Routes to sustainability in public food procurement: An investigation of different models in primary school catering

Increasingly, policymakers are setting ambitious goals for sustainability in public procurement, integrated across different pillars. Such ambitions are apparent in public catering services, where procurement models have been shifting towards greater localisation of supply chains and purchasing of more organically grown food. To date however, few studies have examined empirically what the impacts of different procurement models are across these multiple pillars of sustainability. This research aimed to fill the gap, by measuring and comparing the environmental, economic and nutritional outcomes of different models of school meals procurement. Case studies were undertaken of ten primary school meals services in five European countries, capturing different procurement model types. Results showed carbon emissions ranged from 0.95 kgs CO2e per meal in the lowest case to 2.41 kgs CO2e in the highest case, with adoption of low carbon food waste disposal methods and reduction of the amount of ruminant meat in the menus being the most important actions for lowering emissions. In terms of economic impact, local economic multiplier ratios ranged from 1.59 to 2.46, and although the level of local food sourcing contributed to these ratios, the effect was eclipsed, in some cases, by investment in local catering staff. Meanwhile, implementation of a robust standards regime and improving canteen environment and supervision were the most important actions for nutritional quality and intake. The paper discusses the implications of the findings for integrated, sustainable models of food procurement

Diet of Young-Of-The-Year Smallmouth Bass in the Upper Juniata River System

The decline of young-of-the-year (YOY) smallmouth bass (SMB, Micropterus dolomieu) recruitment and adult densities in the Susquehanna River basin since 2005 raises concern for the health and well being of the fishery. Our study focused on understanding the feeding ecology of YOY SMB in the upper Juniata River watershed, a major tributary to the Susquehanna River. We studied the mainstem of the upper Juniata River, and the major tributaries forming and joining the river. We sampled the YOY smallmouth bass for a two-year period during the summer of 2016 and 2017. Our specific objectives were to 1) characterize the diet of SMB and a potential invasive competitor, the rusty crayfish (Orconectes rusticus), 2) document the physical condition and external health of individuals, and 3) evaluate the effectiveness of gastric lavage to extract diet contents at an early life history stage. A subset of individuals was sacrificed to check lavage efficiency and these individuals were also sent to be examined for histopathological anomalies that may result from pharmaceutical contamination (i.e., endocrine disrupting compounds) that is considered to be a likely cause of SMB decline. We also quantified habitat conditions using rapid visual techniques and ecological health of each site following the protocols for the Pennsylvania Index of Biotic Integrity for wadeable freestone streams. PA IBI scores (range 34 – 67) and habitat conditions (range 46 – 70%) were rather poor in both years. In summer (July and August) 2016, YOY SMB were numerous and were in excellent health, but were nearly absence during the same time in 2017. Few external anomalies consisted of parasites only. Most individuals were full of prey items, which on average consisted of about half aquatic prey and half terrestrial or neustonic prey. Rusty crayfish diet contents lacked any resemblance to diet contents in YOY SMB. Gastric lavage techniques were effective at removing gut contents and only a few individuals were found to have stomach contents remaining when dissected in the lab. Furthermore, nearly all YOY SMB fully recovered from field lavage experiences. Only 2 individuals died, and this was likely due to extreme river surface water temperatures (89 F) at the time of sampling. Thus, gastric lavage is a safe and effective technique to study YOY SMB feeding ecology and important links between recruitment, diet, and food quality without having to kill numerous fish

Linking Patterns in Endocrine-Disrupting Compounds to Storm Discharge and Yoy Smb Health in the Upper Juniata River Watershed

Population declines and disease incidence in smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) in the Susquehanna River basin have been linked to endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) as a likely causative agent. Nothing is known about this link in the upper Juniat

Sn-Li, a new coolant/breeding material for fusion applications.

A new breeding material, Sn-Li has been proposed for the APEX and ALPS programs. The key reason for proposing this material is that it has very low vapor pressure. Since both APEX and ALPS are investigating free surface flow for the blanket and divertor, respectively, low vapor pressure is a big advantage. This paper summarizes the results from a preliminary investigation. The early conclusion is that Sn-Li can be used as the coolant/breeding material for the APEX and ALPS applications. It has several attractive features, such as low vapor pressure and high thermal conductivity, but it also has some potential issues, such as material compatibility and activation. Further investigation will be required to assess the potential advantages of this material compared to other breeding materials