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Despite its health benefits, vegetable consumption is low in urban Nigeria. Interventions have been successful in increasing urban Nigerians' vegetable intake in the home environment, but interventions doing so for popular out-of-home consumption are lacking. This study aimed to design, implement and assess an intervention to increase the vegetable intake of urban Nigerians through street foods.

A quasi-experimental design was applied in Lagos, Nigeria. During the intervention, 12 trained street food vendors (SFVs) actively promoted the health benefits of vegetables to their customers (using marketing statements and posters) and provided the option to buy an additional green leafy vegetables (GLVs) side dish to their meal. Purchases were observed, and a survey was conducted before and during the intervention to measure perceived meal quality and satisfaction. Six to eight weeks after the intervention, a mystery shopper visited the vendor to assess if they were still selling additional GLVs.

Almost half (46%) of the 1,506 observed customers bought additional GLVs during the intervention. Both at baseline (N = 452) and during intervention (N = 564), meal satisfaction was high. Users were on average more educated and older than non-users. Most vendors did not perceive the sale of additional GLVs as additional work. Six to eight weeks after the intervention, nine vendors (75%) were still selling additional GLVs.

This study showed that SFVs informing consumers on the potential health benefits of vegetables and offering these vegetables in street food dishes at a commercially viable price is an interesting option to increase vegetable intake.

Fresh vegetables contain advantageous phytochemical components, making them one of the most significant sources of nutrition. The threat of harmful bacteria still exists because these vegetables are not heated in restaurants before being consumed. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the microbial quality of fresh vegetables in restaurants of different levels.

A total of 499 fresh vegetable samples (from sandwiches and fresh-cut vegetable salads) were collected from 3 different types of food service establishment: 201 from international restaurants (IRs), 210 from national restaurants (NRs), and 88 from cafeterias (CAs). The samples were prepared and inoculated on specific growth media. The aerobic mesophilic bacteria (AMB) Campylobacter spp., Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), Enterobacteriaceae, Escherichia coli (E. coli) and yeast and molds were counted, and Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella spp. and Escherichia coli O157 were detected using specialized medium.

High counts of S. aureus, above 3 log cfu/g, suggested that 71.5% of samples collected from NRs and 77.3% from CA were not accepted, whereas 81.6% of samples collected from IRs were accepted. The low population of E. coli, less than 2 log cfu/g, suggested that 99.0, 97 and 92.0 % of samples collected from IRs, NRs and CA, respectively, were accepted. Listeria monocytogenes and Escherichia coli O157 were absent from every sample. One sample was positive for Salmonella spp. in each of the NR and CA sample groups.

RIs adhere to health and hygiene standards better than NRs and CAs, according to the findings of vegetable contamination tests.

Previous research has shown that in contemporary societies, women have a healthier dietary intake than men. However, no research has examined how this gender gap develops over the long term. The present study examined how gender differences in fresh vegetable intake frequency have evolved from 1979 to 2017 in Finland and whether differences are affected by age or educational level.

The data were derived from annually repeated, nationally representative “Health Behaviour and Health among the Finnish Adult Population” and “Regional Health and Well-being (RHW)” surveys on the health habits of the Finnish population. The dataset is a time series of repeated cross-sectional surveys. In total, the data sample comprised 161,996 Finns aged 20–64 years. Descriptive methods and logistic regression were used for the analysis.

During 1979–2017, the prevalence of daily vegetable intake increased from 12 to 35% among men and from 18 to 56% among women. Thus, the magnitude of the gap between genders doubled across the study period. The increased vegetable intake was partly explained by the changing education and age structures of society. Potential explanations and avenues for future research are also discussed. Policy implications depend on whether the findings are interpreted as a case of health differences or health inequality.

This study used a long time series to analyse how gender differences in vegetable intake have evolved in a Nordic welfare state context. It showed that the gap in fresh vegetable intake between men and women has widened.

The purpose of this paper is to test whether the IKEA-effect (Norton et al., 2012) – better liking for self-crafted products than for identical products crafted by others – can be exploited to increase liking and consumption of vegetable snacks in children.

A between-subjects experiment was conducted at an after school care facility. In total, 86 children aged four to six either crafted a peacock with vegetables or with non-food objects following an example. After the task, children ate snack vegetables ad libitum, and rated their liking for the vegetables and pride in crafting the peacock.

