abstract: This study was designed to influence consumer habits, specifically those relating to purchases of fruits, vegetables, and junk food. Previous studies have clearly shown the ineffectiveness of simply describing the health benefits of eating more fruits and vegetables (F/V). In contrast, this study aimed to change the result by changing the message: providing participants with insight into the hidden agendas of food companies and grocery stores, provide useful tips on how to include children when selecting F/V, and emphasizing the importance of parental modeling in regard to food purchases. Participants of this study were separated into two groups, the tour group and the education group. The tour group was guided through a grocery store where they learned about sales tactics and manipulations used by grocery stores and food companies to influence purchases. Education group participants were provided with an education session focusing on USDA and FDA handouts displaying current educational suggestions for increasing F/V consumption. Grocery store receipts were collected and analyzed to track the progress of both groups. The goal of the study was to identify a method of informing consumers that will produce a significant change in behavior. Increasing F/V consumption, even in relatively small amounts, would be an important step forward in improving the diet and overall health of Americans. This study was the first of its kind to measure purchasing patterns objectively (through analysis of purchase receipts, rather than personal opinion/evaluation surveys) and in a wide-scope retail environment that includes all grocery store purchases by participants. Significant increases or decreases in the amount of money spent on F/V, or the amount (pounds) of F/V purchased were not seen, however a small correlation (r = 0.133) exists when comparing the weight of F/V purchased pre/post intervention. Data from Food Frequency Questionnaires shows participants consuming significantly higher amounts of F/V post intervention (p=0.043). The tour group and education group experienced an average increase of 0.7 servings per day. Future interventions might benefit by extending their scope to include cooking demonstrations, in-home interventions, and education on healthy eating outside of the home. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Nutrition 2013

abstract: Fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption continues to lag far behind US Department of Agriculture (USDA) recommendations. Interventions targeting individuals' dietary behaviors address only a small fraction of dietary influences. Changing the food environment by increasing availability of and excitement for FV through local food production has shown promise as a method for enhancing intake. However, the extent to which local production is sufficient to meet recommended FV intakes, or actual intakes, of specific populations remains largely unconsidered. This study was the first of its kind to evaluate the capacity to support FV intake of Arizona's population with statewide production of FV. We created a model to evaluate what percentage of Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) recommendations, as well as actual consumption, state-level FV production could meet in a given year. Intake and production figures were amended to include estimates of only fresh, non-tropical FV. Production was then estimated by month and season to illustrate fluctuations in availability of FV. Based on our algorithm, Arizona production met 184.5% of aggregate fresh vegetable recommendations, as well as 351.9% of estimated intakes of Arizonans, but met only 29.7% of recommended and 47.8% of estimated intake of fresh, non-tropical fruit. Much of the excess vegetable production can be attributed to the dark-green vegetable sub-group category, which could meet 3204.6% and 3160% of Arizonans' aggregated recommendations and estimated intakes, respectively. Only minimal seasonal variations in the total fruit and total vegetable categories were found, but production of the five vegetable sub-groups varied between the warm and cool seasons by 19-98%. For example, in the starchy vegetable group, cool season (October to March) production met only 3.6% of recommendations, but warm season (April to November) production supplied 196.5% of recommendations. Results indicate that Arizona agricultural production has the capacity to meet a large proportion of the population's FV needs throughout much of the year, while at the same time remaining a major producer of dark-green vegetables for out-of-state markets. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Nutrition 2013

Latent prints can be used as evidence in crime scenes to connect individuals to the location of a potential crime. In some cases, perpetrators may handle partially eaten fruits at the scene of a crime and leave latent fingerprints on the surface of the fruit. Plant leaves of common household ornamental plants and regional shrubs may also be a potential source of latent prints. Fruits, vegetables, and plant leaves have not been extensively studied as substrates for fingerprint development. In order to assess the feasibility of developing and visualizing latent prints on fruits, vegetable, and plant leaf surfaces, black and white fingerprint powder, bi-chromatic magnetic powder, and LumicyanoTM superglue fuming were utilized on tomato, zucchini, cucumber, acorn squash, carrot, mango, plum, pear, orange, pepper, banana, watermelon, Rhododendron leaf, Philodendron leaf, and Jasmine leaf. An aging study up to sixteen days was also conducted on eight of the fifteen substrates to determine the effects of aging on latent fingerprint impression development. Latent prints were recovered from all surfaces with the three techniques. Using a scoring system of 0-2, in which 2 represents the presence of six or more minutiae and 0 represents the lack of minutiae, impressions developed with fingerprint powder scored the highest average across all substrates. The aging study revealed a general decline in the quality of the latent prints over time with LumicyanoTM fuming performing the best.

