|
Washington,
D.C.----The
holidays are a time for
putting others before
ourselves. And with the
recent news that the
world's population has
surpassed 7 billion,
there are a lot more
"others" to consider
this year. Nearly 1
billion people in the
world are hungry, for
example, while almost
the same number are
illiterate, making it
hard for them to earn a
living or move out of
poverty. And 1 billion
people----many
of them children----have
micronutrient
deficiencies, decreasing
their ability to learn
and to live productive
lives.
"As our global
community continues to
grow, so does the need
to consider----and
act on----the
challenges we all face,"
says Robert Engelman,
President of the
Worldwatch Institute.
"Far too many women,
children and men are
living with less than
they need and deserve."
Fortunately, there
are thousands of
organizations working
tirelessly in
communities at home and
abroad to fix these
problems.
One Billion
Hungry
"Although the
number of undernourished
people worldwide has
decreased since 2009,
nearly 1 billion people
go to bed hungry each
night, a number that is
unacceptably high,"
according to Danielle
Nierenberg, director of
Worldwatch's Nourishing
the Planet project (www.NourishingthePlanet.org).
Malnutrition contributes
to the death of 500
million children under
the age of five every
year, and in Africa, a
child dies every six
seconds from hunger.
But more and more
organizations, such as
the United Nations'
World Food Programme,
are using homegrown
school feeding (HGSF)
initiatives to alleviate
hunger and poverty. HGSF
programs in Brazil,
India, Thailand, Kenya,
and elsewhere work to
connect local producers
with schools, helping to
provide children with
nutritious and fresh
food while providing
farmers with a stable
source of income.
One Billion Tons
of Food Wasted
Roughly 1.3
billion tons of food----a
third of the total food
produced for human
consumption----is
lost or wasted each
year. Within the United
States, food retailers,
food services, and
households waste
approximately 40 million
tons of food each year----about
the same amount needed
to feed the estimated 1
billion hungry people
worldwide.
Organizations
around the world are
working to educate
people on the importance
of conserving food. In
New York City, City
Harvest collects surplus
food from food providers
and distributes it to
more than 600 shelters
and other agencies. And
in West Africa, farmers
are using the power of
the sun to dehydrate
fruits such as mangos
and bananas. Experts
estimate that, with
nearly all of their
moisture removed, the
fruits' nutrients are
retained for up to six
months, allowing farmers
to save the 100,000 tons
of mangos that go to
waste each year.
One Billion
Micronutrient Deficient
Nearly 1 billion
people worldwide suffer
from micronutrient
deficiencies, including
a lack of vitamin A,
iron, and iodine. Each
year, between 250
million and 500 million
children with vitamin A
deficiencies become
blind, and half of these
children die within 12
months of losing their
sight.
These problems
could be alleviated by
improving access to
nutritious foods. In
sub-Saharan Africa,
AVRDC-The World
Vegetable Center works
to expand vegetable
farming across the
region, boosting access
to nutrient-rich crops.
And Uganda's Developing
Innovations in School
Cultivation (Project
DISC) educates youth
about the importance of
agriculture and
nutritious diets.
Students learn about
vegetables and fruits
indigenous to their
communities, as well as
how to process and
prepare these foods for
consumption. "If a
person doesn't know how
to cook or prepare food,
they don't know how to
eat," says Project DISC
co-founder Edward
Mukiibi.
One Billion
Overweight
Lack of access to
healthy food doesn't
result only in hunger.
More than 1 billion
people around the world
are overweight, and
nearly half of this
population is obese.
Nearly 43 million
children under the age
of five were considered
overweight in 2010.
Surging international
rates of heart disease,
stroke, diabetes, and
arthritis are being
attributed to unhealthy
diets, and 2.8 million
adults die each year as
a result of overweight
or obesity.
The UN's Special
Rapporteur on the Right
to Food, Olivier De
Schutter, has urged
countries around the
world to make firm
commitments to improving
their food systems. In
Mexico, where 19 million
people are food insecure
yet 70 percent of the
country is overweight or
obese, De Schutter has
called for a "state of
emergency" to tackle the
problem. He attributes
the hunger-obesity
combination to the
country's focus on
individual crops and
export-led agriculture,
and argues that a change
to agricultural policies
could tackle these two
problems simultaneously.
