Background: The 2002 World Health Report documented that low fruit and vegetable intake are among the top ten risk factors contributing to attributable mortality and up to three million lives could be saved each year by adequate consumption of F&V across the globe, leading an examination of behavioral preferences of the individual and family social, environmental, and behavioral factors that constitute perceived barriers to fruit and vegetable consumption. Objective: The study examines factors affecting the choice of eating fruits and vegetables by household members and calculates eating frequency probabilities of different population-origin associated with personal attributes and behavior. Method: Turkish Health Survey (THS) 2019 data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TSI) national representative household panel is applied. Estimating a random-effect bivariate probit model of fruit and vegetable choice, we calculated marginal probabilities of choosing fruits and vegetables, the joint probability of choosing both, and conditional probabilities between choosing to eat either, detecting consumption synergy. Results: The role of uncontrolled variables in choosing to eat fruits and vegetable (F&V) differs between the decision of an average family and the decision of individual family members. The attitude is positive for an average family and contrasts with the negative attitude among some family members. Most individual and family attributes inversely affect fruit and vegetable choice across different groups, while a positive relationship exists between the likelihood of fruit and vegetable choice and attributes such as age, marital status, education, weight, having health insurance, income, and time and forms of physical activity. Conclusion and recommendation: Instead of a general policy for the implementation of a healthy and balanced nutrition program to improve fruit and vegetable eating frequency, it appears more effective to adopt programs with distinct characteristics that segregate society into different cohorts. We suggest appropriate policies and offer suitable approaches to reach targeted groups.

This study examines the volatility of beef and lamb prices in Türkiye, as food price inflation compromises the food security of low- and middle-income households. The inflation is the result of a rise in energy (gasoline) prices leading to an increase in production costs, together with a disruption of the supply chain by the COVID-19 pandemic. This study is the first to comprehensively explore the effects of multiple price series on meat prices in Türkiye. Using price records from April 2006 through February 2022, the study applies rigorous testing and selects the VAR(1)–asymmetric BEKK bivariate GARCH model for empirical analysis. The beef and lamb returns were affected by periods of livestock imports, energy prices, and the COVID-19 pandemic, but those factors influenced the short- and long–term uncertainties differently. Uncertainty was increased by the COVID–19 pandemic, but livestock imports offset some of the negative effects on meat prices. To improve price stability and assure access to beef and lamb, it is recommended that livestock farmers be supported through tax exemptions to control production costs, government assistance through the introduction of highly productive livestock breeds, and improving processing flexibility. Additionally, conducting livestock sales through the livestock exchange will create a price information source allowing stakeholders to follow price movements in a digital format and their decision-making.

The volatility of meat prices affects the accessibility and even food security of some consumers in Turkey. This study analyses the prices of selected livestock and a major feed component, wheat, as well as the exchange rate of the domestic currency in Turkey because imports augmented the domestic live calf and sheep supply. The analysis applies 470 price observations from January 2005 to October 2019 for each of the following price series: live calf, live sheep, feed wheat, and exchange rate of Turkish lira to US dollar. The series are analyzed by using the VAR-Asymmetric BEKK-GARCH technique. The results show that the elicited conditional variances of the return series were significantly affected by both short-term shocks and shocks across the return series. The uncertainties in the live calf, live sheep, and feed wheat markets were affected by both long-term volatilities and long-term swings in their own and the other markets, but their own market-induced effects were stronger. Similarly, the conditional variances of the returns of live calves, live sheep, and feed wheat were significantly affected by the rapid price ascent in the exchange rate and the periods of livestock imports as compared to the periods when imports were absent. The unfavorable news exerted particularly negative effects on persistent volatility in markets. Additionally, the live sheep market faced greater risks than the live calf or wheat markets and was greatly affected by the limited domestic sheep supply. Results provide knowledge useful in augmenting policy, assuring sustained accessibility to animal protein in Turkey and eliminating food insecurity.

In this study, we have identified the effects of socio-demographic and economic factors of household heads and households on monthly expenditures of fresh and frozen fruit and vegetable in Turkey using the bivariate Tobit model. The results show that both the probability and monthly spending levels of household fruit and vegetable consumption increase with increasing in age of household heads, educational levels of household heads, married household heads, household income, and the number of adults in a family, while male-headed households, working household heads, the households that receive in-kind help from the government or private sector, and the use of internet at home decrease both the likelihood and spending levels of fruit and vegetable consumption in Turkey. The results in the study may contribute to the stakeholders to identify and implement effective marketing strategies and also develop more effective policies for the government to improve nutritional levels for certain dwellings for which the government include them in the certain state-initiated benefit program.