Address Malnutrition with Food Insecurity
By Jomo Kwame SundaramKUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Aug 4 2020 (IPS) The 2020 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World, issued by the Food and Agriculture Organization and its United Nations partners in mid-July, reports that chronic hunger continued to increase to 690 million worldwide in 2019, 60 million more than in 2014.
Jomo Kwame SundaramSome two billion people worldwide were already experiencing some food insecurity during 2019, a number likely to spike upward due to Covid-19. Although headline hunger numbers have been significantly revised down retrospectively with better official data, the uptrend remains alar...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - August 4, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Jomo Kwame Sundaram Tags: Africa Development & Aid Economy & Trade Food & Agriculture Food Security and Nutrition Food Sustainability Global Green Economy Headlines Health TerraViva United Nations Source Type: news
The Critical Role of Women in Avoiding a Covid-19 “Food Pandemic” in sub-Saharan Africa
Credit: Kristin Palitza/IPSBy Gaudiose MujawamariyaANTANANARIVO, Madagascar, Jun 24 2020 (IPS) As infections with Covid-19 appear to be intensifying in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), fears of severe food shortages have prompted experts to warn that the region may be “on the brink of a hunger pandemic.” Efforts are intensifying to rally a major global response.
But averting what some experts believe could be a food crisis of immense proportions requires paying close attention to an often overlooked feature of food security in the region: African women play a large and growing role in all aspects of the region’s food system...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - June 24, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Gaudiose Mujawamariya Tags: Africa Food & Agriculture Gender Headlines Health TerraViva United Nations Source Type: news
Back pain - the best dinner vegetable you should add to your diet for avoiding backache
BACK pain could be prevented by watching your diet, or by changing your sleep position. You could also lower your risk of lower back pain symptoms by making a few changes to your shopping list, including adding sweet potato to your dinner plans. (Source: Daily Express - Health)
Source: Daily Express - Health - June 22, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Agriculture: Rooted in Racism
Credit: Heifer InternationalBy Pierre Ferrari and Cory GilmanJun 22 2020 (IPS) There has been far less social progress in the United States in the last 155 years than many people would like to believe. In 2020, racism still seeps its way into every aspect of life; from unconscious bias and micro-aggressions in everyday interactions to domestic and international policy and enforcement.
As an organization with 76 years of history supporting smallholder producers, we have a responsibility to use our experience to name and break the barriers that have plagued Black, Indigenous and People of Color farmers. Fighting injustice i...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - June 22, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Pierre Ferrari and Cory Gilman Tags: Climate Change Crime & Justice Economy & Trade Featured Food & Agriculture Gender Global Headlines Health Human Rights Inequity Poverty & SDGs Source Type: news
Sweet potato microbiome research important first step towards improving yield
(American Phytopathological Society) Despite the importance of sweet potato, little is known about the sweet potato microbiome. ;A plant's microbiome profoundly impacts its health and development,' explains Brooke Bissinger, an entomologist who recently published a study on sweet potatoes in Phytobiomes Journal. 'We sought to better understand the sweet potato microbiomes by characterizing it within and between actual working farms.' (Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health)
Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health - April 22, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: news
How to Stay Physically and Mentally Healthy While COVID-19 Has You Stuck at Home
Most health advice can be boiled down to simple behaviors, like eating a balanced diet, exercising and getting good sleep.
During a pandemic like COVID-19, these actions are especially crucial for maintaining you physical and mental well-being. But social distancing complicates things. How are you supposed to eat right when you’re living on non-perishables? How can you work out when you’re cooped up at home? How can you sleep when you’re anxious about, well, everything?
This expert-backed guide is a good place to start. Here’s how to stay healthy (and calm) while social distancing during the COVID-1...
