Organic vs. Industrial Food Essay Example for Free

Organic vs. Industrial Food Essay Have you ever been standing in the grocery store, undecided on whether there really is a difference between the standard store brand ribeye steak and the organic, grain fed, free range ribeye that costs twice as much? Ever had little devil on one shoulder telling you one thing, and the angel on the other convincing you the devil is wrong? Is cost the only thing holding you back from shelling out a few extra sheckles for the more expensive steak? Have you heard about the health benefits of eating organic? Then maybe it is time you learned about the true benefits of organic food. In doing so, it may just change your life and blow your mind. Eating industrial foods can cause a bevy of health issues today, such as exposure to toxins, as well as leading to diabetes and heart disease, and choosing to eat organic foods instead will help to resolve those issues. While organic foods are thought to be quite a bit more expensive than the standard, this is not always the case. One article quotes â€Å"Your local food markets will often have lower prices on organic food items than traditional grocery stores. (Lotich, 2010, para 1). You have to take into consideration that in this day and age, almost any meal that you eat has an organic alternative, or can be prepared by using all organic ingredients. In knowing this, you may actually find that there are a number of other ways that you may go about saving some money, while incorporating organic foods into your daily diet. One of those things you can do is make yourself aware of the various farms that are putting out organic foods. Most folks think that organic foods are all produced by small, family owned farms. As I very recently found out, some of the most successful organic farms are very large and on a global scale. Take Earthbound Farms for example. They are a very successful and very large farm, consisting of over 30,000 acres. Their website states â€Å"We’ve been farming for more than 25 years now, and we’ve become the country’s largest grower of organic produce, committed to being a catalyst for positive change in our kitchens and our environment (Earthbound Farm, 2012, para 4). Buying from this company not only promotes eating healthier, but also supports a company that is looking out for the environment as well. Not only are some of the most successful organic farms gigantic and global, but so are some of the enormous corporations that buy organic food (Whole Foods, Wal-Mart, Safeway and Kroger’s). That being said, if you can research and recognize some of these brands, what at first glance may seem like big-box packaging may indeed turn out to be a cost efficient and healthy organic alternative to what one may typically buy in stores today. Thus it turns out, eating organic may not be as expensive as we first thought. In conjunction with steps such as planning your meals ahead of time, organic food just may actually be cheaper overall than industrial foods in many instances. Planning meals ahead of time is a smart move. I recently read that â€Å"When you have a detailed shopping list and go to the store with a plan, youre much less likely to splurge on extras or expensive instant meals. And when you have a firm plan in place, and the food has already been purchased, you wont end up wasting money in the drive thru spending your money on overpriced fast food (James, 2008, para 2). This is an issue that I think most of us face from time to time. Being smart can help reduce these unnecessary costs. It is important for consumers to really research organic foods and the cost benefits of choosing to go that route. You can end up eating better, as well as saving money. The healthy benefits of eating organic are yet another good reason to choose an organic diet. Recent studies have shown that â€Å"The published literature lacks strong evidence that organic foods are significantly more nutritious than conventional foods. Consumption of organic foods may reduce exposure to pesticide residues and antibiotic-resistant bacteria. † (Novella, 2012) That being said, the same studies do show that eating organic foods does reduce the reduce exposure to pesticide residues and antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The EPA states that â€Å"consumers are looking to organically grown and produced foods as a way to reduce exposure to synthetic pesticides (U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2012). That certainly is a reason to make the switch. Also, if you are planning meals as aforementioned, and buying ingredients for those meals fresh, as opposed to meal mixes and processed industrial foods, then you are also in control of the amounts of fats, sugars, and such that are in your meals. This is also a healthier option. Taking control of what you eat is important. I imagine most people want to control what they put in their bodies, and eating organic foods can help you do just that. Without eating organic foods, you can run the risk of leaving yourself open to all kinds of diseases and other health issues. All in all, the evidence seems mounting in favor of converting to a healthier lifestyle. Eating organic food seems like both a smart, and strong way to making the transition. It is easier than exercising, and in most cases, would probably provide a better feeling in the long run. â€Å"The American College of Sports Medicine advises adults to do moderately intense cardio exercise for 30 minutes a day, five days a week or do vigorously intense cardio for 20 minutes a day, three days a week to stay healthy (Kunz, 2011, para 2). Exercising is important as well, but if you are eating the wrong foods, all of your hard work may be for not. So think about making the switch to organic foods. Starting off small can lead to big changes for you and your loved ones. Bibliography Earthbound Farm. (2012, December 6). The Earthbound Story. p. 2012. James, B. (2008, November 20). Five Benefits of Planning Meal Menus for Your Household. Yahoo! Voices, p. 1. Kunz, M. (2011, October 19). Does Exercise Offset Unhealthy Eating? Exercise Eating Healthy, p. 1. Lotich, B. (2010, December 28). 10 Easy Ways To Save Money On Organic Food. US News, p. 1. Novella, S. (2012, Sept. 05). No Health Benefits from Organic Food. Science-Based Medicine, p. 1. U. S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2012, December 6). Pesticides and Food. Pesticides: Health and Safety , p. 1.

