions. The deep learning model achieved an accuracy of 99.74% on the test dataset and outperformed traditional machine learning approaches. The developed model has the potential to improve efficiency and accuracy in lemon quality control in the agriculture and food industry. (shrink)

Water is regarded as indefeasible necessity of human civilization. In the South Asia region, the groundwater resource is poised as essence of life, security and development. Bangladesh is not an exception from that. Due to scarcity as well as disproportionate availability of surface water supply, the groundwater resource is veered into vital source to undergird heavy demand of water supply for livelihoods, industrial and agricultural purposes. Considering these, the groundwater resource governance is crucial since it is the mainstay of upholding (...) economic, social and development rights; failure to ensure proper governance would only drag the country into the tentacles of environmental scourge, conflict and food insecurity. The paper endeavors to analyze the role and significance of civil society on groundwater resource management. It explores the nature of challenges that civil society is encountering during its engagement with groundwater resource governance. This paper undertakes to outline national legislative and policy response to groundwater resource management in Bangladesh. It also scrutinizes in detail of groundwater resource aspect in international law and would reveal that, considering the gravity of the issue, both the domain of international law and national law contribute below the par to the issue. The paper further contends that existing legislative and policy structure of Bangladesh eventually maims the civil society from contributing and bars it to facilitate effective participation of the commons. In the concluding remarks, the paper highlights suggested recommendations stemming from discussions, observations and policy reports to bolster the affiliation of civil society in the governance of groundwater resource. (shrink)

While we are currently experiencing a renaissance in philosophical work on agriculture and food ( Barnhill, Budolfson, & Doggett 2016 ; Thompson 2015 ; Kaplan 2012 ), these topics were common sources of discussion throughout the three-thousand-year history of Western thought. For example, the Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle (2014 ) explored connections between fulfi lling human promise and systems of agriculture ( Thompson & Noll 2015 ) and Hippocrates (1923 ) stressed the importance of cultivating agricultural products (...) provided by nature ( Zwart 2000 ). In order to live a truly human life, Hippocrates argued, one must not passively consume crude food products, as such brutish living leads to terrible suffering. Later, both the Hebrew Bible and Christian Gospels provided clear ethical mandates concerning agricultural practices and the consumption of food. These mandates or ethics needed to be observed regardless of context ( Zwart 2000 ). More recently, Thomas Jefferson added to this literature, as he engaged in agricultural production at his Monticello plantation and wrote extensively on how farming is intimately connected to the political system of democracy ( Thompson & Noll 2015 ). This refl ection on food and agriculture continued into the 20th century, albeit not in the discipline of philosophy. Scientists and agricultural leaders, such as Henry Wallace and Liberty Hyde Bailey, provided important critiques of agricultural practices contemporary to their time. (shrink)

In the unfolding debate on the prospects, challenges and viability of the imminent transition towards a ‘Bio-Based Society’ or ‘Bio-based Economy’—i.e. the replacement of fossil fuels by biomass as a basic resource for the production of energy, materials and food, ‘big’ concepts tend to play an important role, such as, for instance, ‘sustainability’, ‘global justice’ and ‘naturalness’. The latter concept is, perhaps, the most challenging and intriguing one. In public debates concerning biotechnological interactions with the natural environment, the use (...) of terms such as ‘nature’ and ‘naturalness’ is both inevitable and hazardous . Indeed, various conflicting interpretations of naturalness play a role on both sides of the current debate. This paper aims to analyse and critically assess the role of ‘nature-speak’ in the BBS transition. We will begin with a concise overview of the vicissitudes of the nature-concept so far, focussing on how modern science and technology have challenged and affected our understanding of what nature is. Subsequently, we describe how ‘naturalness’ functions in the unfolding BBS debate. Finally, we will focus on a particular case study, namely the production of rubber with the help of natural latex coming from dandelion plants rather than from rubber trees. On the one hand, this is presented as a more natural and nature-friendly way of producing rubber. On the other hand, it is a sophisticated process, involving high technology and primarily focussed on competitiveness on the global market. To what extent or in what sense can dandelion latex be regarded as more natural? And what can we learn from this case study when it comes to addressing naturalness in the broader conceptual and bio-political arena? (shrink)