No significant main effect of the vegetable snack creation on consumption and liking was observed. Also, perceived pride did not mediate the effect of self-crafting vegetable snacks on consumption of and liking for vegetables.

Vegetable consumption did not differ between children who were either simply exposed to vegetable snacks while crafting or those who were crafting the vegetable snacks themselves. The equal consumption might suggest that this is caused by simple exposure, but more research is needed comparing self-crafting and exposure to a condition where there is no initial exposure to vegetables.

Although the IKEA-effect has been demonstrated in adults, this is one of the first studies evaluating the IKEA-effect in children and as a means to increase liking for a generally disliked product in this target group, i.e. vegetables. The IKEA-effect could not be replicated under these more stringent conditions, where the experimental set-up enabled disentangling exposure and crafting effects.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the process of supermarketization in the vegetable retail sector in China and its impact on food safety.

Data from food safety reports by the Chinese Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) are used to investigate the degree of vegetable safety in different value chain types. To assess the predictors of the degree of vegetable safety, a logistic regression model is applied.

Supermarketization has led to the reorganization of the vegetables provision system, through closer coordination along the supply chain and the use of secured production bases. We identify four types of vegetable value chains in China based on their form of coordination. Supermarkets improve vegetable safety even when they rely on external suppliers, but also wet markets perform significantly better than other small-scale retailers in terms of vegetable safety.

The study has expanded the knowledge of the supermarketization in urban China by collecting data from CFDA. Furthermore, the study used the theory of food value chain to understand determinant factors in securing food safety. Moreover, this study reveals that wet markets also have prospects in solving vegetable safety problems in China, especially in underdeveloped areas.

South Africa’s wool industry plays an important role in the agricultural sector. The wool industry provides a valuable source of income for farmers who practice sustainable farming practices. However, wool farmers face numerous challenges, such as wool contamination, dirty wool and producing good-quality wool. Good-quality wool is determined by fibre diameter, clean yield, vegetable matter and staple length. This study aims to address these challenges.

A multiple regression analysis of price (R/kg) of White wool and Merino wool was applied to four variables fibre diameter: vegetable matter, clean yield and staple length. The analysis was based on the data for the 2009–2019 data from Cape Wools auctions.

Fibre diameter, clean yield and staple length, with exception of vegetable matter, made a statistically significant contribution to the determination of wool price after all other independent variables were controlled for (p < 0.05). A one-unit (micron) increase in fibre diameter resulted in a 0.404-unit decrease in wool price (R/kg). A one-unit (mm) increase in staple length resulted in a 0.022-unit increase in wool price (R/kg). There was no statistically significant association between vegetable matter and wool price. A one-unit increase in clean yield was associated with a 0.111-unit increase in wool price (R/kg).

Since wool fleeces consist of the largest portion of wool shorn from sheep, it is important for wool farmers to focus on wool with low fibre diameter, high clean yield percentage, low percentage of vegetable matter content and good length of the wool.

Since wool fleeces consist of the largest portion of wool shorn from sheep, it is important for wool farmers to focus on wool with low fibre diameter, high clean yield percentage, low percentage of vegetable matter content and good length of the wool.

In a developing country such as South Africa, this study is important for the following reason. It is understanding the wool characteristics that have the most significance influence on the determination of wool price for Merino wool and White wool might effectively help the wool farmers to adapt their production systems to improve the wool characteristics that determine wool price.

This study identified a need for a study to be conducted on all wool classes.

This paper aims to examine the effect of a food-inspired multimedia intervention on children’s fruits and vegetables (F&V) consumption in a real-life setting during lunch.

Children in an elementary school in Bologna (Italy) in third, fourth and fifth grade, aged between 9 and 12 years old, were examined (N = 171). Two different types of messages (generic and specific) were used to test message-tailoring in two separate intervention groups and one control group. The two intervention groups (classes) were presented with multimedia messages during an English lesson before lunchtime, and their eating behavior during lunch at school was observed. All children were served the first and second course, vegetables and fruit during lunchtime. Data was analyzed with R 3.4.2. Mann–Whitney U, Kruskal–Wallis and ANOVA tests were used to test for group differences, ordered logistic regression for modelling fruit and vegetable consumption.