Nearly One
Billion Illiterate
Over
three-quarters of a
billion people worldwide----793
million adults----are
illiterate. Although the
number of people unable
to read has decreased
from 1 billion in 1990,
illiteracy continues to
prevent millions of
people from moving out
of poverty. For farmers
in particular, being
illiterate can limit
access to information
such as market prices,
weather predictions, and
trainings to improve
their production.
New communications
technologies are
providing part of the
solution. A team of
researchers known as
Scientific Animations
Without Borders is
helping illiterate
farmers around the world
learn how to create
natural pesticides or
prevent crop damage
using solar treatments,
by producing short
animated videos
accessible on mobile
phones. In India,
farmers can receive
daily updates via text
or voicemail on weather
and crop prices through
subscription services
set up by major
telephone companies.
Kheti, a system operated
by the U.K.'s Sheffield
Hallam University, even
allows farmers to take
pictures of problems
they are having with
their crops and to send
them in for advice. With
more than 4.6 billion
mobile phone
subscriptions globally,
projects such as these
have the potential to
reach and improve the
lives of many around the
world.
As we gather
together this
holiday season to
reflect on the
things most
important to us, let
us also take the
time to remember the
billions of others
who share our
planet. Too many of
the world's neediest
people will start
the new year without
sufficient food,
nutrition, or
education. But by
acknowledging and
supporting those
organizations around
the world that are
finding ways to
nourish both people
and the planet, we
can all make a
difference.
|
An Opinion On The Withdrawal Of
U.S. Troops From Iraq By A
Decorated Commander Who Fought
There
Midway, GA, December 14, 2011
–The latest news from The White
House that all troops will be
pulled out of Iraq by the end of
December 2011 makes
understanding the history of
events occurring in Iraq that
brought us to this point seem
more relevant than ever.
Awakening Victory: How Iraqi
Tribes and American Troops
Reclaimed al Anbar Province and
Defeated al Qaeda in Iraq
(Casemate Publishing) by Lt.
Col. Michael E. Silverman (ret),
provides exactly that.
This book, that debuts next
week, is a true account of how
the partnership between Iraqi
tribes and American troops
reclaimed al Anbar and defeated
al Qaeda in Iraq. Michael
Silverman was Commander of the
3rd Battalion, 69th Armored
Regiment and he was right in the
middle of the fight. His
battalion contributed a great
deal to the war in Iraq and was
the only one to participate in
the campaign to reclaim al Anbar
Province from start to finish.
Silverman offers an expert
perspective on the surge in Iraq
and the role of Iraqis in
securing their country.
Awakening Victory reveals
actions and incidents that were
not released to the public
before now and tells of this
battalion’s actions in taking
the war from one of bombs and
bullets to one of partnership
and ideas. Silverman’s book
shows the contrast between why
we were so successful in Iraq
versus the failed campaign in
Afghanistan, where this
Administration’s heavy-handed
approach to the Taliban ruined
our relationship with Pakistan.
Silverman explains how many
senior U.S. officials thought we
had lost the war in Iraq back in
2006 after being told by Marine
Corps Intelligence that al Anbar
Province, the seat of the raging
Sunni insurgency, was lost to
insurgents. Things looked very
grim – with over 100 attacks a
day against U.S. military and
Iraqi forces in al Anbar that
led to al Qaeda planting their
flag in the provincial capital
of Ramadi and declaring it the
new ‘Islamic State of Iraq.’
Silverman’s battalion played a
huge part in the ‘surge’ in
Ramadi in early 2007 in a
campaign that is hailed as the
D-Day of the global war on
terror, and was hugely
successful in clearing out al
Qaeda and replacing them with
locally raised and trained Iraqi
police. This reduced the attacks
within Ramadi from twenty a day
to one or two a week within just
a couple of months, and a 90
percent reduction from the
previous year in attacks in the
entire province.
Michael Silverman was involved
throughout the entire Iraqi
insurgency. His book shows a
deep insight not found in most
Americans’ perceptions of the
war, and offers a fresh
perspective of the ‘surge’ and
the role of Iraqis in securing
their country. Being on the
front lines, his book expertly
describes the exact turning
point where the U.S. turned a
supposedly failed war into a
possibly enduring success.
