( Prochaska et al., 2005 ). Information collected by the American Public Health Association (no date) states that “Access to healthy food plays a major role in the ability of individuals to follow a healthful diet.” “Unfortunately, income, or lack of it, can
Increasing fruit and vegetable consumption reduces risk factors for cancer, cardiovascular disease and a number of other diet-related chronic diseases. These foodstuffs contain relatively high levels of beneficial phytochemicals (plant-derived, biologically active compounds) among which the preventative activity of antioxidants are most well-known and well-documented. Since small fruit typically contain high levels of antioxidants, increasing their incorporation in the diet is a laudable goal. Media reports of medical studies pertaining to dietary intake and national education initiatives such as the USDA's Food Guide Pyramid and the 5 A Day—for Better Health program have successfully raised public awareness of the health benefits of increased fruit and vegetable consumption, but, as of yet, may not have altered dietary habits. The factors influencing food choice are complex and interrelated. They include: sensory preference, physiological factors (pre- and postingestion), age, gender, lifestyle, behavior, personality, education, income, social attitudes about diet and health, ethnicity and tradition, religious beliefs, social pressures, marketing pressures, available product information and knowledge (labeling, media coverage, etc.) or self-identity beliefs. Some of these factors offer opportunities for increasing fruit and vegetable consumption while others present challenges. With respect to small fruit, food choice factors that tend to increase consumption include public awareness of these products as being beneficial to health and longevity and their image as highly desirable, dessert-like commodities with exquisite flavors. The main factors that deter increased small fruit consumption include their relatively high price per serving and their relative perishability which affects cost, ease of transport and availability. Strategies to capitalize on small fruits' positive attributes and overcome negative attributes with respect to food choice include the application of innovative marketing strategies at all levels and the expansion of research efforts to optimize the health benefits and sensory quality of these products.
that intake ( IRDC, 2010 ). Therefore, the introduction of other edible crops to domestication (production and consumption) is highly beneficial to achieving a sustainable diet and food security on Earth. Diversification of crop production might help to
Abstract
Throughout these sessions we have been looking for realistic approaches to the goal of achieving adequate nutrition for all the world’s people. The very complexity of the processes by which food moves from fields through commercial channels onto the world’s tables dictates that there are numerous approaches to a more adequate world food supply that are not necessarily mutually exclusive but rather complementary. Some are of short-range value; others of long-range utility. Some are very costly; others are not.
Forty-five cultivars of lettuce (Lactuca sativa) were field-grown using best management practices at the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center (LSU AgCenter) Botanic Gardens in Baton Rouge during the Fall 2011 and Fall 2012 seasons. Recommended cultivars were selected for commercial production in Louisiana based on fresh weight and lettuce size (width and height). Nitrate (NO3 –) concentration was analyzed for each cultivar, as lettuces are known to accumulate and concentrate NO3 –, and were then compared with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) oral reference dose (RfD—the EPA’s maximum acceptable oral dose of a toxic substance) of 1.6 mg NO3-nitrogen (N) per kilogram body weight per day. Recommended butterhead cultivars were Caliente and Harmony (21.6 and 13.9 ppm NO3 – , respectively); recommended green-leaf cultivars were Salad Bowl and Tango (10.6 and 4.6 ppm NO3 –, respectively); recommended red-leaf cultivars were Red Salad Bowl, Red Sails, and New Red Fire (15.2, 15.4, and 24.0 ppm NO3 –, respectively). The only recommended romaine cultivar was Green Towers (11.2 ppm NO3 –), and recommended crisphead cultivars included Raider and Ithaca (17.6 and 14.9 ppm NO3 –, respectively). Of the highest yielding cultivars, New Red Fire accumulated the greatest NO3 – concentration: 24.0 ppm in both years 1 and 2. The NO3 – concentration is less than the levels of concern for both men and women 20 to 74 years old, 3.9% of the RfD for men and 4.59% of the RfD for women.
interpretation and back-transformation when using transformed data (see for example Dieters et al., 1996 ), and as a result of robustness of REML to violation of normality, the untransformed rain-damaged scores were used in all analyses. Additive genetic effects
values ( Dieters et al., 1995 , 1996 ; Hardner et al., 2012 ; Lynch and Walsh, 1998 ; Mrode 2005 ) using ASReml software ( Gilmour et al., 2006 ). The 3008 genotypes estimated in the analysis were from the pedigree data file associated with the 1607