Globalisation of food quality standards: the impact in Greece

Globalisation is the global integration of standardised markets and has significant implications for Greece, a small European country distant from the main centres of world capital. Greece does however occupy a key position in the Balkan peninsula at the Eastern end of the Mediterranean. The paper commences by identifying the interpretation of the concept of globalisation and its effect on food quality standards. It subsequently attempts to sharpen understanding of the concept by considering concrete instances in which it has affected the Greek food industry. The paper concludes by suggesting an analytical framework for Greek institutions, legislators and policymakers addressing issues on standardisation.     

Romania’s accession to the EU: Short-term welfare effects on food consumers

This paper focuses on estimation of the welfare effects on different Romanian households of assumed food price changes as a result of EU accession. Using the Slutsky compensating variation approach, results suggest that these changes affect welfare differently for various categories of households. Although on average the welfare loss is 2.6%, a higher impact is estimated for low-income groups. However, the relatively high share of home-produced consumption of food diminishes these impacts, in particular for rural households, and somewhat smaller monetary amounts would be required if compensation is paid.     

The relationship between cottage food laws and business outcomes: A quantitative study of cottage food producers in the United States

The increasing popularity of cottage foods in the United States requires that state laws regulating the industry be given careful consideration. However, little is known about cottage food producers or their businesses. This article discusses results from the first comprehensive survey of cottage food producers in the United States. Linear and logistic regression analyses of survey responses from 775 cottage food producers and aspects of state cottage food laws suggest restrictive state laws may hinder entrepreneurship in rural communities. These results suggest policymakers should consider reducing restrictions on the cottage food industry in order to promote small-business creation and growth, especially among women and rural populations.     

Barriers and potential facilitators to the implementation of government policies on front-of-pack food labeling and restriction of unhealthy food advertising in Thailand

Thailand is experiencing an increasing burden of obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases. The Thai government has responded by developing a number of policies to protect and promote healthy eating. In particular, in 2008, the Thai Government passed a regulation to restrict unhealthy radio and television food advertising to children (RTA). In the following year, a voluntary front-of-pack nutrition labeling policy to promote those products that had reduced their sugar, fat and/or sodium content by at least 25% (25% SFS) was passed. However, the extent of implementation of both of these policies has been poor to date. The aim of this study was to identify barriers and potential facilitators to the implementation of both the RTA and 25% SFS policies. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 28 participants holding senior positions in government, industry and civil society organizations closely involved in the implementation of these policies. The interview data were analyzed using the thematic framework analysis approach. The major barriers to policy implementation perceived by participants were a lack of a monitoring and evaluation system, a lack of organization knowledge regarding skills required for implementation, poor governance system, lack of funding and resources, lack of effective multi-sectoral platforms, influence of the food industry, lack of clear policy content, organizational culture and structure, and changes in policy priorities. Factors that potentially facilitated implementation of these policies, as identified by participants, were policy being compatible to implementer’s context, individual support from government officials, good financial management mechanisms, inter-organization networks, and personal motivation to implementing policy. The successful implementation of policies to create healthy food environments in Thailand will likely require attention towards improving the capacity and authority of government agencies, infrastructure to support multi-sectoral platforms and inter-organizational networks, and adequate resources.     

An industry viewpoint on the role of farm assurance in delivering food safety to the consumer: The case of the dairy sector of England and Wales

Food safety, alongside food quality, remains a primary concern of both consumers and those along the whole food supply chain, leading to regulation by government alongside private third party certification. Much has been written about the value of these systems primarily from the perception of the consumer. This paper reports on a study that examined industry perceptions on the regulatory and assurance systems within the dairy sector of England and Wales. It found that the primary producer found value in both systems, although from a food hygiene focus regulation was seen to be more rigorous. Other stakeholders along the dairy food supply chain saw the assurance scheme as more rigorous. All stakeholders recognised the need to reduce duplication in delivering food safety through combining key elements of both systems with the added potential for better communication of both food safety and quality to the final consumer.     