Lt. Col. Michael E. Silverman, a
25 year veteran with the United
States Army, is the recipient of
numerous awards, medals and
commendations. Retired in 2008,
he spends his time writing about
the war on terror and serving as
a consultant to the U.S. Army on
counterinsurgency. He is
well-versed in international
affairs and world religions and
writes with the authority of
someone who has both been
blown-up by an IED and assisted
in shaping U.S. strategic policy
for the global war on terror.
Please visit
www.michaelesilverman.com
or
www.longwaranalysis.com
for more information on this
extremely knowledgeable writer.
____________________________________________
Reducing Food Waste During the
Holiday Season
10
simple steps we all can take to
help make this season
less wasteful and more
plentiful
|
|
The holiday season is a time for
gifts, decorations, and lots and
lots of food. As a result, it's
also a time of spectacular
amounts of waste. In the United
States, we generate an extra 5
million tons of household waste
each year between Thanksgiving
and New Year's, including three
times as much food waste as at
other times of the year. When
our total food waste adds up to
34 million tons each year, that
equals a lot of food. With the
holidays now upon us, the
Worldwatch Institute offers 10
simple steps we all can take to
help make this season less
wasteful and more plentiful.
"Family, community, love
and gratitude are all unlimited
resources," says Worldwatch
President Robert Engelman.
"Unfortunately, food and the
energy, water and other natural
resources that go into producing
food are not. The logical
strategy is to let ourselves go
in enjoying the unlimited
conviviality and communion of
the holidays, but to avoid
wasting the limited resources.
Even simple shifts toward
sustainability----and
reducing food waste is an easy
one----can
have major impacts when
multiplied by millions of
people."
According to the United
Nations Food and Agriculture
Organization, roughly one-third
of all food produced for human
consumption----approximately
1.3 billion tons----is
lost or wasted each year.
Consumers in developed countries
such as the United States are
responsible for 222 million tons
of this waste, or nearly the
same quantity of food as is
produced in all of sub-Saharan
Africa.
"With nearly a billion
people going hungry in the
world, including 17.2 million
households within the United
States, reducing the amount of
food being wasted is incredibly
important," says Danielle
Nierenberg, director of
Worldwatch's Nourishing the
Planet project. "We need to
start focusing on diverting food
from going into our trashcans
and landfills and instead
getting it into the hands of
those who need it most."
The Nourishing the Planet
(www.NourishingthePlanet.org)
team recently traveled to 25
countries across sub-Saharan
Africa, and soon will be
traveling to Latin America,
shining a spotlight on
communities that serve as models
for a more sustainable future.
The project is unearthing
innovations in agriculture that
can help alleviate hunger and
poverty while also protecting
the environment. These
innovations are elaborated in
Worldwatch's annual flagship
report,
State of the
World 2011: Innovations that
Nourish the Planet.
As Americans prepare for
the upcoming Thanksgiving
holiday, here are 10 tips to
help reduce the amount of food
we waste:
Before the meal: Plan your
menu and exactly how much food
you'll need.
1. Be realistic: The fear of not
providing enough to eat often
causes hosts to cook too much.
Instead, plan out how much food
you and your guests will
realistically need, and stock up
accordingly. The
Love Food Hate Waste
organization, which focuses on
sharing convenient tips for
reducing food waste, provides a
handy "Perfect
portions" planner to
calculate meal sizes for parties
as well as everyday meals.
2. Plan ahead: Create a shopping
list before heading to the
farmers' market or grocery
store. Sticking to this list
will reduce the risk of impulse
buys or buying unnecessary
quantities, particularly since
stores typically use holiday
sales to entice buyers into
spending more.
During the meal: Control the
amount on your plate to reduce
the amount in the garbage.
3. Go small: The season of
indulgence often promotes plates
piled high with more food than
can be eaten. Simple tricks of
using smaller serving utensils
or plates can encourage smaller
portions, reducing the amount
left on plates. Guests can
always take second (or third!)
servings if still hungry, and it
is much easier (and hygienic) to
use leftovers from serving
platters for future meals.
4. Encourage self-serve: Allow
guests to serve themselves,
choosing what, and how much,
they would like to eat. This
helps to make meals feel more
familiar and also reduces the
amount of unwanted food left on
guests' plates.
After the meal: Make the
most out of leftovers.
5. Store leftovers safely:
Properly storing our leftovers
will preserve them safely for
future meals. The U.S.
