Food Systems

So far, you eat as long you have money to purchase the food or private means to produce it. Food is completly privatized, although is a basic human need. Can we reconceive the system in a different manner? Can we develop a Universal Food Coverage as our ancestors dis in the XIX century for Health and Education? 

This chapter reviews the current situation of the acces to justice by hungry people in order to claim their right to food in different Latin American countries. It also compares some relevant country cases, with the jurisprudence found elsewhere, and points out the progresses achieved so far and challenges ahead to move forward this important social right. 

En este trabajo se analizan los biocombustibles, sus materias primas, modos de producción y mercados con objeto de desmenuzar los factores de su produccion que influyeron en la crisis alimentaria de 2008. Tambien se presentan unas recomendaciones para España asi como unas sugerencias para hacer de la produccion de biocombustibles una alternativa viable economica y medioambientalmente

To ensure a sustainable food supply for the growing population, the challenge is to find agricultural systems that can meet production requirements within environmental constraints and demands. This study compares the impacts of winter wheat production on energy use, land use and 100 years Global Warming Potential (GWP100) under different arable farming systems and farming practices. Life cycle assessment was used to simulate the impacts of organic, conventional and integrated farming (IF) systems along the production chain from input production up to the farm gate. The IF system models were designed to combine the best practices from organic and conventional systems to reduce negative environmental impacts without significant yield reductions. An integrated system that used food waste digestate as a fertiliser, and utilised pesticides and no-tillage had the lowest energy use and GWP per functional unit of 1000 kg wheat output. When the impacts of some specific practices for reducing energy use and GWP were compared, the highest energy use reductions were achieved by replacing synthetic nitrogen fertilisers with anaerobically treated food waste or nitrogen fixing crops, increasing yields through crop breeding and using no-tillage instead of ploughing. The highest GWP reductions were achieved by using nitrification inhibitors, replacing synthetic nitrogen fertilisers and increasing yields. The major contributors to the uncertainty range of energy use were associated with machinery fuel use and the assumed crop yields. For GWP results, the main source of uncertainty related to the N2O emissions. In conclusion, farming systems that combine the best practices from organic and conventional systems have potential to reduce negative environmental impacts while maintaining yield levels.

"This dissertation evaluates the changes in food retailing patterns in the face of open market trends in a medium sized city (Citlalicalli) in central Mexico. This evaluation is carried out using the model of retail trade-concentration. The following questions are addressed: whether trade-concentration had occurred in the field-site; if yes, what were the causes; and, what were the effects of retail concentration on preexisting food retailers.

The fieldwork for this study was conducted over a 14 month period (May 2005 and June 2006). Empirical data were collected using three surveys, over 25 interviews, and several hours of participant observations. Along with these primary data, secondary data from official records were also collected. The survey data were analyzed using nonparametric tests.

The findings from the study revealed that trade-concentration is proceeding in
Citlalicalli and the recent spread of large stores in the region has been encouraged by free-trade policies adopted by Mexico since the mid-1980s. Trade-concentration in the Altepetl metropolitan area has also been aided by the positive behavior that consumers show towards large retail chains.

Contrary to popular belief, the impact of retail concentration on preexisting small retailers in Citlalicalli has been minimal. Partly traditions and partly the nearness of a particular store explain the continued patronization of small stores by consumers. The product category and income of consumers also influence their purchase decisions. This research shows that competition in food retailing in developing countries is between same size and same type retailers. Small retailers are not always in direct competition with modern retailers as they serve different sections of the society.

Retail development is a part of urban development and, therefore, has direct
implications for the quality of life in cities. In emerging economies, cities like Citlalicalli have vibrant town centers which provide convenient access to offices, shops, and entertainment areas for its citizens. This study concludes that appropriate policy measures can ensure the coexistence of large and small retailers in developing countries and, thereby, the continued vitality of city centers."

"In recent years urban agriculture has gained the
attention of policy-makers, social organizers, and
academics alike. This new wave of work and
attention focuses on projects that ameliorate issues
ranging from food insecurity to urban blight, and
environmental degradation to the subversion of
industrial food production. These projects consist
of a variation of community gardens, educational
programs, demonstration farms, and
entrepreneurial production farms (I will identify all
of these under the umbrella of urban agriculture
(UA)). However, by simply studying the social
impact of UA, researchers fail to consider who the
active agent is in social change; this results in little
acknowledgement of a movement that is
predominately white, hegemonic, and exclusive. As
a movement, UA is largely championed by a
middle-class white populace as part of the
alternative food movement, rather than being
understood as having historical roots in
predominately black and/or Latino neighborhoods.
As a result, urban agriculture generally creates
white spaces in otherwise black or Latino places. In
this paper I will argue for a new research direction
that considers UA from a critical race theory
framework and that will allow researchers to
examine how urban agriculture might create white
“spaces” and white “ethics” in predominately black
and Latino neighborhoods. Understanding UA
from a critical race theory framework will be useful
in helping the UA movement talk about food
sovereignty rather than food insecurity in urban
communities."

