Search

In a world faced with growing instability and inequality, food supply is a constant challenge for governments and societies. Beyond concrete organizational aspects, two fundamental issues are at stake: the strategic control of flows and the geographical and social relations operating within supply systems. This article focuses on the complementary approaches commonly adopted to address this question, rarely studied in recent years. By closely associating the field of resources and power, it shows that food supply is not simply a technical question of price, volumes and flows, but depends ultimately on the relations between different types of actors – governments, businesses, communities, trade networks, etc. – thus becoming a truly political issue. We observe that under certain authoritarian regimes (Gulf States, Latin America), the organizing state remains ever-present, while outside times of crisis (sub-Saharan Africa), there is greater scope for developing more informal dynamics.

Copyright of Revue d'Économie Régionale & urbaine is the property of Librairie Armand Colin and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Le Programme national d’alimentation scolaire du Pérou, Qaliwarma, repose sur un principe de coresponsabilité et de cogestion, et prône une adaptation aux habitudes alimentaires locales. En pratique, en contexte autochtone amazonien, il distribue des aliments industriels issus des régions andines et côtières, produits par de grandes entreprises nationales et internationales qui monopolisent le marché alimentaire. Pourtant, les bénéficiaires de ces peuples sont des collecteurs et producteurs d’aliments. À partir d’une enquête ethnographique menée entre 2013 et 2017, cet article explore les limites du modèle péruvien de cogestion ainsi que les aménagements et les résistances locales qu’il suscite chez deux peuples autochtones amazoniens, maijuna et napuruna. Il montre que les choix politiques relatifs à la conception et aux modalités d’application du programme prolongent de manière singulière des mécanismes de domination et de résistance existants. Le programme s’avère très centralisé et, prenant appui sur des directives internationales, favorise l’agro-industrie au détriment des petits producteurs et des peuples autochtones. Bien que des comités « participatifs » aient été créés, la cogestion se résume à une délégation technique et est peu outillée pour aménager des espaces de dialogue et s’adapter aux préférences alimentaires locales. Toutefois, la « collaboration » informelle des parents, en particulier des mères qui préparent les repas, joue un rôle fondamental en ce sens. L’article met ainsi en évidence le paradoxe suivant : leur action politique ne se situe pas dans l’espace de cogestion mis en avant par le gouvernement mais plutôt dans leur participation directe à la préparation des repas.

Copyright of Revue d'Économie Régionale & urbaine is the property of Librairie Armand Colin and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The current food question presents diametrically opposed dilemmas, such as the epidemics of hunger and overweight. Such dilemmas are embedded in a sociopolitical context in which big food conglomerates have sought to capture the concept of healthy food and changes in consumer behavior. This essay discusses the possibility of commercialization channels that are being re-signified, such as feiras livres, to present new trends in consumption that contribute to avoiding the full capture of the new consumer trend by large corporations.

Introduction: There is growing interest in food prescriptions, which leverage health care settings to provide patients access to healthy foods through vouchers or food boxes. In this commentary, we draw on our experiences and interest in food prescribing to provide a summary of the current evidence on this intervention model and critically assess its limitations and opportunities., Rationale: Food insecurity is an important determinant of health and is associated with compromised dietary adequacy, higher rates of chronic diseases, and higher health service utilization and costs. Aligning with recent discourse on social prescribing and "food is medicine" approaches, food prescribing can empower health care providers to link patients with supports to improve food access and limit barriers to healthy diets. Food prescribing has been shown to improve fruit and vegetable intake and household food insecurity, although impacts on health outcomes are inconclusive. Research on food prescribing in the Canadian context is limited and there is a need to establish evidence of effectiveness and best practices., Conclusion: As food prescribing continues to gain traction in Canada, there is a need to assess the effectiveness, cost-efficiency, limitations and potential paternalism of this intervention model. Further, it is necessary to assess how food prescribing fits into broader social welfare systems that aim to address the underlying determinants of food insecurity., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Abstract Objectives: The prevalence of student food insecurity at Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN) is relatively high (58.0%) compared to the national population (12.7%). We explored the relationship between food security status, perceived health, and student experience among MUN students. Methods: Through an online survey of returning MUN students at the St. John’s campus, we assessed food security using Statistics Canada’s Canadian Household Food Security Survey Module (HFSSM), and self-reported physical health, mental health, and stress. We used logistic regression to compare health and stress ratings between students of different food security levels. We thematically coded open-ended responses to describe students’ experiences related to food insecurity. Results: Among the 967 study eligible students, 39.9% were considered food insecure, 28.2% were moderately food insecure, and 11.7% were severely food insecure. After controlling for significant predictors, students who were moderately or severely food insecure were 1.72 [95% CI:(1.20,2.48)] and 2.81 [95% CI:(1.79,4.42)] times as likely to rate their physical health as ‘fair’ or ‘poor’ than food secure students, and 1.66 [95% CI:( 1.22,2.27)] and 4.23 [95% CI: (2.71-6.60] times as likely to rate their mental health as ‘fair’ or ‘poor’ than food secure students, respectively. Conclusion: Food security level experienced by MUN students was closely related to their perceived physical and mental health. As food security level worsened among participants, their self-reported physical and mental health also worsened. Health professionals working with university student populations should screen for food security and consider its relationship to students’ health.

