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Debates over ritual slaughter, sacred food, fasts, and forbidden foods, perpetuated by religion and tradition, are nothing new. Dietary obligations and prohibitions, in all their diversity, have always been the object of comment, critique, or even concern from one human group towards another. The consumption of meat (or its prohibition) has always been about more than its nutritional function. Reducing religious dietary obligations to hygienic or gustatory practices would be an unrealistic attempt to erase the diversity of the procedures which people undertake to give meaning to life, death, and the world, and to locate themselves in relation to “others”. These rites, ­legitimated by myths, inevitably provoke phenomena of influence, reciprocated within and outside groups. The selection of food – of meat in particular – plays a primordial role as a social marker, the rules of which contribute to the organisation of groups by tracing ­differences between individuals, between men and women, and between communities. Formerly attached to a totemic group and its territory, then to a religion and its society, dietary practices are globalising and encountering one-another. Questions are now raised about the management, in shared spaces, of a diversity of dietary prohibitions and obligations. These questions are at the core of this chapter, notably, what place should be reserved for dietary particularities in collective catering in human organisations? And what limits should be given to the expectations of each regarding dietary purity or fasting?

Collective catering sector is increasingly offering alternative and more sustainable food propositions, but their success rests on their reception by guests and changes induced in individual behaviors. The authors investigate food-change determinants by examining the relationship between food behavior at staff restaurants and at home.

In an experiment over four days conducted in three staff restaurants, the authors monitored the behavioral changes and motivations of guests (n = 599) offered choices between standard and sustainable options for meat, fish, dairy products, fruit-based desserts and a vegetarian dish. The calculation of a “sustainable consumption score,” based on actual consumption at a restaurant by a subsample (n = 160) of guests gives an indication of interest for sustainable options.

Higher overall choices were observed for vegetarian dishes and for the sustainable meat options rather than for the sustainable fish and desserts options, thus suggesting contrasted perceptions of the sustainable alternatives. The results revealed two profiles of consumers with contrasting scores. The “lower receptive guests” had lower commitment to sustainable food at home and at staff restaurants, while the “higher receptive guests” found in the intervention meaningful propositions for pursuing their existing at-home commitment.

Long-term research would be required to verify whether repeated sustainable offers can break down deep-rooted choices and instill durable changes among consumers with lower commitment to sustainable food. This research contributes to the identification of some types of food that are more suitable for sustainable-oriented interventions.

Some food triggers are identified to further norm activation among the lower receptive profile of consumers.

By addressing continuities/discontinuities between at-home and at-restaurant consumption and mobilizing the “norm-activation” concept, the authors question the efficiency of sustainable food offers at work.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the debate on the development of academic libraries, by the introduction of the concepts of co-working and innovation to the learning centres.

The paper builds on published case studies and French initiatives.

The proposal of this paper is that the academic library can meet its social responsibility on the campus and in society by drawing on the model of the co-working spaces and communities, by the support of innovation and the transfer of knowledge to the world of work. Moreover, the proposal is to include these new functions into the concept of learning centre, i.e. to develop the work-related aspects of the learning centre.

Future research on academic libraries should focus on social responsibility and their contribution not only to students’ academic success but also to students’ employability and to the transfer of technology.

The paper contributes to the development and marketing of new academic library services and to its strategic positioning on the campus.

Co-working and innovation are relatively new but promising concepts for academic libraries. Except for some recent case studies, conceptual papers are still missing that combine empirical experience with a theoretical approach.

A school canteen can serve as an important setting for nutrition and health promotion. The purpose of this paper is to describe secondary school students’ perceptions of Indian school canteens.

Convenience sampling informed the recruitment of 1,026 year 9 students from nine private schools in Kolkata, India, and data were collected through self-completion of paper-based questionnaires. Frequencies and χ² analyses were computed.

The school children reported that energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods like French fries (90.4 per cent), pizza (79.5 per cent) and cakes (69.2 per cent) were frequently available in the school canteens. However, only a few students (10.2 per cent) acknowledged the availability of nutritious foods like fruits. Only a small proportion of students were content with the nutritional quality of food supplied in the canteens (3.6 per cent), the cost of food (8.7 per cent) and availability of fresh foods like fruits (5.5 per cent). The provision of healthy foods in the school canteen was supported by two-thirds of the respondents (65.9 per cent); however, only a small proportion (18.3 per cent) supported the restriction of fried foods in school canteens.

These findings underscore the need for the design and implementation of healthy school canteen policies to foster healthy eating habits among Indian adolescents.

This is the first cross-sectional survey to investigate the views of adolescents regarding school food services in the Indian context.

The Equal Pay Act 1970 (which came into operation on 29 December 1975) provides for an “equality clause” to be written into all contracts of employment. S.1(2) (a) of the 1970 Act (which has been amended by the Sex Discrimination Act 1975) provides:

British industry may not be getting the best out of its workforce by providing an unnutritional diet in the works canteen. Jennifer Pulling reports that the way to a workers' productivity is through his stomach.

The paper aims to explore the food needs of a growing Muslim population in Italian kindergartens and primary schools and to provide a basis for further quantitative research.

The methodology is essentially qualitative – historical, anthropological, social sources were studied to set the scene for a number of interviews (now 14, eventually 20) with cultural mediators, who know the implications of both cultures, and are trained to see the differences. The results of the interviews were then validated through interactions with anthropologists, food and religious historians, religious authorities and others.

