The Mexican food system (SAM): A strategy for sowing petroleum

In March 1980, Lic José López Portillo, President of Mexico, announced the initiation of the Mexican Food System, or the Sistema Alimenticio Mexicano (SAM). SAM is a declaration of intent to restructure the food system to both guarantee all Mexicans an adequate level of nutrition, and to achieve self-sufficiency in production of basic foodstuffs. This article reviews the background to SAM, strategies pursued, targets established for major components of SAM, and its funding. Being one of the first comprehensive attempts to adapt the food production system of a nation to basic food requirements of its population, SAM should be monitored closely.     

Addressing food and nutrition security from a human rights-based perspective: A mixed-methods study of NGOs in post-Soviet Armenia and Georgia

Increasing numbers of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) declare a move from a needs- to a human rights-based approach (HRBA) in addressing food and nutrition security. Little work, however, has been done to reveal how HRBA to food is realized at a country level. Using a mixed methods approach, we demonstrate main challenges for NGOs’ adoption of HRBA in Armenia and Georgia. A combination of NGO operational and state level factors hamper rights-based food and nutrition work of NGOs. NGOs’ willingness and capacity to engage with HRBA to food and confront the state is influenced by the history of post-Soviet transition, views on the state versus market, and isolation from transnational actors propagating the right to adequate food.     

Towards a food and nutrition policy for Australia,an environmentalist view

The state government of Victoria, Australia, recently prepared a discussion paper towards a regional food and nutrition policy. This evaluation finds it deficient in various ways. The critique contains recommendations for the building of a national food policy. The commission report displays a lack of a systems view of the problem of nutrition, which would recognize a diversity of influences on eating (e.g. social frameworks and frameworks by which we think and know). Linear causality is not an adequate concept. Agribusiness impacts heavily on the environment. In the case of meat production, inputs to production far exceed food energy outputs. Disposal of the by-products of meat production is also more problematic. The way to impact on these wasteful and destructive industrial practices is to consume less meat. Additives in food are a serious problem not well enough addressed. This and other processing increase the cultural perception of foodstuffs as human artifacts. Awareness of the cultural role of foods would allow Australians to cope with industry campaigns promoting meat and processed foodstuffs. There should be more attention to mutual impacts of environment, consumptiuon, and additives and processing. Food from low in the food chain (cereals, seafood) should be promoted not as substitutes but as foods in their own right. Commission recommendations should deal with questions such as nutritional information labeling of foods, and especially an attempt to foster consciousness of the environmental impact of food consumption: Government policy should be mindful to the extent possible of the impact on poor areas of the world of wasteful food consumption in Australia. Proposals for action should benefit from the impact of several fields of expertise beyond health, agriculture, consumer affairs and others; for instance, anthropology or environmental science.     

Food and nutrition policy formulation: A Delphi approach to establishing basic principles

The authors describe the results of a multidisciplinary, international Delphi inquiry carried out to establish basic principles for food and nutrition policy formulation. A working vocabulary is established, preliminary assumptions are set up, and controversial topics are defined. The inquiry resulted in a consensus on several policy statements which can serve as guidelines in the development of flexible food and nutrition programmes.     

The potential of diversified agroecological systems to deliver healthy outcomes: Making the link between agriculture,food systems & health

In 2014, the Rome Declaration on Nutrition recognized food system sustainability as a key condition to ensure adequate nutrition and access to healthy diets for all. Five years later, the evidence has never been more clear: despite a series of positive outcomes, our current food systems have increasingly generated severe environmental, social, and health-related costs. Many of the most severe health impacts of food systems can be traced back to the core practices of industrial food and farming systems (e.g. input-intensive agriculture; intensive livestock production; mass marketing of highly processed foods; deregulated global commodity chains). Yet alternatives exist.This article provides an overview of the key impacts generated by current food systems on human and environmental health, with an emphasis on their effects in the region of Europe and Central Asia. It then brings together evidence on how diversified agroecological systems can play a key role in meeting health and nutrition goals, while also addressing the environmental, social, and economic challenges created by current systems. Ultimately, the article sheds light on how to break away from the underlying drivers keeping current systems in place, and suggests how more diversified systems can effectively be promoted through systemic, multi-sector, and integrated policy approaches to ensure healthy diets for all.     

