Using interview triads to understand the barriers to effective food security policy in Kenya: a case study application

This paper presents the results of an exploratory study on food security policy in Kenya. Key informant interviews are used to provide a ??multiperspective?? lens through which to garner insights into Kenya??s food security policy processes and emerging resilient farming system practices. Seeking to situate the policy-making process in its ??real-life?? institutional context, we identified three interlinked institutions (at government, research and farm levels) and interviewed individuals within each who could speak authoritatively on food policy challenges. We concentrated on Wote, a semi-arid agro-pastoral area in Makueni County, Eastern Province. From different starting points, the interviewees came to agree on the biggest challenges to the development of effective food security policy in Kenya: information, research and education. The paper further reflects on the methodology and assesses its potential efficacy in the study of hunger and its solutions, especially in the realm of knowledge integration, the democratization of research and policy-making processes and the opening up of reciprocal communication pathways amongst institutional actors.     

Mesoporous Silica‐Based Supports for the Controlled and Targeted Release of Bioactive Molecules in the Gastrointestinal Tract

Mesoporous silica particles (MSPs) have attracted increasing interest as supports in the design of controlled delivery materials. Besides their excellent properties as loading supports (that is, large surface area and pore volume), the modification of their external surface with molecular/supramolecular ensembles allows the design of gated MSPs. Delivery systems based on gated MSPs show “zero delivery” until an adequate stimulus is present and triggers gate opening and the cargo is released. Encapsulation of bioactive molecules in gated MSPs may improve biological stability, facilitate component handling, mask unpleasant sensorial properties, and modulate the bioaccessibility of target molecules along the gastrointestinal tract. These properties make gated MSPs excellent candidates for encapsulating bioactive molecules and their subsequent utilization in the formulation of functional foods. This text highlights the most significant endogenous triggering stimuli that might be applied to design these site‐specific delivery systems, as well as the strategies to develop them. Given the novelty of using MSPs in the food sector, the benefits and current potential limitations of employing MSPs in human food have been identified and discussed.     

Reshaping urban political ecologies: an analysis of policy trajectories to deliver food security

In a context of increasing urbanization, cities have become key sites for rebuilding food systems in order to deliver good food for all. Indeed, municipal governments around the globe are developing food policies to integrate different sectors and actors implicated in delivering food security outcomes. Despite the acknowledgement of the need to develop integrative plans and food governance approaches, sustainable food transitions are conditioned by specific socio-ecological configurations of individual cities. Furthermore, inclusiveness and integration are discursively deployed but challenging to implement on the ground. In order to understand these policy trajectories we mobilised a political ecology framework to explore how the specific configurations of nature and society express themselves in the process and outcomes of urban food policies. We selected two European cities: Cardiff and Cork. These cities represent distinct urban foodscapes and diverse state-civil society relationships. The results of this international comparative study indicate that the specific entry points of each city’s policy trajectory condition the establishment of integral food policies. Our analysis shows how policy opportunities for success are shaped by existing sociocultural dynamics (e.g., social asymmetry, level of engagement from civil society, pre-existing policy environment, and degree of state involvement), as well as particular ecological basis (i.e., availability and access to spaces for growing, share of green spaces, local climate, etc.). Furthermore, the potential of urban food policies to effect change on the city’s foodscape hinges on their capacity to leverage place-based assets, and transform the structural processes that create exclusive and food insecure spaces in the first place.     

Manoeuvring between regulations to achieve locally accepted results: analysis of school meals in Latvia and Finland

Rather than having a consistent food policy, countries often tend to regulate food from the margins of other policy domains such as agricultural, environmental, welfare or educational policies. Regulatory interventions perceive food as an instrument rather than a domain with its own specific set of policy issues and view food provision as an activity to achieve certain economic, social and environmental objectives. This fragments the food policy into disintegrated points of interventions from various policy areas and leaves unregulated voids that can be exploited either to improve or to reduce the effectiveness of the interventions. This article explores interlinkages between fragmented policies and regulations to offer a conceptual model linking regulated elements of the food system. The research is a multiple case study consisting of three cases: one Finnish and two Latvian. The aim of the study is 1) to expose the variety of perspectives used to set regulations for school meals and 2) to analyse how these regulations are aligned by the actors implementing them. The empirical data is composed of literature, regulatory documents, interviews, scenario workshops and media data. The results indicate that the key perspectives used to set regulatory interventions in both countries are entitlements, health and environment. However, actors implementing regulations have remarkable space for interpretation and manoeuvring.     

