Category: Food and Drinks

While this is only a small percentage of all public school students, and many Muslim students attend private Islamic schools, they are part of the 60% majority who claim that religion has a significant role in their lives.

What is the legal obligation of public schools to Ramadan?

The federal law, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1965, protects students against discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin. Students of all religions are protected.

The U.S. Department of Education will issue guidance in 2020 on constitutionally protected prayers and religious expression. The advice provided school leaders with detailed information about federal protections that apply to students who wish to practice their religious beliefs during school hours. These guidelines will help schools plan for the needs of Muslim students all year round, including Ramadan. This guidance mentions Ramadan and also says that Muslim students have constitutional protections that allow them to pray when not in class as long as they don’t disturb others.

What are the advantages of recognizing Ramadan in schools?

Researchers have found that when students attend schools that promote a positive atmosphere that acknowledges diversity, they are more likely to feel a sense of belonging. They also have a better level of well-being.

Students who are subjected to discrimination or bias suffer more academically. All students benefit from a supportive, high-quality school environment.

What specific accommodations can schools make for students who fast in school?

During Ramadan, Muslims refrain from eating and drinking during daylight hours. Students who are Muslim and fast can request that they sit far away from the cafeteria in order to avoid food smells.

Alternate seating reduces physical discomfort and allows for other activities like quiet play, reading, or resting during lunchtime. Muslim students prefer to eat their lunch in the library or a classroom they enjoy.

The fasting of Ramadan is not required for students who haven’t reached puberty or are menstruating. Students who are sick, traveling, or who aren’t at school can also be exempt.

What has Ramadan been like for Muslim students in public schools?

While fasting doesn’t prevent students from studying or completing their schoolwork, they may experience fatigue. Headaches. And dehydration during the day. Some people notice an increase in focus, energy, and sleep.

Muslims start to abstain from eating and drinking at dawn. This is usually an hour before sunrise. The exact time varies according to the season and geographical location. Fasting students could wake up at 5 am to eat, pray, and drink during Ramadan in 2023. This will fall between March and April. Studies have shown that by the end of the school day, students could have less cognition in addition to fatigue.

Some Muslim Students struggle to complete academic assessments or complex tasks in the afternoons during Ramadan. Some students may ask for permission before school to do tests when they’re more alert and better able to concentrate on difficult tasks.

At sunset, Muslim students may break their fast either at home, at the mosque, or at. Families may attend nighttime prayers at their local mosque for two hours after the meal. The students are unable to finish their homework and participate in after-school activities because of these traditions and routines. While some students prefer to complete their tasks in the early morning hours when they are older, other after-school activities like sports and clubs cannot be postponed. Schools can help Muslim students by changing expectations about after-school activities during Ramadan.

How about physical education and sports during Ramadan

Students who are taking physical education during Ramadan can ask their teachers to refrain from engaging in activities that require a lot of cardio to avoid dehydration and exhaustion. Instead, they can opt for moderate weight training with periods of rest.

It is possible that young Muslim athletes may not perform to their usual level during Ramadan until they get used to fasting. Older student-athletes may adjust their training schedule to prepare for competitions during Ramadan. Muslim student-athletes depend on their coaches to adapt their physical training during Ramadan.

What has Ramadan meant to college students?

Fast-A-Thons are a long-standing tradition among Muslim students at higher education institutions. They invite their peers to fast together for one day during Ramadan. Since 2001, the University of Tennessee Muslim Student Associations (MSAs) have continued to encourage fast-a-thons in order to raise awareness of Ramadan. Sometimes, groups raise money for social justice issues like hunger in the local community and around the world. Many MSAs on college campuses invite students to fast and host events where they can enjoy a sunset meal.

How many school districts are closed for the Ramadan Festival?

Last year, approximately 15 U.S. school districts closed for Eid al-Fitr. This holiday follows Ramadan. At least four new school districts have added Eid as a holiday for students to their calendars this year. Eid ul Fitr is likely to be celebrated on Friday, April 21, this year.

Plastic pollution is now pervasive in our environment, contaminating everywhere, from our homes and workplaces to the planet’s deepest recesses. The problem regularly makes headlines, with the spotlight turned toward ocean pollution in particular.

The startling images of plastic pollution may seem far removed from our lives. Still, they should not distract us from a less visible problem, receives far less attention, and affects human beings and ecosystems – microplastic and nanoplastic contamination.

