SOME PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF SYNTHETIC FOODS

Discusses problems involved in the introduction of synthetic foods into the American diet. Outlines an approach to utilization of synthetic foods in the future feeding of the country and world.Institutional and Behavioral Economics,

CONSUMER EFFECTS OF HARMONIZING INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS FOR TRADE IN ORGANIC FOODS

Even if governments agree on equivalency of organic standards across countries, consumers may still believe domestically produced organic foods are superior to imports. We simulated a partial equilibrium model of trade in organic wheat between the United States and Germany to illustrate the welfare gains and losses associated with international harmonization of organic standards. Six cases were examined - no equivalency in standards (the status quo), equivalency of standards with complete and incomplete import acceptance, exporters certifying in importing country with complete and incomplete import acceptance, and exporters paying educational costs, with incomplete import acceptance. Results demonstrate that importing country consumers are better off if they are willing to accept imports as equivalent to domestically produced organic foods. Strategies to reduce resistance such as educational programs or foreign certification add costs to production that reduce quantity traded and impose welfare losses on exporting country producers and importing country consumers.International Relations/Trade,

Building Indian Country’s Future through Food, Agriculture,Infrastructure, and Economic Development in the 2018 FarmBill

With the potential of approximately $1 trillion in spending over 10 years in rural America, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs authorized by the Farm Bill have the ability to build and support thriving economies in rural America. Nowhere is this potential greater, or needed, than in rural Tribal communities. This paper will examine why the unique circumstances of Tribal governments, individual Native American food producers, and Tribal citizens necessitate changes in several USDA programs to serve Indian Country. Further, it will review several policy changes in various titles of the next Farm Bill reauthorization that will help empower Tribal governments and individual Native food producers to utilize the full breadth of opportunities the Farm Bill offers and allow USDA to invest in Indian Country. This includes the ability to develop and expand Tribal infrastructure, utilities, broadband, water systems, and community buildings like hospitals and fire stations; provide the means for Native agriculture businesses to thrive; and continue to address and improve the health of American Indians and Alaska Natives supporting he already great work happening in Natives communities surrounding food and agriculture. Finally, this paper will discuss how improving the Farm Bill programs for Indian Country will help bolster our work to achieve the truest form of sovereignty: feeding ourselves in our own foods systems with our own foods

Processed foods and the nutrition transition: evidence from Asia

This paper elucidates the role of processed foods and beverages in the ‘nutrition transition’ underway in Asia. Processed foods tend to be high in nutrients associated with obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases: refined sugar, salt, saturated and trans-fats. This paper identifies the most significant ‘product vectors’ for these nutrients and describes changes in their consumption in a selection of Asian countries. Sugar, salt and fat consumption from processed foods has plateaued in high-income countries, but has rapidly increased in the lower– middle and upper–middle-income countries. Relative to sugar and salt, fat consumption in the upper–middle- and lower–middle-income countries is converging most rapidly with that of high-income countries. Carbonated soft drinks, baked goods, and oils and fats are the most significant vectors for sugar, salt and fat respectively. At the regional level there appears to be convergence in consumption patterns of processed foods, but country-level divergences including high levels of consumption of oils and fats in Malaysia, and soft drinks in the Philippines and Thailand. This analysis suggests that more action is needed by policy-makers to prevent or mitigate processed food consumption. Comprehensive policy and regulatory approaches are most likely to be effective in achieving these goals