The main findings are that: food and food prohibitions bear fundamental religious and identity-related implications for Muslims, that reverberate onto migrants' children of school age and dramatically limit their access to canteen food; halal meat traders exist in Italy, and can provide legally compliant, halal-certified meat, but school/public administrations do not seem to be aware of their interest.

The number of available mediators is relatively small, although they generally agree on all the basics. The research is qualitative and will require more in-depth analysis.

Better awareness of the Maghrebi Muslims' food requirements in school canteens. The need to develop a halal meat trade for public institutions and to lobby for the right of these children to bring packed lunches from home.

The paper has a heuristic value. It could have immediate implications for the stakeholders and, on the other hand, promote quantitative studies.

Availability and access to food is a determinant of obesity. The purpose of this paper is to examine food availability within and outside of post-primary schools in Ireland.

Data on the internal school food environment were collected from 63 post-primary schools using questionnaires. The external school food environment for these 63 schools was assessed by mapping food businesses within 1 km of schools, using a Geographic Information System (GIS). Food businesses were categorised based on type of food sold.

A total of 68.3 per cent of schools had a canteen, 52.5 per cent had a small food shop and 37.1 per cent had a vending machine. A total of 32.7 per cent of schools reported selling chips (French fries) in their canteen while 44.2 per cent of schools reported selling energy-dense nutrient-poor foods in their school shop. Of the schools surveyed, there was an average of 3.89 coffee shops and sandwich bars, 3.65 full service restaurants, 2.60 Asian and other “ethnic” restaurants, 4.03 fast food restaurants, 1.95 supermarkets, 6.71 local shops and 0.73 fruit and vegetable retailers within a 1 km radius of the post-primary schools. Findings are presented by geography (urban/rural), disadvantage (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in School (DEIS)/non DEIS), gender (girls/boys/mixed) and food policy in place at the school (yes/no).

These data will facilitate schools working on the framework for Health Promoting Schools in Ireland.

This work can contribute to current discussions on restricting accessibility to certain foods and food premises for school children.

The study explores the internal and external school food environment. GIS have been used to link the external food environment to specific schools thus allowing a comprehensive analysis of the schools’ food environment. To the authors knowledge, this is the first time that both environments are explored simultaneously.

The purposes of this study were to determine the food intake purchased from the canteens or markets nearby schools; to estimate the percent intakes of energy and nutrients from canteens and markets nearby the schools as a percent of total energy and nutrient intakes; and to evaluate the association between dietary intake of energy and nutrients eaten from school canteens and markets nearby the school and body weight status.

A sample of 398 students, aged 14–18 years, was recruited from schools in Amman/Jordan. Students’ body weights and heights were measured and socio-demographic data and three days food record were collected.

The intakes of boy students from school canteens were significantly higher than those of girls in carbohydrate (g) (125 ± 6 vs 106 ± 6; p = 0.015), energy from saturated fatty acid (Kcal) (97 ± 4 vs 84 ± 5; p = 0.006), sugar (g) (43 ± 3 vs 35 ± 2; p = 0.009) and fiber (g) (6 ± 0 vs 6 ± 0; p = 0.02). Regarding food groups consumed from markets nearby schools, there were significant differences between boys and girls intake (in which the higher intake was detected in girls as compared to boys) of sweets (g) (4 ± 1 vs 3 ± 2; p = 0.017), soft drinks (ml) (28 ± 5 vs 20 ± 5; p = 0.024) and milk (ml)/milk substitutes (g) (5 ± 2 vs 0 ± 0; p = 0.001). Sugar-sweetened beverages and crackers/snacks consumption was significantly higher in boys as compared to girls. There was a significant relationship between BMI and intakes of sugar, fat, vitamin E and calcium from school canteens.

The contribution of foods from canteens and markets nearby schools was high, with high content of fats, salt and sugar, implying that there is a vital need to establish a strategy and plan of action to fight malnutrition and reduce the intake of unhealthy foods in the school environment in Jordan.

Incarcerated women are a vulnerable population in terms of sexual and reproductive health. In French Guiana, most incarcerated women come from unsafe environments and are incarcerated because of drug trafficking. Medical follow-up processes used in prison (medical assessment on arrival, and then two half-days per week upon request but without an obstetrician-gynecologist) does not allow for a thorough assessment of the impact of incarceration on women prisoners’ health to take place. In the absence of data, the purpose of this study was to describe incarcerated women’s experiences in relation to sexual and reproductive health.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted among French-speaking adult women who had been incarcerated for at least four months in a French Guianan prison. Menstruation, contraception, pregnancy, abortion, sexually transmitted infections and sexuality were described by means of interpretative phenomenological analysis.

A total of 14 women were interviewed. They suffered from menstrual cycle disorders, poor hygiene and menstrual insecurity. They appeared to have emotionally disinvested sexuality. However, intra-prison sexual activity existed for some (masturbation, conjugal prison visits, homosexual intercourse between fellow prisoners). Homosexual relations were a source of discrimination. Being pregnant while incarcerated was viewed negatively. A lack of knowledge about sexual and reproductive health and high-risk behaviors such as piercing and tattooing practices were widespread.

Incarceration is a vulnerable time for women’s sexual and reproductive health. Sexual activity exposes women to risks and discrimination that should be taken into account in a multidisciplinary approach adapted to the prison environment.