Department of Agriculture
recommends that hot foods be
left out for no more than two
hours. Store leftovers in
smaller, individually sized
containers, making them more
convenient to grab for a quick
meal rather than being passed
over and eventually wasted.
6. Compost food scraps: Instead
of throwing out the vegetable
peels, eggshells, and other food
scraps from making your meal,
consider composting them.
Individual composting systems
can be relatively easy and
inexpensive, and provide quality
inputs for garden soils. In
2010, San Francisco became the
first U.S. city to pass
legislation encouraging
city-wide
composting, and similar
broader-scale food composting
approaches have been spreading
since.
7. Create new meals: If
composting is not an option for
you, check out Love Food Hate
Waste's creative
recipes to see if your food
scraps can be used for new
meals. Vegetable scraps and
turkey carcasses can be easily
boiled down for stock and soups,
and bread crusts and ends can be
used to make tasty homemade
croutons.
8. Donate excess: Food banks and
shelters gladly welcome
donations of canned and dried
foods, especially during the
holiday season and colder
months. The charity group
Feeding America partners with
over 200 local food banks across
the United States, supplying
food to more than 37 million
people each year. To find a food
bank near you, visit the
organization's
Food Bank Locator.
9. Support food-recovery
programs: In some cases,
food-recovery systems will come
to you to collect your excess.
In New York City,
City Harvest,
the world's first food-rescue
organization, collects
approximately 28 million pounds
of food each year that would
otherwise go to waste, providing
groceries and meals for over
300,000 people.
Throughout the holiday
season: Consider what you're
giving.
10. Give gifts with thought:
When giving food as a gift,
avoid highly perishable items
and make an effort to select
foods that you know the
recipient will enjoy rather than
waste. The Rainforest Alliance,
an international nonprofit,
works with farmers and producers
in tropical areas to ensure they
are practicing environmentally
sustainable and socially just
methods. The group's certified
chocolates,
coffee, and teas are great
gifts that have with long
shelf-lives, and buying them
helps support businesses and
individuals across the world.
As we sit down this
week to give thanks for the
people and things around us,
we must also recognize those
who may not be so fortunate.
The food wasted in the
United States each year is
enough to satisfy the hunger
of the approximately 1
billion malnourished people
worldwide, according to
Tristram Stuart, a food
waste expert and
contributing author to
State of the World 2011.
As we prepare for upcoming
holiday celebrations, the
simple changes we make, such
as using food responsibly
and donating excess to the
hungry, can help make the
holiday season more
plentiful and hunger-free
for all.
|
Tough
financial times call for smarter
shopping measures
"8 Tips to Avoid Drowning in Deals"
For some of us
this means going to extremes and cutting
up credit cards. For others, it just
means clipping coupons and unplugging
appliances.
No matter what your money-saving
solution, merchants are catching on to
these smart shopping tactics. Stores are
constantly developing their own methods
to make sure we keep buying. Many times,
this comes in the form of a sale that
looks great on the surface, but actually
ends up saving next to nothing.
In fact,
recent studies suggest that plenty
of shoppers are overwhelmed with the
flood of daily deals they receive. With
so many special offers flying around,
here are eight tips to help you avoid
drowning in deals.
1. Unsubscribe from
Newsletters
Signing up for email newsletters from
favorite merchants will keep you
informed about their special offers.
However, these mailings are still
promotional materials intended to make
you spend money. If you find yourself
exasperated by the breadth of deals and
discounts, try following stores on
Facebook and Twitter. You still get
access to promotions, but they're not
always being waved in your face.
Instead, you can access the information
only when you want to see it.
2. Set a Time to Review Deals
The urgency to get a bargain before time
runs out can be a distraction. When you
find yourself getting sidetracked
checking each offer as it comes in, set
aside a time where you can review them
all at once. Sure, you might miss the
occasional Groupon, but at the end of
the day it's cash that's still in your
pocket. Reviewing deals all at the same
time lets you think out purchases more
clearly, compare offers side by side,
and prioritize those that best meet your
needs.
3. Technology is Your Friend
Your smartphone is a surprising savings
tool. Some apps like
GasBuddy can help you track down the
lowest gas prices, no matter where you
are. The
Coupon Sherpa mobile app lets you
locate and scan coupons directly from
your phone. Using your cell in this way
allows you to find special offers
specific to your shopping needs.
