Editorial Board
Publication date: December 2019Source: Food Policy, Volume 89Author(s): (Source: Food Policy)
Source: Food Policy - November 27, 2019 Category: Food Science Source Type: research
Galvanizing political commitment in the UN Decade of Action for Nutrition: Assessing commitment in member-countries of the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement
Publication date: Available online 25 November 2019Source: Food PolicyAuthor(s): Patrizia Fracassi, Kendra Siekmans, Phillip BakerAbstractIn pursuit of the global ambition of ending all forms of malnutrition, it is important to understand, measure and strengthen political commitment for nutrition. Building commitment involves advocating, establishing institutions, adopting policies, mobilizing resources and coordinating responses – within and outside of government, across sectors, from national to local levels – for as long as necessary to ensure results, sustained over time. As the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement ...
Source: Food Policy - November 27, 2019 Category: Food Science Source Type: research
The evolution of Coca-Cola Australia’s soft drink reformulation strategy 2003–2017: A thematic analysis of corporate documents
Publication date: Available online 25 November 2019Source: Food PolicyAuthor(s): Jennifer Lacy-Nichols, Gyorgy Scrinis, Rachel CareyAbstractGovernments around the world are pressuring the soft drink industry to reformulate sugary drinks, in particular through taxes on sugar content or front-of-pack labels identifying products high in sugar. Even in countries with no sugary drink tax, such as Australia, the soft drink industry has a reformulation policy. While reformulation is often framed as a “win-win” solution for business and public health, many public health experts consider it to be a political strategy to improve...
Source: Food Policy - November 27, 2019 Category: Food Science Source Type: research
Investigating menu kilojoule labelling policy adoption from a political science perspective
This study aimed to apply political science theories to understand influences on the adoption of Menu Kilojoule Labelling Legislation in Victoria, Australia over the period 2009–2017. Data collection included 13 in-depth semi-structured interviews with participants of the policy development and decision-making processes, analysis of 68 policy documents, and field note observations. Data were analysed using established political science theories: the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) and the Multiple Streams Theory (MST). There were numerous and interrelating factors that influenced the Menu Kilojoule Labelling Legislati...
Source: Food Policy - November 27, 2019 Category: Food Science Source Type: research
Do farmers’ organizations enhance the welfare of smallholders? Findings from the Mozambican national agricultural survey
Publication date: Available online 20 November 2019Source: Food PolicyAuthor(s): Maren Elise BachkeAbstractFarmers’ organizations have been used as a tool to improve the living conditions of farmers in many countries by improving market access, access to information and capacity to increase production. I employ panel data from Mozambique to investigate how membership in farmers’ organizations impacts smallholders’ welfare. Using difference-in-difference estimators that control for unobservable selection bias, I find a positive impact of membership on the marketed surplus (25%), the value of agricultural production (1...
Source: Food Policy - November 21, 2019 Category: Food Science Source Type: research
Chinese consumers’ preferences for food quality test/measurement indicators and cues of milk powder: A case of Zhengzhou, China
Publication date: Available online 20 November 2019Source: Food PolicyAuthor(s): Erpeng Wang, Zhifeng Gao, Yan Heng, Lijia ShiAbstractMany food regulations focus on test/measurement indicators, such as hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP) and traceability, etc. Other than these indicators, the food industry uses various cues such as product origin as indicators of product quality. However, in an environment where consumers’ confidence in food safety is low due to frequent food safety scandals, little is known about the efficiency of these test/measurement indicators and cues. This paper used the primary da...
Source: Food Policy - November 21, 2019 Category: Food Science Source Type: research
Urban food policies in German city regions: An overview of key players and policy instruments
This study was carried out with the aim of gaining new insights into the prevalence of certain food policy instruments and capacity of policy action. In order to do so, we developed an analytical framework to investigate urban policy and planning approaches related to food issues and applied it in ten large German cities. First, we identified different actor groups and analysed their role in urban food policy (level of involvement in municipal food projects). We then studied the variety of policy and planning instruments and their application for different elements in the food system. For the empirical study, we employed a...
Source: Food Policy - November 15, 2019 Category: Food Science Source Type: research
The long overhang of bad decisions in agro-industrial development: Sugar and tomato paste in Ghana
In this study we look at learning in agro-industrial policy in Ghana, by tracing the interest in sugar production and tomato processing over six decades. Specifically we ask why four failed factories established in the early 1960s have continued to play central roles in both policy and public discourse. Using policy documents, academic material, and the popular press, we show that Ghana’s policy focus on sugar production and tomato processing has endured, despite the fact that the factories were misconceived, poorly sited, ill-equipped and poorly managed. Indeed, the political ideas that underpinned the establishment of ...