This is an excellent review of gene/environment interactions on behavior and, in spite of being a bit dated, is an easy and worthwhile read. They start with twin studies which show the overwhelming impact of genetics on behavior. They note the increasingly well known studies of Judith Harris which extend and summarize the facts that shared home environment has almost no effect on behavior and that adopted children grow up to be as different from their stepbrothers and sisters (...) as people chosen at random. One basic point that they (and nearly all who discuss behavioral genetics) fail to note is that the hundreds (thousands depending on your viewpoint) of human behavioral universals, including all the basics of our personalities, are 100% determined by our genes, with no variation in normals. Everyone sees a tree as a tree and not a stone, seeks and eats food, gets angry and jealous etc. So, what they are mostly talking about here is how much environment (culture) can affect the degree to which various traits are shown, rather than their appearance. Finally, they discuss eugenics in the usual politically correct fashion, failing to note that we and all organisms are the products of nature’s eugenics and that attempts to defeat natural selection with medicine, agriculture, and civilization as a whole, are disastrous for any society that persists. As much as 50% of all conceptions, or some 100 million/year, end in early spontaneous abortion, nearly all without the mother being aware. This natural culling of defective genes drives evolution, keeps us relatively genetically sound and makes society possible. However, it is now clear that overpopulation will destroy the world before dysgenics has a chance. -/- Those wishing a comprehensive up to date account of Wittgenstein, Searle and their analysis of behavior from the modern two systems view may consult my article The Logical Structure of Philosophy, Psychology, Mind and Language as Revealed in Wittgenstein and Searle (2016). Those interested in all my writings in their most recent versions may download from this site my e-book ‘Philosophy, Human Nature and the Collapse of Civilization Michael Starks (2016)- Articles and Reviews 2006-2016’ by Michael Starks First Ed. 662p (2016). -/- All of my papers and books have now been published in revised versions both in ebooks and in printed books. -/- Talking Monkeys: Philosophy, Psychology, Science, Religion and Politics on a Doomed Planet - Articles and Reviews 2006-2017 (2017) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071HVC7YP. -/- The Logical Structure of Philosophy, Psychology, Mind and Language in Ludwig Wittgenstein and John Searle--Articles and Reviews 2006-2016 (2017) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071P1RP1B. -/- Suicidal Utopian Delusions in the 21st century: Philosophy, Human Nature and the Collapse of Civilization - Articles and Reviews 2006-2017 (2017) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0711R5LGX . (shrink)

The ancient Stoics believed that virtue is the only true good and as such both necessary and sufficient for happiness. Accordingly, they classified food as among the things that are neither good nor bad but "indifferent." These "indifferents" included health, illness, wealth, poverty, good and bad reputation, life, death, pleasure, and pain. How one deals with having or lacking these things reflects one’s virtue or vice and thus determines one’s happiness or misery. So, while the Stoics held that (...) class='Hi'>food in itself contributes nothing to a person’s happiness, how one obtains, prepares, and serves it, and both what and how one eats, all reveal a person’s character as good or bad. Thus, understanding the purpose of food, the necessity of frugality, and the virtue of temperance are all important in Stoicism. This paper traces the ethical views on food from Zeno of Citium and Chrysippus to Seneca, Musonius Rufus, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius. They agree that the wise and temperate know that simple, inexpensive foods in moderate amounts produced locally are easy to get and prepare, healthy for the body, and good for the mind. Thus, Stoicism dictates frugality of diet and the rejection of ambitious eating, gluttony, luxuries, delicacies, and gustatory extravagance. Some Stoics favor vegetarianism. All Stoics think it wise to limit eating and drinking to strict bodily need and to eradicate all food anxieties. (shrink)