Validating the usage of household food acquisition surveys to assess the consumption of ultra-processed foods: Evidence from Brazil

Our ability to research dietary changes over time and their effects on health is limited by challenges in accurately measuring food consumption. In countries where dietary surveys are scarce and rarely nationally representative, household budget surveys may serve as a useful alternative for assessing food consumption. The objective of this study was to evaluate how well household acquisition data reflects the actual intake of ultra-processed foods, using data from the 2008 to 2009 Brazilian Household Budget Survey. The food acquisition module was conducted for all households selected for the survey (n = 55,970) and a subsample corresponding to 25% of the households (n = 13,569) was randomly selected for the individual food intake module, which was conducted for all individuals aged 10 years or older (n = 34,003). Ultra-processed foods were defined as formulations made by the food industry mostly or entirely from substances extracted from foods or obtained with the further processing of constituents of foods or through chemical synthesis, with little if any whole food. Examples included candies, cookies, chips, sugar-sweetened beverages, and ready-to-eat dishes. Our results showed an important agreement between the estimates of ultra-processed food consumption obtained from household acquisition data and individual intake inside-the-home data, particularly for the relative (% of total energy) consumption of these foods. Our study thus indicates that household budget surveys are quite promising for tracking population-level changes in the consumption of ultra-processed foods. The trend toward increased consumption of food away from home in other low- and middle-income countries indicates that future household budget surveys should include the collection of these data.     

The changing public role in services to food and agriculture : The legal regulation of food markets in India

A framework allowing the commercial transfer of property rights is an essential prerequisite to market exchange widely considered the prerogative of the state. Here, the social history of the legal regulation of agricultural markets in central, south and northeast India is examined. Regulatory law is shown to be riven with unanticipated outcomes, working as intended only under rare conditions of competition and absence of preharvest commercial debt. Meso level institutions of collective action and micro level behaviour by firms also regulate exchange, unsystematically according to their multiple objectives. Foreign funded projects and another layer of customary procedure. In the light of this analysis, the current policy debates over agricultural market reform are discussed and an analytical framework and suggestions for reform are offered.     

Assessing the relevance of EU SPS measures to the food export sector: Evidence from a developing agro-food exporting country

This study was undertaken to assess whether SPS measures prevailing in the European Union (EU) have had an effect on the export of fishery and horticultural products from Mauritius. Specific objectives were to assess and compare the importance of EU SPS measures as an export determinant for Mauritian fishery and horticultural products exports, to determine whether these measures have acted as a barrier to trade and lastly to describe the compliance strategy adopted by exporters using firm-level surveys and in-depth interviews with key informants. The results suggest that, most respondents considered that public and private SPS requirements were not an important export determinant in agro-food trade with the EU and were not acting as barriers to exports. The compliance strategy used by the majority of exporters was mainly reactive.     

Evolution on the Shoulders of Giants: Entrepreneurship and Firm Survival in the German Laser Industry

This paper studies 40 years of evolution in the German laser industry, which developed in the context of strong foreign competition. Key characteristics found in the U.S. laser industry are also present in Germany. There is sustained entry into the industry, and neither a shakeout nor first-mover advantages of early entrants are observed. Similar to the U.S. industry, spin-offs from existing laser firms have been more long-lived than have been academic startups. An analysis of the spin-off process indicates the importance of specific capabilities acquired at the parent firm.      

A game-theoretic approach to behavioral food risks: The case of grain producers

Food risks may be caused by malpractice of suppliers who exploit the fact that their production processes and resulting product properties cannot be directly observed by buyers. The probability of malpractice increases with the profits that can be earned through opportunistic behavior. In this paper, we develop a moral hazard model for the empirical analyses of behavioral risks. It accounts for the essential fact that incomplete inspection and tracing increase the profitability of rule-breaking behavior, and that monitoring, tracing and sanctioning are costly. Using the model, we first demonstrate how to design efficient contracts in various situations. In a case study, we then analyze farmers’ incentives with regard to the minimum waiting period after fungicide use. Data are gathered in interviews with three large-scale German farmers and a grain dealer. We find that, while their perception of parameters varies widely, high temptations for rule-breaking arise in some cases. We conclude that empirical moral hazard analyses have significant potential to shed light on behavioral risks.     

