archives@tulane.edu / 1 / Keelia O'Malley

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abstract: The rise of meat consumption in the United States has been dramatic over the past half century due to demographic changes. The increase in meat is visible in Mexico as well due to expanding economic interest in cattle production plus increased population and rising incomes. The worst consequences of our modern food system are in factory farming of animals, which requires a greater amount of resources than for producing grains, fruits, and vegetables. The specific effects of meat consumption highlight the importance of understanding humans as actors in the food system. In order to explore the drivers of consumer food and meat choice, my research answered the two questions: What factors influence meat consumption? and How do cultural and social norms influence decisions to consume certain types and amounts of meat? Qualitative interviews were conducted with Mexican-American respondents between age 20 and 29 as the population of interest because of their regional dominance in the study area of Tempe, AZ and because of the high prevalence of meat in their cultural diets. Looking at millennials in particular is crucial because as the first generation born with technology and Internet as constants, they have formed unique characteristics like openness to change and new perspectives. My sample population communicated motivations and constraints to their overall consumption patterns and the frequency and types of meat consumed. This study found that cost and convenience were the driving factors behind food choice, given the hectic schedules of the sample population, who were mostly students at Arizona State University. Culture played an important role in respondents' heavy meat consumption given their exposure to meat's centrality in traditional Mexican meals. Acculturation did not play an extensive role because prominent Mexican culture in the Southwest U.S. allowed respondents' families access to traditional food while living in the US. The lack of sustainability knowledge and its connection to food choice indicates the importance of marketing that contextualizes decreased meat consumption. Rather than focusing solely on environmental outcomes, marketing tools highlighting health, financial, and economic benefits of eating less meat would encourage more consumers to decrease consumption. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Sustainability 2014

Doctor of Philosophy / Food Science Institute / Sara E. Gragg / Justin J. Kastner / Food safety is a public health issue that demands coordinated scientific and policy solutions. Despite advancements in interventions and surveillance, Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) and Salmonella spp. continue to cause outbreaks in a wide variety of food products. In light of these public health urgencies, both microbiological and policy frameworks are needed to address and anticipate future food safety challenges related to these pathogens. Laboratory-based techniques are used to address (1) whether common processing stresses change the susceptibility of STEC and Salmonella to food-grade antimicrobials, (2) whether differences in STEC attachment to beef tissue can inform intervention strategies, and (3) the efficiency of a combined sanitizer approach to reduce Salmonella on spinach. Salmonella Montevideo, Newport, and Typhimurium, and STEC O26, O45, O103, O111, O145, and O157:H7 were subjected to salt, acid, heat, freeze-thaw, alkaline and no (control) stress, and then challenged with the antimicrobials lauric arginate, citric acid plus hydrochloric acid, peroxyacetic acid plus acetic acid and hydrogen peroxide, lactic acid plus citric acid, and lactic acid. Growth/inhibition/no-growth was determined by absorbance values. While differences (p≤0.05) were observed between some of the stressors and controls, the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) observed for both STEC and Salmonella were below maximum concentrations permitted by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). STEC serogroups were grown in nutrient-dense or nutrient-limiting media and inoculated onto lean or adipose, pre-rigor (warm) or chilled beef tissue. Loosely and firmly attached cells were plated onto MacConkey agar at several time points. When grown in nutrient-dense media, time × sample type (buffer versus homogenized sample) and sample type × tissue type (adipose versus lean) were significant (p<0.001). For nutrient-limited cells, tissue type was a significant main effect (p=0.0134). Spinach was inoculated with 5.0 log CFU/g Salmonella, dried, and submerged in a sodium bisulfate peroxyacetic acid (SBS-PAA) wash, a chlorine wash, or water for 2 min. Samples were stored for 0, 1, 3, 5, and 10 d, and populations were enumerated. When plated on xylose-lysine-tergitol 4 (XLT-4), SBS-PAA and chlorine washes achieved significant reductions (p≤0.05). When plated on XLT-4 plus tryptic soy agar (TSA) overlay, SBS-PAA was the most effective treatment, with a reduction of 1.77 log CFU/g (p<0.0001). Recognizing that microbiology studies ought to be combined with policy frameworks (and potential food safety solutions), policy analyses were performed to (1) evaluate and make recommendations about the resilience of the U.S. food system to catastrophic events and (2) thoughtfully—and innovatively—address so-called “unknown unknowns” (or disasters) and forecast future food safety vulnerabilities. The U.S. food system and its response to an intentionally-contaminated food product are analyzed through responsibilities of public, private, and third-sector actors. To address unknown unknowns and more strategically address future food safety problems, public and private actors ought to: (a) learn from the past (i.e., the German O104 outbreak), (b) target food groups of high and/or increasing consumption, (c) assess threats primarily rooted in other critical infrastructures, (d) borrow concepts and principles from meteorological forecasting, and (e) advocate multidisciplinary thinking.