What will we eat tomorrow? UK food industry and its market

An OECD report on Food Marketing and Economics stated in 1970 that ‘the basic direction of development … is towards a food industry dominated by a limited number of large, efficient, dynamic, market oriented companies’. This is certainly so. In the UK from one to three companies already account for from 60 to 96% of the sales of a wide range of processed foods (biscuits, breakfast cereals, bread, frozen fish, frozen vegetables, ice cream, margarine, potato crisps, sugar, tea, tinned fruit and tinned soups). Out of £362 million spent on advertising in 1973, £88 million was spent on food, more than on any other product category. Undoubtedly the food industry is influencing to an increasing extent what people eat, and their nutrition. An extensive report on the status of the UK food industry and many of its sectors, British Food Profile¹, was released in 1978. The report is discussed below.     

Does nutrition information on food products lead to healthier food choices?

This paper examines the link between nutrition label use and consumers’ healthier food choices. Label use is considered for the two main types of labels currently found on food products; nutrition facts panels and nutrition/health claims. This link is tested using a three-equation multivariate probit model. Data were obtained from an ad hoc survey conducted in two medium-sized Spanish cities. The results indicate that the use of nutrition information by consumers, whether this involves the fact panel or the claim labels, does influence consumer choice of healthier food products to the same extent, although different types of consumers use the various types of labels considered.     

Quinoa quandary: Cultural tastes and nutrition in Peru

Using a model of household food demand that incorporates regional preferences (tastes) for culturally appropriate food, I investigate whether tastes for quinoa in the Puno region of Peru reduced household nutrition intakes when quinoa prices dramatically increased between 2004 and 2012. Adapting a model from Atkin (2013) and utilizing data from a national Peruvian household survey (ENAHO), I am able to deconstruct regional changes in household nutrition over time into several general equilibrium effects; in particular, I isolate the effect of regional tastes for quinoa on nutrition outcomes. This effect is identified by an exogenous spike in quinoa prices driven by international demand for quinoa. While I find evidence that regional tastes for quinoa do exist in the Puno region, these tastes do not have a statistically significant impact on nutrition outcomes. My results lend support to the conjecture that tastes for culturally appropriate food do not meaningfully affect household nutrition if the food in question is a sufficiently small component of a household’s overall diet.     

The US food stamp programme

Food stamps are a policy topic of considerable current interest in the USA. In addition, the US programme offers other countries a working example of this particular approach to food assistance and nutrition improvement. This article reviews the history, performance, fundamentals, current reform measures, and future alternatives of the programme. Although food stamps have not solved the nutrition problem in the USA, they have served reasonably well as a food assistance and income supplement programme. If comprehensive welfare reform is enacted in the USA, a food stamp programme designed to maximize its nutritional impact is advocated.     

Impact of off-farm income on food security and nutrition in Nigeria

While the poverty implications of off-farm income have been analyzed in different developing countries, much less is known about the impact of off-farm income on household food security and nutrition. Here, this research gap is addressed by using farm survey data from Nigeria. Econometric analyses are employed to examine the mechanisms through which off-farm income affects household calorie and micronutrient supply, dietary quality, and child anthropometry. We find that off-farm income has a positive net effect on food security and nutrition. The prevalence of child stunting, underweight, and wasting is lower in households with off-farm income than in households without. Using a structural model, we also show that off-farm income contributes to higher food production and farm income by easing capital constraints, thus improving household welfare in multiple ways.     

Colonial famine responses: The Bagamoyo district of Tanganyika, 1920–1961

Peasant food shortfalls during the colonial period were not emergencies in that they were unexpected but rather were a part of peasants' existence arising from failure to effectively control their natural resource base against the vacillations of nature. State famine relief represents the most elementary attempt at regularizing the productive base of precapitalist modes of production in transition. Famine relief was a major function of the colonial state. Current theories about the present food crisis tend to overlook the historical legacy of famine and consequently sensationalize or moralize a phenomenon which has been part and parcel of precapitalist modes of production throughout history.     

