innovative Public Organic food Procurement for Youth (iPOPY). Lessons learned from implementing organic into European school meals – policy implications.

The introduction of organic food offers new dimensions to school meals, and schools offer new dimensions to organic food – when tackled properly. In this paper we present findings from the iPOPY research project that is funded by the ERA-Net, CORE-Organic-I funding body network. It is based on studies of school food policies in Denmark, Finland, Italy and Norway. The embedded food traditions and cultures have had different attention in these countries, why also food related consumption, institutions and markets are quite heterogeneous and dynamic. Whereas school food services are relatively widely embedded in the school systems in Finland and Italy, the Danish and Norwegian school food is predominantly defined by the packed lunch brought from home when it comes to organic food the pattern is different. To analyse the strategies used in these countries we have selected a number of cases where in-depth studies have been conducted. The concept of embedding has been used in these studies and it has been informed by policy and actor network theories. The results of this analysis show a complexity in implementing organic food in existing school food aims, in embedding school food policies and in comprising also aims and policies for organic food purchasing in these. The variety amongst the analysed countries in strategies and success is identified, covering both structural and stakeholder related findings. A major finding is pointing at the challenge of “multi-embedding” processes when including organic food in school meal procurement

Does organic farming face distinctive livestock welfare issues? - A conceptual analysis

The recent development and growth of organic livestock farming and the related development of national and international regulations has fuelled discussions among scientists and philosophers concerning the proper conceptualisation of animal welfare. These discussions on livestock welfare in organic farming draw on the conventional discussions and disputes on animal welfare, which involve issues such as different definitions of welfare (clinical health, absence of suffering, sum of positive and negative experiences, etc.), the possibility for objective measures of animal welfare and the acceptable level of welfare. It seems clear that livestock welfare is a value-laden concept and that animal welfare science cannot be made independent of questions of values and ethics. The question investigated here is whether those values that underpin organic farming, in particular, also affect the interpretation of livestock welfare and, if so, how. While some of the issues raised in connection with organic farming are relatively uncontroversial, others are not. The introduction of organic farming values seems to introduce new criteria for what counts a good animal welfare, as well as a different ethical basis for taking moral decisions on welfare. Organic farming embodies distinctive systemic or communitarian ethical ideas and the organic values are connected to a systemic conception of nature, of agriculture, of the farm and of the animal. The new criteria of welfare are related to concepts such as naturalness, harmony, integrity and care. While the organic values overlap with those involved in the conventional discussion of animal welfare, some of them suggest a need to set new priorities and to re-conceptualise animal welfare – for example, with respect to 'naturalness', in relation to the possibilities for expression of natural behaviour and in relation to animal integrity as a concept for organismic harmony. The organic perspective also seems to suggest a wider range of solutions to welfare problems than changes in farm routines or operations on the animals. The systemic solutions include the choice and reproduction of suitable breeds, changes in the farm structure, and changes in the larger production and consumption system - including consumer perceptions and preferences. But the organic values may also call for sacrifices of individual welfare in a conventional sense in order to advance welfare from the perspective of organic farming. Whether this is good or bad cannot be decided without entering into an inquiry and discussion of the values and ethics involved

Tolerance and metabolic response of <i>Pseudomonas taiwanensis</i> VLB120 towards biomass hydrolysate-derived inhibitors