The Teaching-Learning Experience Essay -- Health Care, Nursing

There are many factors in society that have both a direct and indirect influence on the competencies that our student nurses and colleagues need to attain to provide competent evidenced based care. Nursing has a social duty to ensure positive patient care outcomes and contribute to society through knowledge based care. The first step that this author think that we must do as nurse educators in order to have a role in this duty is assess the society for changes that are occurring that we must prepare our students to effectively deal with from a knowledge based standpoint with fellow humans as the main focus (McCurry, Revell & Roy 2010). We as nurse educators and nurses must question existing care practices, try out innovative measures and participate in research for the common good of our society and patients (McCurry et al. 2010) After analyzing society for changes that have occurred in the last five years the following are the two changes that this author thinks should affect o ur profession’s educational experiences of nursing students as well as practicing registered nurses including: obesity and smoking cessation. If anyone in society was to read a newspaper, article or watch the television then they would be likely to hear or see someone talking about the epidemic of obesity whether directly or indirectly. There is a lot of focus on reducing obesity or preventing obesity through keeping weight under control to avoid chronic preventable diseases (Poon & Tarrant). Obesity is a medical condition where there is excess accumulation of body fat that has the potential to cause adverse health effects and diseases including: diabetes, renal insufficiency, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea and certain cancers (Poon & Tarrant 2009... ...ludes: stress reduction, breathing techniques, and nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) if needed by the patient. Nurses have a sworn duty and obligation to promote the good of society in practice and we as nurse educators have that same responsibility. We must fulfill this responsibility by assess for societal changes that are occurring and which we need to include in our content matter when educating student nurses or fellow colleagues to ensure positive patient care outcomes. After assess the societal changes that have occurred in the last five years it is in this authors opinion there has been a focus and refocus on reducing obesity and smoking. It is great to see that the organization for this author’s practical experience has included these changes on their agenda for providers of health care which will promote the greater good of society as a whole.

Why are Keralans better of than other Indians?

There are many reasons why the people in Kerala have a better standard of living than in other Indian states. Some of the reasons are to do with nature and some are to do with human decisions. The State of Kerala is good for farming. There are many natural advantages, for example large amounts of precipitation, with 120-140 rainy days per year, Kerala has a wet, tropical climate, consequently making the soil incredibly fertile. The climate is very humid and wet, which is perfect to grow crops. A map of India: The government of Kerala made some unusual decisions about how to run the state. They introduced ‘land reform,' which basically means the government give every family one hectare of land each. The government prevent the rich to own more then 10 hectares by buying the land off them, as a result everyone gets an opportunity to own something, this then gives the poor starting points to earn money, whereas in other Indian states the poor stay poor because they do not receive the level of help required. Over 1.5 million homeless families benefited from land reform. Land reform Meant Keralans could grow food on their properties for consumption (for survival) and sell it for a better standard of living. Many Keralans have stopped growing only rice and now have a greater variety of crops. Keralans now grow tapioca, ginger, banana's and coconuts. Farmers sell less rice because the rice from the state of Tamil Nadu is significantly cheaper because the workers get paid a considerably smaller wage. Keralans want to grow more profitable crops to be able to pay for after school classes for their children. Growing one hectare of rice gets only 25, 000 rupees but growing coconuts make 50, 000 rupees. Coconut palms, as an example, have many different uses. Coconuts can be used sell or consume, (ear or drink the juices). Used to make cosmetics, fuel for cooking, the residue from making oil is used for cattle food. Coconuts are useful for making mats and ropes. Coconut leaves are used to thatch roofs. Keralans are better educated than other Indians. Keralans are given free education, I personally think this is a beneficial idea to educate the children because they are the future, the Keralans are thinking about the long-term effects of a free education whereas the other Indian states do not give education unless the citizens give money. The Keralan government provide free education, however the classes are exceptionally large, as a result the children would not get the right amount of education necessary. This is why parents work hard on farms to produce the best quality of crops. Selling as much as possible and getting the largest possible yield means more money, that way the children have a better chance of doing well academically. Well educated Keralans get the opportunity to work abroad as they get more money this way, hence, wages for farm labourers are higher in Kerala than in the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu, as fewer workers are available. Money is sent home from abroad, for that reason, the Keralans have money to spend, they can afford manufactured goods and this encourages new businesses to start up. New jobs means more jobs available in Kerala other than farming which is very hard and tiring. Parents do not want their children to do that. People with jobs have a better standard of living. This all leads to a developed, better state for the people of Kerala to live in. I think that the state of Kerala is more developed than other parts of India because they can afford to spend money on manufactured goods, meaning more businesses are likely to start up. Because of this new jobs are available for the children that are not very intelligent or that did badly at school. The Keralan government realise that educating children is a necessity because when they are old and ill and need a doctor it will be one of those children, so in the future everyone benefits from this.