The trust paradox in food labelling: An exploration of consumers’ perceptions of certified vegetables

Trust is a key consideration when purchasing and consuming foods. Food certification is an aspect of food labelling, and is used by policymakers and marketers to increase consumers’ trust in food. Equally important, consumers’ trust in the food system and actors in its supply chain influences their overall perceptions of food safety, and which foods they choose and consume. However, the interaction between consumers’ trust in food chain actors, and consumers’ trust in food certification, has yet to be explored. This study addresses this gap by examining consumers’ perception of food certification, two examples of which are organic, and Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), and consumers’ trust in food chain actors. In doing so, we extend the literature on trust in food labelling through the inclusion of social-institutional factors in order to understand variations in trust in food. Data were collected via in-depth, semi-structured interviews and the study employed the social theory of trust as a theoretical framework to guide the analysis. Results show that organic, and GAP food certifications are perceived as a representation of the entire food system. Therefore, its trustworthiness is dependent on consumer perceptions of the food system’s capacity to guarantee organic standards along the entire food chain, which is a manifestation of abstract trust. This study contributes to the trust in food literature by showing that interpersonal trust in food actors, such as retailers or growers, can compensate for a lack of abstract trust in certification. Interpersonal trust is predominantly used to guide consumers’ food choices, particularly in the case where abstract trust in the wider institutional system’s integrity and competence is low.     

Moving from traditional government to new adaptive governance: the changing face of food security responses in South Africa

The food system faces increasing pressure from dynamic and interactive, environmental, political and socio-economic stressors. Tackling the complexity that arises from such interactions requires a new form of 'adaptive governance'. This paper provides a review of various conceptions of governance from a monocentric or politicotechnical understanding of governance through to adaptive governance that is based in complex adaptive systems theory. The review is grounded by a critique of the existing institutional structures responsible for food security in South Africa. The current Integrated Food Security Strategy and tasked governmental departments are not sufficiently flexible or coordinated to deal with an issue as multi-scalar and multidisciplinary as food security. However, actions taken in the non-governmental sector signal the emergence of a new type of governance. Apart from an increasing recognition of food security as an issue of concern in the country, there is also evidence of a changing governance structure including collaboration between diverse stakeholders. We review these governance trends with an understanding of the food system as a complex adaptive socio-ecological system where actors in the food system self-organize into more flexible networks that can better adapt to uncertain pressures.     

Effective curriculum policy and cross-curricularity: analysis of the new curriculum design of the Hellenic Pedagogical Institute

In this paper we perform text analysis on the new Cross Thematic Curriculum Framework Syllabus Design for compulsory education, which was constructed by the Hellenic Pedagogical Institute and is soon going to be applied in Greek schools. This curriculum text is treated as a policy text which introduces important changes in Greek school practice, mainly through the adoption of a specifically defined cross-curricular approach to syllabus design. The core argument of the policy actors involved in this reform is that this particular innovation is a good curricular practice that will contribute to the further modernization of compulsory schooling in Greece. It is also claimed that this intervention is based on the Greek educational context as well as European educational policy. We investigate this argument by examining the way the idea of cross-curricularity (or unifying school knowledge and teaching and learning across the curriculum) is introduced in the text as well as at the level of educational practice. In doing so the interrelationships of the various stages of implementation are investigated. The issues identified in the analysis that relate to the educational and policy basis of this change are finally presented in a comparative way.     

A review of Canadian and international food safety systems: Issues and recommendations for the future

In January 2019, the Safe Food for Canadians Act/Safe Food for Canadians regulations (heretofore identified as SFCR) came into force across Canada and brought a more streamlined process to food safety practice in Canada. Food trade and production processes have evolved rapidly in recent decades, as Canada imports and exports food products; therefore it is critically important to remain aware of the latest advances responding to a range of challenges and opportunities in the food safety value chain. Looking through the optics of the recent SFCR framework, this paper places the spotlight on leading domestic and international research and practices to help strengthen food safety policies of the future. By shedding some light on new research, we also draw attention to international developments that are noteworthy, and place those in context as to how new Canadian food safety policy and regulation can be further advanced. The paper will benchmark Canada through a review study of food safety best practices by juxtaposing (i) stated aspirations with, (ii) actual performance in leading Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) jurisdictions.     

