An evaluation of the opinions of school nutrition professionals on the new meal pattern being implemented through the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) with a focus on the fruit and vegetable components

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is a federally supported school meal program. The Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act (HHFKA), 2010 based on the recommendations by Institute of Medicine (IOM) introduced new meal pattern that comply with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010 and these are the major changes made in the past 15 years to school meal programs. The objective of the study was to evaluate the opinions of school nutrition professionals on the new meal pattern being implemented through the NSLP with a focus on fruit and vegetable components. A questionnaire was developed and distributed at strategic locations. The participants in the study were school nutrition professionals attending their Annual School Nutrition Association (SNA) conferences in New York (NY) and Mississippi (MS) and also a Major City training symposium in MS. The study was focused on evaluation of 6 cent reimbursement per lunch as a motivational factor to achieve the new meal pattern, practices to encourage fruit and vegetable consumption in schools and their perception of challenges in meeting the new fruit and new vegetable subgroup requirement. The study also determined if differences existed between the Northeast, Southeast and Major city schools in the frequency of serving, plate waste, availability, cost and storage for various types of fruits and vegetables. Percentages, means, t-test and One-way ANOVA analysis, post-hoc comparisons were used to analyze the data. The majority of participants were from school districts (71.6%) and are district directors (42.7%). More than 50% of participants considered the 6 cent reimbursement per lunch motivating for the achievement of the new meal pattern. Nutrition education was the widely used practice to encourage fruit and vegetable consumption. Significant differences were found in the challenges for meeting new fruit and vegetable subgroup components and regional differences for the frequency of serving, plate waste, availability, cost and storage for some types of fruits and vegetables. Future research can be focused to evaluate the challenges of meeting other menu components and verify if the frequency of serving fruits and vegetables differ due to availability, cost and storage

Exploring Restorative Factors for Trafficked and Sexually Exploited Women

Abstract Many women who survived sex trafficking continue to suffer from severe and persistent psychological distress even after the traditional treatment and rehabilitation program. The lingering psychological symptoms that these survivors suffer make reintegration into their families and communities difficult. This phenomenological study identified the restorative factors that helped some women who were earlier engaged in sex trafficking to recover, readjust, and reintegrate into their families and communities. Six female survivors of human trafficking and six program directors/counselors at different rehabilitation centers were individually interviewed in in-depth with semi-structured questionnaires and audio recorded. I kept diary of my readings and observation of the participants during the interviews to maintain the rigor and established trustworthiness of the study. With NVivo 11 plus Software, the information were coded to identify the different patterns. The Manen\u27s hermeneutic descriptive phenomenological interpretative approach was employed to sort out the emerging themes. The findings were grouped under the perspectives of survivors and program directors/counselors. Both survivors and program directors/counselors agreed that factors such as supports from family/friends, medical treatments, counseling, and individual characteristics promoted recovery. The theories of social support, self-efficacy, and resilience guided the understanding of the recovery process of the survivors. For positive social change, this study provides information that families, communities, and society can become more aware of the ways to improve survivors\u27 support systems and build a sustainable community that cares and supports survivors for a successful integration into families and communities

The status of Fusarium mycotoxins in Sub-Saharan Africa : a review of emerging trends and post-harvest mitigation strategies towards food control

Fusarium fungi are common plant pathogens causing several plant diseases. The presence of these molds in plants exposes crops to toxic secondary metabolites called Fusarium mycotoxins. The most studied Fusarium mycotoxins include fumonisins, zearalenone, and trichothecenes. Studies have highlighted the economic impact of mycotoxins produced by Fusarium. These arrays of toxins have been implicated as the causal agents of wide varieties of toxic health effects in humans and animals ranging from acute to chronic. Global surveillance of Fusarium mycotoxins has recorded significant progress in its control; however, little attention has been paid to Fusarium mycotoxins in sub-Saharan Africa, thus translating to limited occurrence data. In addition, legislative regulation is virtually non-existent. The emergence of modified Fusarium mycotoxins, which may contribute to additional toxic effects, worsens an already precarious situation. This review highlights the status of Fusarium mycotoxins in sub-Saharan Africa, the possible food processing mitigation strategies, as well as future perspectives

Challenges of inland artisanal fish production in Nigeria: economic perspective

Fishery production is significant to Nigerian economy in view of its roles in providing cheap source of food/nutrition security, income, employment, serves as source of foreign exchange, particularly those of the riparian communities. Despite these significant roles, fisheries subsector is faced with huge challenges, such as: decreasing yield, inefficient management of fishing policy, inadequate technological and commercial knowledge among others, thereby limiting its production potentials. The possibility of fish production especially artisanal fisheries to match up with fish productivity in the economy depends on fishing operation, efficient use of laboour, sustainable and efficient management of fishing policy. Therefore the essence of this study is to review the challenges in fish production in Nigeria, Economic perspective, with emphasis on the role of fisheries in economic development, decreasing fish yield, market forces and resource inefficiency