Globally, school meal programs are not uniformly implemented. Some countries lack such programs entirely, while others face challenges throughout the supply chain and food service processes. Implementing school meal programs requires guidance and support from a range of policies, including national and local school policies. This study aims to analyze how various national policies—such as those related to school feeding, nutrition, health, food safety, agriculture, and the private sector—affect the implementation of in-school food fortification. Enhancing and (...) strengthening these policies could improve food fortification practices in school kitchens, thereby addressing the problem of “hidden hunger” among students through school meal programs. (shrink)

This paper explores the tensions between two disparate approaches to addressing hunger worldwide: Food security and food sovereignty. Food security generally focuses on ensuring that people have economic and physical access to safe and nutritious food, while food sovereignty movements prioritize the right of people and communities to determine their agricultural policies and food cultures. As food sovereignty movements grew out of critiques of food security initiatives, they are often framed as conflicting (...) approaches within the wider literature. This paper explores this tension, arguing that food security is based on a particular model of justice, distributive justice, which limits the sovereignty and autonomy of communities as food producers and consumers. In contrast, food sovereignty movements view food security as a necessary part of food sovereignty, but ultimately insufficient for creating food sustainable communities and limiting wider harms. Rather than viewing food security and food sovereignty as in conflict, we argue that food sovereignty’s justice framework both encompasses and entails justice claims that guide food security projects. (shrink)

Food behaviors, both private and public, are deeply affected by gender norms concerning both masculinity and femininity. In some ways, food-centered activities constitute gender relations and identities across cultures. This entry provides a non-exhaustive overview of how gender norms bear on food behaviors broadly construed, focusing on three categories: food production, food preparation, and food consumption.

To combat hidden hunger and malnutrition, support educational attainment, and promote overall child development, many countries have implemented school meals programs. Strong policy guidelines at the national level are essential for the success of these programs. These policies encompass areas such as school feeding, nutrition, health, food safety, agriculture, and collaboration with the private sector. They play a crucial role in practices like adding nutritional supplements or micronutrient powders to foods prepared in school kitchens. This study aims to (...) analyze how national policies impact the implementation of in-school micronutrient supplementation. Enhancing and strengthening these policies could improve micronutrient supplementation programs and effectively address hidden hunger among children. (shrink)

Cattle farming is a traditional agricultural system that contributes to the rural economic, social, and cultural values of the communities. Cattle as common with other livestock, are affected by many diseases that cause mortality and economic losses. In many rural households, the use of plants and associated knowledge are popular for managing cattle diseases, especially in areas experiencing challenges with conventional veterinary medicine. Evidence on the documentation of indigenous knowledge and biological evaluation of plants used against cattle diseases remain understudied (...) and fragmented. The aim of the review is to collate and analyze the ethnoveterinary knowledge and biological evaluation of plants used against cattle diseases in South Africa. Different scientific databases were systematically explored to extract data from 37 eligible studies. A total of 310 medicinal plants from 81 families were used to treat 10 categories of cattle diseases across seven (7) provinces in South Africa. Leguminosae (Fabaceae), Compositae (Asteraceae), Asparagaceae, and Xanthorrhoeaceae were the most frequently used plant families. Common plant parts used were leaves and roots. Twenty-seven (27) combination remedies involving 2–6 plants were identified as treatment regimes against cattle diseases. Common preparation methods were infusion and decoction while the administration mode was predominantly unspecified (52%) while oral and topical contributed 26 and 22%, respectively. In terms of diseases, the most treated ones were general systems infection, reproduction disorders, and gastrointestinal problems. Currently, an estimated 21% of the 310 plants have been evaluated for diverse biological activities using relevant bioassays related to cattle diseases. Antibacterial activity remained the most studied biological activity. Evidence from the review revealed the significance of ethnoveterinary medicine against cattle diseases especially in rural areas of South Africa. Nevertheless, the use of plants for cattle diseases among other ethnic groups, particularly in the Northern Cape and Western Cape, remains understudied. (shrink)

