Food system strategies for preventing micronutrient malnutrition

Micronutrients are defined as substances in foods that are essential for human health and are required in small amounts. They include all of the known vitamins and essential trace minerals. Micronutrient malnutrition affects ⅓–½ of the global population. It causes untold human suffering and levies huge costs on society in terms of unrealized human potential and lost economic productivity. The goal of this paper is to identify deficiencies in the food system that lead to micronutrient malnutrition and explore and evaluate strategies for its prevention. We examine the impact of agricultural practices on micronutrients in the food supply, including cropping systems, soil fertility and animal agriculture. We then discuss the potential of biofortification – i.e. increasing the concentration of micronutrients in staple food crops through conventional plant breeding or genetic engineering– as a means to reduce micronutrient deficiency. In addition, we discuss the impact of food losses and food waste on micronutrients in the food supply, and we explore successful strategies to preserve micronutrients from farm to plate, including food fortification. Our review of the literature sheds light on the advantages and limitations of alternative interventions to reduce micronutrient deficiencies along the supply chain. We end with recommendations for actions that will reduce the prevalence of micronutrient malnutrition.     

A ‘Common Food Policy’ for Europe: How governance reforms can spark a shift to healthy diets and sustainable food systems

More than half of adults in the European Union (EU) are now either overweight or obese (53%). Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), many of which are diet-related, account for 70% of mortality in Europe and a growing share of healthcare costs. While eating habits have an important role to play in NCD prevention, consumption patterns across the EU are diverging significantly from recommended diets. There is growing consensus on the solution: a series of coordinated and wide-ranging policy interventions to build healthy ‘food environments’.This article argues that EU governance structures remain ill-adapted to the systemic nature of this and other challenges in food systems (e.g. climate change, biodiversity loss, food poverty): conflicting objectives and missed synergies are identified between different policy areas (agriculture, trade, health, environment, etc.) and between different levels of governance (EU, national, local). An integrated food policy framework – a ‘Common Food Policy’ – is therefore required to meet the EU’s public health and sustainability objectives. It identifies four distinct aspects of the governance shift required to promote healthy diets and build sustainable food systems in Europe: (i) coherence across policy areas; (ii) coherence across governance levels; (iii) governance for transition; and (iv) food democracy. Blueprints for a Common Food Policy are already emerging, and are ripe for consideration, development, and implementation by the European institutions.     

Assessment of energy intake: Estimates of food supply v measurement of food consumption

National consumption indicators are frequently compiled using food supply estimates in the absence of reliable household or individual intake data. The authors examine the relationship between these three levels of information and in particular, the potential ‘losses’ of energy in the food system, comparing data from different countries and over time. They demonstrate the unreliability of supply estimates as proxy indicators of consumption and question their current usage in statements about global hunger and the links between health and food intake.     

From channel integration to platform integration: Capabilities required in hospitality

Although channel integration is vital to manage multiple channels in harmony, most research focuses on direct and indirect channels. However, hotels increasingly engage with platforms – an interface bringing together a network of hotels and customers. Channels and platforms have distinct attributes – channels facilitate economies of scale, while platforms foster network effects, i.e., growing the number of hotels and customers for the benefit of both parties. Therefore, we question whether channel integration capabilities are relevant in platform contexts. Furthermore, because platforms have high market power which affects hotel profitability, research is required to explore the specialized platform integration capabilities for optimal hotel performance. Applying grounded theory, we identify five coordinating capabilities for hotels to align their operations with platforms and three learning capabilities for hotels to develop new knowledge to work with platforms. Our contribution is the explication of the similarities and differences between channel integration and platform integration: (i) one set of integration capabilities are similar across channels and platforms – they manifest similarly and serve similar objectives. However, in platform contexts (ii) some integration capabilities satisfy different objectives, (iii) some are wider in scope to achieve a broader set of objectives, and (iv) some are unique and attain new objectives.     

Unravelling the food literacy puzzle: Evidence from Italy

Food literacy – i.e. the ability to collect, understand, process, and use relevant information to navigate the food system – is a key concept inspiring food policies across the World. While scholars agree in discussing the interplay between individual food literacy skills and the health, social, environmental, political, cultural, and economic aspects of food consumption, evidence on the extent and consequences of limited food literacy is scattered. This paper tries to shed light on this issue, proposing a measurement approach to assess the food literacy skills of a representative sample of the Italian population. The research findings suggest that problematic food literacy is prevailing: elderly, people with low education, and those suffering from financial deprivation are more likely to show limited food literacy. Inadequate food literacy concurs in producing impaired health status. Integrated policy interventions are needed to improve individual food literacy skills and to support the establishment of a just and sustainable food system.     