Educational ministries have sought to address the increasing obesity rates across the world and promote optimal childhood health, growth, and intellectual development, by implementing school nutrition policies. In 2011, the Government of Ontario (Ministry of Education) implemented in an initiative: the School Food and Beverage Policy (P/PM 150). Although P/PM 150 is well intentioned, there remains a gap between what this policy states and the way in which it is being executed - resulting in unplanned and unexpected outcomes. To examine this divide and have another perspective on P/PM 150's execution, the following research question was addressed: How is Ontario's School Food and Beverage Policy (P/PM 150) being implemented in secondary schools by school boards and the Ministry of Education? This qualitative case study therefore explores the implementation of P/PM 150 from the perspective of school board supervisory officers in Ontario. Data collected from interviews as well as from P/PM 150 related content on the Ontario Ministry of Education, school board, and school websites/social media pages, were examined through a pragmatic lens. Thematic coding (using NVivo 10) was employed to analyze the interview data, whereas document and content analyses were used to examine the online content. A second coder analyzed a sample of websites and interview transcripts to ensure inter-rater reliability. Upon examining the interview transcripts, seven main themes emerged: 1) supervisory officer roles; 2) the importance of communication; 3) monitoring strategies; 4) P/PM 150 barriers and facilitators; 5) the policy's impact on pedagogy; 6) the P/PM 150 mindset; and 7) recommendations for promising practices. When analyzing the Ministry, school board, and individual school websites and social media pages, much of the content pertained to 1) the policy's subject matter (i.e., its layout, the policy's associated resources, etc.); 2) its administrative procedures; 3) the procedures' and P/PM 150's review processes; 4) the policy's implementation process (e.g., training, monitoring, etc.); 5) promoting P/PM 150; and 6) the policy's outcomes (e.g., nutrition education and partnerships). These findings may be of potential interest to the Government of Ontario (Ministry of Education), school boards, teachers, and policy designers in other sectors, such as health.

The widespread marketing of food and beverage products high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) es is a significant driver of obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs). This PhD dissertation examined the factors related to Member States' capacity and actions to fully implement the 2010 World Health Assembly's Resolution WHA63.14 to restrict the marketing of HFSS food and non-alcoholic beverage products to children up to 18 years by 2025. The first study describes the capacity-building needs of Ministries of Health (MoH) to implement the Resolution WHA63.14. The research used a 28-item web-based survey administered to representatives of MoH from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) region (n= 35). A government capacity-building and integrated marketing communications (IMC) frameworks guided this research. The second study examined the government policies to restrict the marketing of HFSS food and beverage products in a purposive sample of countries in the PAHO region (n=14). The WHO policy and IMC frameworks were used to develop a responsible policy index (RESPI). A web-based platform was developed that uses data visualization tools to depict the results. The third study explored the dimensions of power in the Mexican social networks of stakeholders that influenced the policy-making process that enabled the government to enact front-of-pack (FOP) warning labels on HFSS food and beverage products marketed to children and adults in 2020. The study followed a case study approach, using semi-structured interviews with stakeholders, and guided by the Gaventa's power cube framework. Social Network Analyses were conducted using the UCINET software (version 6) that measured centrality, factions and quadratic assignment procedures (QAP). These PhD studies applied several theoretically grounded conceptual frameworks related to nutrition governance that allowed me to draw conclusions from empirical and published evidence to develop and implement comprehensive policies to restrict the marketing of HFSS food and beverage products to children. Results may inform government agencies, civil society organizations, academic researchers, private foundations and industry actors about the areas needed for policy improvement and promising or best practices that should be adopted to implement Resolution WHA63.14 to reduce children's future risks of obesity and diet-related NCDs by 2025. / Ph.D. / The widespread marketing of food and beverage products high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) by transnational food and beverage manufacturers, chain restaurants and retailers, entertainment companies and digital