In contrast to macroplastics, which result from the degradation of larger objects (found in the form of paint flakes or fibers, for example), microplastics are usually defined as particles whose size or dimensions do not exceed 5 mm. They have no minimum size.

As for nano plastics, these can be no larger than 0.1 microns, equal to 1/10,000th of a millimeter. Rather instinctively, we were able to predict that the smallest particles could enter organisms, but this had never actually been demonstrated until recently.

Microplastics in our blood

In 2022, a study conducted by several teams in the Netherlands showed for the first time that microplastics were present in the blood of 22 healthy human volunteers at an average concentration of 1.6 mg/L.

The kinds of plastics detected varied greatly, including polyethylene terephthalate (PET), used to make water bottles and other items; polyethylene, used to produce food containers; and polystyrene, whose uses include fresh produce packaging and yogurt pots.

It should be noted that the study focused solely on particles with dimensions of 700 nm and above. As yet, there is no information on the smaller particles categorized among the many forms of nanoplastics.

Microplastics were detected in human blood for the very first time (Down to Earth, 25 Mars 2022).

Adverse health effects in animals

Although no effects on human health were reported in the study, research conducted on animals or using cellular models (some of which modeled human cells) has documented a host of biological impacts from microplastics, including cellular lesions, oxidative stress, and damage to DNA.

In these cases, either the microplastics cause the effects directly, or they act as carriers of other harmful substances. Moreover, some of these substances, such as bisphenols or phthalates, are actually found in the composition of some plastics.

Generally, this contamination may manifest as inflammation or fibrosis, whose effects are already observed in humans via other ways of entry, such as the respiratory tract. The lungs, for instance, have been a reported site of contamination for workers in the plastics industry.

Migration into food and drink

How can we explain this contamination of the healthy volunteers in the study? Simply put, it is linked to the food chain. However, this method of microplastic exposure remains difficult to characterize or measure, with results varying drastically between 0.2 mg per year and 0.1 to 5 g per week.

Nonetheless, a vast number of studies (more than 1,000) clearly indicate that several molecules can migrate into food or drink upon contact. This is the case for reusable plastic sports bottles, which shed a huge quantity of components, and all the more so when cleaned in the dishwasher.

The fact that Alcohol and Tobacco use can make us sick is now well-known. However, it’s less known that only four industries are responsible for at least a third of all global deaths that could have been prevented. The industries include unhealthy processed foods and drinks, tobacco, alcohol, and fossil fuels. According to a series of recent reports in The Lancet, these industries collectively cause 19 million deaths each year.

This is because companies are putting profit before health. It’s not just about their products. Sugary drinks can cause obesity and cigarette cancer. Coal is also responsible for carbon emissions. In the name of economic freedom, large commercial companies around the world operate in a manner that hides their practices.

These transnational corporations are responsible for rapidly increasing sickness and mortality rates, disability, environmental damage, and growing social inequalities. The Lancet series describes “a pathological system” where a large group of commercial actors is increasingly able to harm others and make them pay for it. The Lancet series describes a “pathological system” in which a substantial group of commercial actors are increasingly able to cause harm and make others pay the costs.

If further harm is to be avoided, commercial actors will have to pay the real costs of the damage they cause. Commercial actors will be held accountable by governments. The public needs to have a say in how norms are reshaped, focusing on the rights to health and the obligation of governments to protect health.

Profit is the main reason for commercial activity. According to the logic of private industry, profit is more important than public health or well-being. The health effects of commercial activity can be positive. Most are harmful. These are called “commercial determinants” of health in public health.

Commercial practices that have these impacts can range from being legal to being illegal, obvious to subtle. These practices often overlap. Several commercial practices are harmful. Marketing, reputation management, and questioning of scientific evidence are the most obvious.

It is important because the public pays for this. They bear the global epidemic of noncommunicable diseases and the rapidly increasing climate emergency.

Marketing: Making people consume more

Commercial sectors use “dark marketing” to increase brand demand and product consumption. Fast food, ultra-processed foods (high in sugar, fat and salt), and other fast food dominate the advertising space of many countries. In South Africa, nearly half the ads seen by children or families are for ultra-processed foods and drinks.

The Lancet’s case study on Coca-Cola and its marketing of sugar-sweetened beverages in South Africa illustrates the impact that seemingly “normal” practices can have on health.

Coca-Cola, as well as other beverage companies, operate in South Africa amid alarming obesity rates. The obese Population is made up of 68% women, 31% men, and 13% children. Children aged 10-13 are consuming at least 2 servings of sugary beverages per day. South Africa is one of the 10 largest global Coca-Cola consumers.

