Half the Food Produced Globally Is - Wasted?

One year ago, a report was released by the United Nations Environment Program that over half of the food produced globally is lost, wasted or discarded as a result of inefficiency in the human-managed food chain. This is a staggering fact that is substantiated by data from countries all around the world. It seems the food crisis that we are currently facing, blamed largely on decreasing yields due to climate change, depleted soil, lack of adequate water, and so on, is more a crisis of management than production. In fact, there is strong evidence, according to UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner, that the world could feed it's entire population, right now, by simply becoming more efficient and reducing the horrific waste that is endemic to the food production industry.

Some figures:

• Up to 25% of all fresh fruits and vegetables in the US is lost between field and table.

• In Australia, food waste makes up half of that country's landfill.

• In the United Kingdom 30% of all food purchased every year is not eaten.

• Losses in the field between planting and harvesting are around 40% of the potential harvest in developing countries due to pests and pathogens.

• In Africa, 30% of landed fish is lost through discards and spoilage.

• Approximately 30 million metric tons of fish are discarded at sea every year.

• India looses up to 50% of it's fresh food because of inadequate storage and distribution.

• In South East Asia 37% of rice is lost between field and table. In China, the figure is up to 45%, in Vietnam, it's estimated to be 80%!

Another factor that accentuates the waste factor in America and Great Britain is the draconian penalties on food suppliers for failing to deliver agreed upon quantities of fresh fruits and vegetables throughout the year. To avoid these crippling penalties, farmers are required to produce a much larger crop than can actually be sold or processed as a form of insurance against poor weather or other factors that might reduce their yield. In some instances, up to 30% of a crop is left to rot. Another 30% of that crop never reaches the supermarket because it is 'sub standard' or substantially trimmed for packaging purposes. Of the final produce that reaches our supermarkets, up to 50% is then thrown away.

While it is impossible to calculate the wastage of food from restaurants and all other places where food is served, the final figures of how much food is consumed, compared to how much is produced, must be an astonishingly small percentage. This system of putting incredible pressure on our food producers only so that at least half of what is produced can be thrown away, is clearly unsustainable.

This same study indicates that up to 25% of the world's current food production capacity may be lost due to "environmental breakdowns" by 2050. Already, cereal yields have stagnated worldwide and fish landings are steadily declining. As the world's population presses towards 9.5 billion by the year 2050 the demand on the world's limited resources will reach a breaking point. We cannot 'produce' our way out of the next crisis, we must 'conserve' our way out.

What can you do?

1. Plan more carefully the amount of fresh fruit and vegetables that your family will consume on a weekly basis and limit your purchases to that amount.

2. When food is on the verge of going bad, cook it and freeze it. This works well with excess veggies that can be made into a soup and frozen, or apples which can be made into applesauce and kept longer.

3. Encourage your family to take smaller portions and go back for more if still hungry rather than filling your plate and throwing half away.

4. Learn to be creative with leftovers. Most meals can be recycled easily the next day into another meal or added to a soup or packed for lunches.

5. Feed your pet table scraps. In most cases, your animal will be healthier and that last piece of something that is too small to save will not be wasted.

6. If you shop at a store with large packs of produce or meat, consider shopping with a friend so you can divide the packages and not have excess food in your frige.

7. At restaurants, bring a Tupperware to take home leftovers or opt to share a meal if the servings are particularly large, or simply eat an appetizer and soup or desert.

8. If you find you've made more than your family can eat of something, bring the leftovers in to your office to share. Maybe have a potluck Thursday when leftovers can be pooled for a fun meal.

9. Shop at your local farmers market to help small scale farmers and get your produce days after harvest instead of weeks at the supermarket.

Anna Lonsdale author of Living Well Blog, co-owner of Fresh Organics Inc. http://www.freshorganicliving.com

Reflections on Media Independence Produced by the Internet

Rapid technological advancements in the 21st Century have ensured that society is now more connected, and there are an increased number of media channels available. Unfortunately, due to dominant media ownerships some would argue that though we have a choice in what we want to watch, our choice is still limited due to tight media control. However, to a limited extent media independence is now being balanced due to the increased popularity of the Internet. This can be clearly illustrated with the level of interaction in chat rooms and blogging. E-mails are being used more frequently, hence influencing the level of communication efficiency.

