The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between consumer knowledge, attitudes and behaviours towards foods containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and the prevalence of GMO labelling in northern New Jersey supermarkets. This cross-sectional study surveyed 331 adults, New Jersey supermarket customers (mean age 26 years old, 79.8% women). The results show a strong, positive correlation between consumer attitudes towards foods not containing GMOs and purchasing behaviour (Pearson's r = 0.701, p < 0.001) with lesser correlations between knowledge and behaviour (Pearson's r = 0.593, p < 0.001) and knowledge and attitudes (Pearson's r = 0.413, p < 0.001). GMO labelling would assist consumers in making informed purchase decisions.

Organically labeled vegetables are considered by many consumers to be healthier than non-organic or ‘conventional’ varieties. However, whether the organic-labeled vegetables contain more nutrients is not clear. The purpose of this study is to examine the nutritional quality of broccoli using vitamin C, a fragile and abundant nutrient, in broccoli as a biomarker. The vitamin C content was assayed (2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol method) in broccoli samples obtained from supermarkets that are considered the point of consumer consumption. These samples were obtained during different seasons when the broccoli could be either harvested locally or shipped far distances. The findings indicate that vitamin C could be used as a marker under a controlled laboratory environment with some limitations and, although the vitamin C content of organically and conventionally labeled broccoli was not significantly different, significant seasonal changes have been observed. The fall values for vitamin C were almost twice as high as those for spring for both varieties (P=0.021 for organic and P=0.012 for conventional). The seasonal changes in vitamin C content are larger than the differences between organically labeled and conventionally grown broccoli.

This manuscript focuses on theoretical past, present and future models for defining food culture and cuisine, comparing these principles with contemporary literature evidence of transformative global food practices during public health and environmental crisis. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to explain the point at which traditional practices are discernible from the effects of modern technology, globalization, marketing and the virtualization of consumption. The paper explains how current local and global ecologies contribute to the retainment or disassembly of established culinary borders. This is a theoretical paper that highlights seminal and present discourse on food cultural practices. Furthermore, it underlines the cultural changes during environmental crises and whether these cultural transformations in food practices will be lasting. The authors suggest a perspective model for the future. Deciphering whether traditional foodways are moderated by modernity and environmental changes is very complex and multifactorial. This is likely nuanced by the availability of commodities and the steadfastness of particular cultures. Whether or not consumers embrace a new food product is likely contingent on their fundamental familiarity with and availability of the product's traditional components. The integrity of traditional foodstuffs will continue to be valued and demanded by broad groups of consumers into the foreseeable future. As a primary objective, food producers, manufacturers and governments should not seek to actively diminish cultural borders and markets. Industry and governmental strategists should embrace and promote cultural food messages in any interventional strategies on household food security or marketing strategies and campaigns. The gathering of information from grassroot cultural groups about traditional food practices should ground the development of new policies and products. Understanding the complexities surrounding traditional cuisines and food ways gives insight into the future of traditional food cultures and how they change. The food industry is undergoing profound transformation due to climate change; the decrease of arable land; environmental crisis, such as floods and droughts; war; food insecurity; aging populations; and chronic food-related diseases and disorders. Therefore, new food products are essential to adjust to these issues. However, the use and effectiveness of these foods would likely be enhanced if they were tailored with ingredients and techniques that have meaning to particular cultural groups. Social connectivity, the shared experiences of eating together (and the contingent health benefits) may have been subject to contemporaneous or permanent change due to transformation in local and global food ecologies. Whether or not consumers embrace new food products may be contingent on their fundamental familiarity with its traditional components. The integrity of traditional foodstuffs is likely to continue to be valued and demanded by broad groups of consumers into the foreseeable future. Seminal food culture theories are still being utilized in recent publications to explain contemporary practices, particularly in times of crisis such as the recent pandemic. Current scholarship has indicated, to degrees, that links to traditional food practices may be strong, evolving or are becoming more obscure as they are incorporated into a global fabric. There are gaps in the literature that necessitate more exportation of the impact of environmental changes and health crisis on cultural and traditional food practices. This further raises questions about how the formative theories on food culture apply to modern and future food practices.