The lockdown of the Wuhanese population in early 2020 to contain the spread of the Covid-19 epidemic raised many challenges. Among others, maintaining a continuity of daily life activities such as food supply was a key concern for the public administration. The remote survey of 155 Wuhanese, supplemented by interviews with local actors, sheds light on how these situations were experienced and shared among residential communities. Through the issue of food supply, this survey highlights the role of the residents' committees and underlines the contribution of digital social networks to neighborhood-level management, both being core characteristics of the contemporary Chinese cities.

Attiéké is a socio-economically important agro-food product in Côte d’Ivoire. The threat of the disappearance of the original product and its replacement by an industrial version and by garba, has led the country to start the Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) registration process for attiéké in order to improve its supply quantity and quality. The aim of this study is to check the security of the product supply after its potential registration. Surveys of producers, traders, and consumers have shown that the registration would potentially strengthen the power of the actors involved. This power will only be effective if there are autonomous organizations of actors well trained in community life and aware of the stakes at the level of the different components in the value chain.

In a world life with growing instability and inequalities, the food supply is a permanent challenge for governments and society. Beyond its practical implementation, it comes with two fundamental stakes: the strategic control of flows, and the geographical and social links within supply systems. This introductory article focuses on the complementarity of the often-used approaches to tackle this issue, which has received little attention recently. By closely associating the fields of resources and powers, this article highlights that supplying food is not merely a technical matter related to prices, volumes, and flows, but ultimately depends on the relationships between different types of actors: states, companies, local authorities, and market networks, among others. It appears that, in some authoritarian environments (Gulf states or Latin America), the state is the key organizer, while outside periods of crises (sub-Saharan Africa), more informal dynamics are rather at play.

Using several types of data, this article analyzes some of the Venezuelan government’s policies with relation to food production, marketing, distribution, and supply. It aims at showing their impact on citizens’ daily lives and at establishing a link between these public policies and local food supply practices, such as the way people experience such a severe shortage. Examining empirical data from direct observations in 2017 and 2018 in Guatire, a suburb of Caracas, as well as economic measures from the last two decades (1999-2018), provides a basis to analyze the effects of the Venezuelan state’s failing public policies, the difficulties encountered to govern through the crisis, and their impact on the population.

Multilateral organizations and research institutions are increasingly calling for transformation of the industrial food system due to its negative health impacts, its contribution to climate change and the fact that the system fails to provide adequate food to more than 800 million people. A foremost rationale given for food system change is the so-called obesity crisis. This commentary draws from critical weight studies and ecological public health discourses to argue that it is unnecessary to connect the crises of the food system with a rise in overweight and obesity. This approach contributes to fat stigma and further marginalizes a group of people who already suffer from stigmatization. A more inclusive rationale for food system change can be found in a concept articulated by the Canadian Public Health Association termed the ‘ecological determinants of health.’ These are features of the biosphere such as water, air, food and soil systems that support life on earth and human health. The current industrial food system threatens the ecological determinants of health by contributing substantially to climate change and environmental degradation. A shift in discourse in food policy and practice to focus on the ecological health impacts of the food system is more inclusive and promotes the well-being of all.

Introduction: malnutrition due to inadequate food supply is a major challenge in low- and middle income countries. The purpose of this study is to identify the sociocultural drivers of malnutrition. Methods: we conducted a qualitative study in the Amoron´I Mania region, Madagascar. The study involved pregnant women, mothers and fathers, grandmothers and health actors such as “matrones”, community workers and health workers. A total of 24 semi-structured individual interviews and 6 focus groups were used to collect data. Thematic analysis was used. Results: malnutrition refers to a lack of food and undernourishment. It revolves around the amount of rice consumption, socio-cultural factors and insufficient financial resources. Vulnerable groups were mainly composed of children and pregnant women. Severe malnutrition including signs was reported, but there was evidence for local adaptation. Thus, families were trying by different means to fight against malnutrition. Conclusion: the socio-cultural context modulates knowledge and perception of the causes, the manifestations and the vulnerability or non vulnerability of an individual as well as the severity of malnutrition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gold Washing, Food Supply and Competition in the Gold Areas of the Department of Bouafle. The gold industry exploitation which is booming in the department of Bouaflé has had a harmful consequence on the food supply. Based on a field survey and on bibliographical research this article analyses the effects of gold washing on the food supply in Bouaflé. The results obtained show that the gold industry exploitation favoured the reduction of the available land for food production and the disappearance of man power to the detriment of this new gold conquest. Farming land and even plantations are transformed into gold washing sites. As a consequence, we see an increase of the foodstuff prices at the local markets, which constitute an obstacle for some households to get their daily meal. Furthermore, the gold washing dynamics causes a strong immigration which increases land pressure in the locality.