Furthermore, even though advertising companies and people with the technological skill to design and build websites are still dominant in the communication sector, software programs such as Dreamweaver and Microsoft Frontpage provide easy web building packages that enable quick and effective website building for beginners. As a result, media independence is gained with the increasing use of the Internet.

Firstly, Internet and blogging in particular, does not create an age barrier to who can participate. For example, a teenager and a more mature person could have the same opportunity to voice their opinions on the Internet. Also, although it can be argued that the people who do not possess technological skills may be disadvantaged, once the skill is acquired, then people will be able to participate. The author of a webpage or an article has the option of remaining anonymous or writing under a false name, hence, an increase in freedom of speech and a reduction of the risk of being associated with a certain ideology or discourse by a reader.

The Internet is promoting greater independence, as minority groups are able to express their views publicly and information can be shared rapidly. There are many benefits to blogging on the Internet. One of the most positive aspects in regards to blogging is that it does not require any technological knowledge, and blogs have the opportunity to be read by people from other cultures and nations.

E-mails have also played a pivotal role in creating media independence. Although e-mails are seen as a form of communication technology, they can also be shared between groups of people. Therefore, increasing the speed of connection and amount of people that will be able to read email has greatly impacted on the sophistication of the Internet and its ability to enhance global communication. E-mails offer instant communication. Rapid communication has led to further enhancement in the exchange of ideas between people, resulting in global networking and increases in international business activities. However, e-mails only benefit those who are literate and those who are able to gain access to the technology.

For many citizens in developing countries or the poor in developed countries, the privilege of accessing this tool is not available, hence, although email promotes independence through communication, it also marginalizes those who are unable or cannot afford to use it.

Software packages such as Dreamweaver and Microsoft Frontpage are designed to assist beginners and those who enjoy using the programs. For example, the program Dreamweaver has basic instructions that show the customer how to design a webpage. The program teaches beginners by using terms that are non-jargon coupled with simple instructions. Similarly, Microsoft Frontpage is also an easy-to-use computer software program that takes advantage of its easy-to-manipulate templates and lack of html usage. This encourages first-time users to explore and develop their technical skills.

In conclusion, due to the rapid pace of globalisation, the Internet has allowed society to become more interconnected. Although the Internet does marginalise those who cannot afford or do not have the skill to use it, services such as web hosting companies and easy-to-use software programs are available. The Internet is constantly changing. It has allowed a wider range of contribution from people with varying discourses and ideologies, making this form of media more independent.

By Bernice Ly
http://www.m6.net
Bernice Ly is a technical writer working at M6.Net: ?The web-hosting company for humans.? M6.Net is working hard to help humanity experience the power and freedom to develop their own part of the Internet, to share their information, and connect with anyone, anywhere, anytime.

Has a Shift to Green Energy Produced More Jobs?

An evening's research on green energy, government spending, and the job market led me to a solid conclusion: I don't know.

Obviously, renewable green energy would be good for the planet, and money is being spent on it with what some term "abandon." One green energy program at the Department of Energy grew from a budget of $1.7 billion in 2008 to a budget of $18 billion in 2009.

But has it created new jobs?

The wind industry, with about 85,000 people employed in some capacity, seems to have held steady, with jobs merely being shifted from one area to another. In 2009 the construction sector employed an additional 500 workers due to increased installation of new wind turbines. It also employed another 1,000 in operations and management positions. But... 1,500 manufacturing jobs were lost in 2009 due to the credit crisis and the number of turbines produced in 2008.

Since 2007 there have been 100 new, announced or expanded manufacturing facilities that could supply more than 19,000 new wind manufacturing jobs - when the facilities come on line. However, even if all the announced facilities actually do come on line, that isn't going to happen until 2012.

All 50 states do provide some jobs in the wind industry. They range from turbine and turbine component manufacturing to construction, installation and maintenance of wind turbines, legal and marketing services, transportation, and logistics.

Texas leads the nation in total wind capacity and in largest wind farms installed, while Iowa leads in terms of the percentage of electricity from wind power. Iowa gets 14% of its power from the wind. Thirty-four additional states have utility-scale wind projects.

Worldwide, approximately 500,000 people are employed in the wind industry - with only 17% of those jobs being in the U.S.

