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<p>Multilaterally, Canada’s food system is not succeeding – this is related to jurisdictional disconnect in policy objectives and outcomes between aspects of the system. This “good food gap” requires integrated, system-focused solutions.Considering an ecosystems approach to biocultural anthropology and the community food security perspective, this thesis studied food banks’ use of fresh, local produce in Hamilton, Ontario – a city particularly affected by poverty and food insecurity. Mixed methods allowed a more holistic investigation: a nutritional assessment of 108 model grocery parcels from three Hamilton food banks over a local growing season was complemented by semi-structured interviews with 13 key stakeholders including food bank staff, clients and produce suppliers and others involved in community food work in Hamilton.</p> <p>Average parcel contents met or exceeded some nutritional targets, but other results were concerning: parcels contained high sodium levels, few servings of milk and alternatives and vegetable and fruit servings were seasonally-limited with fresh, local produce making a significant contribution during the harvest months. Also, parcels varied individually but those for smaller households were significantly more adequate than those for larger households. Non-nutritive benefits to food banks’ use of fresh, local produce were identified and seen to extend beyond the emergency food sector (EFS) though poor produce quality was considered a drawback. Infrastructure, knowledge and networks were the main categories of facilitating or limiting factors. These findings are situated within stakeholders’ discussions of the relationships between emergency food, food security, nutrition, culture and their future aspirations. The results support the position that overcoming the good food gap in Hamilton can be best accomplished by both improving the food bank system – such as through increasing the use of fresh, local produce – and moving beyond emergency food towards a just, sustainable, rights-based food system through the community food centre model.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

The Plug &amp; Produce manufacturing system is a visionary concept that promises to facilitate the seamless integration and adaptation of manufacturing resources and production processes. The Plug &amp; Produce control system allows for the automatic addition and removal of manufacturing resources, minimizing human intervention. However, the reconfigurability and autonomous decision-making features of Plug &amp; Produce control systems pose challenges to safety design and control functions. In contrast to conventional manufacturing systems with fixed layouts and processes, ensuring safety in Plug &amp; Produce systems is complicated due to the complex risk assessment process, the difficulty of implementing non-restrictive safety measures covering all possible hazards, and the challenge of designing a reliable controller for consistent safe operation. This thesis addresses these challenges through various contributions. It introduces an automatic hazard identification method, considering emergent hazards after reconfiguration. A novel domain ontology is developed, incorporating safety models specific to Plug &amp; Produce systems. The work also proposes a generic, model-based, and automatic risk assessment method, along with a method for the safe execution of plans based on the results of the risk assessment. The results of this research offer benefits to process planners, who are responsible for coordinating the manufacturing processes with product design in the Plug &amp; Produce system. The proposed solution provides tools for process planners to validate their plans and reduces their safety-related responsibilities. The proposed safety assurance method seamlessly integrates into the multi-agent control of Plug &amp; Produce, providing the control system with risk scenarios associated with process plans. This enables proactive and reliable control, effectively avoiding potential risks during system operation. / Föreställ dig en automatiserad produktionsanläggning som omedelbart och automatiskt kan anpassa sig till förändringar utan att kompromissa med säkerheten för den personal som arbetar där. Denna avhandling strävar efter att uppnå just detta genom ett smartare sätt att säkerställa att produktionsanläggningar baserat på Plug &amp; Produce kan hantera säkerhet. Dettainnebär att konceptet Plug &amp; Produce nu närmar sig ett industriellt förverkligande. Säkerhet för automatiserade produktionsanläggningar innebär att alla maskiner ska vara utrustade med skydd för att göra arbetet säkrare. Idag är det vanligt med övervakning som skydd, dvs en dator som övervakar att allt går rätt till och stänger av om något är på väg att hända. I ett produktionsavsnitt som är baserat på Plug &amp; Produce kan man enkelt ställa om, det vill säga, lägga till eller ta bort maskiner, ändra layouten eller ändra på produkter som produceras. Efter en sådan omställning så måste säkerheten i produktionsanläggningen ses över enligt föreskrivna lagar och regler. Traditionellt så kräver detta anlitande av en säkerhetsexpert. Detta medför att en omställning utifrån ett säkerhetsperspektiv är både kostsamt och tidskrävande. Med resultatet från denna avhandling så går det nu att ställa om utan att behöva implementera nya säkerhetsfunktioner efter varje förändring. Denna forskning har utvidgat kunskapsområdet inom produktionsteknik för att skapa en "smartarefabrik" genom att inkludera säkerhetsfunktioner.Resultatet inkluderar algoritmer som kan upptäcka potentiella faror i fabriken och automatiskt tillämpa säkerhetsåtgärder för ett övervakat system. Detta innebär mindre tidsåtgång och lägre kostnader för säkerhetsarbetet. De som drar mest nytta av detta är människorna som planerar för hur saker skall tillverkas med hjälp av Plug &amp; Produce. Resultatet av detta arbete underlättar deras arbetsuppgifter och bevarar flexibiliteten i Plug &amp; Produce, vilket eliminerar behovet av att välja mellan flexibilitet och säkerhet