Despite the minimal attention paid by philosophers to gardening, the activity has a myriad of philosophical implications—aesthetic, ethical, political, and even edible. The same could be said of community food security and struggles for food justice. Two of gardening’s most significant practical benefits are that it generates communal solidarity and provides sustenance for the needy and undernourished during periods of crisis. In the twentieth century, large-scale community gardening in the U.S. and Canada coincided with relief projects during war-time (...) and economic downturn. More recently, small-scale gardening projects have emerged in schools, blighted urban areas, and communities of activists committed to increasing food security and resisting neo-liberal city planning policies. It is therefore surprising that pragmatist philosophers, who typically work at the nexus of theory and practice, have remained relatively silent about the relationship between gardening and food security. If more were to take up the challenge, they would find considerable guidance from several contemporary scholars working in diverse disciplines, from cultural geography to community studies, who explore the topic in a number of non-philosophical, though equally effective and imaginative, ways. In this paper, I propose a tentative pragmatist model for understanding how gardens make our food system more secure—a model inspired by John Dewey’s writings on school gardening, which I call the pragmatic pyramid. (shrink)

In hyper-modern society, food has become a source of endemic discontent. Many food products are seen as ‘tainted’; literally, figuratively or both. A psychoanalytic approach, I will argue, may help us to come to terms with our alimentary predicaments. What I envision is a ‘depth ethics’ focusing on some of the latent tensions, conflicts and ambiguities at work in the current food debate. First, I will outline some promising leads provided by two prominent psychoanalytic authors, namely Sigmund (...) Freud and Jacques Lacan. Subsequently, I will elucidate why our chronic dependency on high-tech food production apparently fails to meet consumer needs, focusing on some scenarios of escape, such as anorexia, cultured meat and ersatz food. And I will use ‘genres of the imagination’ to flesh out how food consumption has become a podium for enacting cultural symptoms, moral outcries, provocative identities and practices of the Self. Notably, I will discuss a story by Franz Kafka, a painting by Pablo Picasso and a food novel by Margaret Atwood. (shrink)

The “local food” movement has been growing since at least the mid- twentieth century with the founding of the Rodale Institute. Since then, local food has increasingly become a goal of food systems. Today, books and articles on local food have become commonplace, with popular authors such as Barbara Kingsolver1 and Michael Pollan2 espousing the virtues of eating locally. Additionally, local food initiatives, such as the “farm- tofork,” “Buying Local,” and “Slow Food” have gained (...) a strong international following with clearly visible impacts on the food industry and policy. The numbers of local farmers’ markets, community- supported agriculture projects, and community gardens have been on the rise steadily since 1994. (shrink)

Farmers’ organizations all over the world are very well aware that in order to build and retain a critical mass with sufficient bargaining power to democratically influence local governments and international organizations they will have to unite by identifying common goals and setting aside their differences. After decades of local movements and struggles, farmers’ organizations around the globe found in the concept of “food sovereignty” the normative framework they were long searching for. The broadness of the concept has had (...) a remarkable success in embracing the interests of food producers and consumers from all geographic locations and development levels. (shrink)

This study assessed tertiary students’ awareness of the emergence of the online food delivery (OFD) services could be attributed to the changing nature of urban consumers. These consumers use food delivery services for a variety of reasons but, unsurprisingly, the most common reason seems to be the need for quick and convenient meals during or after a busy day. The study used the cross-sectional survey conducted in Federal University Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria, using random sampling technique. A total (...) of 245 undergraduate students at the university were assessed with a structured online questionnaire. The data collected data was analyzed using Microsoft excel and GraphPad. Results showed that a majority of the students use online food services for their food service needs, hence the study concluded that the majority of the students at the University are aware of online food service. It was recommended that the quality of service of the online food service system needs improvement by enhancing the efficiency of service as well as accessibility, which will enable more students to opt for the food service and delivery system. (shrink)

Conventional ethics of how humans should eat often ignore that human life is itself a form of organic activity. Using Henri Bergson’s notions of intellect and intuition, this chapter brings a wider perspective of the human organism to the ethical question of how humans appropriate life for nutriment. The intellect’s tendency to instrumentalize living things as though they were inert seems to subtend the moral failures evident in practices such as industrial animal agriculture. Using the case study of Temple (...) Grandin’s sympathetic cattle technologies, this chapter moves beyond animal welfare concerns to ground food ethics on the phenomenal character of food that is obscured by human activities of fabrication. (shrink)