Safety Challenges Associated with Traditional Foods of West Africa

In West Africa, varieties of agricultural produce are processed traditionally for value addition, and they significantly support food security. Nonfermented and fermented foods are important traditional foods that support dietary intake of the people and enhanced nutritional requirements and health. Throughout the subregion, there is limited large-scale industrial production of traditional foods; many of the food processing facilities are still home based or in cottage industries using rudimentary tools and techniques. Over decades of cottage processing, different mechanization techniques such as mechanical grating, sieving, and hydraulic pressing have improved scale and increased productivity. Evaluation of food safety in the subregion revealed very little consideration for good manufacturing practices (GMP) and unhygienic sanitation leading to frequent chemical and microbial contamination. In general, there are obvious food safety challenges across the subregion and reported cases of foodborne diseases and outbreaks. Many times, outbreaks and foodborne epidemics are poorly documented. Identification of associated safety issues could be an essential prerequisite for improving risk management and healthy food supply. This review depicts different food safety challenges associated with processing and consumption of traditional foods in the subregion. Accurate information on food safety will be very relevant to policy formulation and control.     

Observations of entomophagy across Benin – practices and potentials

Food security is a critical issue for many low-income countries, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. Appropriately identifying and utilising local resources can provide sustainable solutions to food security problems. Insects, which are traditionally consumed in many regions of the world, represent one such resource. Insects can be nutritionally rich and therefore could be used to address issues of malnutrition. A first step towards utilising insects as a resource is identifying which ones are traditionally consumed. We present data collected between 2005 and 2012 on insects eaten by communities across Benin, West Africa. A combination of literature research, field collections, community focus groups and targeted interviews were employed. Data on four ethnic groups is presented: the Anii, Fon, Nagot and Waama. Twenty-nine arthropods species are eaten across Benin. The predominant orders are Orthoptera (48 %) and Coleoptera (41 %). New families of edible arthropods in West Africa include: Bradyporidae (Orthoptera), Coreidae (Hemiptera), Dytiscidae (Coleoptera), Ixodidae (Acari). Insect collection is an ancestral tradition in all the described communities: however, there are considerable differences in preferences and collection methods among ethnic groups. Currently there is little valorisation of insects as a food product in Benin, in contrast to neighbouring countries. In light of considerable malnutrition in Benin among young children, promoting this tradition and implementing small scale captive rearing of selected species could improve food security.     

Policy integration in the EU governance of global food security

The global food price spikes of 2007–8 and 2010 led to increased awareness of the complexity of food (in)security as a policy problem that crosscuts traditional sectoral, spatial and temporal scales. At the European Union (EU) level, this awareness resulted in calls for better integrated approaches to govern food security. This paper addresses the question of to what extent these calls were followed by an actual shift towards better integrated EU food security governance. We address this question by applying a processual policy integration framework that distinguishes four integration dimensions: (i) the policy frame, (ii) subsystem involvement, (iii) policy goals, and (iv) policy instruments. The empirical body of evidence for assessing shifts in these dimensions draws upon an extensive analysis of EU documents complemented with interview data. We find that policy integration advanced to at least some degree: the policy frame expanded towards new dimensions of food security; a wider array of subsystems started discussing food security concerns; food security goals diversified somewhat and there was an increased awareness of coherence and linkages with other issues; existing instruments, including internal procedural instruments, were expanded and made more consistent; and new types of instruments were developed. At the same time, significant differences exist between policy domains and policy integration efforts seem to have come to a halt in recent years. We conclude with various policy recommendations and suggestions for follow-up research.     

Global food markets,trade and the cost of climate change adaptation

Achieving food security in the face of climate change is a major challenge for humanity in the 21st century but comprehensive analyses of climate change impacts, including global market feedbacks are still lacking. In the context of uneven impacts of climate change across regions interconnected through trade, climate change impact and adaptation policies in one region need to be assessed in a global framework. Focusing on four Eastern Asian countries and using a global integrated modeling framework we show that i) once imports are considered, the overall climate change impact on the amount of food available could be of opposite sign to the direct domestic impacts and ii) production and trade adjustments following price signals could reduce the spread of climate change impacts on food availability. We then investigated how pressure on the food system in Eastern Asia could be mitigated by a consumer support policy. We found that the costs of adaptation policies to 2050 varied greatly across climate projections. The costs of consumer support policies would also be lower if only implemented in one region but market price leakage could exacerbate pressure on food systems in other regions. We conclude that climate adaptation should no longer be viewed only as a geographically isolated local problem.     