A cross-cultural study of cereal foods' quality perception

Cereal foods' production and use show substantial heterogeneity across Europe. For a category central in most EU diets, cereal foods' quality perception is, nevertheless, surprisingly understudied. With this in mind, 357 Danish, Lithuanian and Portuguese citizens were inquired about the importance of several cues and dimensions in their evaluation of the perceived quality of bread, cookies, breakfast cereals, pasta and vodka. Portuguese and Lithuanians consistently gave a significantly higher average importance to all the cues and quality dimensions considered, for all products, than their Danish counterparts. Nevertheless, respondents in all three samples found expected quality dimensions to be much more important than both extrinsic and intrinsic cues across almost all product categories. Dimensions and cues like taste and country - of- origin were the most relevant to Lithuanians, while taste , label information and price were the most important for Danes. The cues and dimensions Portuguese found relevant were fairly different and more category- dependent. Cues like store type for bread, brand for breakfast cereals, pasta and vodka, country - of- origin for vodka , and price for cookies, pasta and vodka were more often assessed by the Portuguese as relevant for decision- making at the point - of- purchase. This highlights the need for further cross - cultural research on food quality perception.Cereal Foods, Consumer Quality Perception, Total Food Quality Model, Cross - cultural Study, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Organic consumption in three European countries

The present paper describes the consumption of organic foods in Denmark, Italy, and the United Kingdom. The study is based on an extensive set of household purchase panel data for each country. The data indicate that the consumption level in Denmark is substantially higher than in both Italy and in the United Kingdom. Furthermore differences between various socio-demographic groups are investigated. Some of these differences can be identified in all three countries

Traceability for Food Safety and Quality Assurance: Mandatory Systems Miss the Mark

Traceability systems are record-keeping systems that are primarily used to help keep foods with different attributes separate from one another. When information about a particular attribute of a food product is systematically recorded from creation through marketing, traceability for that attribute is established. Recently, policy makers in many countries have begun weighing the usefulness of mandatory traceability for managing such diverse problems as the threat of bio-terrorism, country-of-origin labelling, mad cow disease, and identification of genetically engineered foods. The question before policymakers is, When is mandatory traceability a useful and appropriate policy choice?Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Variation in Staple Food Prices in Eastern and Southern Africa: A Synthesis

The global food crisis of 2007-08 has focused attention on food prices, pushing the topic to the top of the agenda of international organizations. For policymakers in sub-Saharan Africa, however, food prices have been an issue of economic importance and political sensitivity for decades. Of particular importance are the prices of staple foods, defined as grains and starchy root crops that are inexpensive sources of calories. In eastern and southern Africa, maize is the most important staple food, followed by cassava, sorghum, teff, wheat, plantains, and sweet potatoes, with the importance of each varying by country. The importance of these staple foods cannot be underestimated, as they contribute 50-75% of the caloric intake of the population. Furthermore, staple foods represent a large share of food spending, which is itself 40-70% of the budgets of households in sub-Saharan Africa.food security, Africa, food policy, food prices, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, International Development, Marketing, q11, q18,

PROCESSED FOOD TRADE AND FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT UNDER NAFTA

Trade in processed food products is rapidly growing. Trade with Canada and Mexico has especially been growing since free trade agreements have been implemented. The U.S. presence in the processed food industry in other countries through foreign direct investment (FDI) is also large and has been expanding. The relationship between trade and FDI is uncertain and subject to much debate. Japan and Canada are the largest importers of processed foods from the United States, followed by Mexico and Korea. Canada is the leading exporter of food products to the United States, followed by France, Mexico, and Italy. Canada and Mexico have, in recent years, become increasingly important trading partners in processed foods. Results from this study do not conclusively indicate any type of relationship between FDI and trade. Trade in processed foods also appears to be mostly insensitive to the exchange rate. Some of the increase in trade flows can be explained by growth in real GDP. Trade liberalization may also explain the increase in trade flows. Free trade agreements have positively influenced U.S. FDI in Canada and Mexico. Labor cost and inflation in the host country also influences U.S. FDI.trade, processed foods, foreign direct investment, Canada, Mexico, International Relations/Trade,

Healthy food financing initiatives: Increasing access to fresh foods in underserved markets

The Fresh Food Financing Initiative in Philadelphia serves the financing needs of supermarket operators that plan to operate in underserved communities that may have limited access to affordable, healthy foods. Through successful partnerships, the Fresh Food Financing Initiative is being replicated across the country and the President’s 2011 budget proposal includes over $400 million for a national Healthy Food Financing Initiative.Community development ; Health