Source: Food Policy - November 6, 2019 Category: Food Science Source Type: research
Understanding beliefs and concerns towards palm oil: Empirical evidence and policy implications
Publication date: Available online 1 November 2019Source: Food PolicyAuthor(s): Stefania Capecchi, Mario Amato, Valeria Sodano, Fabio VerneauAbstractOver the last years palm oil has become a controversial product, due to its alleged harmful environmental and health effects. As a consequence, many food companies have taken concrete actions for meeting growing concerns. In this respect, a field survey was carried out amongst a sample of 607 Italian respondents, in order to highlight the potential effect of consumers’ attitudes towards health, social and environmental worries referred to palm oil consumption. Individual res...
Source: Food Policy - November 2, 2019 Category: Food Science Source Type: research
Developing the Women's Empowerment in Nutrition Index in Two States of India
Publication date: Available online 1 November 2019Source: Food PolicyAuthor(s): Sudha Narayanan, Erin Lentz, Marzia Fontana, Anuradha De, Bharati KulkarniAbstractRural women face many obstacles that thwart their well-being. Policies that seek to empower them, for example, by improving livelihood opportunities, often do not translate into improvements in other areas, notably in their nutritional status. Indeed, many existing measures of women’s empowerment have ambiguous associations with indicators of nutritional status. This is likely because existing operationalizations of empowerment often focus on aspects that are so...
Source: Food Policy - November 2, 2019 Category: Food Science Source Type: research
Understanding heterogeneity in price changes and firm responses to a national unhealthy food tax in Mexico
Publication date: Available online 26 October 2019Source: Food PolicyAuthor(s): Juan Carlos Salgado, Shu Wen NgAbstractTo address the high prevalence of overweight and obesity in Mexico, an eight percent ad valorem excise tax on non-essential energy-dense foods came into effect on 1 January 2014. This paper estimates price changes after the tax implementation among the top four food categories and by leading vs. non-leading firms using purchase information from over 6000 urban households in the 2012–2015 Nielsen Mexico Consumer Panel. We create product-city-month specific prices that correct for potential biases associat...
Source: Food Policy - October 27, 2019 Category: Food Science Source Type: research
Knowing is half the battle: Seasonal forecasts, adaptive cropping systems, and the mediating role of private markets in Zambia
Publication date: Available online 23 October 2019Source: Food PolicyAuthor(s): Giuseppe Maggio, Nicholas SitkoAbstractThis paper examines how smallholders living in regions where a drought is forecasted adapt their farm practices in response to receiving seasonal forecast information. The article draws on a unique longitudinal dataset in Zambia, which collected information from farm households before and after a significant drought caused by the 2015/2016 El-Niño Southern Oscillation. It finds that farmers residing in areas forecasted to be drought-affected and receiving seasonal forecast information are significantly mo...
Source: Food Policy - October 23, 2019 Category: Food Science Source Type: research
Determinants of spatial market efficiency of grain markets in Russia
Publication date: Available online 19 October 2019Source: Food PolicyAuthor(s): Miranda Svanidze, Linde GötzAbstractResults of an unobserved effects model on the determinants of inter- and intraregional grain market integration in Russia in comparison to the USA highlights the differences of the mechanisms underlying market integration in each market. Physical trade flows are exclusively dominant in Russia; in contrast, in the United States, additional information flows induced by commodity futures markets play a great role. Policies which improve grain market efficiency in Russia should not only foster investments in tra...
Source: Food Policy - October 20, 2019 Category: Food Science Source Type: research
Editorial Board
Publication date: October 2019Source: Food Policy, Volume 88Author(s): (Source: Food Policy)
Source: Food Policy - October 16, 2019 Category: Food Science Source Type: research
An unequal burden: Intra-household dimensions of seasonal health in Tanzania
Publication date: Available online 11 October 2019Source: Food PolicyAuthor(s): Leah E.M. Bevis, Felix Naschold, Tanvi RaoAbstractSeasonal variation in nutritional status is a concern in sub-Saharan Africa. Seasonality in the food consumption of young Tanzanian children has a substantial and negative impact on later life outcomes. Seasonal variation in adult nutritional status has implications for labor productivity and prenatal health. Just as mean poverty status or mean health status varies within households, seasonal patterns in health status are likely to vary within households, as well as the mechanisms underlying sea...
Source: Food Policy - October 13, 2019 Category: Food Science Source Type: research