What Do We Know About Chain Actors’ Evaluation of New Food Technologies? A Systematic Review of Consumer and Farmer Studies

New food technologies, such as genetic modification, food fortification, and processing technologies, are of growing interest for future food security and safety. For ensuring successful implementation of such technologies, consumers and other food supply chain actors should embrace them. We present a systematic review to identify and compare key factors of supply chain actors’ evaluation of new food technologies. Evaluation encompasses indicators such as likelihood or intention to perform a behavior, perceived benefits/risks, willingness to pay, acceptance/adoption, and attitudes. Results from 183 studies showed several imbalances in research. Although studies mainly focused on (1) genetically modified foods, (2) by consumers, (3) in developed countries, only very few studies have targeted other food technologies, other supply chain actors such as farmers (13 studies) or processors (two studies), or developing countries (43 studies). With respect to consumers’ evaluation, key determinants were trust in institutions, information assessment, perceived risks and benefits, attitudes toward the product or technology, perceived behavioral control, quality perception of the product, and impact on health. Farmers’ evaluation of new food technologies was explained by the factors of perceived risk and benefits and of actual source of information. For the few processor evaluation studies, no convergence of factors could be reached. This systematic review contributes to a better understanding of consumers’ and farmers’ evaluation behavior and opens up avenues for future research on supply chain actors’ food technology evaluations. The differences in the conceptualization and measurement of extracted factors demonstrate the need for standardized approaches in future studies.     

Flair-Flow 4: bringing European food research to the end-users

The objectives and first outputs of the new Flair-Flow 4 project are presented. This dissemination project aims at filling the gap between European food research and its end-users. The dissemination role played by the project until now is being maintained and reinforced: information is further “tailored” with the creation of sub-networks for health professionals and consumer groups in addition to the already existing industrial one. New partners have joined in from Eastern Europe and a new type of publication is also being distributed, presenting the state-of-the-art in a given area of food science and technology or nutrition. In addition, through the organization of experimental debates, partners have set about opening a dialogue between the food research community and the end-users. The paper underlines the need for a flow of information between these two actors and describes approaches that are proving to be valid for the achievement of this goal.     

On the contribution of the senses to food emotional experience

Emotions are an important component of our daily lives and contribute to behavior as well as general well-being. Foods are prominent sources of emotions (e.g. enjoyment, disgust…). One question that may arise in food research is how the different senses interact to create a unified affective representation of food. Indeed, current research suggests that rather than a unimodal processing of each sensory aspect of a food, there is a very early and almost undistinguishable integration of the senses, especially for the construction of flavor. In the present paper, we argue that a multisensory approach is necessary to understand the way senses converge to enable an emotional experience when perceiving food. We further put an emphasis on the fact that such multisensory integration is influenced by higher-order cognitive processes and possibly by emotions as well. After presenting theories in the field as well as experimental data, we discuss some paradigms that could pave the way for future research on food-induced emotional processing.     

Developments in food processing and increasing gaps in consumers competence of food handling––the challenge for nutrition policy in Europe

Human evolution is accompanied by innovations in food processing. The results are remarkable: there is food security, as there is surplus on cheap, safe and high quality food. Despite this situation nutritional studies reveal that there are still nutritional problems in the world. Food security is only a precondition but no guarantee for nutrition security.The causes of nutritional problems are complex. In industrialised societies the importance of the last links of the food chain, being the competence of consumers regarding food and nutrition, is ignored. Whereas the global knowledge on food processing is increasing continuously, a reverse trend regarding consumer competence can be observed. The consequences of these trends have to be observed and studied. People with less food and nutrition competence are susceptible to disorientation and misguided behaviour. It is likely that the trend accelerates since the traditional ways to learn food and nutrition competence are diminishing; even in the case of food professionals, like cooks or bakers, there is clear evidence of lack of practical experiences.Nutrition and food policy has to focus on this gap. The most important nutritional problems are no longer those of food quality, but related to consumer behaviour. Today’s consumers need high qualification to use all the opportunities to manage the everyday tasks. Without fostering such training (not only for the general population, but also for food professionals) we in Europe are in danger of becoming a food illiterate population.     