Copyright of Philological Research & Studies. Romance Languages Series / Studii şi Cercetări Filologice. Seria Limbi Romanice is the property of Philological Research & Studies. Romance Languages Series and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The paper investigates the role and future of short food chains supplying cities in developing countries. It is based on a conceptual framework on proximity (mostly used in developed countries and tested here in developing contexts), surveys in Vietnam on the organisation of vegetable chains supplying urban markets, as well as surveys in Africa and secondary empirical data. In line with the predictions of spatial economics, short food chains are dominant in the supply of perishable produce, e.g. leafy vegetables in Vietnam, as in a number of cities of Africa and Asia. There are instances where farmers and consumers are active in taking advantage of regular interactions, especially to promote food quality and safety, in a context of growing concerns on the part of consumers for their health. The paper concludes with some features of short food chains in Asia and Africa.

From the end of the 18th century, the food supply has been continuously reconfigured to meet livelihood requirements in the Paris metropolis. The food supply prerogative, which used to be a prominent responsibility of governments, was gradually scaled down to general interest controls. Private, increasingly opaque interests now govern the city’s food supply. Widespread privatization was made possible by a range of factors, including the agricultural, industrial, and market revolutions. Nowadays, the production and consumption areas are linked solely by the pursuit of maximum economic profit: a monopoly of private groups rules the urban food system, under distant and minimum control from the public authorities. The production, distribution and consumption thus appear isolated and independent from any spatial context. Our interdisciplinary research results from work which gathered academics from the fields of biogeoscience, geography and urban history. This work links the availability of a resource (foodstuffs being traced by one of their main constituents, i.e. nitrogen) and the terms according to which a given society manages them. On the basis of the socioecological trajectory of these two variables, we outline two possible directions for the future of the Parisian food system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional is the property of Universidade Estadual de Campinas - Portal de Periodicos Eletronicos Cientificos and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Les courses alimentaires occupent une place centrale dans la vie quotidienne des personnes âgées, cette activité constituant le premier motif de sortie de celles vivant en centre-ville. La majorité de ces dernières vivent au quotidien dans un périmètre inférieur à 500 mètres. Ce périmètre ne cesse du reste de se rétrécir avec l’avancée en âge. Cela renforce le fait que la proximité de commerces et de services joue un rôle puissant d’intégration. Surtout, la proximité et la diversité des commerces alimentaires garantissent diversité et fraîcheur de l’alimentation des ménages de retraités. Partant, l’article étudie, à partir de deux monographies de couples de retraités, vivant dans un quartier périphérique d’une ville moyenne, l’impact de la disparition des commerces de proximité sur leur alimentation et leur mode de vie dans le contexte particulier de la prise en charge des maris atteints de maladies graves par leur conjointe. Entre la prise en charge de leur conjoint, la gestion des différentes activités domestiques et les contraintes liées à la disparition des commerces, les femmes rencontrées tentent de concilier identité pour soi et identité conjugale. Deux postures de contournement de la disparition des commerces de proximité émergent dès lors, chacune influençant différemment l’alimentation des ménages. La manière de faire face à la fermeture des magasins apparaît liée au style de vie et au milieu social du ménage, et s’exprime dans la façon dont les conjointes négocient identité pour soi et identité conjugale.

This paper aims at studying how the fresh fish supply impacts on the spatial organization in 18th century venice. The mobility and agency of fishermen and fishmongers inside and outside venice contributed indeed to redefine the external boundaries of a city which had neither walls nor gates. to this aim, the economic practices observed in venetian peripheral areas are compared with republican rules promoting spatial organization around central rialto and san marco. This paper focuses in particular on two court trials presented to the Giustizia vecchia which involved a family of fishermen in 1706 and 1715 : these case surveys shed light on two ways of using urban space coming into conflict with each other, allowing to reflect on the definition of venetian boundaries and on the various uses of those frontier areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Études Inuit Studies is the property of Centre interuniversitaire d'etudes et de recherches autochtones (CIERA) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Annales: Histoire, Sciences Sociales is the property of Cambridge University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)