4. Weigh Credit Card Options
Cashiers frequently encourage you to
open a store credit card, promising
healthy savings if you do. While there
may be a good initial offer or
incentive, like a regular discount on
all purchases, this is another tactic to
keep you spending. It's best to just
have one of these cards specifically for
expenses like gas and food. You'll have
to spend on those needs either way, so
you might as well get a discount. At
NerdWallet.com, they have a
comparison of the
top 18 store credit cards to help
you make an informed decision.
5. Track Your Deals
Ah, the agony of a missed expiration
date for a voucher. It gets in your head
and makes you regret dollars down the
drain. To avoid getting mixed up and
missing deadlines, keep a calendar of
when offers expire. This helps you track
the good ones and keep an eye on how
your spending matches up with your
budget. You can even do it digitally at
CityPockets.com. They organize all
the deals you've already purchased, send
you expiration reminders, and even allow
you to sell unused deals.
6. Eating Out is a Trap
Restaurants are filled with drink
specials and dollar menus to encourage
buying. While a double cheeseburger and
fries from McDonald's costs just over
$2, the nutritional value is low and
you'll soon be hungry again. It's
surprising how much you can save buying
groceries and making meals at home,
instead of eating fast food. If your
culinary muse has failed to inspire you,
AllRecipes.com has plenty of
Quick and Easy Recipes to consider.
7. Use Coupon Sites
Despite the sufferings of
deal-of-the-day sites, coupon sites
continue to grow, making it a good thing
for shoppers. Sites like
CouponSherpa.com have coupons
organized by product category and
retailer name, so finding a good
discount is easy. The best part is,
their services are offered for free;
credit card information and personal
details aren't required. The savings are
there at your leisure with no strings
attached.
8. Price Comparisons
Seeing a deal with numbers like
50-percent off can lead to an itchy
mouse-clicking finger. Resist the urge
to act now and shop around a little
instead. Often, similar retailers are
aware of their competitors' deals and
will offer something comparable. Also,
try to shop at stores with low-price
guarantees. This way, if you find a
better deal after you buy, you can still
get reimbursed for the difference.
Andrea Woroch is a consumer and
money-saving expert for
Kinoli Inc. As a nationally
recognized media source, Andrea has been
featured on Good Morning America, NBC
Today Show, FOX & Friends, MSNBC,
ShopSmart Magazine, Kiplinger Personal
Finance, CNNMoney and many more. To
view recent interviews or for more
savings tips visit
AndreaWoroch.com or follow her on
Facebook and
Twitter.
25 Things You Don't Know About Me:
Steven
Tyler ~ Aerosmith Lead Singer & American
Idol Judge
|
-
Steven Tyler, 62,
(catch Tyler on
American Idol on Fox
Wednesdays and
Thursdays at 8 P.M.)
talks to
UsMagazine.com.
-
1. I have swum with
dolphins.
-
2. I've met the
president and hugged
the first lady.
-
3. I sang four songs
from Abbey Road to
Paul McCartney.
-
4. I danced with the
devil on several
occasions.
-
5. I meditated with
the Dalai Lama.
-
6. I love to scuba
dive in the Great
Barrier Reef.
-
7. I used to hunt
and trap as a kid.
-
8. I can live for
two months on a good
compliment.
-
9. Love Maya Angelou
and Yma Sumac.
-
10. Hate leeches.
-
11. I've hugged a
koala bear in
Australia.
-
12. I have isms that
were was-ems.
-
13. I love to
hang-glide and pick
and eat the leaves
off the tops of
trees.
-
14. Disney World is
my idea of the ideal
vacation.
-
15. I can hold my
breath for two
minutes underwater.
-
16. I make my own
Dirico motorcycles.
-
17. I'm married to
four guys.
-
18. My son Taj is a
bigger lady killer
than I was.
-
19. I believe the
best way to get into
a lady's pants is to
borrow her jeans.
-
20. Somehow a
wineglass makes my
Kangen Water taste
better.
-
21. I had a pet
raccoon named
Bandit.
-
22. Eating my words
never gave me
indigestion.
-
23. My rock universe
has a new center of
gravity.
-
24. I'm a fragrance
cognoscente. Love my
oils.
-
25. I've got 25
fewer secrets now.
|
|
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