Rethinking the global food crisis: The role of trade shocks

Although fundamental factors were clearly responsible for shifting the world to a higher food price equilibrium in the years leading up the 2008 food crisis, there is little doubt that when food prices peaked in June of 2008, they soared well above the new equilibrium price. Numerous arguments have been proposed to explain overshooting, including financial speculation, depreciation of the United States (US) dollar, low interest rates, and reductions in grain stocks. However, observations that international rice prices surged in response to export restrictions by India and Vietnam suggested that trade-related factors could be an important basis for overshooting, especially given the very tangible link between export volumes and export prices. In this paper, we revisit the trade story by closely examining monthly data from Thailand (the largest exporter of rice), and the United States (the largest exporter of wheat and maize and the third largest exporter of soybeans). In all cases except soybeans, we find that large surges in export volumes preceded the price surges. The presence of these large demand surges, together with back-of-the-envelope estimates of their price impacts, suggests that trade events played a much larger and more pervasive role than previously thought.     

Disentangling the consensus frame of food security: The case of the EU Common Agricultural Policy reform debate

This article addresses which food security frames can be identified in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) post-2013 reform process, and which actors deploy particular food security frames. The concept of frames refers to relatively distinct and coherent sets of meaning attributed to a concept, such as food security. The article shows that in the European Union (EU) food security is a consensus frame which can be broken down in six conflicting and overlapping sub-frames and which has complicated the debates about the future of the CAP. We demonstrate that during the CAP-reform debates of 2009–2012 a variety of food security arguments were deployed by a broad range of stakeholders, who attached different meanings and made different claims about the relationship between the CAP and food security. Inductive frame analysis reveals that the consensus frame of food security can be broken down into six conflicting and overlapping sub-frames: (1) the productionist frame, (2) the environmental frame, (3) the development frame, (4) the free trade frame, (5) the regional frame, and (6) the food sovereignty frame. Each of these frames was invoked by a specific group of stakeholders, whereby the productionist and environmental frames were deployed most often. The European Commission, meanwhile, invoked various frames at the same time in its communications. As a result of these various framings of the relationship between the CAP and food security, a clear political vision on this relationship is lacking. We conclude that politicians and policymakers may need to develop a coherent vision on what food security entails, and on how the CAP could contribute to both European and global food security.     

Implications of mandatory labeling of GM food in India: Evidence from the supply side

We assess the supply-side economic implications of introducing a strict mandatory labeling policy for genetically modified (GM) food in India as proposed in 2006. We apply our analysis to the case of cottonseed oil and soybean oil, two products that would be the first affected by such regulation. We find that GM food labeling would generate adjustment and implementation costs and consumer benefits would not always be visible and would highly depend on the degree of enforcement.     

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.     

Connecting at the edge: Cycles of commodification and labour control within food delivery platform work in Belgium

In this paper we examine how commodification and labour control unfold within a digital labour platform, focusing on the connections between the platform, its users and workers. Based on a qualitative study covering couriers, clients, restaurants and the management of a food delivery platform in Belgium, we shed light on the complexity of commodification, explaining how the platform simultaneously empowers and disempowers all participants. We illustrate how the platform fosters commodification by granting access to transactions and fuelling competition, while at the same time increasing dependency through withholding information from users and workers. In so doing, we contribute to understanding how platforms exert control and create, extract and capture value by connecting users and workers with each other through the use of digital technology.     

