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Study Reveals UK Throws Away $20 Billion in Food a Year

YumSugar — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:30:44 -0800

With the biggest meal of the year a mere two weeks away, here's something to keep in mind: reducing food waste. The British government has just released a new report that reveals each year, the country throws away more than $20 billion in consumable food and drink.

According to the Waste and Resources Action Program (WRAP), the UK's food waste is topping 6.6 million tons annually. By tossing less, consumers could prevent food from being directed to landfill sites - an act that would prevent 15 million tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions yearly. (Once it becomes landfill, food produces methane, another potent greenhouse gas.) WRAP aims to reduce waste by 250,000 tons by March 2011.

I can only imagine what the results of a food waste study would be in the United States. Hopefully, this is an initiative that our administration is looking into - although the first step is definitely consumer awareness. How mindful are you of not wasting food?

UK Government Opposes Buy-One-Get-One-Free Food Deals

YumSugar — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 11:30:42 -0700

The UK government, in an effort to reduce wasted food, is pressuring grocers to stop employing buy-one-get-one-free sales tactics. The nation's administration found that a third of all food in the UK is wasted, including roughly 5.1 million potatoes and 220,000 loaves of bread each year.

According to the Waste and Resource Action Program, or WRAP, the average Briton throws away more than his own weight - over $700 worth - in food annually. Eliminating the amount of food being tossed would decrease carbon emissions equivalent to removing a fifth of the country's cars on the road.WRAP suspects that since many of the buy-one-get-one-free promotions are applied to older items, consumers are tossing products that pass their "sell-by" dates, unaware that the commodities can still be consumed, as long as they haven't reached a different "use-by" date. As an alternative, supermarkets are being asked to offer half-price deals on perishable goods instead.

Since I've spent my whole life exposed to these deals, it never occurred to me that this sales pitch could be wasteful. But the policy, which appears to have plenty of market research behind it, makes sense. What do you think of the move? Should America consider doing the same as well?

Source: Flickr User Michael_Lehet

China Reconsidering One-Child Policy

LibertySugar — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 13:00:54 -0800

China is considering incrementally changing its strict family-planning policies. The world's most populous country has restricted most families to one child for three decades. Today, it implements the policy using harsh fines, but during the 1980s, Chinese routinely underwent forced abortions and sterilization procedures. Chinese officials believe the policy has prevented 400 million births, and allowed China to prosper and preserve its resources.

But now a demographic crisis awaits China's urban centers. With aging populations, cities already are experiencing labor shortages. The gender imbalance - Chinese have more boys as a result of selective abortion - also troubles the county. A gradual shift in policy, such as the shift in Shanghai, may be in order. Now, Shanghai allows couples to have two children, if both partners have no siblings.

Do you think that China's family planning regulations offend the freedom to reproduce, a human right? Or, is this more of an environmental issue? With a population in China of 1.3 billion, could China, and the world sustain another 400 million people and counting?

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China's One-Child Policy Lifted For Quake Victims

LibertySugar — Tue, 27 May 2008 14:30:18 -0700

Chinese officials have announced that families, whose only child was killed or critically injured in this month's earthquake, will be exempt from the one-child policy, a decision that appears to be only fair.

The reprieve, which at first seems compassionate, highlights the unnatural quality of China's entire family-planning policy. A couple, dealing with the loss of their legal child, will have to apply for permission to have a "legal replacement." If the family already has an illegal second child, the parents will no longer be responsible for outstanding (and hefty) fines; but, fines already paid will not be reimbursed.

Recently China has been considering a modification to its three-decade-old one-child policy, which has prevented as many as 400 million births. As of now, however, reproduction is almost always limited to one child, unless a family is prepared to pay the price in fines.

Will permission to create a "replacement" life bring hope to these grieving parents? Does the government have any right to interfere with a citizen's reproductive rights, even if the society doesn't have the means to support overpopulation?

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Where I'm Clicking Now: JustForeignPolicy.org

LibertySugar — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 06:00:09 -0800

JustForeignPolicy.org is great - not only does it educate readers about crucial foreign policy issues, it also lets you do something about it. The site recently posted a short video exploring the role the US had in overthrowing Iran's democratic leader in 1953, as well as the overall complex relations between the two countries. Watch it below.

Right next to the video, is a link that makes it easy to email your own representative, urging them to support the Lee Bill, which would appoint a high-level US representative for the purpose of reducing tensions and establishing normal diplomatic relations with Iran.