THE BENEFITS OF STRATEGIC HOMOGENEITY AND STRATEGIC HETEROGENEITY: THEORETICAL AND EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE RESOLVING PAST DIFFERENCES

Past research on the relationship between strategic variety and industry profitability has argued for either high homogeneity or high heterogeneity. In this paper, we review the literature on strategic variety and use it to develop hypotheses suggesting that the relationship between strategic variety and average industry profits is curvilinear. Based on our analysis of 61 industries, we find empirical support for our hypotheses, suggesting that very high levels of heterogeneity or homogeneity are more likely associated with industry profitability, while the industries in our sample displaying moderate levels of strategic variety are most likely to suffer from widespread financial losses.     

Passing through the supply chain: Implications for market power

In this paper, we study the connection between pass-through and market power in the Brazilian Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) industry. We use a state tax shock and apply a difference-in-differences strategy to estimate pass-through – at different levels of the supply chain – and an instrumented difference-in-differences strategy to estimate demand, and then feed a theoretical model to make inferences about a conduct parameter – that measures market power. We find an incomplete pass-through at the distribution level and for the supply chain as a whole, and a more-than-complete one at the retail level. Furthermore, we estimate price-elasticity of demand to be greater than one. When we feed a theoretical model of pass-through under imperfect competition with these estimates, we obtain a high conduct parameter at the whole supply chain level and an even higher one at the retail level alone. These results show that considering only the whole supply chain pass-through may lead to hasty conclusions about market power. Besides contributing to the empirical literature that connects pass-through with market power, we contribute to on-going national discussions regarding competitiveness in the LPG industry.     

The economics and nutritional impacts of food assistance policies and programs

Recent evidence on malnutrition and poverty raise important questions on the role of food assistance policies and programs. In this review article, we examine evidence on the economic and nutritional impacts of international food assistance programs (FAPs) and policies. The returns on investments in FAPs are, on average, high but depend considerably on the targeting and cost structures as well as on food quality and role of complementary activities. We disaggregate findings into four classes of recipients. Returns to FAPs are highest for children under two. But, FAPs oriented towards early childhood interventions are less well funded than are interventions aimed at school-age children or at the broader, largely adult population even though available evidence indicates that these latter classes of interventions offer considerably lower average returns in economic, health, and nutrition terms. Nonetheless, FAP effectiveness in achieving any of several objectives varies with a range of key factors, including targeting, additionality, seasonality, timeliness, incentive effects, social acceptability and political economy considerations.     

Strategic enablers of service-sales ambidexterity: A preliminary framework and research agenda

In recent years, service-sales ambidexterity was proposed as a new type of ambidexterity. In particular, the emerging literature on service-sales ambidexterity builds on the contextual ambidexterity literature to argue that the two key activities of a salesperson – that is, service activities and sales activities – can be simultaneously maximized through finding and exploiting synergies between these two activities. While research in this area has so far focused on the drivers of service-sales ambidexterity, our knowledge regarding the strategic enablers of this construct is impoverished. In this paper, drawing upon the dynamic capabilities framework, we devise a preliminary framework of the strategic enablers of service-sales ambidexterity. Then, we further extend that framework by identifying key classes of strategic variables that can potentially enable service-sales ambidexterity and by providing illustrative examples. This paper has contributions to and implications for the literature on service-sales ambidexterity and dynamic capabilities.     

Why sustainable and ‘nutritionally correct’ food is not on the agenda: Western Sydney,the moral arts of everyday life and public policy

Within a context of delivering food security into the future, dietary guidelines are being reframed, corporations are replacing unsustainable products, and consumers are being encouraged to become ecological citizens. While there is a growing literature on the food practices of ‘alternative’ consumers, ‘mainstream’ consumers are less well understood. This paper describes qualitative research undertaken in a socio-economically disadvantaged area of Sydney, Australia, which aimed to uncover consumer views towards sustainable and healthy diets. Most participants indicated a discrepancy between their desired and actual behaviours: while they want to support Australian, or local, food producers they gravitate towards cheap and tasty food from ‘anywhere’; and while they associate nutritious food with fresh food, they will buy processed foods which can be less expensive, appeal to children and are prone to less waste. Reflecting mainstream Australian political culture, participants were compromising household food budgets in order to pursue a socially acceptable standard of living (including decent housing, car-reliance). They were also incorporating the pleasure and desires of family members as part of ‘the moral arts of everyday life’. Using social theories of consumption and practice sociology we argue that food choices and practices – easy or not – need to be interpreted as part of the role that consumption plays in political citizenship and moral subjectivity. In the Western Sydney context, food practices are essentially household budget and family nourishment practices rather than nutrition and sustainability practices; a position which is not addressed in the government’s new food policies or wage determination processes.     