The concept of food sovereignty is becoming an element of everyday parlance in development politics and food justice advocacy. Yet to successfully achieve food sovereignty, the demands within this movement have to be compatible with the way people are pursuing consumer sovereignty, and vice versa. The aim of this article is to examine the different sets of demands that the two ideals of sovereignty bring about, analyze in how far these different demands can stand in constructive relations (...) with each other and explain why consumers have to adjust their food choices to seasonal production variability to promote food sovereignty and so secure future autonomy. (shrink)

Antimicrobial resistance is a growing public health concern and is associated with the over- or inappropriate use of antimicrobials in both humans and agriculture. While there has been reco- gnition of this problem on the part of agricultural and public health authorities, there has none- theless been significant difficulty in translating policy recommendations into practical guidelines. In this paper, we examine the process of public health policy development in Quebec agriculture, with a focus on the case of pork (...) production and the role of food animal veterinarians in policy making. We argue that a tendency to employ strictly techno-scientific risk analyses of antimicro- bial use ignores the fundamental social, economic and political realities of key stakeholders and so limits the applicability of policy recommendations developed by government advisory groups. In particular, we suggest that veterinarians’ personal and professional interests, and their ethi- cal norms of practice, are key factors to both the problem of and the solution to the current over-reliance on antimicrobials in food production. (shrink)

The paper outlines critical aspects concerning the increasing use of big data in agriculture and farming. In particular, the aim is to shed light on the emerging dominance of the platform economy in the field of agriculture and food production. To analyze those power structures shaping this dynamic, we start with brief observations on the general relationship between digitization and agriculture and explain the platform economy, its general business model, and the proprietary forms of market power (...) emerging from it. Subsequently, we analyze the implications of the involvement of platform-economic companies in the agricultural sector. To do so, we critically examine several key examples that illuminate the strategies and ultimate objectives of those key tech players involved in this transition––particularly, two of the most dominant cloud providers, Alphabet and Amazon. Finally, we identify the main problems that can potentially emerge, and that can already be observed, from Big Tech’s involvement in agriculture and food production: (1) epistemic asymmetry (2) the erosion of privacy (3) potential harms to smaller farms and farmers, and (4) systemic dependencies on a monopolist data infrastructure. As we argue, these four dimensions are not only essential to take into account, but they also ultimately need to be responded to politically. From a policy perspective, to maintain data justice and epistemic symmetry, and to avoid the risks highlighted, we suggest––next to stressing the need for critical scholarship––to establish a democratically governed data trust, rely on open source technology, and fundamentally commit to the principle of collective data sovereignty. -/- Keywords: big tech, data sovereignty, digital farming, digital agriculture, surveillance capitalism, platform economy. (shrink)

From a global perspective, linking food banks with school meal programs can effectively address food insecurity among children. School meal programs face various challenges, from supply chain issues to food serving processes, and support from food banks can help mitigate these challenges. This study aims to examine the impacts of community involvement—such as nutritionists, farmers, and private sectors—and community engagement, including parents and others, on the linkage between food banks and school meal programs. Enhancing and (...) strengthening this linkage through increased community support may effectively combat food insecurity among children. (shrink)

Many advocate practices of ‘local food’ or ‘locavorism’ as a partial solution to the injustices and unsustainability of contemporary food systems. I think that there is much to be said in favor of local food movements, but these virtues are insufficient to immunize locavorism from criticism. In particular, three duties of international ethics—beneficence, repair and fairness—may provide reasons for constraining the developed world’s permissible pursuit of local food. A complete account of why (and how) the fulfillment (...) of these duties constrains locavorism will require extensive empirical evidence about the relationship between agricultural demand-led industrialization, international trade (rules), and local food practices. In this paper I can only gesture at some of this evidence and, for that reason, my policy prescriptions are merely provisional. Instead, the upshot of this paper is that advocates of locavorism ought to be attentive to the empirical-dependence of the moral permissibility of their projects. As local food ‘scales up’—and comes to be embraced as a goal of political communities—these concerns should receive even greater attention. (shrink)