What about that stimulus money that's supposed to be creating jobs?

The Treasury Department anticipated the distribution of about $3 billion in renewable energy grants by the end of 2010, and that figure was surpassed by April.

Research didn't actually reveal where the bulk of it is going, but I did learn something interesting. While small businesses (those with 500 or fewer employees) have created 64% of the new jobs over the past 15 years, small business received only 23% of the dollars expended toward renewable energy projects. No wonder we aren't seeing an increase in jobs.

We do know that some of it is going to major chemical corporations such as Dow Chemical. There it is being used for research, development, and manufacture of items such as solar shingles and an advanced auto battery built to use clean energy technology. I found no mention of new or additional jobs created to facilitate these projects.

Mistie Fairchild is a staff writer for Pantex Energy. Pantex Energy provides Texas Electricity Service for the entire deregulated area of the State of Texas. Contact us for the lowest commercial electricity rate in Texas.

Did Putin's Political Party Play With the Polling Results Produced?

There certainly seems to be a bit of turbulence surrounding Putin's election in Russia and the so-called 50% claimed by his party. There has been a bundle of news coverage over all the protests concerning this, as well as how fast the protests were put down directly following the election with military police number 10,000 coming in with overwhelming force to put down the discontent. There are many claims now of "voting irregularities" a buzz-word of course for fraudulent elections.

Okay so, what's the deal here, Putin says there is nothing to it, and that it is actually the US causing the protests (cite: Wall Street Journal article; 12-9-11 "Putin Blames US for Protests - Under Fire, Premier Takes Jabs at Clinton in Sharp Escalation to Rhetoric, Gets Tougher on Opposition," by Alan Cullison). Maybe, it's just me, but what on Earth does the US have to do with fraudulent elections in Russia - answer me that one? Additionally, I ask what's the real deal here, is it really true; did Putin's Party play with the election polling?

Not long ago, I was discussing this with someone living in Moscow, and I asked "so, tell me first hand, what's happening with political protests over the election? Is there anything really to that? Was there really questionable election ballot counting, aka "cheating" or is the nation just somewhat divided over how to move forward?" You see, the reason I ask is because the news we get here from CNN seems jaded, as is the Russian news station that plays stuff for the US audience with a Russian spin and motif.

Nevertheless, even Gorbachev even stated that the election was stolen from the Russian People, which seems a rather dangerous thing for him to say in public, so I doubt he would have made that claim unless he had some first-hand knowledge to it all? Interestingly enough, those who speak out against the election, bloggers in Russia for instance have found their websites hacked down, but Putin supporters. I suppose this is getting more common these days around the world with staunch political supporters lacking ethical checks.

Yes, elections are something that are serious in today's world, more and more so. Some are predicting an Arab Spring type uprising in Moscow over all this, but I doubt any of the old timers want to see the chaos they lived through before, even if the new generation is willing to put up a fight, perhaps even put their lives on the line as has been done in the Middle East and North Africa recently. In fact, an article in Bloomberg News on December 12 asked that question; "Is the Arab Spring Headed to Moscow?"

So far both the overwhelming government force, and the protestors are chilling out, not wishing to escalate anymore conflict - well, that's the current set of events currently, but these things often have a life of their own, so we shall see? Please consider all this.

Lance Winslow has launched a new provocative series of eBooks on Future Concepts. Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank; http://www.worldthinktank.net

Marketing of Products Produced by Self Help Groups

In the era of growth and development, all nations try to uplift themselves to global standards in all areas. The key areas commonly identified by most economists are the social and economical transformation. The economic indicators are per capital income, gross domestic product, net domestic product, share in world trade, foreign exchange reserves etc. On the social side, drinking water, reliable electricity, good sanitary conditions, viable transport system etc, are given due importance. Millions of people in our country dream that India will become an economic super power in"2020".

It will be possible only by means of a balanced growth in all sectors. The pattern of growth prevailing at present is more in urban and metropolitan cities when compared to rural areas. This creates an economical imbalance in our social system.

Over the years poverty, unemployment and excess population are our important weakness. Among the above three, poverty and unemployment are directly correlated. Creating employment opportunities will curtail the poverty line. Previous studies with regard to people living below the poverty line clearly reveals that majority of them are living in rural areas. So concentrating on rural mass is the need of the hour.