The marketing practices of the company are aimed at poor South Africans, as they are seen as its main growth market. The company’s products can be found everywhere, from supermarkets to street vendors and even in remote rural areas. The branding is everywhere, from signs in schools and shops to TV ads, billboards and social media. Marketing has a profound impact on cultural norms. This is an aspect that is rarely discussed. It turns a deadly product into a desirable goal, much like the tobacco industries of decades ago.

Reputation Management: Covering Their Tracks

Brand loyalty is often a part of reputation management.

During the COVID-19 Pandemic, for example, big food companies distributed products that were unhealthy and had no nutritional value. Coca-Cola gave sugary drinks to Ghana. Krispy Kreme gave doughnuts to emergency workers from the US. South African Breweries claim to have recycled beer cans to make shields for healthcare workers.

Commercial interests try to influence policy so as to support harmful products and services. The sugar industry in South Africa, for example, successfully lobbied to reduce the proposed tax on sweetened drinks by half.

Philip Morris International (the world’s biggest tobacco company) has called for relaxed regulations regarding advertising of its “smokeless” products in South Africa, ahead of the new Control of Tobacco Products & Electronic Delivery Systems Bill.

In South Africa, the alcohol industry formed an Interest Group called Association for Responsible Alcohol Use to influence government policy.

Skewing Science

Commercial influences can be subtle, but they are still present. Bias is created when research is funded in a non-transparent manner. Many retail sectors try to manipulate scientific results in their favor or to hide or falsely report the results. Exxon Mobil, for instance, was found to have intentionally misled public opinion about the role of extractive industries in climate change by independent researchers.

Pharma companies use intellectual property rights to keep drug prices high. This reduces access to medicine. COVID-19 vaccinations are now affordable only for the richest countries. Two decades ago, the same thing happened with antiretroviral medications for HIV.

Tax avoidance, financial manipulation, and more

Multinational mining companies continue to cheat Africa of billions of dollars through underreporting of profits and lower taxes. Copper, for instance, is worth billions of dollars to transnational copper mining firms in Zambia. The country is estimated to lose US$3 billion a year in corporate taxes due to its tax avoidance. This represents more than 12.5% of Zambia’s entire GDP.

Some companies pollute the environment and exploit workers (for example, in the agricultural industry). These practices are harmful to human health and the environment, but they were once considered “normal.”

Look ahead

These “routine” methods of commercialization overlap and reinforce each other. Transnational corporations that have deep pockets are able to use them well in countries with weak regulations.

The costs of corporate harm are increasingly borne by individuals and their families as well as civil society and governments.

To change the system, concerted efforts will be required, such as an international convention. The change must be in the direction that prioritizes societal, environmental, health, and well-being. Health and equity will be at risk until this is addressed, causing economic damage and a decline in social development.

These days, guilt seems intrinsic to parenthood. And as many mothers will know, health professionals seem ever ready to stoke up guilt with their advice. Don’t smoke. 

The new guideline

So, what are women now urged to do to avoid CMV? To quote from the new RANZCOG guideline:

Do not share food, drinks, or utensils used by children (under the age of three years)

Do not put a child’s dummy/soother in your mouth.

Avoid contact with saliva when kissing a child (“kiss on the forehead not on the lips”)

Thoroughly wash your hands with soap and water for 15-20 seconds, especially after changing nappies, feeding a young child, or wiping a young child’s nose or saliva.

Clean toys, countertops, and other surfaces that come into contact with children’s urine or saliva.

Does that sound easy? If you think so, double-check with a friend who has young children. From my spot poll of parents, many feel that careful adherence to these rules would be unmanageable. Homes are not hospitals; interacting with our loved ones is not a sterile procedure.

I can’t help but feel that we are setting mothers up to fail by introducing these standards and thereby compounding the guilt they carry. Early parenthood is a risky time of life for mental health issues like depression.

Read more: ‘I didn’t know who I was anymore’ – myths vs realities of early parenthood.

If we are to make new mothers feel guilty about such fundamental human interactions as sharing meals and kissing, won’t we intensify their stress at this vulnerable time?

If mothers feel they must respond to a joyful kiss from their toddler not with reciprocation but with admonishment – “not on the lips, darling, only the cheek” – mightn’t this affect their bonding with their child?

Homes aren’t hospitals, and interacting with kids will always be messy. Halfpoint/Shutterstock

What about the evidence?

