The food environment is a complex social-ecological system with significant impacts on sustainability, biological diversity, and economics. It is often viewed as an important factor influencing health outcomes.
Food environment research often assesses the spatial patterns of food outlets for one time period, overlooking how these environments change over time. This paper adds to the literature by investigating annual spatiotemporal variations of relative healthy food access (RFA) at a small temporal scale in the Region of Waterloo, Ontario, over 4 years.
Definition
Food, is the substance that sustains life and provides the energy to drive vital processes. It is derived from a variety of sources, including plants (photosynthesis), other animals and other organisms. The most important component is dietary protein, but fat, carbohydrates and fiber are all important players in the food chain.
The best food is not the cheapest and is not always available, especially in developing countries where the poor are often the most vulnerable to hunger and poverty. A good diet can lead to a healthy and active lifestyle, a reduced risk of chronic diseases, higher productivity, increased longevity, better cardiovascular health, a lower risk of obesity and an improved immune system.
One of the most significant changes to the food pyramid will be the re-balancing of nutrients from animal sources to plant ones, a process called crop rotation. The biggest challenge will be to ensure that the appropriate crops are grown at the right time and in the right amount to produce the desired yield. The most efficient methods for doing this will be determined by experimentation and will likely require a combination of traditional agricultural practices with organic, or “green” means of agriculture.
Origins
Food is a complex system of energy, nutrients, and chemical substances that are essential for human nutrition. Plants, animals, and microorganisms all play a part in the process of turning solar energy into nutrient-rich compounds that can be used by human beings to support their growth and vital functions.
In the 1920s, Russian botanist Nikolai Pavlov identified several ‘centers of origin’ for many cultivated food crops around the world. Those centered on the Fertile Crescent and adjacent regions were marked by high levels of diversity, largely due to long-term selection and interbreeding with wild relatives.
The ‘connectedness’ of an OP to its place of origin can be assessed on a variety of ‘originality’ factors, including territoriality (physical connection with the place), toxicity (place-specific aspects of the supply chain), traditionally (rootedness in place-bound history) and commonality (shared experience and practices). This normative definition of ‘originality’ provides an evaluation framework that can help to highlight culturally defined differences between regions and countries when it comes to evaluating Ops.
Physiological effects
Physiological factors such as blood levels of nutrients, gastrointestinal tract hormones and psychological factors influence food intake to a large degree. The most lauded factor is the number of calories one consumes on a daily basis. A recent survey of a group of American consumers reveals that the top contender for the most calorie-laden items is the chocolate bar. The most significant challenge is keeping the magic number under wraps and avoiding a diet-related crash. A well-trained palate can avert a nutritional disaster. A good strategy is to choose foods whose energy value matches their calories. Choosing the right food for the right meal at the right time is a worthy achievement that will pay off for a lifetime.
Nutritional effects
Nutrition is the study of what we eat and how it affects our health. It involves understanding how foods contain nutrients like protein, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals.
Nutrition helps us to stay healthy and avoid disease. It also influences our mood and emotional well-being.
The body needs a certain amount of protein, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals for optimal functioning. Without proper nutrition, the body may become weak and obese.
Foods that are highly processed may have a greater risk of becoming too dense or too high in calories for the body to absorb all the nutrients it needs. Vitamins and minerals that are lost during processing can be replenished by consuming the liquid in which the food was cooked or by adding other foods that contain these nutrients.