The site is independent and nonpartisan. Its goal is to move US foreign policy away from relying on raw military and economic power and more toward using international law, cooperation, and diplomacy. Check it out!

President Bush Announces New Policy on Cuba

CitizenSugar — Wed, 21 May 2008 08:00:23 -0700

Moments ago, President Bush announced a landmark policy change with regard to Cuba. Americans will now be able to send cell phones to Cubans. It's a change that Bush hopes will encourage the new regime of Raul Castro to increase freedom of expression for Cuban citizens

The announcement was made in a speech intended to mark Cuba's 106th anniversary of independence. I'm a political speech aficionado, and don't usually cotton to the simpler prose preferred by Bush - but this one had the prints of a new scribe all over it. To see what he said, read more.

Bush said (and I'm paraphrasing closely, the text isn't online yet):

Now that Cubans can have cell phones, let's make sure they have the freedom to express themselves. Now that Cubans can buy DVD players, let's make sure they can watch movies made by Cuban artists who are allowed to speak freely. Now that Cubans can buy computers, let's give them unrestricted access to the Internet. Now that they can buy toasters, let's make sure they don't have to worry about being able to afford bread to put in it.

I thought it summed up the dichotomy of the advancing freedoms and the work left nicely. Now that the change has been announced, the administration is waiting to see if Cuba will allow the phones to enter. The White House was careful to say that the change is not a loosening of the US economic embargo against Cuba, but a change in regulations. Is this a step in the right direction? Are cell phones the answer to building a new relationship with Cuba?

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Wait - What's Your Policy Exactly?

GiggleSugar — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 04:00:00 -0800

Perhaps an organization devoted to abstinence should watch where it puts its quotation marks. Plus, what's up with all those conflicting "slogans"?

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Obama Administration Rolls Out New Food-Safety Website

YumSugar — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 14:00:27 -0700

President Obama's attempting to follow through on his promise to strengthen the country's food-safety system. At the Consumer Federation of America's national food policy conference this week, the Obama Administration premiered the new foodsafety.gov, a streamlined food site that gives consumers information regarding contamination issues and more access to food-safety resources. The user-friendly site aims to help consumers, who are concerned about recalls, keep tabs on food issues in their state, report problems immediately, and learn how to keep food safe, among other things. Earlier this week, the FDA also announced more rigorous guidelines for reporting potential contaminations, as well as the creation of a database for manufacturers to report food-safety issues. Producers are required to report products that could harm consumers within 24 hours.

Do you care about the new policies being implemented? And is the food-safety website something you'd take the time to visit?

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Are Facebook Photos Fair Game For Insurance Companies?

GeekSugar — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:44:58 -0800

I just came across a story about a woman in Canada who lost insurance benefits because of a photo posted on Facebook. The woman was on medical leave from her job due to severe depression, and was receiving monthly disability payments from an insurance company. After she stopped receiving payments, she called her insurance company, who told her that she should be available to work because of photos she posted on Facebook that showed her looking happy and having a good time - hardly experiencing the crippling depression that kept her from going to work.

After the case started making headlines, the woman's insurance company issued a statement saying they would not terminate a policy based solely on something posted on Facebook; it remains to be seen whether or not the woman in question will be allowed to once again receive benefits.

I've heard countless stories of people being fired or getting into serious trouble for things they posted on Facebook, and even came up with a list of suggestions for how not to get in trouble on the site, but this case seems a bit extreme. What do you think?

Productivity Advice From White House Deputy Chief of Staff

SavvySugar — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:00:53 -0800

There's no denying White House Deputy Chief of Staff Mona Sutphen is a busy woman. She works for Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, coordinating the president's public-policy priorities, a position that makes me tired just thinking about it. The multitasking maven shared some of her proven productivity secrets with this month's Self magazine.

On getting organized for the day:
It's a job that involves a lot of problem solving, so I schedule a quiet block each morning to deal with issues that crop up overnight. That way, I'm not letting minor crises take over my day.

On her "one-touch" rule:
When I open an email or pick up a phone message, I try to deal right then with any issue I need to resolve so I don't have to go back to the same piece of paper over and over again.

On "stressing selectively":
I have learned not to work myself up about things I have no control over. When I receive bad news, I calmly focus on managing what happens from there on out.

Do you use any of these tactics to stay productive and on the ball at your work?