Open social innovation dynamics and impact: exploratory study of a fab lab network

The aim of this research is to explore the dynamics and impact of open social innovation, within the context of fab labs and makerspaces. Using an exploratory methodology based on 12 semi‐structured interviews of fab lab founders belonging to The Centres for Maker Innovation and Technology (CMIT) programme – a network of 170 fab labs located in Eastern Europe – this research explores the impact of an adopting an open approach in relation to the different stages of social innovation (prompts, proposals, prototypes, sustaining, scaling and diffusion, systemic change) as well as social impact. The main results of this study are that while the CMIT programme provided each fab lab with similar initial conditions (identical funding, objectives and rules), the open social innovation approached adopted enabled to give birth to a wide diversity of fab labs, each being very well adapted to the local environment, social needs and constraints and able to deliver social impact in just a matter of years; a result that would be hard to achieve with a centralised top‐down approach. The study identified three types of CMITs – Education, Industry and Residential – which could be similar or different depending on the stage of social open innovation. Furthermore, this paper discusses the main difficulties social entrepreneurs encounter as a part of the open social innovation process, as well as means to overcome them. In this respect, this study adds to the literature on fab labs by providing more comprehensive view of the challenges faced by fab labs (and makerspaces) founders, as well as suggestions of strategies enabling to ensure their long‐term sustainability.     

Sources of food price volatility and child malnutrition in Niger and Malawi

In recent times, considerable attention has been paid to the nutritional impact of the sharp hikes in the international food prices which took place in 2007–8 and 2010–11. While understandable, this growing focus has perhaps obscured the impact of other variables affecting malnutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa, i.e. the long-term impact of agricultural policies on food supply and prices, large and persistent seasonal variations in food prices, and the impact of famines which still affect parts of the continent. This paper focuses on the relative impact of these factors on child malnutrition (measured by the number of child admissions to feeding centres) in Malawi and Niger, two countries which closely represent the situation of other small, landlocked, subsistence agricultural economies facing severe food security problems. Our analysis shows that in these countries the drivers of changes in domestic staple prices and child malnutrition are related not only – or not primarily – to variations of international food prices but also to the impact of agricultural policies on food production and prices, in a persistent food price seasonality, and in recurrent and poorly managed famines. These factors can exert a strong upward pressure on food prices and child malnutrition even during years of falling international prices.     

Food aid and household food security in a conflict situation: Empirical evidence from Northern Uganda

It is well-established that armed political conflict has a detrimental effect on food security and household welfare: conflict induces food insecurity by reducing own food production, access to food through the market, and various other resources to sustain healthy and productive lives. One way of mitigating these adverse effects is to provide food aid. In this study we evaluate the impact of a World Food Programme intervention on household food security and asset protection among conflict-affected households in Northern Uganda. We employ propensity score matching to estimate the average treatment effect on food expenditure, food consumption and preservation of assets using a sample of 1265 observations from a 2008 survey. Our results reveal that the operation’s system of targeting beneficiaries was effective and in accordance with programme objectives. Food aid considerably reduced food expenditure of households, suggesting that recipients were net buyers of food, and that the food aid received was effectively consumed within the household. A corresponding positive effect on non-food expenditure was not found. Our results also indicate that food aid was effective in increasing meals consumed and in avoiding distress destocking of low value assets, but, surprisingly, only for male headed households.     

Aligning Marketing and Purchasing for new value creation

The objective of this study is to explore how changes in organizing the alignment between Marketing and Purchasing (M&P) might be linked to new value creation. The issue of value creation and the specific role of inter-functional cooperation have been examined in depth in the marketing literature. However, the relationship between Marketing and Purchasing alignment and value creation has received only limited attention, even though the emerging role of purchasing is increasingly recognized. This work aims to address this gap using the analytical framework by Bocconcelli and Tunisini (2012) as a basis and adopting a process perspective. Specifically it intends to explore i) how companies over time manage the alignment of M&P and under which conditions/triggers; ii) whether different types of emerging organizational alignments between purchasing and marketing might result in different types of new value creation. To address these research objectives a qualitative methodology based on multiple-case study research is adopted. Four cases of mechanical firms – two large and two medium-sized – have been examined in depth. Results show that two trajectories – interactive alignment of M&P and structural alignment of M&P – have been implemented and that these paths are related respectively to value creation processes in terms of optimizing product delivery and managing product and solutions development. Market pressure and new competences are assessed as main relevant drivers, while organizational culture emerges as a meaningful barrier. Therefore this works provides a theoretical and empirical contribution further developing in a process perspective the analysis of M&P alignment and its effects on value creation. Results have also clear implications for practice: M&P alignment is necessary and beneficial for value creation. Changes, however, require time, organizational resources and a stronger awareness within the company.     

