Wonks on the Web

Food Nutrition

and Health Institute

New Initiative to the Commonwealth of Virginia

August 28, 2001

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

ISSUES

Our aging but active population will demand healthy and safe foods to prevent disease and illness. Consumption of healthier foods is a key way to reduce the 10% annual increase in health care costs that were up to $1.1 trillion at the national level in 1998, costing 13.5% of the gross domestic product. In Virginia, total Medicaid costs in 1999 were $2.52 billion, more than 10% of the state budget. New technology, newly developed crops and animals, improved processing methods, and global distribution systems have provided an abundant supply and diversity of food ingredients and food products.  Consumers enjoy this opportunity to choose, but do not always understand the science involved. They are sometimes suspicious of the safety of new foods or processing techniques and may be hesitant to change eating behavior even though new foods could bring better nutrition, help prevent illness, and improve health. 

Increasing the availability of more nutritious foods, enhancing food safety, encouraging appropriate and science-based policy development, and communicating issues of safety and health benefits is important to all Commonwealth citizens. Consumers will benefit from more nutritious foods that contribute to good health, and producers and processors of high-value plants and animals can see improved profit positions.

A plentiful and low-priced food supply is one of America 's great achievements. However, one result of this success is a continuing decline in the profitability of commodity-based agricultural products. Virginia farmers and agribusiness operations need to produce and process new, high-value crops and livestock, develop procedures to maintain the identity of these value-added items throughout the supply chain, and merchandise them at premium prices to consumers focused on improved nutrition and better health.  

Virginia Tech researchers are at the scientific forefront in:

• Development of new foods (e.g. lettuce genetically modified to have seven fold the typical amount of vitamin C, breeding soybeans to alter their fatty acid profile, elevating the antioxidant content of beef through feed manipulation)

• Evaluation of safety procedures from farm to fork (e.g. rapid detection methods for food-borne pathogens, development of risk management programs for seafood and other food industries)

• Study of food markets and consumer choice (e.g. development of new systems of measuring value for hogs, evaluation of the relevance of beef grades on consumer choice)

• Evaluation of health effects of new foods or nutrients (e.g. influence of B6 on breast cancer cell proliferation, impact of specific dietary fatty acids on immunity)

• Development and testing of strategies for changing food behavior (e.g. internet-based nutrition education to high school students, use of churches to facilitate adoption of healthier behaviors)

• Discussion and study of policy issues through the new Virginia Tech Center for Food and Nutrition Policy.

OVERALL STRATEGY

To address these issues, Virginia Tech’s Agricultural Experiment Station and Virginia Cooperative Extension (VAES/VCE) will pursue improved health of our citizens through broad new multidisciplinary research and outreach activities in Food, Nutrition and Health (FNH). Two overall strategies, Disease Prevention through Food and Food Safety will be the focus of six thrust areas:

Disease Prevention through Food

Animal-based Foods and Genetics

Improve the nutritional value and safety of animal products by altering the animal's diet

Use animal genetic models to enhance human health and well-being

Produce safe and healthy foods efficiently through animal disease control

Ensure the safety of new human foods through appropriate laboratory and animal testing

Plant-based Foods and Genetics

Develop nutritionally enhanced plant foods for human consumption

Develop "designer" animal feeds to increase health-promoting compounds in animal foods

Establish improved plant food safety from farm to fork

Develop scientific tests for food attributes and for potentially harmful contaminants

Food Safety and Processing

Reduce food-borne illness through enhanced risk management and interventions

Develop packaging materials and processes to improve and protect health-boosting nutritional values in plant and animal foods

Develop risk assessment methods and procedures at the farm, processing, storage and preparation stages of the food chain

Deliver education programs on risk-reducing strategies to agribusiness and the public

Value Identification and Marketing

Develop systems for identity preservation of high-value products with positive health attributes throughout the food supply chain

Analyze pricing systems and economic factors influencing consumer decisions on purchase of new food products offering specific nutritional characteristics

Ensure food safety through science-based process assurances vs. physical inspection at every point of exchange

Maintain product identity through the supply chain to allow for accountability and assurances with regard to food safety

Human Nutrition and Disease Prevention

Refine the optimal dietary pattern through research concerning the impact of individual nutrients or new, healthier foods on disease markers including the interaction with genomics

Develop and test strategies to increase adoption of appropriate dietary patterns in communities to yield the best health benefits

Evaluate the effects of new food processing techniques and food safety procedures on human and animal health.

