Comparing Predictors of Diet Quality in Canada Over Time Under Consideration of Altering Food Guides

Latest data on the diet of Canadians from the Canadian Community Health Survey reveals that the diet quality of Canadians needs improvement. Within this paper predictors of diet quality in Canada are identified based on two cross-sectional data sets from the Canadian Food Expenditure Survey. To measure diet quality, the Canadian Healthy Food Diversity (CanHFD)-Index is developed which is based on Food Guide recommendations. Moreover, this paper considers that the Food Guide between survey years has changed when analyzing diet quality. To track changes in demand for diet quality we use “Canada’s Food Guide 1982” to calculate CanHFD-Index for 1984 and 1996. Changes in demand for diet quality according to “Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating 1992” are observed by calculating CanHFD-Index with data from 1984 and 1996. Theoretically, this model is related to Becker’s household production theory and Lancaster’s characteristics approach. Multiple regression results show significant changes in the Canadian demand for food diversity over time. Some of the differences can be traced back to the different versions of the Canada Food Guide. Increasing age, higher income, being female, and high education level are positive predictors of diet quality in 1984 and 1996 among others.diet quality, healthy food diversity, Canada, Food Guides, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Health Economics and Policy, D12, D13, I12, Q18,

OBSERVING CHANGES IN CANADIAN DEMAND FOR FOOD DIVERSITY OVER TIME

Research on food diversity is interdisciplinary in nature, and is highly relevant for different research fields. Eating a variety of foods has been linked to the nutritional well-being of the household. From an economic perspective, food diversity can be used to derive important conclusions regarding the economic well-being of a population under study. This paper attempts to fill two main research gaps. The first objective of this paper is to analyze the demand for food diversity in Canada for the first time. This includes observing the extent of food diversity and the identification of respective socio-economic determinants. The second main objective is to compare changes in the cross-sectional demand for food diversity over time using three data sets of the Canadian Food Expenditure Survey (1984, 1996 and 2001). Food diversity is measured twice, with a measure used in nutritional studies and an economic diversity measure to draw conclusions for both research fields. Results show that in all years the demand for diversity (both indices) is positively influenced by income, age, and household size. We observe a significant quadratic influence of income in all models. Over all years, males and singles have a lower demand for food diversity than females and married Canadians. In addition, the region the household lives in is a strong predictor of food diversity. We observe changes in demand for food diversity in Canada. It is shown that the demand for food diversity decreased from 1984 to 1996 and 2001.Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Effects of fluctuations on the initial eccentricity from the Color Glass Condensate in heavy ion collisions

We introduce a modified form of the Kharzeev-Levin-Nardi (KLN) approach for nuclear collisions. The new ansatz for the unintegrated gluon distribution function preserves factorization, and the saturation scale is bound from below by that for a single nucleon. It also reproduces the correct scaling with the number of collisions at high transverse momentum. The corresponding Monte Carlo implementation allows us to account for fluctuations of the hard sources (nucleons) in the transverse plane. We compute various definitions of the eccentricity within the new approach, which are relevant for the interpretation of the elliptic flow. Our approach predicts breaking of the scaling of the eccentricity with the Glauber eccentricity at the level of about 30%.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figures, Updated version as accepted by Phys.Rev.

Ensuring health and food safety from rapidly expanding wastewater irrigation in South Asia: BMZ final report 2005-2008

Wastewater irrigation / Institutions / Public health / Health hazards / Diseases / Cropping systems / Vegetables / Fodder / Livestock / Risk assessment / Economic evaluation / Surveys / GIS / Research priorities / South Asia / India / Pakistan / Hyderabad / Faisalabad / Musi River

Value-Added Meat: Measuring Past Successes and Predicting Future Winners

Livestock industries are significantly affected by changes in consumer behaviour. In order to add value to meat and livestock production, many firms and farms are supporting the development of new products – these products can differ by credence attribute, by degree of processing and by marketing strategies. The literature suggests that one of the most important determinants of success in product innovation is an understanding of the market the product is introduced into. In this report consumer preferences for meat products, by animal species including minor meats, and by type of processing are examined. Responses to economic variables such as price, advertising and income are identified as are responses to food safety and meat related health issues. Interesting results include the fact that income elasticities of demand for meat products purchased at grocery stores are negative in this study and that own and cross price elasticities for certain meats, across processing levels for example, show strong substitutions. Thus introducing new meat products may not result in increased sales by animal species but may only result in substitution of one meat type product for another product of the same meat type. Successful new product introductions or changes in product quality are shown, in this report, to be accompanied by significant marketing/advertising investment and, either by design or by serendipity, to have credence attributes in line with consumer's changing concerns. An example of this is the response in branded chicken sales, at the time of BSE in Canada, for a brand that could advertise itself as being 100% grain fed. Marketing strategies, such as working with the Health Check™ program of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada are shown to have an impact on firm level sales (as well as on sales at the individual product level), a halo effect, that may be of importance in the firm's development of other value-added products. Significant heterogeneity exists in consumer behaviour and it is important to recognize this heterogeneity in the development of value-added meat products. Added to the consumer heterogeneity, in general, is the heterogeneity in responses by meat type. What works for one sector, such as poultry, could be problematic in other sectors given differences in economic interrelationships reported in this study.meat, consumer behavior, value-added, strategic behaviour, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Livestock Production/Industries, Marketing, D12, Q18,