How can policy processes remove barriers to sustainable food systems in Europe? Contributing to a policy framework for agri-food transitions

A new food policy coherent with the goal of achieving sustainable food systems implies changing visions and radically revising the understanding of the system on which agricultural and food-related policies act. This paper identifies and discusses policy processes that contribute to sustainable food systems in Europe. Based on a conceptual framework that links the policy cycle approach to transition theories, we (i) assess the evolution of policy cycles of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to highlight how the food and nutrition concepts have evolved and been reframed throughout the five phases of the CAP, (ii) map and classify available policy instruments to assess potential synergies and gaps in view of their reorganization and (iii) indicate and discuss strategic tools for sustainable food policies. This contribution goes beyond the current literature highlighting the obstacles which hinder the transition to a policy regime that embodies the nexus among food and nutrition security, natural capital preservation and climatic and social justice, and proposing new avenues for food policy studies.     

Revisiting the UNICEF malnutrition framework to foster agriculture and health sector collaboration to reduce malnutrition: A comparison of stakeholder priorities for action in Afghanistan

High rates of undernutrition persist in Afghanistan, but community-level information is scarce on its underlying causes. Developing policy in such situations is affected by varying stakeholder perspectives on the issues. This study uses the UNICEF malnutrition framework and a rapid assessment methodology to compare how stakeholders at community, provincial and national levels describe the food and nutrition situation. Consistent differences in problem definition by administrative level and between agriculture and health sectors were apparent. Stakeholders at all administrative levels widely agreed on the need to improve incomes and employment to ensure food security because of the many constraints to agricultural production. Provincial and national level stakeholders further agreed on the need for nutrition education at all levels of society. The research illustrates how local adaptation and application of the UNICEF malnutrition framework can reveal divergent perspectives, as a first step toward finding common ground and an appropriate policy response.     

Sufficient nourishment worldwide via transfer payments

The paper illustrates an unconventional approach to providing adequate nourishment worldwide. Regions with an insufficient calorie supply receive transfer payments in order to increase their food budgets. The transfer payments are financed by a flat income tax in OECD countries. A general equilibrium model, which contains this transfer payment mechanism as well as information about nutrition, is applied for the analysis. The resulting tax rate is 0.55% of OECD countries’ income or a required total transfer of 112 billion USD. With the money allocated the receiver regions boost their domestic production as well as increasing their food imports. This in turn affects agriculture in OECD countries by promoting production.     

What nutrition label to use in a catering environment? A discrete choice experiment

Worksite and university canteens are increasingly used for daily main meal consumption. Following the use of front-of-pack nutrition labels on pre-packed foods, the provision of easily accessible nutrition information on foods prepared and consumed out of home is a highly topical policy issue with the potential to help consumers making better informed and more healthy food choices when eating out. Information that is presented in a format preferred by the target group is more likely to be used. A sample of 1725 university canteen users participated in a web-based choice experiment designed to identify and understand individual preferences for alternative nutrition labels on canteen meals. Participants valued the presence of nutrition labels on canteen meals and showed a preference for more detailed formats. Ability and motivation to process information as well as socio-demographics explained differences in label preferences. Observed decreasing marginal utility from combinations of two simple label formats as well as from combinations of two detailed formats, signalled information insufficiency versus information overload, respectively. In order to satisfy most canteen users’ information needs, a nutrition label that contains basic Guideline Daily Amount (GDA)-type of numerical information in combination with familiar visual aids like stars and colour codes is proposed to be used in university canteens.     

Agriculture,nutrition and development in Yugoslavia

Improvements in food consumption and nutrition, being important indicators of the standard of living, can only be analysed properly within the context of socioeconomic development. The authors examine the developments of food and nutrition policy in Yugoslavia, a country disadvantaged by a backward economy and poor social conditions inherited from the prewar and pre-revolutionary period and exacerbated by the second world war.     