Abstract Background Bio-conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to high-value products offers numerous benefits; however, its development is hampered by chemical inhibitors generated during the pretreatment process. A better understanding of how microbes naturally respond to those inhibitors is valuable in the process of designing microorganisms with improved tolerance. Pseudomonas taiwanensis VLB120 is a natively tolerant strain that utilizes a wide range of carbon sources including pentose and hexose sugars. To this end, we investigated the tolerance and metabolic response of P. taiwanensis VLB120 towards biomass hydrolysate-derived inhibitors including organic acids (acetic acid, formic acid, and levulinic acid), furans (furfural, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural), and phenols (vanillin). Results The inhibitory effect of the tested compounds varied with respect to lag phase, specific growth rate, and biomass yield compared to the control cultures grown under the same conditions without addition of inhibitors. However, P. taiwanensis was able to oxidize vanillin and furfural to vanillic acid and 2-furoic acid, respectively. Vanillic acid was further metabolized, whereas 2-furoic acid was secreted outside the cells and remained in the fermentation broth without further conversion. Acetic acid and formic acid were completely consumed from the fermentation broth, while concentration of levulinic acid remained constant throughout the fermentation process. Analysis of free intracellular metabolites revealed varying levels when P. taiwanensis VLB120 was exposed to inhibitory compounds. This resulted in increased levels of ATP to export inhibitors from the cell and NADPH/NADP ratio that provides reducing power to deal with the oxidative stress caused by the inhibitors. Thus, adequate supply of these metabolites is essential for the survival and reproduction of P. taiwanensis in the presence of biomass-derived inhibitors. Conclusions In this study, the tolerance and metabolic response of P. taiwanensis VLB120 to biomass hydrolysate-derived inhibitors was investigated. P. taiwanensis VLB120 showed high tolerance towards biomass hydrolysate-derived inhibitors compared to most wild-type microbes reported in the literature. It adopts different resistance mechanisms, including detoxification, efflux, and repair, which require additional energy and resources. Thus, targeting redox and energy metabolism in strain engineering may be a successful strategy to overcome inhibition during biomass hydrolysate conversion and lead to development of more robust strains

Er husdyrvelfærd i økologisk jordbrug noget særligt?

Der foregår løbende både praktisk udvikling og teoretisk refleksion i relation til husdyrvelfærd. Endvidere evalueres og ændres reglerne omkring husdyrvelfærd løbende, både i Danmark og i EU. Formålet med nærværende kapitel er at diskutere begrebet husdyrvelfærd i forbindelse med principperne i det økologisk jordbrug. Det sker med udgangspunkt i spørgsmålet: er der, ud over de gældende regler, særlige værdimæssige, etiske, videnskabelige eller reguleringsmæssige forhold, der influerer på hvordan dyrevelfærd opfattes i økologisk jordbrug, set i forhold til det øvrige jordbrug? Eller med andre ord: kan de nuværende forskelle i regler, og i opfattelsen af dyrevelfærd, begrundes i mere grundliggende forhold i økologisk jordbrug? Og i så fald: i hvilken retning peger disse forhold med hensyn til den fremtidige udvikling og regulering af økologisk jordbrug? Og endvidere: hvad indebærer det hvis økologisk husdyrhold giver dårligere velfærd, set ud fra en mere traditionel opfattelse af dyrevelfærd? Kapitel 8 i denne rapport giver en opsummering af de opfattelser af dyrevelfærd der kom til udtryk i vidensyntesearbejdet, og en oversigt over de væsentligste elementer: naturlighed, omsorg, harmoni og valgfrihed. Som opfølgning på kapitel 8 og de øvrige kapitler i rapporten skal der i dette kapitel tages fat på den grundlæggende diskussion af husdyrvelfærd i forbindelse med principperne for økologisk jordbrug

Information literacy is not a one-man show

This article will discuss the issues at stake when cooperation between library and faculty on information literacy (IL) is initiated and explored by using an action research approach. Research on and experiences from cooperation between faculty libraries and faculties indicate that several teaching programmes have not integrated IL into the curriculum nor have they established a formalised cooperation between library and faculty on IL. Participants in the project were three librarians, six lecturers, one library manager, two directors of programme and two project managers from VIA University College, Denmark. The data for this study originates from focus group interviews, process protocols, records of reflective sessions and support meetings as well as from mail correspondences. Results indicate that formal cooperation between librarians and educators is necessary and provides the needed access to the other’s understanding of IL, the curriculum, pedagogical professionalism and mutual roles. A joint conceptual understanding of IL is important for making this teamwork work. Librarians need access to programme documents and knowledge on students’ level of learning and on course work. Co-teaching supports the librarian in developing pedagogical skills. Educators have diverging experiences with IL which can be a problem when challenging students on IL for their assignments. IL is everyone’s business and local dissemination of an agreed curriculum intervention throughout a programme is important. Leadership and re-sources are also significant if the integration of IL is to be possible