When they Come Home: Posttraumatic Stress, Moral Injury, and Spiritual Consequences for Veterans

Clergy supervisors, as they live out their various roles as models, educators, consultants, and direct providers of pastoral care, have powerful opportunities to influence and shape the responses of religious communities to the needs of returning veterans. Four key suggestions are offered to assist in ministry to/with veterans

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Impacts of agricultural innovation and transformation of the mountainous hinterland in the Mediterranean: An example from Southern Spain (Costa Granadina)

Between 1985 and 1989 and in 1994 an agroecologicaI research was carried out at the Mediterranean coast of Andalucía (Southern Spain). Comparison of aerial photos of 1950 and 1978, interviews with farmers and field work made clear that the landscape is subject to enormous changes. The innovation of agricultural practices cause manifold ecological consequences. Main results are: The traditional land use pattern was replaced by market oriented agricultural practices. The changes of the land use pattern occurred very quickly starting in the early eighty's, not reaching their peak up to now. Main feature of the development is the destruction of the landscape by ecologically non - adapted methods of terracing steep slopes, which were formerly protected by traditional terraces. Heterogeneous development of the higher Alpujarra and the coastal plains with respect to the emigration and immigration pattern is threatening the interaction between both areas, especially the water management. The coastal plains are entirely dependent on the water resources of the Sierra Nevada and upper Alpujarra. Dryland farming has been abandoned nearly completely.Una investigación agroecológica se llevó a cabo entre 1985 y 1989, y en 1994, en la costa mediterránea de Andalucía (Sur de España). La comparación de fotografías aéreas de 1950 y 1978, las entrevistas a agricultores y el trabajo de campo revelan que el paisaje ha sufrido grandes cambios. Las innovaciones en las prácticas agrícolas han tenido múltiples consecuencias ecológicas. Los principales resultados son: El uso tradicional de la tierra ha sido sustituido por prácticas agrícolas orientadas al mercado. Los cambios en las pautas de uso del suelo han sido muy rápidos, iniciándose a comienzos de la década de los ochenta y no alcanzando el máximo hasta hoy. El rasgo principal del desarrollo ha sido la destrucción del paisaje mediante métodos ecológicamente inapropiados de construcción de terrazas en fuertes pendientes, que antes quedaban protegidas por el aterrazamiento tradicional. El desarrollo diferente de la Alta Alpujarra y de las llanuras costeras en relación con las pautas de inmigración y emigración está amenazando la interacción entre ambas áreas, especialmente en lo que respecta a la gestión del agua. Las llanuras costeras dependen por completo de los recursos hídricos de la Sierra Nevada y de la Alta Alpujarra. El cultivo de secano ha sido abandonado casi por completo

New Measurements and Quantitative Analysis of Electron Backscattering in the Energy Range of Neutron Beta-Decay

We report on the first detailed measurements of electron backscattering from plastic scintillator targets, extending our previous work on beryllium and silicon targets. The scintillator experiment posed several additional experimental challenges associated with charging of the scintillator target, and those challenges are addressed in detail. In addition, we quantitatively compare the energy and angular distributions of this data, and our previous data, with electron transport simulations based on the Geant4 and Penelope Monte Carlo simulation codes. The Penelope simulation is found globally to give a superior description of the data. Such information is crucial for a broad array of weak-interaction physics experiments, where electron backscattering can give rise to the dominant detector-related systematic uncertainty.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure

Promoting indigenous vegetables in urban agriculture & livelihoods : policy lessons from Sub-Saharan Africa

[From Introduction] Globally, the growth of urbanised areas continues at an exponential rate, and most spectacularly in the developing world. The global urban population will increase from 2.9 billion in 2000 to 5.0 billion by 2030. The mean rate of urban growth in non-OECD countries between 2000 and 2005 was just under 3% per annum, compared to 0.5 % for rural regions of the same countries (UN-Habitat 2006). Although the proportion of Africans currently living in urban areas is the lowest in the world (+ 40%), because of this low base it is not unsurprising that the rates of urbanisation are among the highest at approximately 4.3% per annum. Projections vary, but sometime in the mid- 2020s over 50% of Africa's population will be living in urban areas, as compared to just 15% in 1950 and 34% in 1994. As urbanisation takes place another important trend is revealed, namely the locus of poverty in Africa is slowly shifting from rural to urban areas. For example, it is estimated that more than 56% of the world's absolute or chronic poor will be concentrated in urban areas (WRI 1996). Since as much as 60-80% of the income of the urban poor is spent on the purchase of food (Maxwell et al. 2000), the issue of food supply, both its quantity and quality, is increasingly a central issue in poverty reduction debates and strategies. In rural areas, a common strategy to alleviate poverty is to call for measures to boost small-holder food production. Surprisingly, this is less common in urban poverty alleviation programmes, despite the widespread promise of urban and household agriculture in contributing to improved food security