Imports of fresh fruits and vegetables to the United States have grown by more than 350 percent since 1989. Factors such as rising consumer incomes, the desire for greater variety and availability of fresh produce throughout the year, and a reduction in trade barriers through multi-lateral and bi-lateral trade agreements have contributed to this growth in imports. In addition, since the implementation of the Agreement on Agriculture and the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures from the Uruguay Round of the World Trade Organization negotiations, there have been numerous requests to export fresh fruits and vegetables to the United States. From 1996 to 2008, the United States has granted new market access to 204 exporter/commodity combinations. Given this large increase in new market access, this thesis assesses the success of the new entrants in terms of contributing to the increase in fresh fruit and vegetable imports and whether they exported on a continual basis after gaining import eligibility. In addition, this thesis estimates a gravity model to assess the differences in fresh fruit and vegetable exports from new entrants subject to phytosanitary measures relative to those with no such restrictions in place and to determine whether these effects vary by commodity sector and exporter's size. The major finding of this thesis is that in general, new entrants have contributed little to the growth in U.S. fresh fruit and vegetable imports. For most commodities, new entrants do not provide a significant proportion of imports potentially because new entrants are not able to compete with existing suppliers. This study finds differences in fresh fruit and vegetable exports from new entrants subject to specific phytosanitary treatments relative to entrants with no such restrictions in place. / Master of Science

The purpose of this study was to determine if the amount and variety of fruit and vegetable intake increased among community-dwelling older adults participating in Kentucky’s congregate meal site program following a series of educational nutrition lessons. A convenience sample (n=35) of community-dwelling older adults at two intervention (n=19) and two control (n=16) senior centers in central Kentucky participated in this quasi-experimental pre-post pilot study. Following the intervention there was a trend towards increased self-reported intake in the variety of fruit and vegetables among the intervention group (range:0.03±3.31 to 1.32±2.75 servings per week); a significant increase in the number of days participants incorporated at least 4.5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day intake; significant increases in the incorporation of fruits and vegetables in evening meal, and all meals (p≤0.05); and phytochemical knowledge (p≤0.05). Actual fruit and vegetable intake at the congregate meal increased post-intervention among the intervention group only (p≤0.05) as measured by plate waste. The mean Phytochemical Index score was 25.4, with participants consuming 79% of the phytochemical- rich component to their meal. These results indicate that theory-based educational nutrition lessons among older adults is linked to favorable trends towards increased fruit and vegetable consumption and phytochemical knowledge.

The study was conducted to explore the role of social capital in the implementation of Fruit and Vegetable Incentive Programs (FVIP) through a case study of the Appalachian Farmacy (AF) program and to fill a gap in literature on social capital utility in the implementation and evaluation of FVIPs. The study was guided by a conceptual model adopted from Berkman et al. (2000) to identify the mechanisms through which social networks can impact health. A qualitative content analysis was conducted retrospectively on secondary data from the evaluation of AF program to identify social capital attributes. In addition, the study conducted two focus groups with AF participants and four interviews with AF program administrators to explore their perceptions on the role of social capital in the implementation of FVIPs using a phenomenological approach. The study utilized both inductive and deductive analysis techniques with the conceptual model as the guide for analysis. The Bengtsson’s four steps for conducting content analysis were used for AF content analysis and Tracy’s (2013) two-level coding was used to analyze the focus groups and interviews. All the findings were triangulated and mapped on the study’s framework to identify the main and emergent themes. The findings revealed the main avenues for social networks were: cooking classes, farmers markets, recruitment sites, and a low-income housing complex. The main social capital 3 mechanisms were: instrumental and informational social support; social participation and engagement; and social influence. The main actors in the networks were the program administrators, market vendors, and other participants. Lastly, the health pathways identified were the changes in perceptions towards diet and health. The emergent themes revealed that barriers to access and individual characteristics were potential moderating themes, and case management by the program administrators was a potential mediating theme to program implementation. The study showed that the model was effective in exploring social capital in FVIPs. It highlighted the role that social networks, program actors and social capital play in implementation of public health interventions. Social capital may play an important role in health promotion and more research is needed to identify the mediating influences of the model.