The stresses above might be worth enduring if there was good evidence that these behavioral changes made a difference. But I’m unconvinced.

According to researchers who recently reviewed the world’s evidence, only three studies are looking at whether hygiene and behavior recommendations can prevent congenital CMV.

The largest was a study comparing how often women in a maternity hospital picked up CMV before and after hygiene advice. Infected proportions changed from 0.42% before the direction to 0.19% afterward.

But “before-after” studies aren’t a reliable guide to cause-and-effect. The most susceptible women may just have caught CMV earlier, leaving only women at less risk for the second phase of the study.

The best study design to establish cause-and-effect is a “randomised controlled trial,”” in which women are randomly allocated to receive hygiene advice or not. There are two such trials.

One was tiny and found no significant difference between the non-pregnant women who were randomized to hygiene advice. Separately, they followed 14 pregnant women who were given hygiene advice, who all remained uninfected. Still, they weren’t randomized – there was no group of pregnant women without such advice to compare to.

The bigger trial randomized 166 non-immune mothers of young children to either receive hygiene advice or not. Despite providing free soap and gloves to the hygiene group and visiting these women every three months to monitor their behavior, exactly 7.8% of women in each group caught CMV – no difference.

The guidelines advise against routine testing for CMV. Zholobov Vadim/Shutterstock

Pregnant women who knew from special tests that their child was shedding CMV had a low infection rate – presumably, this test result was a motivator for behavior change. But this is evidence of the effect of testing, not of giving hygiene advice.

So, I can’t see convincing evidence that routine hygiene advice works – not without the addition of tests of mothers’ immunity and children’s viral status. Doing such tests is not part of the new RANZCOG guideline – indeed, it explicitly advises against routine testing.

So what should we do?

I’m really torn on this issue. My heart aches for the families of children severely affected by congenital CMV. They must carry a heavy burden of guilt, wondering if they could have prevented the infection. I understand their motivation to avoid further harm. I share their desire for more research on CMV prevention.

Read more: Explainer: what’s cytomegalovirus, and why do pregnant women need to know about it?

But I am saddened, too, by the prospect of a generation of women taught to see their toddlers as dangerous, all in the name of preventive measures that remain unproven.

What do you think? Perhaps we need a community conversation about balancing the trade-offs here: the uncertain prevention of serious but uncommon outcomes versus widespread anxiety about normal family behaviors.

Meanwhile, it’s time for me to close my laptop, share a meal with my family, and, later, kiss my kids goodnight.

“I’ve never been with so many bogans in my life. Aren’t they fantastic!” cried an enraptured guest at the 2011 opening of Hobart’s Museum of Old and New Art.

The general opening party debauchery (despite rumors of an impending orgy) quickly faded. Alive and kicking, though, is the idea that the museum attracts a broad cross-section of the community.

As multimillionaire founder and owner David Walsh has pointed out, MONA has been very generous to Tasmania and Tasmanians. Recognition of this generosity feeds the widespread and often uncritical reception of its art, events, and development proposals.

Visitors at MONA. Steven Penton, Flickr, CC BY

Located within Glenorchy, MONA is one of the most disadvantaged municipalities in Tasmania. Entry to this must-see tourism destination is free for locals (everyone else pays). Entertainment and novelty abound, with the building, exhibits, and festivals entangling the weird and wonderful.

But Greater Hobart (in which Glenorchy sits) is a divided city. Most of the region’s arts and cultural activity occurs south of Glenorchy, in the more middle-class and privileged Hobart municipality. The boundary between Hobart and Glenorchy is colloquially known as the flannelette curtain. (Before their appropriation by hipsters, “flannies” were worn by working-class men.)

So who goes to MONA? A survey of 6,411 visitors shows that, despite its geographical location, most are middle class, tertiary educated and hold highly skilled jobs.

Another survey of 188 Glenorchy residents shows that those who have visited MONA are more likely to be tertiary educated and in professional or managerial occupations. Levels of cultural engagement also matter: those who frequent other galleries and engage with local art initiatives such as the Moonah Arts Centre and GASP! are also more likely to visit MONA.