Zero tolerance rules in food safety and quality

In this introduction to the special section on zero tolerance rules, we identity examples from the known literature, which focus almost exclusively on deviant behavior. In contrast, we assembled papers that focus on zero tolerance as a characteristic of an increasing number of public and private rules that govern and shape the agrifood system. The contributions to this section illustrate the importance of an interdisciplinary approach for the conceptualization and exploration of zero tolerance rules, as well as an examination of the impact of zero on a range of value chain stakeholders including consumers. A thread running through the articles is that a society’s culture, and the political economy in which it is embedded, matter. Moreover, the authors show that the meaning of “zero” is ambiguous and application of “zero” is problematic at best. Perhaps most important is the argument that absolute safety is simply an illusion.     

The European Electronic Communications Code: A critical appraisal with a focus on incentivizing investment in next generation broadband networks

In September 2016, the European Commission (EC) published its proposal for a directive establishing the European Electronic Communications Code (EECC) – with one key aim being the provision of sufficient incentives for infrastructure investments into high-speed communication networks. Based on a detailed review of the theoretical and empirical literature of the most relevant regulatory measures – that is, co-investment models as well as different types of access regulation – we provide a critical appraisal of the respective provisions in the EECC. We find that, although the EECC can generally be seen as a step into the right direction, the expected effects on investment incentives as well as substantial implementation challenges in combination with a high degree of complexity of the envisaged measures contain substantial potential for improvement.     

Open sustainability: Conceptualization and considerations

Sustainability represents a ‘grand challenge’, which can often not be addressed by actions of individuals or single organizations alone. To understand collaborative sustainability activities, in this article we propose the concept of open sustainability. We derive open sustainability from literature in the areas of sustainability, open approaches, and open innovation, and define the concept based on key tenets as follow: open sustainability refers to an orchestrated distributed process in which a focal company interacts with partners across organizational boundaries in order to better achieve its own (micro-level) sustainability objectives, its direct nets' (meso-level) sustainability objectives, and the broader networks' (macro-level) sustainability objectives, both short and long term. Based on this definition, we introduce the articles of our special section on open sustainability.     

Open innovation ecosystem organizing from a process view: a longitudinal study in the making of an innovation hub

This paper uses process theory as a theoretical lens to analyze AstraZeneca's enactment of an open innovation initiative with the purpose of strengthening the firm's surrounding innovation ecosystem. Based on empirical data collected over 7 years, we develop a process model of open innovation enactment and explain how the initiative gradually transformed while maintaining its guiding principles, which were set from the start. In applying a process perspective, we highlight open innovation initiatives as dynamic and evolutionary – but not deterministic – developments. As such, we provide a comprehensive and more nuanced understanding of not only what open innovation is but also how it becomes. This study also contributes to the innovation ecosystem literature by theorizing how firms orchestrate innovation ecosystems through open innovation initiatives over time.     

Unravelling the internal and external drivers of digital servitization: A dynamic capabilities and contingency perspective on firm strategy

Despite the increased interest in using digital technologies for servitization purposes, little is known about what drives firms towards a digital servitization strategy. Using a dynamic capabilities lens, we look into the relationships between two organizational mechanisms – exploitation and exploration – and firms' orientation towards digitization, servitization and digital servitization. On top, we examine the influence of two environmental contingencies – technological turbulence and competitive intensity – as potential influencers of these relationships. We collected and analyzed data of 139 Belgian firms through hierarchical regressions. Exploitation and exploration are positively associated with digital servitization, but exploration trumps the effect of exploitation when firms do both. Technological turbulence is positively associated with digitization regardless of the firm's level of exploration or exploitation, and competitive intensity only relates positively with servitization when firms emphasize exploration. Theoretically, we contribute to the literature by unravelling the relationship between firms' dynamic capabilities and their environment. In order to fully understand firms' strategic transition towards digital servitization, both should be considered. As managerial implications, we suggest that firms pay close attention to adapting their strategy to fit an increasingly changing environment.     

Risk perceptions and food-handling practices in the home

Unsafe food-handling practices in the home are linked with foodborne illnesses that represent sizable costs on the US healthcare industry and welfare losses to households. Past consumer food-safety education programs have only been modestly successful. Optimism bias may distort food-safety risk perceptions encouraging participation in risky food behaviors. Using multiple years of the FDA Food Safety Survey data, we explore the link between behavior-specific risk perceptions and three food-handling practices: handwashing, avoiding cross-contamination, and proper refrigeration of cooked foods. This approach describes risk perceptions as endogenous variables and allows for the decomposition of factors that directly influence food-safety behaviors, from those that indirectly influence behavior by changing risk perceptions. Our results suggest well-designed targeted information campaigns aimed at improving people’s safe food-handling practices must first decrease people’s optimism in the safety of their current practices. Given the lack of regulatory options to influence behavior in the home, this may provide an effective tool to address issues in performing safe food handling.