After independence Government of India launched innumerable social and economical welfare programmes in spite of poverty and unemployment proliferates. Earlier programmes like Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP), Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas (DWCRA), Training of Rural Youth for Self-Employment (TRYSEM), Supply of Improved Toolkits to Rural Artisans (SITRA) and Ganga Kalyan Yojana (GKY) were conceived to be complementary to each other, for achieving the larger goal of poverty alleviation in the rural areas. Over the years, however, there was an erosion in the process of implementation of the programmes. These were conceived as integrated programmes with the objective of supplementing each other efforts to ensure energy. However each programme has been implemented as a separate and independent programme that focused more on the achievement of individual programme targets. The over all impact of the programmes in poverty alleviation, therefore was less than what was expected of them. The programmes were, therefore reviewed and the Swaranjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) was launched on April 1999as the single self-employment programmes in their place.

The SGSY is a holistic programme and the objective of SGSY is to bring the assisted poor families (Swarozgaris) above the poverty line. Under SGSY poor families are organized into Self-help groups (SHGs) through the process of social mobilization. SGSY ensures training and capacity building and provides income-generating assets through a mix of bank credit and Government subsidy. It is a credit linked scheme. Here, the credit plays a predominant role and subsidy is an enabling component.

Under this scheme, financial assistance may be given to individuals or groups (Self-help Groups) belonging to below poverty line families. However, the emphasis will be on the Group approach. The SGSY envisages developing activity clusters by selecting about 10 key activities per block. The programme is being implemented in rural areas of all the States / UTs (except Delhi and Chandigarh)1

The basic idea of "SHG" scheme is derived from International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). IFAD (1989) is quite similar to SHG programme, which was organised by an international social welfare agency. The head quarters of IFAD is situated in Rome. IFAD aimed at providing subsidized individual loans to people below poverty line for undertaking activities such as animal husbandry, horticulture, sericulture, khadi and handloom. Indian Bank played a key role in financing these schemes. The scheme was implemented in 75 unions of 8 districts on a selective basis. The IFAD project was successfully completed in the year 19982. Keeping in mind the positive results of this scheme, the state Governments in India wanted to continue this scheme. So a separate wing was setup under social welfare department for continuing this scheme. Now SHG is being used as a major weapon in poverty eradication.

The research had been carried out on the following objectives:

To study the origin, growth and development of Self-help groups

To understand the marketing of the Self-help groups products

To analyze the marketing problems of Self-help groups

To know the self-employment activities done by the Self-help groups

HISTORY OF SELF - HELP GROUPS

Self-help groups first emerged in MYRADA in 1985. In 1986 - 87 there were some three hundred SHGs in MYRADA's projects. Many had emerged from the breakdown of the large cooperatives organized by MYRADA. In these areas, a numbers of members asked MYRADA to revive the credit system. They usually came in groups of 15-20. When reminded of the loans they had taken out from the cooperative, they offered to return them to MYRADA, but not to the cooperative, which in their experience was dominated by a few individuals. MYRADA staff suggested that they return the money to themselves in other words the members who had come in a group to present their case to MYRADA. After some hesitation, they decided to continue meeting in these smaller groups. MYRADA staff realized that they would need training: how to organize a meeting,set an agenda keep minute, etc. Efforts were made to train the members systematically. On analysis it emerged that the members were linked together by a degree of affinity based on relationship of trust and support; they were also often homogeneous in terms of income or of occupation (for example, agricultural labourers), but not always. Caste and creed played a role, but in several groups affinity relationship and economic homogeneity were stronger; as a result, several groups included different castes and creeds. From the time that the first SHGs emerged in 1985 to the inclusion of the SHG strategy in the annual plan for 2000/01 (Government of India, 2000), several important steps were taken by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and leading NGOs, as well as by multilateral agencies, particularly IFAD. The SHG strategy is an important component of the Government's overall thrust to mitigate poverty and has been included in every annual plan since 2000.

SUGGESTIONS

1. There is no male SHG in the study area. The promotion of the male SHG can be suggested in the study area.

2. Family planning awareness must be given to the group members as majority of them have 4-6 members in their family.

3. Make each and every member of the group to attend the meeting regularly.

4. Motivate the group members.

5. Strict action should be taken for not attending the meeting.

6. Necessary steps should be taken to deposit the collected amount in nationalized and co-operative banks to promote rural development.