Prior research has shown pathogen prevalence on-farms is not uniformly distributed, instead pathogen prevalence is highly dependent on environmental factors and management practices. A study was performed to determine environmental factors (e.g., landscape features, meteorological events) and management practices (e.g., date of last irrigation, pesticide application) that may impact the prevalence of Salmonella spp. and Listeria spp. at the sub-field level (0.2 ha grids) on an Eastern Shore of Virginia farm. Virginia Tech's Eastern Shore Agricultural Research and Extension Center (ESAREC) farm was used due to the liability of testing for pathogens in commercial produce fields; however, production practices used at the ESAREC farm are similar, if not the same, to production practices used on commercial farms. Fifteen drag swab, one water, and up to five fecal samples were collected every two weeks per sampling occurrence from August to December 2016 (thus up to 21 samples may be collected during one sampling occurrence. Samples were collected from randomized field plots that were picked during each sampling occurrence. Salmonella spp. and Listeria spp. were isolated and confirmed using modified versions of the Food and Drug Administration's Bacteriological Analytical Manual. Environmental factors were retrieved by remotely-sensed data for the sample location or date. Management practices were recorded by an observational survey for each sample occurrence. Two hundred and seventy-four samples (210 drag swab, 50 fecal, and 14 water samples) were collected during the late summer, fall, and winter. Listeria spp. and Salmonella spp. was detected in 8.3% (23/274) and 1.8% (5/274) of samples, respectively. Neither pathogen was detected in any of the fourteen water samples tested. Findings from this study will support the development of mitigation strategies to reduce pathogen contamination on-farm, with emphasis at the sub-field level. For instance, mitigation strategies include growers electing to not harvest near edges of fields or directly after precipitation events to minimize contamination events. Additionally, management practices were found to be associated with pathogen prevalence; therefore, management practices should be carefully tailored for each unique farm landscape. / Master of Science in Life Sciences

Agricultural production in Southwest Virginia is characterized by numerous small, geographically disperse farms dedicated to traditional practices of producing tobacco and cattle. Community leaders have expressed the desire to diversify the region's agricultural production base to include potentially more profitable commodities such as horticultural crops. In order for the small growers to penetrate the fresh horticultural market and compete with the larger production regions, they must organize themselves into a farmer cooperative that allows them to pool resources, reduce costs, and share risk. A successful cooperative will increase farm incomes for the region's producers. The co-op will strive to obtain a higher price for the commodities produced than that price which can be obtained by growers acting independently. The increase in farm incomes should offset forecasted decreases in agricultural incomes resulting from declines in the region's traditional production activities. Increased farm incomes for a large number of small growers should have a substantial impact on agricultural producers, marketers, and equipment suppliers and lead to economic development for the region as a whole. Several past horticultural cooperative efforts have been publicly financed and eventually failed for a wide variety of reasons. The methodology used in this research include surveying and interviewing marketing specialists, co-op managers, growers, extension agents, horticulturists, and other experts involved with both successful and failed cooperative efforts. The data gathered from these interviews has been used to identify key factors that have contributed to the success or failure of the other cooperative efforts. Based on the key factors identified from the research, a specific cooperative structure has been developed for the Southwest Virginia growers. This organizational structure incorporates into its legal documentation (bylaws, business plan, and marketing agreement) the critical factors that must be carried out by members, management, extension, and marketers in order to increase the probability for the cooperative's long-term survival and profitability. / Master of Science