Analyze the influence of unique food processing and packaging techniques on consumer acceptance of new foods

Food, Nutrition and Health Policy

Organize a working group of scientists, policy, and communications experts to address and openly debate issues of human nutrition guidelines and policy to public, industry and government audiences

Improve communication on nutrition policy to various audiences on FNH policy issues using websites, workshops, and forums

Provide evaluation, support, and communication for policy guidelines for the production of safe and healthful foods

Provide evaluation, support, and communication for policy guidelines for safety in food packaging and processing

OPERATING BUDGET SUMMARY

To implement this plan, $2.03 million is required in the 2003-2004 biennium budget (1 million in the first year and an additional 1 million in the second year) with a total of approximately $21.5 million over six years for the Food, Nutrition, and Health (FNH) operating budget.

FunFunding would leverage an additional $21.6 million in funding from Federal and private sources.

Over a 7-year period, the food and nutrition industry would provide a total of $4.7 million to support a FNH Consortium as well as $2.9 million to fund proprietary projects that contribute to the developing base of science.

A total of 24 FTE are requested for the 2003-2004 biennium: 11 faculty, 13 technical/administrative staff positions. Over six years, 69 FTE are requested: 20 FTE for faculty positions, 43 FTE for technical/administrative staff positions, 6 FTE are for Extension Field Agents who will work with research faculty to develop public education programs.

CAPITAL BUDGET SUMMARY

$31 million for capital.  Of this amount, $7 million is already included in the current 6-year capital budget request approved by the Board of Visitors.   (Food Processing Pilot Plant, $7 million)

Needed for the Food, Nutrition, and Health Institute, but not included in the current 6-year capital budget:

Production and Holding Facilities for Large Animals for animal research ($19 million)

Food Processing Pilot Plant for pathogen containment ($3 million) 

Laboratory and office space for FNH Institute ($1.9 million)

OUTCOMES

As the result of an investment in a Food, Nutrition, and Health program at Virginia Tech, the Commonwealth will observe statewide and significant financial benefits, see a healthier consuming public, and share in a safer food supply with fewer food borne illnesses.  In more detail, the Food, Nutrition, and Health programs will produce:

Financial Benefits to Commonwealth

New crops and livestock with proven nutritional and disease prevention qualities which increase value to consumers and increase profitability of farmers who produce them.

Increased tax revenues from Virginia farmers and food industries as it takes advantage of the new high-value crops and livestock, and the safer foods resulting from this program.

Increased federal and private funding, leveraging the impact of State funds on economic development, more new companies and increased competitiveness of Virginia farms and agribusiness firms. 

Lower costs for State health insurance, for State-funded Medicaid, for Virginia health insurers resulting from the improved health of Virginians, including reduced deaths, fewer hospitalizations, reduced loss of work time, and less illness from food-borne pathogens.

Disease Prevention through Foods

Increased availability and use of documented healthy, palatable high-value foods that reduce chronic disease and related conditions, and command higher market prices.

Reduced diet-related cancer and rate of increase in overweight conditions/obesity among Virginians.

Expanded scientific understanding of the role of nutrients and foods in disease prevention.

Improved public understanding of the benefits of agricultural biotechnology to human health, thus increasing demand for high-value foods based on their contribution to health.

Increased number of Virginians consuming a diet meeting the standards of the Food Guide Pyramid and the 2000 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Improved interface of scientists with citizens, community leaders and government policy makers to supply science-based policy advice and explanation of the technology behind new advances in food, nutrition, and health research at Virginia Tech.

Food Safety

     Novel food processing and packaging systems that deliver safer, pathogen-free foods.

     Improved methods for ensuring the safety of food made from Virginia foodstuffs, to decrease loss from food contamination and spoilage, and to increase demand for Virginia farm and agribusiness products, and increasing the economic health of rural regions of Virginia .

     Research and analysis that identifies and measures the market value of a scientifically verified health claim for a food additive, food, or beverage.

     Standards, pricing systems, and an infrastructure for maintaining identity and delivering high-value products to the consumer at premium prices to producers and processors.