The Nutritional Content of Rescued Food Conveyed by a Food Aid Organization

Background: The number of food-insecure families in the European Union has increased, resulting in an increasing number of households depending on food assistance programs. The aim in this study was to evaluate the nutrient content of food rescued by a food aid organization that rescues and redistri...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Anne Nogueira, Fátima Alves, Paula Vaz-Fernandes
Formato: article
Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: MDPI AG 2021
Materias:
R
Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/f84967e68b2147378b60dcb7fefcfded
Etiquetas: Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
Descripción
Sumario:Background: The number of food-insecure families in the European Union has increased, resulting in an increasing number of households depending on food assistance programs. The aim in this study was to evaluate the nutrient content of food rescued by a food aid organization that rescues and redistributes fresh or freshly cooked food to low-income households. Methods: To determine the nutritional content of food hampers provided by our case study organization, we weighed all items of food hampers in three weighing rounds over a period of four months. The Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) was applied to measure households’ food insecurity. Results: Our results show that, at our case study food aid organization, food donations substantially contribute to energy, macro, and micronutrient dietary recommendation intake (DRI). Conclusions: When evaluating how these nutrients contribute to alleviating food insecurity of the beneficiary households, we found that the perception of food insecurity is independent of the amount of nutrients served. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study measuring the nutritional content of fresh or freshly cooked rescued food conveyed by a food aid organization.