Estimates of returns to scale,elasticity of substitution,and the thrifty food plan meal poverty rate from a direct household meal production function

Many nutritional policies are designed to make home food production more affordable and yet very little is actually known about the home food production process. A better understanding of home food production can be used to help explain shortcomings in current nutrition policies and consequently help in designing better nutrition policies. This paper provides results from several home meal production function specifications that are rather robust. The median returns to scale and elasticity of substitution between money and time is in the 1.2–1.9 range and .33–.56 range, respectively, indicating increasing returns to scale but difficulty in substituting money for time in home meal production. A home ‘meal poverty rate’ is estimated, which is the percentage of the sample that produces fewer meals at home than consistent with dietary guidelines. The estimated home meal poverty rate is about 85%, which is consistent with recent research taking a less rigorous approach. Though the approach taken here is novel, the overall message is consistent with the recent literature: time is a more important factor in achieving nutritional targets than money.     

Capacity development in food and nutrition in central and Eastern Europe: A decade of achievements

This article summarizes the activities performed by the Network for Capacity Development in Nutrition in Central and Eastern Europe and Balkan countries (NCDNCEE) in the past decade. The article gives a retrospective of the achievements and challenges in building capacity in nutrition research.Recognizing the lack of capacity and incoherent nutritional situation in CEE/BC, the United Nations University (UNU), Food & Nutrition Programme and the UN Standing Committee on Nutrition (SCN) encouraged the formation of NCDNCEE in 2005, which became CAPNUTRA in 2012.The network’s aim was to initiate and support tailor-made activities for capacity development in food & nutrition in research and training in CEE/BC. To identify the challenges and needs of nutrition research in the region, the network performed inventories on existence of food composition databases, food systems elements, dietary surveys, micronutrient recommendations, application of dietary assessment methods and grey literature. Further on, the network focused on the development of food composition databases and concomitant data management software, the Diet Assess & Plan platform for food consumption collection, dietary intake assessment and nutrition planning. These and other elements form the Balkan Food Platform, which underpins harmonized nutrition research in CEE/BC. Among key actions promoted by the platform are EFSA-supported dietary surveys conducted in four Balkan countries, on children and adults, in which food consumption data are collected and analysed in a harmonized way. Cooperation with FAO and active participation in international research projects enhanced the exchange of information and knowledge and brought international recognition to the CAPNUTRA network.     

The Agricapital Group

The Agricapital Group, affiliated to the British Society for Social Responsibility in Scinece (BSSRS), arose from a series of meetings to explore the polotical forces affecting food production and consumption from a broad socialist perspective in 1975-76. The meetings drew people directly involved in farming and food distribution, from the ecological movement, and from academic backgrounds, such as agricultural research, nutrition and economics. Debate on the left about farming and food production had become bogged down in single issues, like land ownership or a cheap food policy; although these were, and are, important subjects there eas a need to set them in a wider framework.     

Land consolidation,specialization and household diets: Evidence from Rwanda

Despite rapid population growth, increasing land pressure and urbanization, farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa have not intensified their production in a sustainable manner and farming systems remain predominantly subsistence-oriented. In response, developing country governments increasingly implement programs that promote crop intensification and more commercially-oriented agricultural systems. Rwanda’s Crop Intensification Program (CIP), launched in 2007, is one such example. However, despite its apparent success in raising production of several priority crops, there are legitimate concerns about the food and nutrition security implications for households that are encouraged to consolidate their land, specialize in their production, and increasingly rely on markets for their food needs. Using recent household survey data and a propensity score matching difference-in-differences method, we find that participation in land consolidation activities had ambiguous consumption effects: it positively impacted on consumption of roots and tubers, but had a negative effect on meat, fish and fruits consumption and the potential availability of vitamin B12 in participants’ diets. This calls for a review of CIP implementation practices to enhance the program’s food and nutrition security outcomes, with improvements in market functioning and market access being potential starting points.