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\"Bestselling author and economist Ha-Joon Chang makes challenging economic ideas delicious by plating them alongside stories about food from around the world, using the diverse histories behind familiar food items to explore economic theory. For Chang, chocolate is a lifelong addiction, but more exciting are the insights it offers into postindustrial knowledge economies; and while okra makes Southern gumbo heart-meltingly smooth, it also speaks of capitalism's entangled relationship with freedom. Myth-busting, witty, and thought-provoking, Edible Economics serves up a feast of bold ideas about globalization, climate change, immigration, austerity, automation, and why carrots need not be orange. It shows that getting to grips with the economy is like learning a recipe: when we understand it, we can adapt and improve it--and better understand our world.\"--Front book jacket flap.

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND Food insecurity— lack of dependable access to adequate food—may play a role in poor diabetes control. OBJECTIVE We aimed to determine the relationship between food security status and depression, diabetes distress, medication adherence and glycemic control. DESIGN Secondary analysis of baseline data from Peer Support for Achieving Independence in Diabetes, a randomized controlled trial that enrolled patients from November 2011 to October 2013. PARTICIPANTS Participants had poorly controlled type 2 diabetes (A1c ≥ 8.0 % on eligibility screen), household income < 250 % of the federal poverty level, were 30–70 years old, and were recruited from a large public hospital, a VA medical center and a community-health center in King County, Washington. MAIN MEASURES We measured food insecurity determined by the Department of Agriculture’s 6-Item Food Security Module. Depression, diabetes distress and medication adherence measured by PHQ-8, Diabetes Distress Scale and Morisky Medication Adherence Scale, respectively. Diet was assessed through Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities and Starting the Conversation tool. Incidence of hypoglycemic episodes was by patient report. Glycemic control was assessed with glycosylated hemoglobin (A1c) values from fingerstick blood sample. KEY RESULTS The prevalence of food insecurity was 47.4 %. Chi-square tests revealed participants with food insecurity were more likely to be depressed (40.7 % vs. 15.4 %, p < 0.001), report diabetes distress (55.2 % vs. 33.8 %, p < 0.001) and have low medication adherence (52.9 % vs. 37.2 %, p = 0.02). Based on linear regression modeling, those with food insecurity had significantly higher mean A1c levels (β = 0.51; p = 0.02) after adjusting for sex, age, race/ethnicity, language, education, marital status, BMI, insulin use, depression, diabetes distress and low medication adherence. CONCLUSIONS Almost half of participants had food insecurity. Food insecurity was associated with depression, diabetes distress, low medication adherence and worse glycemic control. Even with adjustment, people with food insecurity had higher mean A1c levels than their food-secure counterparts, suggesting there may be other mediating factors, such as diet, that explain the relationship between food security status and diabetes control.

\"Food is our most powerful tool to reverse the global epidemic of chronic disease, heal the environment, reform politics, and revive economies. What we eat has tremendous implications not just for our waistlines, but also for the planet, society, and the global economy. What we do to our bodies, we do to the planet; and what we do to the planet, we do to our bodies. In Food Fix, #1 bestselling author Mark Hyman explains how our food and agriculture policies are corrupted by money and lobbies that drive our biggest global crises: the spread of obesity and food-related chronic disease, climate change, poverty, violence, educational achievement gaps, and more. Pairing the latest developments in nutritional and environmental science with an unflinching look at the dark realities of the global food system and the policies that make it possible, Food Fix is a hard-hitting manifesto that will change the way you think about -- and eat -- food forever, and will provide solutions for citizens, businesses, and policy makers to create a healthier world, society, and planet.\"--Publisher's website.

To examine perspectives on food access among low-income families participating in a cost-offset community-supported agriculture (CO-CSA) programme. Farm Fresh Foods for Healthy Kids (F3HK) is a multicentre randomized intervention trial assessing the effect of CO-CSA on dietary intake and quality among children from low-income families. Focus groups were conducted at the end of the first CO-CSA season. Participants were interviewed about programme experiences, framed by five dimensions of food access: availability, accessibility, affordability, acceptability and accommodation. Transcribed data were coded on these dimensions plus emergent themes. Nine communities in the US states of New York, North Carolina, Washington and Vermont. Fifty-three F3HK adults with children. CSA models were structured by partner farms. Produce quantity was abundant; however, availability was enhanced for participants who were able to select their own produce items. Flexible CSA pick-up times and locations made produce pick-up more accessible. Despite being affordable to most, payment timing was a barrier for some. Unfamiliar foods and quick spoilage hindered acceptability through challenging meal planning, despite accommodations that included preparation advice. Although CO-CSA may facilitate increased access to fruits and vegetables for low-income families, perceptions of positive diet change may be limited by the ability to incorporate share pick-up into regular travel patterns and meal planning. Food waste concerns may be particularly acute for families with constrained resources. Future research should examine whether CO-CSA with flexible logistics and produce self-selection are sustainable for low-income families and CSA farms.

