Friday 24 February 2017

11 Amazing Health Benefits Of Turmeric

Turmeric is an Indian origin spice and it is often used in Indian foods like curry. This spice substantially benefits our body. Here, in this post, we present to you 10 ways in which our body will benefit when we consume turmeric in foods on a regular basis.

Decrease Inflammation

Short-term swelling prevents further infections to our body. However, long-term inflammation causes much harm to our body and might even lead to death. Hence, it is always important to lower any inflammation in our body. The curcumin, the active compound found in turmeric, can combat inflammation due to the fact that it obstructs NF-KB.

Effective Antioxidants

Curcumin is an antioxidant. Therefore, it works as a totally free radicals neutralizer. When the free radicals respond with the fats or with the DNA, it has the unfavorable influence on our body. That is why minimizing free radicals is one of the best advantages or the body.

The curcumin also activates our body’s own antioxidant enzymes to work more efficiently. This is very beneficial for our body and its total health.

Improved Brain Function

The Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor, also known as the hormone BDNF, is vital for the division and multiplication of neurons in the brain. This, in turn, signifies that in the adult years, the function of the brain is going to end up being minimized.

However, if you include turmeric in your diet plan, the level of this hormone is going to increase. This also assists the brain to work more efficiently, enhances the memory and intelligence.

Decreases Risk of Brain Disease

Not just does curcumin increase the level of BDNF hormone in your brain, it also decreases the risk of brain diseases.

Delays Ageing and Fights Chronic Diseases

The ageing process and the health problems associated with this can be connected to inflammation. Hence, the anti-inflammatory effects of this herb can make a big difference when it comes to diseases that tend to hit any individual as they age.

Decreases Risk of Heart Disease

The inside layer of the blood vessels known as endothelium can contribute to the irregular flow of the blood system, which can eventually lead to heart disease. Nevertheless, if you can include turmeric in your everyday diet, you will improve the function of this layer.

Prevents and Treats Alzheimer’s Disease

This is due to the impact of inflammation. As we currently discussed, inflammation is a substantial element in the beginning of Alzheimer’s illness. Therefore, by including turmeric in the diet can delay and even reverse the effects of this disease by clearing Amyloid plaques that take place in the body.

Assists with Arthritis Pain

As we understand that turmeric has anti-inflammatory properties, it makes sense that it would remedy this issue and reduce the discomfort.

Helps Prevent Cancer

The spread of cancer can be prevented on the molecular level by using turmeric. All cancers, especially those gastrointestinal systems, seem to be preventable with the addition of turmeric into the diet plan.

Treats Depression, Improves Mood

According to studies, curcumin has a similar effect to Prozac, the most commonly prescribed anti-depressant today. That is why if you use turmeric in your diet, you can enhance your psychological health and state of mind.

Thursday 23 February 2017

Chocothon Seeks to Save Cocoa Production in Ghana

Further With Food Launch: Tackling Food Waste Together

New online hub FurtherWithFood.org brings people and organizations together to streamline efforts and help cut food waste by half by 2030.

The Rockefeller Foundation has collaborated with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and 10 other private and non-governmental organizations to officially launch Further with Food: Centre for Food Loss and Waste Solutions: an online hub designed to help realize the national goal of cutting food waste in half by 2030.

Further With Food serves as a common online destination for the various groups tackling food waste, including academics, businesses, government entities, investors, NGOs, and individuals to share resources and learn from one another. The website features a rich variety of content including best practices for preventing, rescuing, and recycling food loss and waste; educational materials; research results; and information on existing government, business, and community initiatives. By consolidating information, tools, and research, the Further With Food platform highlights proven solutions and new, innovative ideas to collectively tackle the problem of food loss and waste.

“Achieving our shared goals depends on harnessing the tremendous energy and innovation bubbling up across the country. Further With Food will be a place to compare notes on what’s working, to build on new ideas, and to scale the most effective solutions so that, together, we can build a more resilient and productive food system,” said Judith Rodin, president of The Rockefeller Foundation.

Millions of tons of food loss and waste occur in the United States each year. Losses and wastage occur across all levels of the food supply chain, costing an estimated US$161.6 billion each year. Beyond the economic cost, food waste has far-reaching environmental impacts, ranging from the wasting of natural resources, such as water, energy, and land that went into the food’s production to the greenhouse gas emissions generated as it slowly decays in landfills.