Objective: To determine the frequency and type of food allergy in patients having atopic dermatitis and to show the presence of mutations genetically. -/- Methods: Patients diagnosed as having atopic dermatitis according to the Hanifin Rajka criteria were evaluated retrospectively. Eosinophils, total immunoglobin E, milk-specific immunoglobulin E, egg-specific immunoglobulin E, wheat-specific immunoglobulin E, and filaggrin gene mutation results were recorded. Nutrient elimination was performed for 1 month in patients who were thought to have food allergy owing to skin (...) prick test and milk-specific immunoglobulin E results. The diagnosis was confirmed through a food loading test for the patients who benefited from the elimination. -/- Results: Of the 66 patients included in the study, 42 (63.63%) were male. Food allergies were detected in 40 patients (60.6%). According to the Scoring of Atopic Dermatitis index, 9 out of 16 patients aged 40 years and over had food allergy and 31 out of 50 patients aged under 40 years had food allergy. There was no significant difference between the groups (P=.56). All patients included in the study were examined for filaggrin. Only 1 patient with a Scoring of Atopic Dermatitis index below 40 and milk allergy was found to have p.R501 * and c.2282-2285delCAGT mutations. -/- Conclusion: Atopic dermatitis food allergy was found to be 60.6%. The most common improvement was egg allergy and egg elimination. There was no difference between atopic dermatitis severity and food allergy and laboratory tests. Severe atopic dermatitis was found to be 24.2%. (shrink)

This study determined undergraduates’ satisfaction of online food and beverage services amidst financial distress in Nnewi urban, Anambra State, Nigeria. Descriptive survey research design was used by the study. Population consisted of 3,509 students. Sample size was 35. Questionnaire was the instrument used for data collection. Data was analyzed using mean and standard deviation. Findings revealed that different types of food and beverage products were purchased online. The problems undergraduates face in online food and beverage services included (...) delayed delivery, use of artificial food colouring and fear of food contamination. Strategies for enhancing students’ satisfaction of online purchases included timely delivery of products ordered and appropriate delivery mechanism. Findings also showed that the ways online food and beverage purchases can influence undergraduate’s finances included high cost of online food products, additional cost for delivery among others. Among recommendations made was that online food vendors should ensure that food products delivered are same with products ordered by customers in order to enhance customer satisfaction. (shrink)

In this chapter, Gary Comstock considers whether it is ethically justified to pursue genetically modified ( GM) crops and foods. He first considers intrinsic objections to GM crops that allege that the process of making GMOs is objectionable in itself. He argues that there is no justifiable basis for the objections- i.e. GM crops are not intrinsically ethically problematic. He then considers extrinsic objections to GM crops, including objections based on the precautionary principle, which focus on the potential harms that (...) may result from the adoption of GM organisms. He argues that these concerns have some merit. However, they do not justify giving up GM crops altogether. Instead, they require that GM crops be developed carefully and with appropriate oversight. Comstock then presents the positive case for GM crops that he endorses. It is based on three considerations: (i) the right of people to choose to adopt GM technology; (ii) the balance of likely benefits over harms to consumers and the environment from GM technology; and (iii) the wisdom of encouraging discovery, innovation, and careful regulation of GM technology. (shrink)

Food and beverage firms are frequently criticised for their impact on the spread of non-communicable diseases like obesity and diabetes type 2. In this article we explore under what conditions the sales and marketing of unhealthy food and beverage products is irresponsible. Starting from the notion of ordinary morality we argue that firms have a duty to respect people’s autonomy and adhere to the principle of non-maleficence in both market and non-market environments. We show how these considerations are (...) relevant when thinking about immoral behaviour in the food and beverage industry, and identify under what conditions sales and marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages to adults and children is wrong. Based on this analysis we argue that firms should take into account: whether consumers are able to identify manipulative marketing, the degree of manipulation, as well as the negative impact a product has on health. We hold that for the food industry to act responsible it should re-evaluate the marketing of unhealthy products to adults and refrain from marketing to children. We conclude this study by making several recommendations on how the food industry should interact with consumers and highlight what changes need to be made in corporate practice. (shrink)

