Food provides human beings with a connection to the natural world. This research helps to illustrate the interconnectivity of food and of the food movement as it relates to so many other social, ecological and cultural movements. I examined the works of four authors communicating important messages about our food; where is comes from, how it is grown, and what we need to change about our food habits. This research also asks: what are the implications of the food movement for environmental education and communication; have these authors discussed the implications of our food choices in a meaningful way; and, are these books, and other similar forms of media, indicative of a broader social movement or revolution? I believe that through food meaningful environmental messages can be transmitted to diverse audiences and that literature provides an effective medium in which to communicate those messages.

With an unpredictable market for gasoline and increased concerns with the pollution created by burning fossil fuels, there is a push for developing suitable replacements for gasoline. While corn-based ethanol production is the most common renewable biofuel produced in the United States, ethanol is not an ideal solution to gasoline replacement due to low energy density, hygroscopic and corrosive properties and inability to purify by distillation alone. Higher alcohols such as butanol do not have the same problems with energy density, purification and hygroscopic and corrosive properties. The fermentation of butanol by using solventogenic Clostridium species, creating acetone, butanol and ethanol (known as ABE fermentation) is one of the worlds oldest industrial fermentations. Since butanol is toxic to Clostridium species at a concentration of only 13 g/L, traditional batch fermentation of butanol with steam stripping distillation is currently not as economical as fermentation and distillation of ethanol. Fermentation using glucose produced higher solvent outputs, rates of productivity and yields than fermentations using sugarcane products as substrates. Butanol and total solvent production using glucose as a substrate averaged 7.2 (+/- 0.7) g/L and 11.2 (+/- 0.9) g/L, respectively. Fermentation using sugarcane molasses and sugarcane juice as substrates produced 6.5 g/L butanol and 9.7 g/L total solvents and 3.1 g/L butanol and 4.0 g/L total solvents, respectively. Production of butanol was increased to 9.1 g/L in a fermentation of glucose when soy oil was used as a coextractant. Fermentations in which the pH dropped below 4.80 showed decreased solvent production and the pH was unable to rise in the same manner as other fermentations. The acid crash was exhibited in several batch fermentations as well as continuous fermentation using an immobilized culture of C. beijerinckii optonii. The acid crash resulted in lowered solvent production, low pH and physiological differences in the cells in the culture. Fermentation using immobilized culture produced a maximum 5.4 g/L butanol and 6.8 g/L total solvents at a dilution rate of 0.18 hr-1 and 25 g/L initial glucose. Higher glucose levels and different dilution rates gave lower butanol and total solvent productions.

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ABSTRACT Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) was generally considered as a hospital-associated disease; however, recent studies indicated that foods might also play a role in its epidemical chain. From August-2013 to February-2014, oyster samples and harvesting water samples were collected monthly from 6 commercial oyster harvesting areas along Louisiana Gulf Coast and analyzed for total aerobic bacteria, fecal coliforms, coliphage and pathogenic C. difficile. In this study, C. difficile were isolated from 9 (47.37%) of 19 oyster samples and 3 (37.5%) of 8 harvesting water samples and all isolations were carrying the toxin B-encoding gene (tcdB). Toxin B positive C. difficle was detected in all influent and effluent samples collected from a waste water treatment plant (WWTP) located in New Orleans, LA. However, the PCR-ribotyping showed that different strains of C. difficile were found in sewage effluent and oysters/harvesting water, suggesting the discharge of treated sewage might not contribute to the transmission of C. difficile into the harvesting areas. No statistical significance was found between the density of fecal coliform/E. coli in oysters and the occurrence of C. difficile, according to a binary logistic regression model (odds ratio = 1.025 and 0.997). The concentration of Male-specific (F+) Coiphage and Somatic Coliphage in oysters was also found not to be directly related to the occurrence of C. difficile in oysters due to the low detection rate.

Aquaculture has grown rapidly as the worlds wild-caught fisheries approach their sustainable limits. Feed conversion in aquaculture is more efficient than in terrestrial animals. Thus with a growing world population, seafood produced through aquaculture can provide a high quality source of protein. Aquaculture systems rely on high stocking densities and commercial feeds to increase production and profitability, which increase animal stress and susceptibility to disease. Veterinary drugs are commonly used to prevent and treat disease outbreaks. Several of these drugs are banned for use in shrimp farming in the United States. These drugs can be toxic to humans, with side effects that can be fatal. There is also an increased risk of developing antibiotic resistant strains of human pathogens, including Bacillus and Vibrio species. The Food and Drug Administration is responsible for the safety of all fish and fishery products entering the United States, but funding for testing is limited. Examples of drugs with high enforcement priority include chloramphenicol, nitrofurans, fluoroquinolones and quinolones, malachite green, and steroid hormones. State testing has repeatedly resulted in the detection of banned drugs. The objective of this study was to quantify veterinary drug residues in commercially available frozen shrimp. Imported, farm-raised shrimp samples were purchased from local supermarkets and include shrimp from seven brands and six different countries. A preliminary screening was done using rapid ELISA kits to test for chloramphenicol, malachite green, nitrofurans, and fluoroquinolones. Samples tested positive for chloramphenicol, malachite green, and fluoroquinolones; all samples tested negative for nitrofurans. ELISA results were confirmed using liquid chromatography with UV detection for chloramphenicol and fluoroquinolones and tandem mass spectrometry for malachite green. Drug residues in positive shrimp samples were confirmed for chloramphenicol at concentrations ranging from 0.30 to 0.49 ppb, and enrofloxacin from 1.22 to 5.95 ppb. Results suggest that current testing by the FDA may not be adequately addressing imported seafood safety. Concurrently analyzed wild-caught shrimp from the US tested negative for all veterinary drugs considered.