Introdução: Frutas, legumes e verduras (FLV) contêm vários nutrientes com efeitos favoráveis para a saúde humana. Dentre estes, o folato é um dos nutrientes chaves envolvido na manutenção da saúde, com um potencial papel na redução das concentrações plasmáticas de homocisteína (hcy), reconhecido marcador de doença cardiovascular. Objetivos: Investigar o consumo de FLV, segundo características sóciodemográficas, antropométricas e de estilo de vida e relacionar o consumo de FLV e de folato com os níveis sanguíneos de hcy em adolescentes. Métodos: Este estudo utilizou dados de adolescentes de ambos os sexos, faixa etária de 12 a 19 anos, obtidos no Inquérito de Saúde ISA - Capital, realizado periodicamente no Município de São Paulo. O consumo de FLV foi estimado no estudo realizado em 2003, cuja amostra foi de 812 participantes. Para avaliação das relações entre FLV, folato e hcy, foram utilizados dados coletados no segundo ISA-Capital, entre os anos de 2008-2010 com amostra de 183 adolescentes. O consumo de FLV e de equivalentes de folato dietético (DFE), bem como o consumo de folato natural e ácido fólico, foram estimados por um recordatório de 24h. A análise bioquímica das concentrações plasmáticas de hcy foi realizada pelo método de cromatografia líquida. O ponto de corte de hcy plasmática utilizado foi de <8 mol/L para indivíduos com menos de 15 anos e <12 mol/L para indivíduos entre 15 e 19 anos. A concentração média de hcy plasmática foi descrita de acordo com os tercis de consumo de FLV, segundo as características sócio-demográficas, antropométricas e de estilo de vida. Todas as análises estatísticas foram realizadas no STATA® versão 10.0 considerando o nível de significância 5 por cento . Resultados: No primeiro estudo (2003) 20 por cento dos adolescentes não consumiram FLV no dia relatado e 6,5 por cento apresentaram consumo adequado. Renda, escolaridade do chefe da família e tabagismo influenciaram este consumo. Já no segundo estudo (2008-2010), 56 por cento não consumiram FLV e somente 4,9 por cento atingiram as recomendações. A prevalência de hiperhomocisteinemia na população estudada foi de 9,2 por cento . Adolescentes de 12 a 15 anos apresentaram menores valores de hcy (6,9mol/L) em comparação com os de 16 a 19 anos (8,4mol/L). Não foram encontradas diferenças significativas nos níveis plasmáticos de hcy analisados por tercis de consumo de FLV segundo características sócio-demográficas, de estilo de vida e antropométricas. Os alimentos que mais contribuíram com o consumo de DFE foram: pães (38,4 por cento ), seguidos pelo feijão (11,7 por cento ) e massas (10,1 por cento ). Para folato natural os alimentos de maior contribuição foram: feijão (30,3 por cento ), FLV (14,9 por cento ) e pães (14,6 por cento ); e, para o ácido fólico, se destacaram pães (53,3 por cento ), massas (14,6) e biscoitos (9,8 por cento ). Conclusão: O consumo de FLV por adolescentes está muito abaixo das recomendações nas duas amostras estudadas e não influenciou as concentrações plasmáticas de hcy / Background: Fruits and vegetables (FV) contains multiple nutrients with beneficial effects for human health. Among these, folate is one of the key nutrients involved in maintaining health, with a potential role in reducing plasma concentrations of homocysteine (hcy), recognized marker of cardiovascular disease. Objectives: To investigate the FV intake, according to socio-demographic, anthropometric and lifestyle characteristics and to relate the FV and folate intake with blood levels of hcy in adolescents. Methods: This study used data from adolescents of both sexes, aged 12 to 19, enrolled in the Health Survey ISA - Capital, periodically held in São Paulo. The FV intake was estimated in the study conducted in 2003, comprising 812 participants. To assess the relationship between FV, folate and hcy, we used data collected in the ISA Capital, conducted between the years 2008-2010 with a sample of 183 adolescents. The FV intake and dietary folate equivalents (DFE), as well as natural folate and folic acid intake, were estimated by a 24-hour recall. Biochemical analysis of plasma hcy was performed by liquid chromatography. The cutoff point for plasma hcy was <8 mmol/L for individuals younger than 15 years and <12 mmol/L for individuals aged between 15 and 19 years. The average concentration of plasma hcy was described into tertiles of FV intake, according to the socio-demographic, anthropometric and lifestyle characteristics. All statistical analyzes were performed in STATA ® version 10.0 with 5 per cent of significance level. Results: In the first study (2003) 20 per cent of adolescents not consumed FV on day evaluated and only 6.5 per cent had adequate intake. Per capita household income, head of familys level and smoking habit influenced this consumption. In the second study (2008-2010), 56 per cent not consumed FV and only 4.9 per cent met the recommendations. The prevalence of hyperhomocysteinemia was 9.2 per cent . Adolescents aged 12 to 15 years had lower levels of hcy (6.9 mmol/L) compared with 16 to 19 years (8.4 mmol/L). No significant differences were found in plasma levels of hcy into tertiles of FV intake according to socio-demographic, lifestyle and anthropometric characteristics. Foods that most contributed to DFE intake were bread (38.4 per cent ), followed by beans (11.7 per cent ) and pasta (10.1 per cent ). For natural folate, the foods that most contributed were: beans (30.3 per cent ), FV (14.9 per cent ) and breads (14.6 per cent ), and for folic acid, breads (53.3 per cent ), pasta (14.6) and biscuits (9.8 per cent ). Conclusion: FV intake by adolescents is below the recommendations and not influenced plasma concentrations of hcy

