Amy Trubek | University of Vermont (original) (raw)

Papers by Amy Trubek

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc eBooks, 2016

Bloomsbury Academic eBooks, 2012

Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Sep 1, 2020

Learning Outcome: Describe the recommended amount of physical activity in preschoolers and how th... more Learning Outcome: Describe the recommended amount of physical activity in preschoolers and how the activity level of the subjects in this study compared to the guidelines. National surveys report that the average amounts of physical active (PA) are decreasing. The purpose of this study was to investigate the PA and energy expenditure of 3-4 year olds participating in 4 camp days at the DAN lab. The DAN laboratory is a research facility specifically designed to measure children's diets and activity in a highly controlled laboratory setting. 25 children participated in camps (9:00 am to 3:00 pm), which included at least 120 minutes of free play and 2 x 30-minute sessions of directed PA games. Acti-Graph GT3x+ were used to collect tri-axial movement data. Average time of PA was calculated using ActiLife software; kilocalories (kcal) expended for PA were obtained. The children were classified based on the amount of time spent in MVPA (>60min, 30-60min, and <30min.). Only 22 children (mean age 48 months, 60% male) completed at least 2 camp days and wore the ActiGraph for the entire day. A total of 45 full camp days were recorded from n¼19 children and included in this analysis. Results showed that PA related energy expended was 103.8 kcal/d and children spent 61.5/0.1% in sedentary, 28.5/0.1% in light, 6.7/0.1% in moderate, and 3.4/0.01% in vigorous activity levels. Only 9% of the subjects met the minimum PA guideline (60 minutes/d). Preschool-age children in this study spent only a small proportion of time being physically active, even in an environment that promotes activity. Findings indicate the need to explore the underlying factors of preferring sedentary time even in very young children.

Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems

In many rural farming societies, wild plant foods (WPFs) continue to play an important role in ev... more In many rural farming societies, wild plant foods (WPFs) continue to play an important role in everyday diets as well as in coping with hunger during food shortages. However, WPF collection and consumption may pose challenges to biodiversity conservation efforts (e.g., in protected areas), and some “famine foods,” foods not typically eaten under normal conditions, may have deleterious health impacts. Using data from a cross-sectional survey of 328 smallholder farmers and fisherfolk living in 15 villages surrounding Manombo Special Reserve on the southeastern coast of Madagascar, we examine the relationship between food security, dietary diversity, and consumption of WPFs, specifically giant aquatic arrowhead or via (Typhonodorum lindleyanum) and Polynesian arrowroot or tavolo (Tacca leontopetaloides), during the region's main lean season. We complement survey findings with focus group interviews to document traditional ecological knowledge and perceptions of these WPFs, includin...

Nutrients, May 14, 2021

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY

Elementa, 2020

This review of agroecology's current work on culture and food traditions-a principle of the field... more This review of agroecology's current work on culture and food traditions-a principle of the field and one of the FAO's 10 Elements of Agroecology-reveals two things. First, although culture and tradition are frequently mentioned in passing, there is little published literature detailing how they intersect with agroecology. Second, mentions of tradition and culture in this corpus reveal scholarly assumptions that practicing agroecology or food sovereignty will naturally result in unspecified healthy, diversified, community-driven food choices. But consumption practices shape production practices at least as much as the reverse. Food cultures are complex, shifting, and geographically and historically informed, and must be considered within their rich contexts. Agroecology needs to critically engage with the kitchen and the table in order to achieve the holistic and multi-faceted agricultural transformations imagined by the FAO and others.

Nutrients, Nov 28, 2020

Americans are cooking fewer meals at home and eating more convenience foods prepared elsewhere. C... more Americans are cooking fewer meals at home and eating more convenience foods prepared elsewhere. Cooking at home is associated with higher quality diets, while a reduction in cooking may be associated with increases in obesity and risk factors for chronic disease. The aims of this study were to examine cooking as an intervention for weight control in overweight and obese adults, and whether such an intervention increases participants' food agency and diet quality. Overweight and obese adults were randomized into one of two intervention conditions: active or demonstration. Both conditions received the same 24-week behavioral weight loss intervention, and biweekly cooking classes. The active condition prepared a weekly meal during a hands-on lesson, while the demonstration condition observed a chef prepare the same meal. The active condition lost significantly more weight at six months compared with the demonstration condition (7.3% vs. 4.5%). Both conditions saw significant improvements in food agency scores and Healthy Eating Index scores, though no significant differences were noted between groups. The addition of active cooking to a weight management intervention may improve weight loss outcomes, though benefits in diet quality and cooking behaviors may also be seen with the addition of a demonstration-only cooking intervention.