"http://www.researchmoz.us/cooking-sauces-pasta-sauces-and-stocks-uk-december-2013-report.html


Slow-simmered pasta sauces offer another potential means of supporting growth in the Italian sector, as 28% of users state they would pay more for these, despite them being largely absent in the UK market. This slow-cooking method for pasta sauce has connotations of authentic cooking, and is well-placed to appeal to time-starved consumers who lack the time to prepare a pasta sauce in such an authentic way.
"

Biogenic amines in ground meat and processed meat products are one of the indicators to determine the poor quality raw material. Major histamine forming bacterium was Escherichia coli (strain EC04 with 65.88 mg/100 ml in Brain Heart Infusion medium), followed by the microorganisms Morganella morganii (strain MM4 with 8.40 mg/100 ml and strain MM7 with 8.28 mg/100 ml) and Proteus mirabilis (strain PM02 with 8.76 mg/100 ml), respectively. The highest putrescine production level was found in Citrobacter freundii and Enterobacter spp. strains, followed by Serratia grimesii, Proteus alcalifaciens, E. coli, Escherichia fergusonii, Morganella morganii, Proteus mirabilis, Proteus penneri and Hafnia alvei, respectively. The most important cadaverine producer was E. coli EC03 with a production level of 45.48 mg/100 ml, and of the strains Escherichia vulnaris EV01, Escherichia fergusonii EF06 produced 37.92 mg/100ml and 35.40 mg/100 ml, respectively. On the basis of our results, it can be concluded that the major biogenic amines produced by Enterobacteriaceae are putrescine, cadaverine, tyramine and histamine, both in culture medium and meat products.

Land reform was introduced in South Africa in the 1990s to redress the injustices of colonialism and apartheid. But compromises in the transition to democracy saw a trade-off between political participation on one side and continuity in economic structure and ownership on the other. Conflicting policy imperatives led to the subordination of land reform to agricultural restructuring, which was already producing the consolidation of corporate power at the centre of the agri-food system. Key processes included the privatisation of the co-operative infrastructural backbone to produce concentrated agribusinesses throughout the food system, trade liberalisation that benefited some agri-food sectors and saw the decline of others, and foreign investments and acquisitions across the agri-food system – most recently in the Pioneer-Pannar and Walmart-Massmart acquisitions. Despite rhetoric in favour of building small-scale agriculture, neither the land reform programme nor agricultural restructuring processes facilitated the realisation of this objective. Government tailed agribusiness in opting for a contract farming model to integrate selected small-scale black farmers into corporate value chains, which left the fundamental agrarian and agri-food structure intact. Government’s role in providing black farmers with finance, research and development support and extension services remain weak and enhance private control over the overall agri-food system.

The ‘productionist paradigm’ in agriculture emphasizes high tech inputs and high material output. Its assumed main ethical value is the concept of justice as fair distribution of outputs, with the main aim to reduce hunger and to optimalize sustainability. The approach decreases biodiversity, increases erosion, is animal unfriendly and depletes scarce resources. It has an huge impact on climate change and its economic and patenting system increases the gap between rich and poor, thereby reducing chances for rural livelihood, producing unemployment, inherently instable social relations and food insecurity. Probably, it can produce food for even more than eight billion in 2050 with enormous cost. The agrosystem approach, its alternative, starts with local farming practices and innovation activities. It implicitly acknowledges the ethical value of how to lead a good life. However, variants of this approach either give farmers full priority in what and how to produce (as in agrarianism) or give consumers the lead (as in urban gardening). Due to the dynamics of social, economic and cultural systems, agricultural priorities cannot anymore be established one sided by either farmers (and producers) or consumers. Sustainability and climate change require changing consumer food styles (in expanding urban areas) and new farming styles. To improve the approach of agrosystem into one of plural and democratic agrosystems, I propose to make room conceptually for the negotiation and cooperation of farmers and consumers about their interests, preferences and values.

As consumers age and leave employment, the convenience factor of out-of-home sandwiches and lunch products has less resonance, meaning that they are less likely to perceive them to be value-for-money purchases. Operators therefore need additional hooks to ensure they are not seen as overpriced.

In 2012, the market sales volume of China’s water-soluble dietary fiber was about 235,000 tons. According to the incomplete statistics of the dietary association, currently, the sales amount of products focusing on the dietary fiber concept exceeds CNY 28 billion in China, rising by 300% compared with 2006.