Background In 2014, the government of Togo implemented a pilot unconditional cash transfer (UCT) program in rural villages that aimed at improving children’s nutrition, health, and protection. It combined monthly UCTs (approximately US$8.40 /month) with a package of community activities (including behavior change communication [BCC] sessions, home visits, and integrated community case management of childhood illnesses and acute malnutrition [ICCM-Nut]) delivered to mother–child pairs during the first “1,000 days” of life. We primarily investigated program impact at population level on children’s height-for-age z-scores (HAZs) and secondarily on stunting (HAZ < −2) and intermediary outcomes including household’s food insecurity, mother–child pairs’ diet and health, delivery in a health facility and low birth weight (LBW), women’s knowledge, and physical intimate partner violence (IPV).Methods and findings We implemented a parallel-cluster–randomized controlled trial, in which 162 villages were randomized into either an intervention arm (UCTs + package of community activities, n = 82) or a control arm (package of community activities only, n = 80). Two different representative samples of children aged 6–29 months and their mothers were surveyed in each arm, one before the intervention in 2014 (control: n = 1,301, intervention: n = 1,357), the other 2 years afterwards in 2016 (control: n = 996, intervention: n = 1,035). Difference-in-differences (DD) estimates of impact were calculated, adjusting for clustering. Children’s average age was 17.4 (± 0.24 SE) months in the control arm and 17.6 (± 0.19 SE) months in the intervention arm at baseline. UCTs had a protective effect on HAZ (DD = +0.25 z-scores, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.01–0.50, p = 0.039), which deteriorated in the control arm while remaining stable in the intervention arm, but had no impact on stunting (DD = −6.2 percentage points [pp], relative odds ratio [ROR]: 0.74, 95% CI: 0.51–1.06, p = 0.097). UCTs positively impacted both mothers’ and children’s (18–23 months) consumption of animal source foods (ASFs) (respectively, DD = +4.5 pp, ROR: 2.24, 95% CI: 1.09–4.61, p = 0.029 and DD = +9.1 pp, ROR: 2.65, 95% CI: 1.01–6.98, p = 0.048) and household food insecurity (DD = −10.7 pp, ROR: 0.63, 95% CI: 0.43–0.91, p = 0.016). UCTs did not impact on reported child morbidity 2 week’s prior to report (DD = −3.5 pp, ROR: 0.80, 95% CI: 0.56–1.14, p = 0.214) but reduced the financial barrier to seeking healthcare for sick children (DD = −26.4 pp, ROR: 0.23, 95% CI: 0.08–0.66, p = 0.006). Women who received cash had higher odds of delivering in a health facility (DD = +10.6 pp, ROR: 1.53, 95% CI: 1.10–2.13, p = 0.012) and lower odds of giving birth to babies with birth weights (BWs) <2,500 g (DD = −11.8, ROR: 0.29, 95% CI: 0.10–0.82, p = 0.020). Positive effects were also found on women’s knowledge (DD = +14.8, ROR: 1.86, 95% CI: 1.32–2.62, p < 0.001) and physical IPV (DD = −7.9 pp, ROR: 0.60, 95% CI: 0.36–0.99, p = 0.048). Study limitations included the short evaluation period (24 months) and the low coverage of UCTs, which might have reduced the program’s impact.Conclusions UCTs targeting the first “1,000 days” had a protective effect on child’s linear growth in rural areas of Togo. Their simultaneous positive effects on various immediate, underlying, and basic causes of malnutrition certainly contributed to this ultimate impact. The positive impacts observed on pregnancy- and birth-related outcomes call for further attention to the conception period in nutrition-sensitive programs.

\"It is important for the food industry to innovate both with regards to demand management and sustainability of food sources for a growing population. Food Supply Chain Management and Logistics covers the food supply chain from \"farm\" to \"fork,\" taking into consideration the various challenges and supporting mechanisms to make sure the food that reaches the consumers' plates is safe. This book explores key aspects of food supply chains from a management and social perspective, including: Food supply chains: production, manufacturing Food logistics Food regulation, safety and quality Food sourcing Food retailing Risk management Food innovation Technology trends Food sector and economic regeneration Challenges in International food supply chains Triple bottom line trends in the food sector Food security and future challenges\"-- Provided by publisher.