Taking people’s longevity as a measure of good life, humankind can proudly say that the average person is living a much longer life than ever before. The AIDS epidemic has however for the first time in decades stalled and in some cases even reverted this trend in a number of countries. Climate change is increasingly becoming a major challenge for food security and we can anticipate that hunger caused by crop damages will become much more common. -/- Since many (...) of the challenges humanity faced in the past were overcome by inventive solutions coming from the life sciences, we are compelled to reconsider how we incentivize science and technology development so that those in need can benefit more broadly from scientific research. There is a huge portion of the world population that is in urgent need for medicines to combat diseases that are currently neglected by the scientific community and could immensely benefit from agricultural research that specifically targets their environmental conditions. At the same time efforts have to be made to make the fruits of current and future research more widely accessible. These changes would have to be backed by a range of moral arguments to attract people with diverging notions of global justice. This article explores the main ethical theories used to demand a greater share in the benefits from scientific progress for the poor. Since life sciences bring about a number of special concerns, a short list of conflictive issues is also offered. (shrink)

The local food movement is, increasingly, becoming a part of the modern American landscape. However, while it appears that the local food movement is gaining momentum, one could question whether or not this trend is, in fact, politically and socially sustainable. Is local food just another trend that will fade away or is it here to stay? One way to begin addressing this question is to ascertain whether or not it is compatible with liberalism, a set of (...) influential political theories that have shaped and continue to shape our political system. In this paper, I argue that the local food movement is partially compatible with forms of liberalism that accept the limited application of the principle of neutrality, as there are two directions or trends within local food: (1) The systems based direction and (2) the individual focused direction. The systems based direction is not compatible while the individual focused movement is largely compatible with liberalism. I go on to argue that the two directions form a dialectic that increases the political and social sustainability of the movement as a whole. Conceiving of the individual focused and the systems focused directions as in opposition to one another is, itself, a mistake. (shrink)

Agricultural innovation happens at different scales and through different streams. In the absence of a common global research agenda, decisions on which innovations are brought to existence, and through which methods, are taken with insufficient view on how innovation affects social relations, the environment, and future food production. Mostly, innovations are considered from the standpoint of economic efficiency, particularly in relationship to creating jobs for technology-exporting countries. Increasingly, however, the realization that innovations cannot be successful on their technical prowess (...) alone calls for a broader investigation. (shrink)

This study aims to determine driving factors significantly influencing the purchase intention and to identify impediments creating the intention –behavior gap regarding organic food consumption in Vietnam. The chosen driving factors affecting the organic food purchase intention in this study are health benefits, environmental awareness, and social norms, whereas trust, price, and convenience as well as availability are investigated as deterrent factors of the link between intention and behavior. A structured online questionnaire with snow-balling sampling method was distributed (...) to collect a representative sample of 466 Vietnamese consumers nationwide. A five-point likert scale was used for the level of approval for 36 statements. Statistical tools of SPSS 22.0 including descriptive analysis, principal component analysis, and multiple regression analysis models were used for data analysis. The results showed that health benefits, environmental awareness, and social norms were facilitators of organic food purchase intention. Although high intention to purchase organic foods was identified in Vietnam, it was not translated into actual purchase behavior. The main barriers for the inconsistency were premium price and low availability of organic products or inconvenience to buy in the market. Lack of trust insignificantly impacted on organic food choices among Vietnamese consumers in this study. These empirical findings and suggestions are beneficial for all players across supply chains. (shrink)

Moral concern with food intake is as old asmorality itself. In the course of history, however,several ways of critically examining practices of foodproduction and food intake have been developed.Whereas ancient Greek food ethics concentrated on theproblem of temperance, and ancient Jewish ethics onthe distinction between legitimate and illicit foodproducts, early Christian morality simply refused toattach any moral significance to food intake. Yet,during the middle ages food became one of theprinciple objects of monastic programs for moralexercise (...) (askesis). During the seventeenth andeighteenth century, food ethics was transformed interms of the increasing scientific interest in foodintake, while in the nineteenth century the socialdimension of food ethics was discovered, with theresult that more and more attention was given to theproduction and distribution of food products. Becauseof the increasing distance between the production andconsumption of food products ever since, theoutstanding feature of contemporary food ethics is itreliance and dependence on labeling practices. (shrink)