Nationwide, seafood consumers are paying close attention to their seafood options and demanding transparency on point of origin. Recent studies have shown that shrimp can reflect the mineral content of the waters from which they are harvested. Mineral analysis was conducted using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry on the tail muscle from each coastal group and imported farmed raised samples. Analysis of variance was used to detect differences among catch locations and seasons along the Louisiana coast, as well as differences in the mineral profile of farm raised imported shrimp. Multivariate analysis of variance and descriptive analysis was used to evaluate which minerals contributed the greatest variance to the mineral profiles (Al, P, Fe, Mg, K, Na, Cu, Zn, and Ca) of Louisiana shrimp from over 100 sampling sights. The minerals Ca, and to a lesser extent Zn and Cu were identified as the most discriminating minerals (canonical correlation=0.8269, 0.3929, and 0.5547, respectively). Based on predictive discriminant analysis using cross validation of nine minerals, the catch zones of Louisiana wild caught shrimp could be predicted with an overall accuracy of 86.93% and specifically into the correct zones 1, 2, and 4 with 73.68%, 74.85%, and 95.40% accuracy, respectively.

A method is described for the determination of N-nitrosoproline (NOPRO) in cured meat products. NOPRO was extracted with ethyl acetate from a slurry of cured meat and water after the addition of ammonium sulfamate and acid. This nitrosamino acid was converted to the methyl ester and after further purification, it was quantitated and confirmed by gas liquid chromatography and mass spectroscopy. Recoveries of 10 μg from spiked samples averaged about 70%. A capillary column was used to confirm the presence of low levels of MeNOPRO in the extracts. An oscilloscope, utilizing horizontal sweep magnification of the mass spectrometer output, was used to detect the elution of MeNOPRO from the column by monitoring the m/e 30 ion. The presence of 5 nanograms per injection of concentrated cured meat extract could be confirmed. NOPRO was detected in several commercial meat products. Five of six bacon samples analyzed were found to contain NOPRO at levels ranging from 13-46 ppb. A precooked ham slice and a sample of breakfast beef contained 22 and 62 ppb NOPRO, respectively. NOPRO was not detected in a sample of canned chopped ham nor a wiener sample. The detection of NOPRO, a non-volatile nitrosamine, in cured meats suggests that the formation of other non-volatile nitrosamines is possible. To date, only volatile nitrosamines have been analyzed and confirmed by mass spectrometry. The ubiquity of proline and the finding of NOPRO in several different cured meat products suggest that NOPRO could be an indicator of nitrosation in foods. Bacon cured in brines containing 800 and 1600 ppm nitrite contained about 50 and 100 ppm residual nitrite, respectively. Bacons receiving the lower nitrite level contained no NOPRO while the higher nitrite treated bacons contained over 100 ppb NOPRO. Frying of bacon was found to destroy 86 to 100% of NOPRO in the five samples analyzed. NOPRO has been reported to break down during heating to nitrosopyrrolidine (NOPYR). However, the levels of NOPRO determined in raw bacon were not sufficient to produce the amounts of NOPYR reported in fried bacon if the rate of conversion was similar to that previously reported in model studies. / Graduation date: 1974

Wild plants have long been a component of the diet of the Cherokee Indians. In this study, traditional knowledge of edible wild plants as a food source has been shown to exist in present day Cherokee society and the use of and beliefs about wild plants and other natural resource foods have been documented from accounts on the historic Cherokee. It was noted that knowledge of wild plants may be passed from one generation to another by word of mouth. Attitudeds and beliefs toward teh consumption of wild plants affected the use of this knowledge. The active collection of data pertained to present day food use of wild plants by Cherokee Indians. Data pertaining to plant identification, season of procurement, and perparation and preservation methods were collected with use of an interview schedule. There were 78 plants positively identified by the informants of this study. Season of availability governed the food use of the wild plants. Preservation methods were found to extend or eliminate this seasonal availability. Some wild plant preparation and preservation methods could be grouped into standardized form. Standard preparations methods existed for some greens and the fruit juices. Mixing or combinations of greens was noted to be prevalent; season of availability and flavor being the main determinants of the plants utilized. Present day use was made of canning and drying as preservation methods for the wild plants of this study. Freezing was noted as a little used preservation method of the wild plants of this study.

Graduation date: 1948

Graduation date: 1947