7. Steps should be taken to make all the group members to attend the self employment-training programme promptly.

8. Self-employment training programme should be suited to the surrounding environment.

9. The groups must make use of the loan amount efficiently.

10. The number of self-employment activities should be increased.

11. There should be adequate co-ordination within the group.

12. The government authorities can promote the marketing of goods at state level.

13. Self help group mainly concentrated on pickle making business. Self-Help Groups should give keen attention on other areas in order to increase the diversification of business, which may earn higher profit to them.

14. Women's development is mainly depends upon their income level. Nowadays most of the women's are join in Self-Help Groups and do their job. From the study, the produced products mainly selled in village town and district. They are not concentrated on state level marketing. It may because of non co operation from the other states or lake of finance. So the central government should give appropriate co ordination to self help group do get loan from the nationalized bank and also each and every state should co operate them selves to allow the sales of products of other state self help groups.

15. Government should arrange most members of training program and way of presenting advertisement and also the government channels can broadcast the self help group advertisement with meager amount or at free of cost. Which may help them to advertise their product easily with lower amount. The public also may know about the product through advertisement.

16. Most of the Self-Help Groups are following direct selling method to sell the products. It may because of non preference by the shop keepers. The government can give subsidies to the shop keepers and also to other purchases like shopping malls, big bazaar's etc., It may increase the sales of products.

17. Government should take necessary steps to increase the sales of self help groups. Government should assure the purchase of certain products such as Seri culture handy crafts etc., which may increase the income self help group members. The government should take necessary action to increase the number of Self-Help Groups in order to increase the women empowerment. Government should allot adequate fund to do the small scale businesses such as preparing paper cups etc.,

Self-Help Groups are created with the aim of women empowerment. It is only possible through encouraging Self-Help Groups in several small scale industries. From the above study make known that most of Self-Help Groups are involving sum self employment activities and market their products. Still they are in need of government support to improve their activities. If the governments do that defiantly their economic level can be improved.

The Rise Of Nollywood And Independently Produced Films

In most countries, we tend to be able to view movies that are produced by major companies such as those in Hollywood. The techniques, equipment and technology used by these companies are not only advanced, they are also very expensive. Cost is the main barrier that is preventing independent film producers from making their own movies.

However, in recent years, due to the evolution of technology, film producers have been able to achieve a break through. Using creative techniques, they are able to make use of inexpensive film production equipment such as digital video cams and computers to produce full length movies. In fact, this is happening at an amazing rate in an African nation known as Nigeria. Most people have heard of Hollywood and Bollywood. But have you heard of Nollywood?

Nollywood represents the film industry in Nigeria. It is unique and is vastly different from Hollywood. Hollywood focuses mostly on producing quality movies using sophisticated techniques. It can take many months or even years to produce a movie. Quality of such movies tend to be exceptional. But for Nigerian movies, the focus is a lot more on content. Since producers don't have access to deep pockets like Hollywood producers, they have to come up with ways and means to produce movies without sacrificing the quality of the films. They achieve this by emphasizing on high quality content. Therefore, in many Nollywood films, the story lines are often very strong. They are not wildly imaginative, but are easily accepted by the Nigerian population. This is because most of the content focuses on story lines that are about the African people. They can identify with the plots and tend to enjoy local movies more. Using this clever strategy, Nollywood movies have been able to beat (outsell) Hollywood films.

Another part of the strategy involves producing movies in huge numbers. The rate of production is between a thousand to a couple of thousand each year. More and more film producers are joining the movie industry as they can now make movies with a relatively low budget. The great number of Nollywood films overwhelm all the other films. For this reason, other films find it hard to compete in this thriving film industry.

Nollywood movies are mostly produced by independent film makers and businessmen. The return is very attractive. A film takes just about a week to be completed and cost about US $20,000 to produce. Once completed, a film can sell over 150,000 units in a single day. With such attractive returns, many film producers try to make as many movies as they can that are within budget and can sell well. These films can be produced cheaply mainly because producers are making full use of inexpensive digital equipment.

View Nigerian Movies and Nigerian Videos.