technology companies is a significant driver of poor diet quality, obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs) among populations globally. In May 2010, 193 Member States endorsed the World Health Assembly’s Resolution WHA63.14 to restrict the marketing of HFSS food and non-alcoholic beverage products to children up to 18 years to promote healthy diets and reduce their future risk of obesity and NCDs. This PhD dissertation examined the factors related to Member States’ capacity and actions to fully implement the 2010 Resolution WHA63.14 by 2025. The first study describes the capacity-building needs of Ministries of Health (MoH) to restrict the marketing of HFSS food and beverage products to children. Priority actions recommended include governments adopting mechanisms to identify, declare and manage conflicts of interest related to food marketing; better utilization of existing Constitutional requirements of governments to protect children’s health and human rights; and developing comprehensive policies to restrict unhealthy HFSS marketing through digital media. The second study examined the government policies to restrict the marketing of HFSS food and beverage products across 14 countries from the PAHO region. Brazil, Canada, Chile, and Uruguay had the strongest statutory policies that restricted HFSS food and beverage product marketing at point of sale, use of cartoon licensed media characters and celebrities, and marketing in schools and through broadcast media. The third study explored the dimensions of power in the Mexican social networks of stakeholders that influenced the policy-making process that enabled the government to enact front-of-pack (FOP) warning labels on HFSS food and beverage products marketed to children and adults between 2019 and 2020. FOP labeling is a marketing used that have shown impact on children’s choice of food and beverage products. Results revealed that advocacy, collective engagement and building strategic coalitions were forms of power that shifted from a profit-interest-based to an evidence-based policy-making process in Mexico. These PhD studies applied several theoretically grounded conceptual frameworks related to nutrition governance that allowed me to draw conclusions from empirical and published evidence to develop and implement comprehensive policies to restrict the marketing of HFSS food and beverage products to children. The collective results may inform government agencies, civil society organizations, academic researchers, private foundations and industry actors about the areas needed for policy improvement and promising or best practices that should be adopted to implement Resolution WHA63.14 an create healthy food environments to reduce children’s future risks of obesity and diet-related NCDs by 2025.

The paper studies 7 new entrant smallholders on the Italian agricultural sector to begin to understand how such a grassroots movement may challenge the status-quo vis-à-vis the Italian Food-system. Additionally, the study conducts a public questionnaire survey in an attempt to gauge attitudes toward a changing food-system in Italy. Using Critical Theory to highlight the trend of critical-consumer to critical-producer, and transition movement theory to assess the real regime-change ability of such movements, this paper finds that new entrant smallholders in Italy are playing a potentially significant role in moving the sector into more sustainable territory. Current certified organic agriculture is increasingly dominated by larger farms, and excludes new entrant smallholders, this is to the detriment of sustainable agriculture goals, by identifying the barriers to such stakeholders, in addition to recognising their strengthens - namely the commitment to triple bottom line sustainability - new entrant smallholders have a significant role to play in making organic agriculture truly a mechanism by which true sustainable agriculture can be achieved.

Introdução: Em 2014, o Ministério da Saúde brasileiro publicou a segunda edição do Guia Alimentar para a População Brasileira, um documento pautado em um paradigma ampliado, que leva em conta além dos aspectos biológicos, os sociais, culturais e ambientais relacionados à alimentação. Este Guia tem como objetivo promover autonomia para a adoção de práticas alimentares saudáveis de indivíduos e comunidades. Por conta disso, contém linguagem compreensível à população em geral e traz recomendações simples, expressas por meio de termos como \"na maioria das vezes\", \"prefira\" ou \"evite\". Embora inovadora, esta abordagem diferenciada implica em um desafio para a avaliação da adesão da população às suas recomendações. Objetivos: Desenvolver e validar uma escala autoaplicável para avaliação da alimentação segundo as recomendações do Guia. Metodologia: Estudo metodológico. O Guia destaca a importância da escolha dos alimentos (capítulo 2), da combinação dos alimentos na forma de refeições (capítulo 3) e dos modos de comer (capítulo 4). As recomendações desses três capítulos representaram o domínio da