Loop System Quintet by Conrad Shawcross – a 2011 exhibition at MONA. Fraser Mummery, Flickr, CC BY

Even the free entry for locals does not necessarily break these familiar patterns. In an interview conducted as part of this research, local resident Brendan described how the cost of MONA’s food serves as a marker for economic and social exclusion:

They didn’t have prices up or anything, so I just said, ‘we’ll have a meal,’ and when they said the price, it was $68 something, and I went, ‘What? Hang on, you’re trying to attract people here?’ And especially if you’re trying to attract people that belong here, there’s not that many with that kind of money … it’s just way too expensive … just not possible for a lot of people out here …

Even if entry is free, the high costs of food, drink, and items in the gift shop, and other signs of the institution’s wealth can act to tell low socioeconomic visitors and those with lower cultural capital, that these places are not for them. Thus, the close ties between art and wealth are not easily denied.

A feeling of wonder and intrigue does draw some locals down into MONA’s gallery. Here, the deliberate move to make cultural institutions more entertaining becomes apparent. Once inside the museum, some report “switching channels” as they pass by art pieces as if they were watching TV. They do not feel bound to liking or understanding art on someone else’s terms.

This report was created in response to the growing concern of the community about animal cruelty offenders’ sentences. Significant media attention has been given to several cases. The report also aimed to provide evidence for the government as it revamped Victoria’s animal abuse legislation in 2019. described it as “outdated” back in 2018.

What is animal cruelty?

The report reveals that the majority of animal cruelty crimes in Victoria are not committed with malice or deliberate cruelty (such as beating or torturing a pet).

Animal cruelty in Victoria that results in sentences is primarily the result of neglecting an animal, including failing to give it enough food, water, shelter, or veterinary care. This type of crime accounted for at least half of all animal abuse offenses in Victoria between 2008 and 2017, but it was probably closer to three-quarters.

The RSPCA Victoria’s Annual Report noted that the majority of reports received were due to ignorance or inability rather than malicious intent.

Who is responsible for these crimes?

In Victoria, at least 998 animal cruelty offenders have been sentenced between 2008 and 2017. This is about 100 offenders per year. Nearly three-quarters of the offenders were men, while a quarter of them were women. Corporations accounted for less than 1% of the total.

Sentencing Advisory Council of Victoria

This is slightly lower than the rate of men being sentenced in Victoria for all crimes. Victorian courts sentenced more than 100,000 cases in the last financial year. In those cases, four out of five offenders (79%) were men.

There was, however, a subgroup of animal abuse offenders who were more likely to be men. These offenders had cases flagged as family violence. In 2016 and 2017, out of 231 animal abuse cases sentenced, 15% were flagged for family violence (35 instances). Of the 35 criminals, 33 of them were men.

Who is responsible for animal cruelty?

Victoria Police and the Office of Public Prosecutions prosecute the majority of crimes. Animal cruelty offenses are prosecuted by local councils as well as two other government departments, RSPCA Victoria and the Office of Public Prosecutions.

RSPCA Victoria, in fact, is one of only a few non-government organizations with the authority to prosecute criminal offenses. In the last ten years, it was responsible for prosecuting over half of all cases of animal cruelty in Victoria.

Sentencing Advisory Council of Victoria

Victoria Police brought the second most cases to court. Animal cruelty is usually discovered by police when neighbours report what they believe to be animal cruelty or when officers are entering a home for another reason, such as performing a search warrant or responding to reports of family violence.

How many animal abuse crimes were there?

In Victoria, nearly 3,000 animal cruelty charges were sentenced between 2008 and 2017. This does not include all the animal cruelty committed in Victoria during these ten years. Many cases of animal abuse are never reported or investigated because victims cannot speak up for themselves.

Many animal cruelty complaints do not result in any punishment. Between 2011 and 2017, 79,00 complaints of animal abuse were made to various prosecuting authorities. Just over 6,000 criminal charges were laid as a result of these complaints, and nearly 2,800 offenses were sentenced.

Sentencing Advisory Council of Victoria

This disparity in the number of charges and complaints is not without reason. Many complaints of animal abuse are not actually cruelty. For example, a neighbor complained that a dog was left in the backyard for the day.

But more importantly, the legislation that these agencies enforce is “directed towards animal welfare, rather than enforcement.” Criminal justice is only a last resort. It may not always be the best way to ensure animal welfare.

What was the punishment for animal cruelty?

60 % of the 3,000 charges sentenced resulted in fines, and 4% were punished with a prison term. The average penalty per case was $1,400. The average sentence was three months.

Sentencing Advisory Council of Victoria

Further consideration is needed regarding the high number of animal cruelty fines. The Sentencing Council has found in its prior research that 40 percent of Victoria’s penalties are not paid. But, more importantly, when the offender is an agricultural farmer who has struggled financially and is unable to feed, water, or medicate his livestock, it seems inappropriate for him to be burdened with a financial penalty. If the offender has committed more deliberate acts, then rehabilitation may be needed.