The results show that children receiving a specific message targeting F&V consumed more fruit than the other two study groups. No effect on vegetable consumption was observed. Results from an ordered logit model support the notion that the multimedia message impacted fruit intake in the specific message group when taking other variables into account, such as F&V consumption and availability at home and children’s attitude toward F&V.

While many studies have considered a group of intervention for understanding the effect of multimedia, this study is focused only on the effect of a message (generic or specific). Moreover, participants, children, were not informed that they were participating in a study on fruit and vegetables consumption, and thus were following their daily routine.

Self-efficacy has often been found to play a significant role in healthy dietary behaviours. However, self-efficacy interventions most often consist of intensive interventions. The authors aim to provide more insight into the effect of brief self-efficacy interventions on healthy dietary behaviours.

In the present article, two randomized controlled trials are described. In study 1, a brief self-efficacy intervention with multiple self-efficacy techniques integrated on a flyer is tested, and in study 2, an online brief self-efficacy intervention with a single self-efficacy technique is tested.

The results show that a brief self-efficacy intervention can directly increase vegetable intake and indirectly improve compliance to a diet plan to eat healthier.

These findings suggest that self-efficacy interventions do not always have to be intensive to change dietary behaviours and that brief self-efficacy interventions can also lead to more healthy dietary behaviours.

This paper is designed to assess the sustainable value chain approaches for marketing channel development opportunities for agricultural products in coastal Bangladesh to combat climate change through an approach of community-based adaptation options.

The study was designed to select the potential value chain candidate and to analyze and establish a value chain map to benefit the crop farmers. In this connection, the resources of the whole context were evaluated. The approach uses few tools to generate three outputs, the last of which are the final list of value chains selected for in-depth assessment to design interventions as community-based adaptation practices of the study to combat climate change in the study areas.

The study demonstrated that the difference in the institutional circumstances of the end markets of the agriculture products is connected to the different categories of harmonization and control of the facilitating environment throughout the supply chains. National and local networks improve the value chain in terms of the value addition of the agriculture products, technology improvement, market access and profitability of the products. Strengthening the weak financial structure, focus more on formal financial systems and resolving sociocultural and climate change-induced hazard concerns are the major concerns on the development of value chains in the countries. Apparently, guarantee for good governance, checking illegal and unregulated market contexts, proper mitigation measures to climate change are some paramount important issues for the sustainable management of livelihood, yield, income and development.

All kinds of stakeholders of the agriculture product value chain should focus on competitiveness and productivity and look for and exploit multiple ways to add value once initial success has been attained with a single deal. Ensuring sustainability within the value chains is an important feature to cater to the challenges and changing demands of the age.

The study will help to established a sustainable value chain approach in response to climate change, which process will help to existent opportunities for firms to manage the issue of climate risk by codeveloping and employing adaptation options that may be more preferred or accepted by consumers across the entire chain for the sustainable management of livelihood, yield, income and development.

Apples have always been considered a healthy product able to provide curative properties to consumers. In Italy, there is a long tradition of apple consumption and production both as a fresh product and as processed food. However, as with many other products, the consumption of fruits and vegetables and, more specifically apples, has been drastically affected by the first lockdown in 2020. In this project, the authors investigate whether the change in consumption habits had long-lasting consequences beyond 2020 and what are the main eating motivations, food-related behavior and socio-demographic affecting the consumption of fruits and vegetables after the pandemic.

The authors ran two online surveys with 1,000 Italian consumers across a year (from October 2021 to December 2022). In the study, participants answered questions about their consumption habits and their eating motives. Out of 1,000 consumers, the authors included in the final analysis only the participants who answered both surveys, leaving a final sample of 651 consumers.

The results show that participants have allocated more budget to fruit and vegetables after the lockdown than before it. Moreover, consumers reported an average increase in the consumption of apples. However, the increase was more pronounced for people aged between 30 and 50 years old and identified as female. After showing the difference across time, a cluster analysis identified three main segments that differ in their eating motives, place of purchase and area of residence.

Overall, the results contribute to a better understanding of how the global pandemic is still affecting people's daily life. Moreover, the findings can be used to guide the marketing and communication strategies of companies in the food sector.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that investigates changes in the consumption of fruits and vegetables, and, more specifically, apples, in Italy more than one year after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, the study proposes a classification of consumers based on their habits in a time frame during which the COVID-19 wave was at its bottom which is not currently present in the literature.