The local food environment plays an important role in the health of adolescents, especially in rural areas. Often, rural areas lack the accessibility and availability of healthy food choices, making a healthy lifestyle difficult to achieve. This study presents a cross-sectional survey of rural adolescents in 8 counties in Kentucky and North Carolina to determine the association between food store choice, body mass index (BMI), and key dietary outcomes. Although BMI had no association with food store choice, those who infrequently shopped at gas stations, convenience stores, and fast food restaurants consumed significantly less added sugar (p < 0.05) than those who shopped at those stores more regularly. Increasing the availability and accessibility of food venues with healthy food options such as supermarkets may decrease added sugar intake among rural adolescents.

Low-income populations in the United States consume less healthful diets than higher-income populations, specifically relating to fruit and vegetable consumption. The supplemental nutrition program Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is intended to bridge this gap by providing nutrition education and vouchers for nutritious foods. The purpose of this study was to determine if the 2009 WIC food package revisions impacted fruit and green vegetable consumption in 18 to 24-year-old females in California. Using the social ecological model as a guide, a population of WIC (N = 115) and non-WIC (N = 276) participants from the California Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey were analyzed for trends on daily fruit and green vegetable consumption over the period of years 2009, 2011, 2013, and 2015. ANCOVA analysis showed that WIC and non-WIC populations did not consume significantly different amounts of green vegetables, but did consume significantly different amounts of fruits, p = .120 and p = .028 respectively. Additionally, WIC participant fruit consumption did not significantly increase over the years, p = .376. However, a decrease of .031 (95%CI [.019,.584], p = .037) was identified in green vegetable consumption between 2009 and 2015. Due to mean differences between samples and years it is evident that there are influencing factors driving fruit and vegetable consumption outside of income barriers, such as possible social or environmental factors. This study adds to the literature regarding the WIC food package revisions and may promote positive social change by encouraging future researchers to identify barriers to healthful diets in WIC populations and determine if additional food package revisions may be needed to increase healthful diets in low-income populations.

Background: Along with the rapid economic development in China, some associatingproblems emerged, such as inflation. Especially for the daily consuming fresh fruits andvegetables (FFV), the price goes up at very fast speed, which draws a lot of publicattention on it. Farmers are discouraged and hurt by the low vegetable prices. However,end consumers are complaining about the high vegetable prices. A consensus is reachedthat the problem behind this phenomenon exists in the "distribution links".Aim: How is the current status of FFV distribution system of supermarkets in China?What factors do influence the efficiency and cost of the system? How is theimplementation of ASD in China and what are the advantages and barriers? Should it beimplemented widely? If yes, what are our recommendations to improve it?Definition: Agricultural super-docking is a new method of supply and distribution offresh agricultural products from farmers to supermarkets directly, by signing anagreement of intent between farmers and merchants, in order to build an efficientplatform for quality agricultural products to enter the supermarkets. The essence of ASDis to dock the thousands of small farmers and the different supermarkets to build anintegrated production and marketing chain to gain benefit for merchants, farmers andconsumers at the same time.Completion and results: It is a complex task to improve the efficiency of FFVdistribution system of supermarkets in China and there is a long way to go to implementASD successfully and widely since this market is at the starting stage and immature. Toimplement ASD successfully and widely, professional FFV third-party distributioncenters should be constructed, as well as exchanging information norm.