Source: TIME: Health - March 18, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Jamie Ducharme Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 UnitedWeRise20Disaster Source Type: news
Spacefarers by Christopher Wanjek review – getting practical about our future beyond Earth
Skyhooks, railguns and growing sweet potatoes on Mars … a nerdily engaging discussion of how humans might settle other planetsIn 2007, China demonstrated a new anti-satellite missile by blowing one of its own defunct weather satellites to smithereens: a cloud of shards that still orbits the Earth. The message was not lost on the US, and just before Christmas last year Donald Trump launched his “Space Force”. The heavens are being remilitarised in a new superpower space race; China is planning manned Moon missions, and Elon Musk wants to build a city on Mars. But what exactly is space good for, apart from being the ul...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - March 4, 2020 Category: Science Authors: Steven Poole Tags: Science and nature books Culture Astronomy Space Mars The moon Source Type: news
Honey-glazed sweet potatoes
(Source: MayoClinic.com Full Feed)
Source: MayoClinic.com Full Feed - February 19, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Biofortified Crops Improve Farmers ’ Livelihoods in Zimbabwe
By Martha KatsiHARARE, Zimbabwe, Jan 27 2020 (IPS) Steven Seremwe, who is 57 years old, was retrenched from his job as an administrator at Lake Shore Missions in 2012. He decided to focus on farming, and he started growing various crops—white maize, sugar beans, and sweet potatoes, among others—for consumption and sale.
“I have always loved agriculture but because of work pressures, I was not practicing. But when I got retrenched from work, I decided to follow my heart and started farming,” he said.
The problem was that every farming season, even with a bumper harvest, Seremwe`s income was falling short. Profits w...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - January 27, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Martha Katsi Tags: Africa Biodiversity Development & Aid Economy & Trade Environment Featured Food & Agriculture Food Sustainability Headlines Health Poverty & SDGs TerraViva United Nations Source Type: news
Sweet potato uses a single odor to warn its neighbors of insect attack
(Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology) A single volatile substance can be sufficient to induce a defense response in sweet potatoes to herbivores. Researchers have identified this substance and shown that the mechanism is not only limited to the attacked plant itself but also alerts unaffected neighboring plants to defend themselves against attackers. This response is specific and not observed in every sweet potato cultivar. The results of the study are of interest for breeding resistant sweet potato cultivars. (Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health)
Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health - December 2, 2019 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: news
Healthy leftover ideas for Thanksgiving and Christmas foods
CNN Health's Jacqueline Howard offers tips on how to store and repurpose holiday leftovers, including cranberries and sweet potatoes. (Source: CNN.com - Health)
Source: CNN.com - Health - November 25, 2019 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
AHA News: Sweet Potatoes Are a Holiday Dish to Be Thankful For
MONDAY, Nov. 25, 2019 (American Heart Association News) -- Sweet potatoes and yams are a Thanksgiving staple for many families, which makes it important to understand one key fact: Sweet potatoes are not the same thing as yams.
The terms are often... (Source: Drugs.com - Daily MedNews)
Source: Drugs.com - Daily MedNews - November 25, 2019 Category: General Medicine Source Type: news
New tool facilitates genetic mapping of polyploid plants
(Funda ç ã o de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de S ã o Paulo) Available online for free, polyploid mapping system developed in Brazil helps breeders of sugarcane, kiwi, blueberry, sweet potato and forages, among other crops. (Source: EurekAlert! - Biology)
Source: EurekAlert! - Biology - November 8, 2019 Category: Biology Source Type: news
When the Menu Turns Raw, Your Gut Microbes Know What to Do
Before scientists tested the effects of some dietary changes on the microbiome, they ordered a special menu from a chef-turned-chemist. (Source: NYT Health)
Source: NYT Health - October 23, 2019 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Veronique Greenwood Tags: Digestive Tract Microbiology Evolution (Biology) Cooking and Cookbooks Diet and Nutrition Mice Sweet Potatoes Nature Microbiology (Journal) Carmody, Rachel Turnbaugh, Peter Rekdal, Vayu Maini your-feed-science Source Type: news
95% Of Baby Foods Tested Contain Lead, Arsenic, Or Other Toxic Metal
By Sandee LaMotte, CNN
(CNN) — Toxic heavy metals damaging to your baby’s brain development are likely in the baby food you are feeding your infant, according to a new investigation published Thursday.
Tests of 168 baby foods from major manufacturers in the US found 95% contained lead, 73% contained arsenic, 75% contained cadmium and 32% contained mercury. One fourth of the foods contained all four heavy metals.
One in five baby foods tested had over 10 times the 1-ppb limit of lead endorsed by public health advocates, although experts agree that no level of lead is safe.
The results mimicked a previous study...
Source: WBZ-TV - Breaking News, Weather and Sports for Boston, Worcester and New Hampshire - October 17, 2019 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Health – CBS Boston Tags: Consumer Featured Health News Syndicated CBSN Boston CNN Source Type: news