A theoretical analysis of marketing cooperatives indicates that in imperfect markets where cooperative members possess the resources to expand production to levels where their marginal costs equal their marginal returns, both producers and consumers are better off than if the producers sell smaller output quantities to investor-oriented firms at a lower market price. Although the United States government has supported the formation and operation of many small-scale marketing cooperatives in the southeast, their success has been low. This thesis describes one approach used to increase the viability of small-scale vegetable marketing cooperatives through a federated cooperative, the Horticultural Producers Federation (HPF). The HPF provides marketing and management services that address specific market failures and intra-firm inefficiencies encountered by its member cooperatives. HPF services include record keeping, market information, financial planning and management, accounting and payroll, educational and technical support. centralized marketing, and a newsletter. The development and implementation of these services is described in this thesis as is the cooperatives' evaluation of these services through the five year duration of the study. The cooperatives' final evaluation of the services and the HPF indicated that on average they were more than satisfied with the individual HPF services and the impact of the HPF on them and their members. Future challenges for the HPF include the development of more services by the HPF or other agencies to address a few remaining problems. Services which would target areas of concern include centralized computer support; public relations and promotion activities; as well as member, director, and management training. The large majority of cooperative members which are part-time farmers also poses a significant challenge. Until these farmers gain the resources and expertise to intensively manage their operations, the individual cooperatives and the HPF centralized marketing service will face problems of under production and poor quality. / Master of Science

<p dir="ltr">The increasing consumption of fresh produce such as cantaloupes, watermelons, lettuce, and cucumbers has been linked to multiple foodborne outbreaks, highlighting the urgency of implementing effective measures to prevent bacterial contamination, colonization, and internalization. This study evaluates various antimicrobial chemical washing solutions to reduce foodborne pathogens and improve the microbial quality of fresh produce. The research investigates the impact of netting density on cantaloupe rind surfaces and assesses the efficacy of sodium hypochlorite (FAC), peracetic acid (PAA), and chlorine dioxide (ClO₂) against <i>Escherichia coli</i>, <i>Listeria monocytogenes</i>, and <i>Salmonella </i>Typhimurium. Results suggest that higher netting densities decreased the efficacy of these treatments, with smooth rind cantaloupes showing the highest bacterial reduction when treated with PAA and FAC. Further investigations into the inline application of antimicrobial washing solutions under commercial packing house conditions revealed that combining ClO₂ and PAA significantly reduced pathogen loads on cantaloupes and watermelons without adversely affecting their sensory qualities. Additionally, the study assessed the effectiveness of PAA, FAC, and accelerated hydrogen peroxide (AHP) on fresh cucumbers, broccoli, and lettuce under conditions that emulate commercial retail facilities. The treatments achieved significant log reductions in aerobic mesophilic bacteria and common pathogens, highlighting the critical role of these solutions in preventing cross-contamination during postharvest handling. Finally, the research also examined the internalization of foodborne pathogens in lettuce and cucumber plants, revealing high recovery rates of <i>E.</i><i> </i><i>coli </i>O157:O157H7 and <i>S.</i><i> </i>Typhimurium from contaminated seeds, soil, leaves, and blossoms. These findings highlight the potential for pathogen colonization and persistence in fresh produce, indicating the need for preventative agricultural practices and microbial control measures throughout the cultivation and handling processes. Together, these studies suggest that integrating effective antimicrobial washing solutions with proper storage conditions and good agricultural practices is essential for enhancing fresh produce's microbial safety and shelf-life, thereby reducing the risk of foodborne illnesses.</p>

The project has explored the topic Smart factory with main focus on the future production staff. The project aims to investigate how the production staff is affected by Volvo Cars Skövde Engine Plant (SkEP) becoming a Smart factory, in the era of Industry 4.0. The definition of the Smart factory is a demand of Mobile- and wireless technologies, Human-oriented, pursue a Flexible production with Sustainable manufacturing, as well as utilization of CPS (Cyber-Physical Systems), IoT (Internet-of-Things) and Cloud storage. The current situation and the future five to twenty years were examined in order to define the future production staff. This by conducting an observational study and several interviews. The studies’ results were that SkEP cannot be regarded as smart since several demands are inadequate by definition. Five years are considered too short of a time for the plant to fulfill the demands. However, according to the interviews and literature, SkEP are expected to become smart in twenty years after time refinement of existing technologies and implementation of new ones. The authors estimate Leadership, Information, IT and Production lay-out to be the areas that require the most effort. The future production staff are expected to be flexible with workplace, working hours and able to manage multiple variants. They should be included in self-supporting teams where every individual possesses an expertise, are motivated and participating. Production staff should perform complex, varied jobs with more responsibility by endorsement of decision support systems. The staffs’ competence should consist of technical education, high basic and lay-out knowledge and the ability to contribute to the collection of information and analyses. Interaction with technology is expected to expand and the personnel must therefore have a well-established comprehension of technology. The concept Smart factory is extensive and relatively new, which means that it is constantly evolving. Thus it is important for SkEP to be updated and adjust to the impact from the outside world.