The power of the vegetable patch: How home-grown food helps large rural households achieve economies of scale & escape poverty

This paper explores how the household’s capacity to grow food impacts their ability to achieve economies of scale in food consumption and how this impacts the geographic distribution of poverty across rural and urban areas. An accurate understanding of consumption economies of scale is vital for comparing poverty levels across households of varying size. Using Sri Lankan data on home-grown food consumption, we empirically confirm that such economies of scale exist and that large households tend to consume relatively more home-grown food than smaller households. The magnitude of these scale economies are found to be larger than those in market purchased food, but smaller than those found in housing expenditure. Consuming more home-grown food is also found to be positively correlated with per-capita calories consumed. Taking these effects into account in poverty estimates leads to a 15 per cent decline in the number of household who fall below the poverty line in rural regions.     

Assessing the contribution of artisanal fisheries to food security: A bio-economic modeling approach

Artisanal fisheries are an important food source in many developing regions. Quantitative bio-economic models are needed that comprehensively assess artisanal fisheries’ contribution to food security. Our model combines standard resource economics theory with the literature on food systems. It explains impacts of environmental variations and market development on output, prices and ultimately food security. The application to the Senegalese purse-seine fishery reveals that total sector rents account for 2% of per capita yearly food expenditures for the coastal inhabitants. We examine the relative importance of main drivers and the vulnerability of different regions. Market development plays a crucial role: The resource is of far greater relevance for remote regions.     

Baseline results from the Eat,Play, Live trial: A randomized controlled trial within a natural experiment examining the role of nutrition policy and capacity building in improving food environments in recreation and sport facilities

Canadian provincial governments have introduced voluntary nutrition guidelines for recreation and sport facilities to promote healthy dietary patterns in children. This paper presents baseline data from the Eat, Play, Live (EPL) randomized controlled trial to examine whether facilities in guideline provinces had greater capacity, more nutrition policies, and healthier food environments than facilities in a province without guidelines. Facility capacity, policy development, and food environment quality were measured and compared in guideline (GF; n = 32) and no guideline facilities (NoGF; n = 17) using ANOVA and Chi-square statistics. Healthfulness of vending and concession items were rated as Do Not Sell (least nutritious), Sell Sometimes or Sell Most (most nutritious). Facility capacity scores did not differ between GF and NoGF. A higher proportion of GF had facility-specific nutrition policies compared to NoGF. GF vending machines had healthier profiles than NoGF; including a lower proportion of Do Not Sell snacks and beverages, and a higher proportion of Sell Sometimes snacks and beverages and Sell Most beverages. GF concessions had healthier profiles than NoGF; with a lower proportion of Do Not Sell snacks and beverages, a higher proportion of Sell Sometimes snacks and Sell Most beverages, and higher food environment summary scores. Recreation and sport facilities in guideline provinces had more nutrition policies and healthier food environments than facilities in a province without guidelines. However, food environments were unhealthy regardless of guideline status which may promote correspondingly unhealthy dietary patterns among children.Clinical trials registration (retrospectively registered): ISRCTN14669997 Jul 3 2018.     

Eating at the limits: Barriers to the emergence of social enterprise initiatives in the Australian emergency food relief sector

This article explores the absence of social enterprise responses to food insecurity in Australia. Continued growth in demand from chronically food insecure consumers and criticism of the dominant food bank model of gifted food support has led to the development of ‘community supermarkets’ that charge consumers for donated food in countries including Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Italy, but not in Australia. This research investigates barriers to the development of community supermarkets in Australia through in-depth interviews with senior staff within seven organizations involved in the food relief supply chain, as well as a pilot survey of 38 food insecure consumers. The results of this research are analyzed through the lens of ‘voluntary failure’ theory and highlight systemic barriers to the reach of social enterprise as a mechanism for addressing food insecurity.     

From punishment to prevention: A French case study of the introduction of co-regulation in enforcing food safety

In the last decade, the concept of co-regulation has been developed and increasingly promoted as an important instrument of regulation. In the context of food safety, we examine co-regulation programs from the point of view of an enforcement agency. We develop a conceptual framework of enforcement of food safety regulation for use in assessing the degree of shift toward co-regulation from traditional approaches and apply it to a case study of the French import market for produce at Perpignan. We find that co-regulation in the enforcement of pesticide residue limits resulted in a change of practices for the regulatory agency from punishment to prevention based on incentives and information programs.