Using land to mitigate climate change: hitting the target, recognizing the trade-offs

Land can be used in several ways to mitigate climate change, but especially under changing environmental conditions there may be implications for food prices. Using an integrated global system model, we explore the roles that these land-use options can play in a global mitigation strategy to stabilize Earth's average temperature within 2 °C of the preindustrial level and their impacts on agriculture. We show that an ambitious global Energy-Only climate policy that includes biofuels would likely not achieve the 2 °C target. A thought-experiment where the world ideally prices land carbon fluxes combined with biofuels (Energy+Land policy) gets the world much closer. Land could become a large net carbon sink of about 178 Pg C over the 21st century with price incentives in the Energy+Land scenario. With land carbon pricing but without biofuels (a No-Biofuel scenario) the carbon sink is nearly identical to the case with biofuels, but emissions from energy are somewhat higher, thereby results in more warming. Absent such incentives, land is either a much smaller net carbon sink (+37 Pg C - Energy-Only policy) or a net source (-21 Pg C - No-Policy). The significant trade-off with this integrated land-use approach is that prices for agricultural products rise substantially because of mitigation costs borne by the sector and higher land prices. Share of income spent on food for wealthier regions continues to fall, but for the poorest regions, higher food prices lead to a rising share of income spent on food.     

Antibiotic resistance in non-enterococcal lactic acid bacteria and bifidobacteria

Over the last 50 years, human life expectancy and quality of life have increased dramatically due to improvements in nutrition and the use of antibiotics in the fight against infectious diseases. However, the heyday of antibiotic treatment is on the wane due to the appearance and spread of resistance among harmful microorganisms. At present, there is great concern that commensal bacterial populations from food and the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of humans and animals, such as lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and bifidobacteria, could act as a reservoir for antibiotic resistance genes. Resistances could ultimately be transferred to human pathogenic and opportunistic bacteria hampering the treatment of infections. LAB species have traditionally been used as starter cultures in the production of fermented feed and foodstuffs. Further, LAB and bifidobacteria are normal inhabitants of the GIT where they are known to exert health-promoting effects, and selected strains are currently been used as probiotics. Antibiotic resistance genes carried by LAB and bifidobacteria can be transferred to human pathogenic bacteria either during food manufacture or during passage through the GIT. The aim of this review is to address well-stated and recent knowledge on antibiotic resistance in typical LAB and bifidobacteria species. Therefore, the commonest antibiotic resistance profiles, the distinction between intrinsic and atypical resistances, and some of the genetic determinants already discovered will all be discussed.     

Addressing food poverty in systems: governance of food assistance in three European countries

Emergency food poverty relief is one of the possible entry points to understanding food poverty in affluent societies, whereas the visibility of food poverty relief initiatives has evolved, together with large-scale food recovery organizations and networks aiming at reducing and valorising surplus in food systems. There is a substantial diversity of actors and resources involved, resulting in differently shaped initiatives and programs. It can be described as a continuum encompassing third sector initiatives, large and small businesses, and institutional intervention programs: by bringing together institutions, companies, organisations and civil society, public-private food assistance addresses food poverty in a way that is not viable by any of these actors alone and by adopting context specific governance arrangements. This paper contributes to this debate with the analysis of governance relations in food assistance initiatives across different European countries (Italy, The Netherlands and Ireland). By approaching food assistance from a systems perspective, we further the understanding of these initiatives and their modes of governance. The case studies offer a mapping of food assistance by identifying functions and outcomes, actors and resources involved, and the links the initiatives have to those elements, thus highlighting where collaborative food poverty reduction takes place that goes beyond traditional boundaries. Food assistance initiatives are a civil initiated response shaped by and complementing the social welfare and food systems in which they are embedded. The interpretation of food assistance functions leads to challenging the boundaries of food assistance and potentially triggering innovative approaches to improving food and nutrition security. Discussions show that while they have managed to find innovative and collaborative governance solutions to address the very immediate issues rather effectively, they do not negate the need for food system transformation to address the ultimate reasons for food poverty.     

Bacterial stress response in Listeria monocytogenes: jumping the hurdles imposed by minimal processing

Minimal processing relies on the use of multiple sub-lethal stresses (or processes) to achieve a similar level of microbial control as that traditionally achieved using a single lethal stress. The benefit to the consumer is products which are less obviously processed than a frozen or canned, acidified or heavily salted food item. However, our increasing understanding of how bacteria can adapt to sub-lethal stresses in a manner which can render them less susceptible to additional insults, should be borne in mind when designing safety or extended shelf-life into a minimally processed product. Listeria monocytogenes is a target organism for many minimally processed food manufacturers because of its ability to tolerate adverse conditions such as low Aw and low temperature. In this communication we use L. monocytogenes as a model system to describe some of the consequences of stress adaptation in terms of improved survival in minimally processed foods and, importantly, the consequences in terms of the virulence of the target organism.