The Use of Organic Foods, Regional, Seasonal and Fresh Food in Public Caterings

The demand of organic food is increasing despite its premium pricing and lack of availability particularly in developing countries like Bangladesh. This paper aims to provide the insights about organic foods and the intention consumers have to purchase or not to purchase organic food. The pesticide-residue problem has opened a market opportunity for organic food as it is produced without any form of synthetic chemicals. As there was insufficient literature, a survey was conducted on 900 respondents on six major supermarkets selling organic food in the capital city of Bangladesh. It is found that, consumers expect the organic foods to be healthier, tastier, and environment friendly. The organic food buyers tend to be older with child, have higher education level and family income than those of non-buyers. The barrier of organic food is that majority consumers have less knowledge and do not know the main differentiation between organic foods and traditional foods.

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The Economic, Social, and Environmental Impacts of Farmers Markets: Recent Evidence from the US

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13063423 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (6) ◽

pp. 3423

Author(s):

Phillip Warsaw ◽

Steven Archambault ◽

Arden He ◽

Stacy Miller

Keyword(s):

Food Systems ◽

Food System ◽

Agricultural Practices ◽

The United States ◽

Current Evidence ◽

Farmers Markets ◽

Future Research ◽

Regional Food ◽

Recent Scholarship ◽

Fresh Food

Farmers markets are regular, recurring gatherings at a common facility or area where farmers and ranchers directly sell a variety of fresh fruits, vegetables, and other locally grown farm products to consumers. Markets rebuild and maintain local and regional food systems, leading to an outsized impact on the food system relative to their share of produce sales. Previous research has demonstrated the multifaceted impacts that farmers markets have on the communities, particularly economically. Recent scholarship in the United States has expanded inquiry into social impacts that markets have on communities, including improving access to fresh food products and increasing awareness of the sustainable agricultural practices adopted by producers, as well developing tools for producers and market stakeholders to measure their impact on both producers and communities. This paper reviews the recent scholarship on farmers markets to identify recent trends and synthesizes the current evidence describing the ways in which farmers markets contribute to the wellbeing of their communities, as well as identifying areas for additional future research.

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Potential Use of Indoor Living Walls in Canadian Dwellings

J ◽

10.3390/j4020010 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 4 (2) ◽

pp. 116-130

Author(s):

Daria Smolova ◽

Avi Friedman

Keyword(s):

Global Warming ◽

Food Production ◽

Air Purification ◽

Traditional Food ◽

Production Chain ◽

Environmental Threats ◽

Fresh Food ◽

Living Wall ◽

Potential Use ◽

Potential Integration

Current social and environmental challenges have led to the rethinking of residential designs. Global warming, food insecurity, and, as a result, costly fresh produce are some of the causes of the reconsideration. Moreover, with obligatory isolation following the global COVID-19 pandemic, some are realizing the importance of nature and air quality in homes. This paper explores the potential integration of indoor living walls (ILWs) in Canadian homes for agricultural and air purification purposes. By reviewing a number of case studies, this paper investigates how the development of such walls can alter the traditional food production chain, while reducing environmental threats. The findings show that current indoor living wall practices can be transformed into a useful source of fresh food, and, to some degree, alter traditional food supply. They can also help in creating inexpensive methods of air purification.

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Biodegradable and Compostable Shopping Bags under Investigation by FTIR Spectroscopy

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app11020621 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 621

Author(s):

Silvana Alfei ◽

Anna Maria Schito ◽

Guendalina Zuccari

Keyword(s):

Principal Component Analysis ◽

Ftir Spectroscopy ◽

Principal Component ◽

Poly Lactic Acid ◽

Chemometric Methods ◽

Industrial Sectors ◽

Fresh Food ◽

Extruded Films ◽

Productive Process ◽

Non Destructive

In the recent years, plastic-based shopping bags have become irregular and progressively replaced by compostable ones. To be marketed, these “new plastics” must possess suitable requirements verified by specific bodies, which grant the conformity mark, and the approved physicochemical properties are periodically verified. The fast, inexpensive, non-destructive, easy to use, and reproducible Fourier-Transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy is a technique routinely applied to perform analysis in various industrial sectors. To get reliable information from spectral data, chemometric methods, such as Principal Component Analysis (PCA), are commonly suggested. In this context, PCA was herein performed on 4, 5, and 21 × 3251 matrices, collecting the FTIR data from regular and irregular shopping bags, including three freshly extruded films from the Italian industry MecPlast, to predict their compliance with legislation. The results allowed us to unequivocally achieve such information and to classify the bags as suitable for containing fresh food in bulk or only for transport. A self-validated linear model was developed capable to estimate, by acquiring a single FTIR spectrum if, after the productive process, the content of renewable poly-lactic-acid (PLA) in a new produced film respect the expectations. Surprisingly, our findings established that among the grocery bags available on the market, irregular plastic-based shopping bags continue to survive.

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Tyrosol-Enriched Tomatoes by Diffusion across the Fruit Peel from a Chitosan Coating: A Proposal of Functional Food

Foods ◽

10.3390/foods10020335 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 335

Author(s):

Silvia Tampucci ◽

Antonella Castagna ◽

Daniela Monti ◽

Clementina Manera ◽

Giuseppe Saccomanni ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Tomato Fruit ◽

Storage Period ◽

Food Matrix ◽

Fruit Peel ◽

Fresh Food ◽

In Vitro Permeation ◽

Active Transfer

Chitosan is receiving increasing attention from the food industry for being a biodegradable, non-toxic, antimicrobial biopolymer able to extend the shelf life of, and preserve the quality of, fresh food. However, few studies have investigated the ability of chitosan-based coatings to allow the diffusion of bioactive compounds into the food matrix to improve its nutraceutical quality. This research is aimed at testing whether a hydrophilic molecule (tyrosol) could diffuse from the chitosan-tyrosol coating and cross the tomato peel. To this end, in vitro permeation tests using excised tomato peel and an in vivo application of chitosan-tyrosol coating on tomato fruit, followed by tyrosol quantification in intact fruit, peel and flesh during a seven-day storage at room temperature, were performed. Both approaches demonstrated the ability of tyrosol to permeate across the fruit peel. Along with a decreased tyrosol content in the peel, its concentration within the flesh was increased, indicating an active transfer of tyrosol into this tissue. This finding, together with the maintenance of constant tyrosol levels during the seven-day storage period, is very promising for the use of chitosan formulations to produce functional tomato fruit.

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