escala e serviram como base para o desenvolvimento de itens do tipo Likert e 4 pontos. A validade de conteúdo foi testada por meio de um painel de especialistas (n = 10) e a aparente por meio de pré-teste com a população alvo (n = 20). Análises fatoriais exploratória (n = 352, coleta de dados realizada em um serviço de Atenção Básica) e confirmatória (n = 900, coleta de dados realizada por meio de um painel online) foram realizadas para determinação da validade de constructo. Foram utilizados coeficientes ômega para análise de consistência interna, e teste-reteste com plotagem de Bland-Altman para análise de reprodutibilidade. Resultados: Dos 96 itens iniciais, 24 foram excluídos e 55 foram reescritos após as validações aparente e de conteúdo. Na análise fatorial exploratória foram identificadas quatro dimensões, que foram nomeadas como: escolha dos alimentos; modos de comer; organização doméstica; e planejamento. Essa solução explicou 41% da variância dos dados e nela foram mantidos 34 itens. Na análise fatorial confirmatória, alguns ajustes levaram a um modelo com 24 itens, o qual obteve bons índices de adequação e boa confiabilidade (?-t = 0.83), apresentando propriedades psicométricas satisfatórias mesmo quando aplicada por meio de um painel online. No teste-reteste, a diferença média entre os dois momentos foi próxima de zero, indicando boa reprodutibilidade. Conclusões: A escala desenvolvida é válida e confiável e pode ser utilizada tanto em papel quanto por meios eletrônicos. Esse estudo é inovador no contexto da avaliação de Guias Alimentares e pode contribuir não só para a avaliação do impacto do guia brasileiro, mas também para inspirar outros países a também desenvolverem e validarem instrumentos específicos ao seu contexto local. Movimentos nesse sentido são importantes para futuras investigações sobre o real potencial dos Guias na promoção da alimentação adequada e saudável em contexto global. / Introduction: In 2014 Brazilian Ministry of Health published the second edition of the Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population, which is based on an expanded paradigm of healthy diet, taking in account social, cultural and environmental dimensions beyond the biological aspects related to food and nutrition. This Guide aims promoting autonomy of healthy eating practices by individuals and communities. Because of this, its language is comprehensible to the general population and the recommendations are not presented in terms of the frequency or number of food portions but instead use terms such as \"prefer\", \"avoid\" and \"always when possible\". Although innovative, the approach to healthy eating proposed by the Guide presents a challenge for the evaluation of its impact on the Brazilian population. Objective: To develop and validate a selfadministered scale that measures how closely food behaviour is aligned with the recommendations of the 2014 Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population. Methods: This is a methodological study. The Guide highlights the importance of choosing foods (chapter 2), combining foods to create meals (chapter 3) and modes of eating (chapter 4). These recommendations formed the main domains of the scale and served as a basis for the development a pool of items, each with a 4-point Likert response option. The content validity was tested through a panel of experts (n = 10) and face validity was tested through pre-test whit target population (n = 20). Exploratory (n = 352, data collected by interviewers in a primary health care service) and confirmatory (n = 900, data collected through an online panel) factor analyses were performed to determine the construct validity. The internal consistency reliability was determined using omega coefficients, and the reproducibility reliability was tested using test-retest whit Bland-Altman plot. Results: Of the 96 initial items, 24 were excluded and 55 were re-worded following the content and face validations. The exploratory factorial analysis detected a four-domain structure (\"food choices\", \"modes of eating\", \"planning\" and \"domestic organization\"). A 34-item model explained 41% of the variance. The confirmatory factorial analysis led to a final 24-item model with acceptable goodness-of-fit indices and good reliability measures (?-t = 0.83), showing satisfactory psychometrical proprieties even when applied through an online panel. The mean difference between the two time points was almost zero, suggesting good reproducibility. Conclusions: The developed scale is valid, reliable and could be administered either on paper or electronically. This study is innovative in the context of the impact evaluation of dietary guidelines and contributes not only to assessment of the impact of the Brazilian Dietary Guidelines but can also inspire other countries to develop and validate instruments specific to their local context. Movements in this regard are important for future research on the actual potential of the dietary guidelines to promote healthy diets patterns in a global context.