In Victoria, the courts have a choice when sentencing animal abusers. This is known as a “control order.” It is a court order that prohibits or limits the ability of an offender to be in charge or own animals. The order can also include conditions for the offender to be able to own animals. As an example a farmer was required to attend a course on sheep management and pay a vet for regular inspections of any livestock he cared for.

A control order was issued in only 20% of cases of animal cruelty, according to the council. This rate was especially low (less than 1%) in cases prosecuted through Victoria Police. When the council spoke with prosecutors who handle animal cruelty cases, they told them that the best outcome for criminal proceedings in these cases is often a control order.

It is unclear, however, whether the agencies would have sufficient resources to monitor more control orders. This would require a great deal of additional work and help.

These needs are not often met by people who live in Australia’s residential care facilities for the elderly.

The majority of residents don’t feel loved or like they belong at the facility. Neda Borenstein was filmed singing the Australian National Anthem while waiting for more than three hour to be changed. ABC Four Corners broadcasted the footage. Neda Borenstein told her caregiver when she returned to assist her in getting up, “I’m only a number.”

We asked residents if they knew another resident and found that less than a third of them said yes. Most people don’t get the social support that comes with friendships. The majority of residents reported feeling socially isolated. This is linked to poor health.

In a study from 2016, many residents felt that they had no dignity, autonomy, or control. People with dementia tend to spend the majority of their time alone and very little or doing nothing.

A study of interactions between residents and their caregivers found that residents were left alone 40 percent of the time. Staff members did not interact verbally, physically, or emotionally with residents when they were present.

Residents of aged-care facilities may also feel psychologically unsafe. Residents with dementia can be physically restrained or locked up in secure facilities.

Sometimes, residents don’t get on. Residents may argue, yell, swear, or pinch each other. There are no good statistics on how frequently resident-to-resident verbal or physical aggression occurs, but it could lead to injury and even death.

Read more: Violence between residents in nursing homes can lead to death and demands our attention.

What are the consequences of unmet needs?

When their needs aren’t met, residents can have negative reactions. They can become angry, violent, anxious, depressed and depressed.

We used to refer to these reactions as “behavioural and psychosocial symptoms of dementia.” People with dementia point out that these are normal responses to neglect and not symptoms. Nearly all aged-care residents (90%) display at least one of these negative responses.

Many facilities “manage” these reactions by using sedating antipsychotics. Clinical guidelines suggest that people should first address the reasons they may be acting out and then consider medication.

Read more: Needless treatments: antipsychotic drugs are rarely effective in ‘calming’ dementia patients.

Half of nursing home residents have symptoms of depression, and a third have symptoms of anxiety. More than half of residents have been found in studies to behave in ways that might suggest they no longer wish to live. This includes refusing food or medication , one-third of residents having suicidal thoughts, and a small number of nursing home residents actually taking their own lives .

We may not be spending enough money on aged care, which would allow providers to meet basic human needs. Australia spends less than the OECD’s average of 1.5% on long-term health care – about 1%.

The private investment in aged-care is increasing, and so are residential aged care profits. However, it’s a hard industry to make money. Insufficient funding leads to a shortage of staff and a lower level of skill. Our system rewards dependence, and there are no incentives to provide providers with funding to improve residents’ psychological well-being or to go beyond this to help them thrive.

Healthy ageing is a result of friendships. Shutterstock.com

The people looking for nursing homes don’t get any independent information to compare the quality and performance.

The National Quality Indicator Program, a program that measures care in residential aged care facilities and began in 2016, was designed to give information to people comparing facilities on clinical indicators.

However, providers are not required to participate in the program. The suite of indicators does not include indicators for emotional or quality of life (even though a particular indicator has been tested and proven to be effective). Also, we don’t yet know when or if the data will be released.

What is required?

It is time for a fundamental change in the expectations of community, government, service providers, staff, and regulators about what residential aged care can do. Our aged care model is primarily about clinical care while neglecting emotional support.

In particular, friendships can be a valuable social interaction for aging well . However, many residents have told us the social opportunities available in their nursing homes do not meet their expectations.

Read more: Loneliness is a health issue and needs targeted solutions

We need our model of care to be a model of a home. In a home everyone contributes, has a say in what happens in the home (such as the menu, interior design, routine and functions), is able to invite their friends to their home for a meal, and can leave during the day and come back at night. A home is a safe place where people are loved and nurtured and where they can be active and fulfilled.