Other partner organizations include the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Feeding America, the National Consumers League, the National Restaurant Association, and the World Wildlife Fund, among others. By bringing people, organizations, and sectors together to learn from one another, Further With Food aims to streamline efforts and strengthen the movement to reduce food loss and waste across the United States.

This article is Written by Eva Perroin for food tank

Eva Perroni

Eva Perroni is a freelance researcher-writer and activist who uses food as a window to explore political, social, environmental, and cultural matters. She holds an MA in Development Studies from the University of Melbourne, actively campaigns against corporate concentration in the food system, and has recently begun running the Gaia Farmers Market in NSW, Australia.

Chocothon Seeks to Save Cocoa Production in Ghana

Chocothon seeks to improve the resilience and productivity of cocoa farming in Ghana.

According to research at the University of Reading, cocoa contributes between 70 to 100 percent of Ghanaian farmers’ annual household income and employs about 3.2 million workers there. Ghana is the second largest producer and exporter of cocoa beans, after Côte d’Ivoire. Taking place in Accra, Ghana, Chocothon’s short-term goal is to identify low-tech solutions to reduce sustainability challenges. However, the collaborative initiative also has several other objectives. It aims to assure a sustainable cocoa supply from cultivation to consumption, empower Ghanaian cocoa farmers, and create new opportunities for smallholders and other value chain stakeholders.

On January 18, Chocothon’s Phase 1, Mission 1 will kick off with a three-day conference series. These conferences will share knowledge about three main topics: current cocoa farming practices in Ghana, the International Trade Centre (ITC) tools, and available tech solutions to include Ghanaian cocoa farmers in the supply chain. Parts two and three of Phase 1 will take place from January 21 to 25 to connect stakeholders and empower producers. See the schedule of events here.

This initiative was created as a platform for sustainable Ghanaian cocoa supply chains by Google Food Team, the Future Food Institute (FFI), and the International Trade Centre (ITC) with knowledge support from Business School Lausanne (BSL). Other partners hope to achieve progress toward sustainable production by gathering stakeholders, enriching community development, and benefiting chocolate lovers everywhere, from farmer to consumers.

“Chocolate makes people happy. It cannot be that this product ceases to exist due to unsustainable farming and sourcing practices. Technology will enhance traceability in sourcing cocoa and be transforming for a better future for all stakeholders in the entire value chain,” says Thomas Camenzind of Google Food Team.

Joy Thaler, the founder of CocoaCompassion, a social enterprise collaborating with smallholder cocoa farmers, can attest to the shift towards more sustainable cocoa production. “There is an increasing commitment to reducing deforestation and mono-cropping high-yield, hybrid cacao which excessively deplete and erode the soil and contaminate local water sources that critically serve millions of smallholder cacao farming families living in the narrow swath of land 20 degrees North and South where cacao grows,” she says. “Sustainable cacao farming is focused on land revitalization, planting genetically diverse, high-quality cacao seedlings, and local vertical market integration.”

During the three-day conference series, Chocothon will address some of the sustainability constraints to production in Ghana. A publication in Sustainable Agriculture Research specifies some obstacles Ghanaian cocoa farmers experience: widespread deforestation, limited access to improved crop varieties, and plantations in use for more than 30 years that need rejuvenation. These challenges hinder productivity and are exacerbated by a climate change phenomena that have created economic uncertainty for farmers.

Chocothon seeks to improve the cocoa supply chain to reduce greenhouse gasses and increase yields. By bringing together Ghanaian software and application developers with supply chain experts, Chocothon hopes to create innovative agricultural tech solutions. Another goal is to build public online and offline tools to engage and interest Ghanaian young people with technology expertise relating to cocoa production.

The project spans nine months and will cross the globe, bringing together farmers, international cocoa suppliers, partner organizations and outside participants to join forces. Chocothon will empower and connect the Ghanaian cocoa farmers to promote a sustainable cocoa supply chain.