Depuis la Révolution verte des années 1960, l’agriculture se déterritorialise. Elle s’organise plus par filières régionalisées qu’en fonction des demandes alimentaires locales. Mais ces dernières années des consommateurs et des collectivités portent un mouvement alimentaire qui revendique un retour du local. Ce mouvement se traduit en France par des actions publiques menées à échelle locale par des collectivités territoriales dans le champ de la protection du foncier agricole ou de la restauration scolaire. Cette thèse a pour objectif de documenter l’hypothèse d’un décalage entre acteurs agricoles et urbains face à cette demande nouvelle d’une alimentation issue d’une agriculture écologique et de proximité.L’approche retenue s’appuie sur une étude de cas. La région de Montpellier, au sud de la France, se caractérise par une spécialisation historique en viticulture et une dynamique forte d’urbanisation récente. Le territoire est abordé à la fois comme support de l’activité agricole et comme espace de projet politique local. La méthode proposée combine une géographie du fait agricole, mobilisée pour saisir la diversité agricole autour de la ville, avec une géographie du fait politique, axée sur la dimension prescrite des actions constituant la politique agroécologique et alimentaire locale. La méthode consiste à recueillir et croiser les regards d’agriculteurs, d’élus et d’agents de développement sur ce territoire agri-alimentaire urbain en construction.Une première partie analyse la trajectoire de la collectivité, de façon à comprendre comment a pu émerger un projet axé sur la recherche d’une alimentation « relocalisée » à cette échelle d’action. Nous mettons en évidence la superposition de référentiels d’action publique territoriale axés sur l’aménagement, la protection de l’environnement puis l’amélioration de la qualité alimentaire. Dans un second temps, l’analyse de la diversité agricole périurbaine révèle des signaux faibles de diversification et renouveau agraire basés à la fois sur le système viticole hérité et sur l’installation de nouveaux systèmes agricoles fondés sur des modèles alternatifs.La fabrique de nouvelle action publique dans le champ agri-alimentaire par le territoire implique d’articuler cadre légal, volontés politiques et dynamiques agricoles locales. Cette difficile articulation est illustrée par une troisième section qui analyse la participation agricole à des dispositifs d’allocation de foncier public dans une optique de redéploiement agraire. Nous identifions et confrontons trois modalités de participation agricole. Les viticulteurs sont au centre du système agraire. Ils contrôlent la gestion du foncier et des filières dans un registre de participation « sectoriel et néo-corporatiste ». Les micro-fermes maraîchères diversifiées, attendues pour nourrir la ville, émergent timidement dans les interstices de l’espace agri-urbain. Ces maraîchers déploient un registre de participation « affinitaire ». Les éleveurs sont également attendus, mais plutôt comme partenaires dans la mise en œuvre de plans de gestion d’espaces naturels aux portes de la ville, comme les garrigues ou les zones humides. Le registre de participation qui les caractérise est qualifié de « transactionnel ».Cette thèse débouche sur des propositions pour construire, à partir de la connaissance de la diversité des figures et dynamiques agricoles périurbaines, une géographie de la participation agricole. Cette géographie permet d’envisager sous un nouvel angle la mise en œuvre d’une gouvernance participative de la politique alimentaire territoriale. / Since the Green Revolution of the 1960s, agriculture has been deterritorialized. It has been organized more by regionalized sectors than according to local food demands. But in recent years, consumers and local governments are carrying a food movement that claims a return of the local. This movement is reflected in France by public actions carried out at local level by local authorities in the field of protection of agricultural land or school catering. This thesis aims to document the hypothesis of a gap between agricultural and urban actoirs in facing these new demands for ecological and local food.The approach adopted is based on a case study. The region of Montpellier, in the south of France, is characterized by a historical specialization in viticulture and a strong dynamic of recent urbanization. The territory is approached both as a support for agricultural activity and as a local political project space. The proposed method combines a geography of the agricultural fact, mobilized to capture agricultural diversity around the city, with a geography of the political fact, focused on the prescribed dimension of the actions constituting the agroecological and local food policy. The method consists of collecting and crossing the viewpoints - of farmers, elected representatives and development agents - on this agri-urban food territory under construction.A first part reviews the trajectory of the local community, in order to understand how could emerge a project focused on the search for a "relocated" food on this scale of action. We highlight the overlaying of territorial public action baselines focusing on planning, the protection of the environment and the improvement of food quality.In a second step, the analysis of peri-urban agricultural diversity reveals weak signals of diversification and agrarian renewal based on both the inherited viticultural system and on the installation of new agricultural systems based on alternative models.The making-of a new public action in the agri-food field by the territory implies to articulate legal framework, political will and local agricultural dynamics. This difficult articulation is illustrated by a third section that analyses farmers’participation in public land allocation schemes aiming farmland redeployment. We identify and confront three modalities of agricultural participation. Wine growers are at the center of the agrarian system. They control the management of land and sectors in a "sectoral and neo-corporatist" participation register. The diversified vegetable farms, expected to feed the city, emerge timidly in the interstices of the agri-urban space. These organic market-gardeners deploy a register of "affinity" participation. Breeders are also expected, but rather as partners in the implementation of management plans for natural spaces at the gates of the city, such as scrublands or wetlands. The participation register that characterizes them is described as "transactional".On the basis of the knowledge of the diversity of periurban agricultural figures and dynamics, this thesis leads to proposals to construct a geography of agricultural participation. This geography makes it possible to envisage in a new angle the implementation of a participative governance of the territorial food policy.