Christmas is a very long-lasting event. It starts early and continues for many days. It is not surprising that Christmas is the biggest commercial event of the entire year. Many retailers make over 40% of their profits during Christmas. The Christmas economy is also very active, with everything from Santas working short-term contracts up to package holidays to Lapland.

For some people, Christmas is a big deal. But for others, it’s a distant memory because they are stuck at work. In the past decade, the number of people who work over Christmas has increased dramatically. In 2010, 172,000 workers worked on Christmas Day, a 78% rise from 2004.

Christmas at Work

Companies are spending more on Christmas celebrations than ever. Last year, almost seven in ten employers held Christmas parties. Over 80% of them decorated their offices. It’s not a bad idea, but for those of you who are working during the holidays, it may seem like a cruel joke.

Irony is a powerful tool. Employees will stare at tacky Christmas decorations for months, trying to get the right spirit. The radio will play the same Christmas songs, which get more and more unbearable every time. The annual Christmas party will include kissing on the toilets, bad dances, and an excessive amount of Merlot. (Watch The Office Christmas Special for a painful example). All the while, the employees are aware that Christmas is never going to happen because of work.

Reminder: Put up the Christmas tree. Sergey Peterman/Shutterstock

By now, we should have a good idea of the current trend. In an age of work-obsession, holidays, weekends and non-productive leisure are becoming increasingly unfashionable. A relatively new phenomenon is the five-day week with two days of uninterrupted rest. is in danger of extinction, despite the fact that it only became the norm in 1940. Work, sleep, and leisure were once distinct activities that were organised into blocks. They have now dissipated and are replaced by a continuous stream of time that is invaded in different ways.

Bitter aftertaste

If we take these changes seriously, the supposedly fun celebrations at work can have a bitter taste. If you have to be at work the following day, the Friday drinks will not be as appealing.

It is not surprising that Christmas is being squeezed out. It’s hard to say how many of us are going to be working Christmas. We have to include those who work secretly from home or sneakily visit the office to those who work officially.

These merry symbols could be viewed as an insult by those who will, in some way, be working during Christmas. They turn December into a month full of fun. They are expected to join in with the celebrations, to add to the atmosphere and to fantasise over the holiday that is never coming.

Fun that is compulsory

This isn’t meant to be an insult but rather a way of making them bored with Christmas. Remember the tale about Andrew Park (also known as Mr Christmas), who decided to celebrate Christmas each day with a Christmas tree decorated and gifts waiting for him every morning? Most people would find such repetitions boring. This would be monotonous, exhausting, and depressing.

Andrew Park is all of us in December. We get a small piece of Christmas every day, not much, but enough to make us sick of it by the time December arrives.

It was not always this way. It was once customary to fast until Christmas Day and then feast continuously for 12 days before fasting again. We’ve extended the celebration to cover most of December. This makes it a bit tiring.

Here’s the good news. If we miss it, we won’t be too affected. Possibly, without being too conspiracy-minded, these Christmas celebrations at work were designed to achieve this goal. Could the increased amount of money that companies spend on Christmas celebrations be related to the increase in people working during Christmas? It doesn’t matter if this is true; a month of mandatory fun isn’t a good way to prepare yourself for upcoming holidays. This is a great way to get us to accept the fact that we will never be able to take a real holiday.

The UK’s food labeling system, which uses traffic lights to indicate the healthiness of food products, has caused concern among olive oil producers as well as other members of the European food industry.

Some people believe that nutrition labels provide important dietary information for consumers to make healthy food choices. The title may be the sole source of nutrition information that is available to consumers at the time of purchase. It’s therefore important to make the information easy to read, understand and interpret.

More than 130 UK food businesses In the UK, there are four main formats, with many hybrids.

In the UK, there have been many studies that investigated consumers’ understanding of nutrition labels. The Food Standards Agency (FSA), in collaboration with industry and consumers, conducted a series of studies in 2009-10 to examine the standardization on the front of the packaging.

The key elements that consumers found important were:

The European Parliament supported a proposal in June 2010 for a more uniform food labeling system within the European Union. color coding system, opting instead for GDAs for front-of-pack nutrition labeling in line with the majority of current 

We finally have an agreement in the UK. For the first time, the major retailers have worked with the FSA and Department of Health and come up with an agreed-upon front-of-package labeling system.

