Suchergebnisse

The purpose of this study was to investigate the ambience factors which affect children's consumption of school meals, in order to provide policy makers and school canteen managers with practical recommendations on how to improve children's food intake in the future. The study was conducted in four schools in Belgrade, over a period of two weeks, adopting the techniques of in-field observation and content analysis. Overall, forty visits to school restaurants were performed and 205 pictures were gathered on those occasions. The results show that all three investigated aspects (i.e. kitchenscape, tablescape and platescape) affect children's food consumption, as well as their willingness to eat specific food items. The avenues of further research as regards this topic are also addressed.

Although food with nutritive and health claims in the Western Balkan countries has been present in this region for more than a decade, it has remained rather understudied. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the importance of products with nutritive and health claims in the Western Balkans, using qualitative research techniques. In the study, the prices and margins of the subject product group, distribution channels, demand perception and incentives as well as barriers for the future development of the functional food market were analyzed. The study included five categories of products with nutritive and health claims, while the technique of the in-depth interviews was adopted. The total of 29 producers and 26 retailers form all the six countries of the region participated in the research. Even though the studied categories recorded a sales growth in the previous period, a significant increase is expected in the medium and long term, along with the growth of the living standard - given that products with nutritive and health claims are more expensive than regular ones. The results imply that it is necessary that the level of education regarding the role of food in health preservation should be raised; and that a change in bad eating habits should be influenced. The development of functional food markets also requires a government support and an appropriate legislation.

The research was conducted with the aim of examining the presence of toxic elements (Pb, Cd, As and Hg) and essential elements (Zn, Cu, Fe i Mn) ions in selected agricultural soil and wheat samples by ICP mass spectrometry. An overall toxic element index was calculated by taking into account each element assay, which contributed with the same weight into final result. Correlation between toxic microelements contents in soil and wheat was monitored. Correlation analysis, ANOVA and F-test were applied for statistical evaluation of obtained results. The calculated mean and median levels of contamination were compared with the recommended or regulated maximum levels according to the European Commission and the national legislation.

Problems connected with food safety including health issues are not isolated or regionally, politically or socially restricted; they may appear anywhere in the world in different forms and severities. We should know more about consumers' behaviour, their choices of meals, what deceives them or leads towards healthy food choice. Consumer has a right to know all the facts necessary for proper decision making including regular and protected labelling. In this work, consumers' opinions have been tested on 508 subjects, residents of Novi Sad (Serbia), divided into subdivisions according to age, educational level and gender. On the basis of data on the impact of consumers age and educational level on their perception of health safety information, it is possible to anticipate the demands and model consumer behaviour.

Considering the features of GIs and organic production, Deliverable 5.2 analyses the relationships between Public Goods (PGs) and Food Quality Schemes (FQS). The deliverable evaluates the impacts of the cases study described in Deliverable 5.1 in terms of their contribution to rural development and territorial cohesion given by the capacity to generate positive externalities and hence PGs. The analysis focuses on: i) contribution to local economies; ii) generation of environmental, social and cultural externalities; iii) contribution of different governance mechanisms to ensure the valorisation of producers' know-how and local resources; iv) social cohesion in term of creation of social capital and social networks. Overall, the products that fall within the organic FQS category, contribute to the generation of environmental PGs more than the GI FQS. However, the latter contribute more to the generation of socio-economic PGs. In general, most FQS present a low capacity to generate Cultural Heritage PGs. This indicates that there is considerable space to improve the cultural dimension of these products for the benefit of producers and consumers. The analysis conducted by the Strength2Food methodology show that if there is political will on the part of producers, there is room for improvement in the generation of PGs. At the same time, the measurement of the capacity to produce PGs would further justify the greater economic value of these products to consumers.

Abstract
The dataset Sustainability performance of certified and non-certified food (https://www.doi.org/10.15454/OP51SJ) contains 25 indicators of economic, environmental, and social performance, estimated for 27 certified food value chains and their 27 conventional reference products. The indicators are estimated at different levels of the value chain: farm level, processing level, and retail level. It also contains the raw data based on which the indicators are estimated, its source, and the completed spreadsheet calculators for the following indicators: carbon footprint and food miles. This article describes the common method and indicators used to collect data for the twenty-seven certified products and their conventional counterparts. It presents the assumptions and choices, the process of data collection, and the indicator estimation methods designed to assess the three sustainability dimensions within a reasonable time constraint. That is: three person-months for each food quality scheme and its non-certified reference product. Several prioritisations were set regarding data collection (indicator, variable, value chain level) together with a level of representativeness specific to each variable and product type (country and sector). Technical details on how relatively common variables (e.g., number of animals per hectare) are combined into indicators (e.g., carbon footprint) are provided in the full documentation of the dataset.

Considering the features of GIs and organic production, Deliverable 5.2 analyses the relationships between Public Goods (PGs) and Food Quality Schemes (FQS). The deliverable evaluates the impacts of the cases study described in Deliverable 5.1 in terms of their contribution to rural development and territorial cohesion given by the capacity to generate positive externalities and hence PGs. The analysis focuses on: i) contribution to local economies; ii) generation of environmental, social and cultural externalities; iii) contribution of different governance mechanisms to ensure the valorisation of producers' know-how and local resources; iv) social cohesion in term of creation of social capital and social networks. Overall, the products that fall within the organic FQS category, contribute to the generation of environmental PGs more than the GI FQS. However, the latter contribute more to the generation of socio-economic PGs. In general, most FQS present a low capacity to generate Cultural Heritage PGs. This indicates that there is considerable space to improve the cultural dimension of these products for the benefit of producers and consumers. The analysis conducted by the Strength2Food methodology show that if there is political will on the part of producers, there is room for improvement in the generation of PGs. At the same time, the measurement of the capacity to produce PGs would further justify the greater economic value of these products to consumers.

Considering the features of GIs and organic production, Deliverable 5.2 analyses the relationships between Public Goods (PGs) and Food Quality Schemes (FQS). The deliverable evaluates the impacts of the cases study described in Deliverable 5.1 in terms of their contribution to rural development and territorial cohesion given by the capacity to generate positive externalities and hence PGs. The analysis focuses on: i) contribution to local economies; ii) generation of environmental, social and cultural externalities; iii) contribution of different governance mechanisms to ensure the valorisation of producers' know-how and local resources; iv) social cohesion in term of creation of social capital and social networks. Overall, the products that fall within the organic FQS category, contribute to the generation of environmental PGs more than the GI FQS. However, the latter contribute more to the generation of socio-economic PGs. In general, most FQS present a low capacity to generate Cultural Heritage PGs. This indicates that there is considerable space to improve the cultural dimension of these products for the benefit of producers and consumers. The analysis conducted by the Strength2Food methodology show that if there is political will on the part of producers, there is room for improvement in the generation of PGs. At the same time, the measurement of the capacity to produce PGs would further justify the greater economic value of these products to consumers.