Christian Symbolism in the Old Man and the Sea - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 2 Words: 696 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2019/08/16 Category Literature Essay Level High school Tags: The Old Man and The Sea Essay Did you like this example? The Old Man and the Sea may seem like a shallow book on its face level, but many extensive themes are evident throughout the book. Specifically, Christian Symbolism is apparent throughout. These are the themes displayed in my artwork, which shows Santiago as a Christ-Like figure. This is because he persevered through pain and suffering, and turned it into reward and victory, just how Jesus went through pain on the cross, but renewed his life and won. These themes are initially evident in the book during his struggle with the fish. First, while the old man is fighting the marlin, his hands are cut by the fishing line. The cuts not only symbolize the wounds on Jesus hands while he was on the cross, but how he went through pain and suffering in his crucifixion. Santiago is a direct portrayal of Jesus and his suffering. The old man is willing to suffer and maybe even sacrifice his own life, just how Jesus was willing to do the same. Also during the fight, on page 107, Hemingway describes a noise Santiago has made, Just a noise such as a man might make, involuntarily, feeling the nail go through his hands and into the woods (107). This is a direct association of Santiago and Jesus Christ. This quote relates to how Jesus hands were nailed to the cross, and a sound he might have made when nails were driven through his hands into the wood. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Christian Symbolism in the Old Man and the Sea" essay for you Create order Another example of Santiago being a Christ life figure is how he carried the mast of his ship up the hill and back home. This alludes to Jesus walk towards Calvary with the cross on his back. Also, towards the very end of the book, when Santiago lays down on his bed, Hemingway describes him laying down face down with his arms out and his palms/hands up. This evokes a picture of how Jesus Christ was suffering on the cross. He does this to even further link Santiago to Jesus. The whole story draws similarities between the two, where they both turn pain and loss into benefits and victory. Because of how often they relate, I chose to draw Santiago as Jesus to show this connection and how Hemmingway relies on this symbolism as a major overarching theme in the book. The parallels between the two drive how the old man is willing to sacrifice for the greater good, and the praise that comes from this sacrifice. He matches the two to relate to how Jesus sacrificed himself for the greater good of man. This connection also develops other, more face value, themes that Jesus and Santiago both show. Santiago being a Christ like figure plays into the theme of perseverance. You must go through some discomfort and a fight to yield rewards. Persevering and sticking through hardships results in rewards. Both Jesus and Santiago went through tough times but eventually their struggles bore fruits. In Santiagos case, the strenuous fight with the marlin shows this because he eventually killed the fish and ended his fishing drought. Also, the book shows how skill of mind is more important than brawn. Jesus didnt actually fight people with his hands in wars, he used his knowledge of God and stories to gain followers and baptize people. Santiago did the same where his knowledge and experience of the sea makes up for his weak self (being an old man). He may not have been able to finish the fish if he didnt have knowledge of the oceans and fishing. Santiago won by outsmarting the fish, rather than trying to forcibly and physically beat it. Both used their minds and knowledge more, rather than their physical strength to do their work. It again shows how the mind is more important than physical strength. Santiago is symbolized as a christ figure throughout the novel, both Jesus and Santiago were fixed to their faith in times of uncertainty and suffering. Santiago is meant to symbolize Christ, his teachings, and his struggles during his crucifixion. All of these reasons relate to the connection between Jesus and Santiago, and it is why Jesus was drawn in the art, to show this relationship.