Currently, there are many advocacy interventions aimed at reducing animal consumption. We report results from a lab (N = 267) and a field experiment (N = 208) exploring whether, and to what extent, some of those educational interventions are effective at shifting attitudes and behavior related to animal consumption. In the lab experiment, participants were randomly assigned to read a philosophical ethics paper, watch an animal advocacy video, read an advocacy pamphlet, or watch a control video. In the field experiment, (...) we measured the impact of college classes with animal ethics content versus college classes without animal ethics content. Using a pretest, post-test matched control group design, humane educational interventions generally made people more knowledgeable about animals used as food and reduced justifications and speciesist attitudes supporting animal consumption. None of the interventions in either experiment had a direct, measurable impact on self-reported animal consumption. These results suggest that while some educational interventions can change beliefs and attitudes about animal consumption, those same interventions have small impacts on animal consumption. (shrink)

Through careful interpretive analysis, the piece argues that the Christian cosmic vision reveals the wrongness of industrial animal agriculture and that taking up more intentional eating practices is a morally significant spiritual discipline for Christians. It also testifies to our claim in the introduction [to the "Food and Religion" chapter of *Food, Ethics, and Society*] that religious food ethics have practical advantages over purely secular ethics insofar as the latter usually tries to begin from a neutral (...) perspective that has very little power to compel a person, whereas religious food ethics hooks into one's deepest commitments. (shrink)

Climate change increasingly impacts the resilience of ecosystems and agricultural production. On the one hand, changing weather patterns negatively affect crop yields and thus global food security. Indeed, we live in an age where more than one billion people are going hungry, and this number is expected to rise as climate-induced change continues to displace communities and thus separate them from their means of food production (Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre 2015). In this context, if one accepts a humancentric (...) ethic, then the focus would be on addressing impacts to agricultural production, and thus food security (Borlaug 1997; Navin 2012). On the other hand, ecological resilience is also being impacted by climate change, as species go extinct or migrate due to fluctuating temperatures and shifting weather patterns. This reduction of resilience negatively impacts ecosystem services and the ability of the natural world to support life (Palmer and Larson 2014; Urban 2015). From an environmental holist perspective, then, one could argue that the ethical path would be to focus on reducing negative impacts to species and/or local ecosystems rather than increasing crop yields. Thus, there appears to be a tension between the prioritization of crop yields and the mitigation of ecosystem impacts. While this tension is well established in the agricultural literature (Kirschenmann 2010; Noll 2018), climatezas lochange exacerbates the situation, as agricultural lands are stressed and climate-induced migrations increase already high demands for foodstuffs, thus bringing the conflict to the forefront (Macdonald et al. 2015; Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 2017a). (shrink)

This paper investigated “Between Religion and Agriculture: A Roadmap to Revamping Nigeria's Economy." Religion is meant to affect all facets of life both at the individual and community levels. This applies equally to the economy of nations including Nigeria as a sovereign state. Petroleum which has been Nigeria's mainstay economically over the past five decades has proved to be not a sustainable means of income to the country in recent times. With the fluctuation in oil price with its attendant (...) nose-diving, Nigeria is bound to have a rethink over her means of economic stay. This informs the thrust of this paper which looks at revamping Nigeria's economy from a religious perspective. Using the creation accounts in Genesis Chapter one and two, this paper which looks at the original divine mandate given to humanity in the days of creation; it concludes that this economic mandate was agriculturally based. Hence, this paper, using the hermeneutical approach to the study of scripture and content analysis research methodology calls on all ecclesial bodies to promote the agricultural sector not only as of the way of revamping Nigeria's economy but as a positive response to the divine mandate. Apart from adding to the body of interpretations of the texts under review, the contribution of this paper to knowledge is its application of these texts to the Nigerian economy. (shrink)