To support Chocothon visit Crowdfooding, a food and beverage crowdfunding platform. Alessio D’Antino, the Founder and CEO of Crowdfooding says, “Chocolate is at the edge of extinction, and we’re very thrilled to support Chocothon in the endeavor of helping cocoa farmers to leverage technology to manage their harvesting better and improve their quality of work. In line with the open spirit of Chocothon, I firmly believe we can harness the power of the crowd to empower any individual to do their share to keep enjoying our beloved chocolate.”

This article is witten by Joey deMarco for food tank

Joey DeMarco

Joey DeMarco is a Research and Writing Intern for Food Tank. In May of 2016, he graduated from Westmont College with a B.S., cum laude, in Chemistry (Biochemistry focus). He will be attending the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University to receive an MPA in Environmental Science and Policy. During the summer of 2014, Joey studied abroad in South Africa to observe global health issues there. In college, he also played on the baseball team, spearheaded the Global Advisory Council (GAC), tutored, and volunteered in the campus garden.

Further With Food Launch: Tackling Food Waste Together

This article is Written by Eva Perroin for food tanks

Eva Perroni

Helping Decisionmakers Understand the True Cost of Food

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Conventional agricultural practices can adversely impact biodiversity and ecosystem health, according to a recent report published in Solutions. In fact, both corporations and eaters rarely pay for the true cost of food on the environment, public health, and social welfare and equity. But The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB), an initiative hosted by the UN Environment, focuses on “making nature’s values visible.” Based in Geneva, Switzerland, the TEEB office valuates biodiversity and ecosystem services in economic terms and suggests how to implement those values in business and government.

“We found that the need to value nature and its services, what we call ecosystem services, has become quite an interesting new area to be explored by policymakers, by businesses, and by NGOs,” says Pavan Sukhdev, TEEB’s Study Leader and the UN Environment Goodwill Ambassador. TEEB looks at valuation in terms of how to use it, when to use it, and its implications for policymakers, businesses, and citizens.

A project initiated in October of 2016, TEEB for Agriculture and Food (TEEBAgriFood) aims to valuate ecosystems and agricultural industries as a whole. Leaders of the project work to capture economic value by introducing mechanisms that incentivize environmental stewardship. These components of food systems are often assessed in isolation from one another, despite their many and vital links, TEEB refers to this as the eco-agri-food system’s complex. Currently, economic linkages in eco-agri-food systems are virtually impossible to identify—something that TEEBAgriFood seeks to change.

“What we try to do is to develop a common denominator where all the actors of an incredible complex food system can work together,” Alexander Müller, the Study Leader and Steering Committee Chair of TEEBAgriFood, said during the Uncommon Collaborations Panel at Food Tank’s 2016 Washington, D.C., Summit. He added that “the challenge so far is that the work in the food system is organized in silos. You have the farmers, the environmentalists, people processing and distributing food, stores, consumers, and the health system, all working independently. Overall, this system is not sustainable…To fix the problems, we need a common denominator.”

A writer’s workshop to develop TEEBAgriFood’s Foundations Report took place from February 13 to 15, 2017. During the three-day workshop hosted by UN Environment’s World Conservation Monitoring Center (WCMC), participants jointly drafted a detailed outline and work plan. This collaboration will guide future research and policy recommendations for the project.

To create this common denominator, TEEBAgriFood hopes to create new partnerships and collaborations in the agricultural industry. The project has analyzed three different maize production systems—industrial, conventional, and organic. By valuating how corporations use the yield, researchers can map their impact on ecosystems, biodiversity, and human health. According to a November 2016 article in Nature, production of maize lowers the price for high-fructose corn syrup, increasing the use of maize-based sweeteners in soft drinks, which increases the global prevalence of obesity and diabetes. Researchers working with TEEBAgriFood are also examining other commodities such as rice, palm oil, soya beans, livestock, fisheries, and agroforestry.

Overall, TEEBAgriFood hopes to demonstrate the true worth of food systems. Findings from the project will help decisionmakers to understand the complex links between ecosystems and food better. Extending on the initial evaluations will require collaboration from many experts and farmers. Opportunities for involvement include becoming a peer reviewer, submitting relevant evidence, increasing publicity and outreach, and fundraising for future project activities. Click here for more information.

TEEBAgriFood is hosted by the UN Environment and receives support from the European Commission, the Global Alliance for the Future of Food, and the Government of Norway.

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