The GDAs are being replaced with reference intakes. Detailed industry-specific guidelines have also been developed, with specific limits for what can be considered low, medium, and high and different cutoff points for foods and beverages.

The UK food industry has been preparing for the move for a few years. They have been reformulating their products to be less in the “red zone,” for example, using salt substitutes and adding sugar substitutes in fizzy drinks.

With the amount of data that supermarkets already have about our shopping habits, they can’t wait to use data analytics from label information to guide us toward healthier choices.

It’s not always that simple. Olive oil is a good example. It’s considered healthy because of its high content of unsaturated fats. However, it would still have a warning label.

Other products, such as butter and cheese, would also be rated red. The guidance acknowledges this and states that products like nuts and oily salmon will also have a “red light” due to naturally occurring fats. These products should be labeled with the amount of saturated fatty acids to inform consumers of the fat balance and to highlight the benefits they offer.

It remains to be determined whether we will choose to distinguish between the different foods that are red-lighted. After all, we are humans.

Since medieval times, sheep have grazed the salt marshes of the Gower peninsula in Wales. Around 3,500 lambs, ewes, and goats are fed there today. The meat is unique because of the samphires and sorrel that grow naturally.

The Gower Lamb, available between June and December, is more mature and has a longer life span than lambs raised intensively, adding to its distinctive taste.

This flavor has been granted protected status, and the farmers of these lambs are now members of an exclusive club. Other members are producers of Cornish cream, Melton Mowbray pies, and champagne. These products have been part of the European scheme for years, which only allows certain foods and drinks to be produced in specific places.

Since Brexit, the UK has created its geographic indication scheme that closely resembles the EU version. Gower salt-marsh lamb will be the first product added to the British system. It must be born and raised within the boundaries of the 19 constituencies that make up Gower Peninsular. The Gower salt marsh lamb joins the 16 Welsh products that are already protected, including Anglesey Sea Salt, Welsh Laverbread, and Conwy Mussels.

In my ongoing research, I am looking at the sustainability of the local food sector – both environmentally and socially. So far, my colleagues and I have found that local food production is a significant factor in ensuring rural communities are viable. Evidence shows that recognizing and protecting the link between the food and the region it is produced in can be beneficial to the community.

This protection is crucial in a highly competitive market. The food and beverage sector contributes PS29bn to the UK economy. Standing out has never been so important.

The Gower salt marsh Lamb was awarded the protected designation of Origin (PDO). This is only given to products that have the strongest links with their place of production. There is solid evidence to support the claim that these protections lead to higher prices for producers. Prices of French cheeses that have a PDO, for example, are higher on average by 11.5%.

PDOs help preserve traditional farming methods by specifying requirements for production methods. This includes recognizing the knowledge and skills of salt marsh ranges, as well as the shepherding abilities. These skills have been passed down through the generations.

It could have a negative impact on the sale and quality of Welsh lambs from other regions. These are protected by a less specific classification known as a protected geographic indication.

This is to emphasize the connection between the geographical region and the product name. Consumers will probably see the PDO as a sign that Gower Salt Marsh Lamb is even better in terms of quality and taste than other Welsh Lamb. This could be a major blow to many other Welsh sheep farmers who are currently benefiting from their PGI status. There is no research to date on how consumers perceive PGI and PDO categorization.

Geographic indicators are a good way to protect consumers from food fraud. They do this through an official auditing and authentication process. These indicators are intended to prevent things like the scandal of 2013, in which beef products across the EU contained varying amounts of horse meat.

Check meat

Local authority’s trading standards conduct extra auditing on products with geographic indicators to ensure that consumers are getting authentic products.

The compliance is monitored, and any suspicions of counterfeit goods can be reported to the enforcement agency, which has the authority to issue fines or prison sentences under different consumer laws.

Grazing on samphire. Shutterstock/Jane Campbell

Geographical indicators promote a sustainable system of food by encouraging localized approaches to food production. They promote and defend local and traditional production methods, which limit the intensification of the market and produce high-quality and welfare products.

By requiring production methods, GIs can provide greater stability to those in the industry. They also protect traditional skills and maintain viable rural livelihoods.

Alison Wilson, director of Halen Mon, told me that the designation of Anglesey Sea Salt as a PDO (protected since 2014) was “one of the proudest achievements” of the company. She continued: “It provides protection and status, as well as proof of the special qualities of our hand-harvested salt.” In a world of food fraud, we are the only British salt that has been audited.