Background The perception that healthy foods are more expensive than unhealthy foods has been reported widely to be a key barrier to healthy eating. However, assessment of the relative cost of healthy and unhealthy foods and diets is fraught methodologically. Standardised approaches to produce reliable data on the cost of total diets and different dietary patterns, rather than selected foods, are lacking globally to inform policy and practice. Methods This paper reports the first application, in randomly selected statistical areas stratified by socio-economic status in two Australian cities, of the Healthy Diets Australian Standardized Affordability and Pricing (ASAP) method protocols: diet pricing tools based on national nutrition survey data and dietary guidelines; store sampling and location; determination of household incomes; food price data collection; and analysis and reporting. The methods were developed by the International Network on Food and Obesity/NCD Research, Monitoring and Action Support (INFORMAS) as a prototype of an optimum approach to assess, compare and monitor the cost and affordability of diets across different geographical and socio-economic settings and times. Results Under current tax policy in Australia, healthy diets would be 15–17% less expensive than current (unhealthy) diets in all locations assessed. Nevertheless, healthy diets are likely to be unaffordable for low income households, costing more than 30% of disposable income in both cities surveyed. Households spent around 58% of their food budget on unhealthy food and drinks. Food costs were on average 4% higher in Canberra than Sydney, and tended to be higher in high socioeconomic locations. Conclusions Health and fiscal policy actions to increase affordability of healthy diets for low income households are required urgently. Also, there is a need to counter perceptions that current, unhealthy diets must be less expensive than healthy diets. The Healthy Diets ASAP methods could be adapted to assess the cost and affordability of healthy and unhealthy diets elsewhere.

\"Barons is the story of seven corporate titans, their rise to power, and the consequences for everyone else. Take Mike McCloskey, Chairman of Fair Oaks Farms. In a few short decades, he went from managing a modest dairy herd to running the Disneyland of agriculture, where school children ride trams through mechanized warehouses filled with tens of thousands of cows that never see the light of day. What was the key to his success? Hard work and exceptional business savvy? Maybe. But more than anything else, Mike benefited from deregulation of the American food industry, a phenomenon that has consolidated wealth in the hands of select tycoons, and along the way, hollowed out the nation's rural towns and local businesses. Along with Mike McCloskey, readers will meet a secretive German family that took over the global coffee industry in less than a decade, relying on wealth traced back to the Nazis to gobble up countless independent roasters. They will discover how a small grain business transformed itself into an empire bigger than Koch Industries, with ample help from taxpayer dollars. And they will learn that in the food business, crime really does pay--especially when you can bribe and then double-cross the president of Brazil. These, and the other stories in this book, are simply examples of the monopolies and ubiquitous corruption that today define American food. The tycoons profiled in these pages are hardly unique: many other companies have manipulated our lax laws and failed policies for their own benefit, to the detriment of our neighborhoods, livelihoods, and our democracy itself. Barons paints a stark portrait of the consequences of corporate consolidation, but it also shows we can choose a different path. A fair, healthy, and prosperous food industry is possible--if we take back power from the barons who have robbed us of it.\"--Amazon.com.

To (i) describe the proportion of foods and beverages available on school canteen menus classified as having high ('green'), moderate ('amber') or low ('red') nutritional value; (ii) describe the proportion of these items purchased by students; and (iii) examine the association between food and beverage availability on school canteen menus and food and beverage purchasing by students. A cross-sectional study was conducted as part of a larger randomised controlled trial (RCT). A nested sample of fifty randomly selected government schools from the Hunter New England region of New South Wales, Australia, who had participated in an RCT of an intervention to improve the availability of healthy foods sold from school canteens, was approached to participate. School principals, canteen managers and students. The average proportion of green, amber and red items available on menus was 47·9, 47·4 and 4·7 %, respectively. The average proportion of green, amber and red items purchased by students was 30·1, 61·8 and 8·1 %, respectively. There was a significant positive relationship between the availability and purchasing of green (R 2=0·66), amber (R 2=0·57) and red menu items (R 2=0·61). In each case, a 1 % increase in the availability of items in these categories was associated with a 1·21, 1·35 and 1·67 % increase in purchasing of items of high, moderate and low nutritional value, respectively. The findings provide support for school-based policies to improve the relative availability of healthy foods for sale in these settings.