Gastronomica: The Journal of Critical Food Studies, 2004

Choosing a bottle of french wine means deciding about dirt. No, this is not the latest version of... more Choosing a bottle of french wine means deciding about dirt. No, this is not the latest version of a Zen koan. Americans tend to pick wines according to the type of grape. Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot? Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc? But in France people consider location first. The terms can be broad-say, Bordeaux or Burgundy-or narrow, for instance rocky or rich soil. As a wine neophyte I have been trying to figure out why dirt or, more elegantly, soil is so important to wine in France. The French word linking soil to wine is terroir, and even after years of exploration, I see no end in sight. Terroir recently created a transatlantic battle of epic proportions. The forces? On one side, the United States, whose chief emissary was the Mondavi Family Winery. On the other, France, represented by a coalition including vintners, politicians, citizens, and even a famous actor. Emmanuelle Vaudour, a French wine researcher, has pointed out that "terroir is often mis-translated, giving rise to a great deal of further misunderstanding." 1 No recent story reveals the problems in translating the French understanding of terroir and the possibility that it can be misunderstood by outsiders (even wine experts) as aptly as the tale of the Mondavi family's journey to southwest France. The Mondavis went to Languedoc-Roussillon in the late 1990s to make a premium, or grand cru, wine on French soil. They appointed a general manager to develop a vineyard and winery. Three years later they left the region without success. Their decision to withdraw from France and abandon plans to make a premium wine was the direct result of fierce local resistance. Initially, the main antagonists were individuals involved in making wine in Aniane, the village where the Mondavi family intended to create their vineyard and winery. Later, many other residents of Aniane joined the fray. Terroir, for the French, possesses a constellation of possible referents; meaning shifts from place to place, person to person, situation to situation. The fluid and multiple meanings, as well as usages, of the term terroir in France have frequently led to cross-cultural confusion. Across the Atlantic, Americans have tended to interpret terroir quite narrowly, adopting dictionary definitions that translate terroir as a single word, "soil." 2 Less attention has been given to other translations, which define terroir as a place with specific cultural and historical genealogies. Neglecting to connect terroir to a territory's heritage got the Mondavi Family Winery into trouble. Terroir has multiple meanings, but they all refer back to a system of ordering and classifying a particular place. Anthropologist Mary Douglas, famous for her analysis of religious purity and pollution rules, said in that context, "dirt is matter out of place." Terroir, however, is dirt in a certain place. And as Douglas points out, "Dirt, then, is never an isolated event. Where there is dirt there is a system. Dirt is the by-product of a systematic ordering and classification of matter, insofar as ordering involves rejecting inappropriate elements." 3 The cultural significance of a particular location motivates all interpretations of terroir. Americans focus on terroir as a material phenomenon because the people transporting the term to these shores were involved in making wine. Thus, over the past century, here terroir has evolved to represent a particular philosophy of winemaking, one that argues that the natural environment is what makes wines distinctive in flavor. The esteemed Oxford Companion to Wine defines terroir as the "much discussed term for the total natural environment for any viticultural site," where the primary components are "soil, topography, and climate." 4 Winemakers who espouse allegiance to expressing the flavor of the natural environment are called "French-style winemakers." And, indeed, the French, especially the producers, critics, scientists, or regulators involved with wine, understand terroir as such. But there are other ways to think about it. 5 The Mondavi family wanted to create a domaine, a specific location where grapes were grown, harvested, pressed, fermented, aged, and bottled. Such a domaine would contain vineyards possessing all the conditions-the viticultural terroir-for creating a high-quality wine. The Mondavi family chose Aniane; as Tim Mondavi says,

Berghahn Books, Dec 31, 2022

Public Health Nutrition

Objective: The Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) is a widely implemented 12-month behavioural wei... more Objective: The Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) is a widely implemented 12-month behavioural weight loss programme for individuals with prediabetes. The DPP covers nutrition but does not explicitly incorporate cooking skills education. The objective of the current study is to describe food and cooking skills (FACS) and strategies of recent DPP participants. Design: Photo-elicitation in-depth interviews were conducted from June to August, 2021. Setting: Baltimore, MD, USA. Participants: Thirteen Black women who participated in DPP. Results: The DPP curriculum influenced participants’ healthy cooking practices. Many participants reported shifting from frying foods to air-frying and baking foods to promote healthier cooking and more efficient meal preparation. Participants also reported that their participation in DPP made them more mindful of consuming fruits and vegetables and avoiding foods high in carbohydrates, fats, sugars and Na. With respect to food skills, participants report...

Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior

A Cultural History of Food in the Renaissance, 2014

British Food Journal, May 2, 2017

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of – and need for – an expanded ... more Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of – and need for – an expanded understanding of cooking (skills and knowledge) to inform research on the connection between cooking and health. Design/methodology/approach This paper describes a concept of “food agency” and contrasts it with how cooking is commonly conceived in food and nutrition literature. A food agency-based pedagogy and proposals for using it are also introduced. Findings Cooking is a complex process that may be crucial for making a difference in the contemporary problems of diet-related chronic diseases. There are two interlinked problems with present research on cooking. First, cooking has yet to be adequately conceptualized for the design and evaluation of effective public health and nutrition interventions. The context within which food-related decisions and actions occur has been neglected. Instead, the major focus has been on discrete mechanical tasks. In particular, recipes are relied upon despite no clear evidence that recipes move people from knowledge to action. Second, given the incomplete theorization and definition of this vital everyday practice, intervention designs tend to rely on assumptions over theory. This creates certain forms of tautological reasoning when claims are made about how behavior changes. A comprehensive theory of food agency provides a nuanced understanding of daily food practices and clarifies how to teach cooking skills that are generalizable throughout varied life contexts. Originality/value This commentary is of value to academics studying cooking-related behavior and public health practitioners implementing and evaluating cooking interventions.

The Emergence of National Food, 2019