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"Beyond Food Miles Posted Mar 9, 2011 by Michael Bomford NOTE: The following article is concerned strictly with the energy equation of the food sytem and is intended to stimulate questions about how best to grow, transport, store and prepare (ideally local) foods. There are many reasons to favor local food, including supporting local economies and building local food security.      "There is nothing as deceptive as an obvious fact" -Sherlock Holmes   A locavore is "a person who endeavors to eat only locally produced food."[1] What better diet could there be for an energy constrained world? After all, feeding Americans accounts for about 15% of US energy use,[2] and the average food item travels more than 5,000 miles from farm to fork.[3] It seems obvious that eating locally will go a long way to reducing food system energy use.   Yet cracking the case of America's energy-intensive food system demands that we look beyond the obvious. A local diet can reduce energy use somewhat, but there are even more effective ways to tackle the problem. Single-minded pursuit of local food, without consideration of the bigger picture, can actually make things worse from an energy perspective.[4]   If you realize you're spending too much money, the first thing to do is figure out where it's going. Cutting back on pizza won't make much difference if you're spending most of your money on beer. Similarly, the first step in reducing food system energy use is to figure out where all the energy is going. That's what a team of economists working for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) did last year, in a report called Energy Use in the US Food System.     Where the energy goes: Energy used in the food system as a proportion of total energy used in the US in 2002.[5]     The report contains some surprises. Transportation is the smallest piece of the food system energy pie. Even farming isn't a particularly big contributor. The big energy users t

"Middle-earth effect The impact of Sir Peter Jackson's The Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit Trilogies on tourism in New Zealand cannot be dismissed.  The International Visitor Survey from 2004, completed following the release of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, found that six percent of visitors to New Zealand (around 120,000 - 150,000 people) cited The Lord of the Rings as being one of the main reasons for visiting New Zealand. One per cent of visitors said that the Lord of the Rings was their main or only reason for visiting. This one per cent related to approximately NZ$32.8m in spend. In 2004, 63,200 visitors participated in a Lord of the Rings activity while here and since 2004, an average 47,000 visitors each year have visited a film location. In 2014 research completed by the New Zealand Institue of Economic Research found that the marketing of New Zealand as Middle-earth has had a significant and quantifiable impact on growth in visitor arrivals from Western markets.  International Visitor Arrivals data for year ending August 2014 show holiday arrivals into New Zealand are up 7.2 per cent on last year. Holiday arrivals from the United States, a key target market for the Middle-earth campaign, are up 14.2 per cent on the same period last year. The International Visitor Survey shows that 13 per cent of all international visitors surveyed July 2013 - June 2014, say The Hobbit was a factor in stimulating their interest in New Zealand as a destination. Source: Tourism New Zealand Corporate Website / Statistics New Zealand"

"'WASH' strategy improves access to safe water and sanitation in Niger © UNICEF video A boy drinks from a UNICEF-installed well in Zabon Moussou, Niger, which supplies water for 1,750 people. By Nina Martinek As part of the launch of 'Progress for Children No. 5: A Report Card on Water and Sanitation', UNICEF is featuring a series of stories focused on achieving the 2015 targets set by Millennium Development Goal 7 - to halve  the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. GUIDAN GAZOBI, Niger, 8 September 2006 - Access to safe drinking water is a daily struggle for the people of Niger, especially women and girls, who are responsible for collecting water for their families. As a result, girls frequently miss school and women's health is adversely affected, often resulting in low birth weight in their young children. Infant and child deaths "We have to go beyond the food availability issue and tackle the lack of access to basic services like health, safe water, hygiene and environmental sanitation, which is contributing on a large scale to malnutrition," says UNICEF Representative in Niger Aboudou K. Adjibade. © UNICEF video Women carry water home for their families from the cemented well in the village of Zabon Moussou. In rural Niger, 64 per cent of the population does not have access to safe drinking water. Many people drink pond water that is shared with livestock, is contaminated by guinea worms and registers high levels of chemicals such as fluoride and nitrates. Indeed, a majority of infant and child deaths in rural Niger are linked to contaminated water, lack of hygiene and inadequate sanitation. Unsanitary environments and unsafe water threaten not only the survival of young children but also their and physical and mental development. Illnesses such as diarrhoea cause and exacerbate malnutrition, and can result in long-term stunting. Water, sanitation and hygiene UNICEF's ob

"HOME NEWS NEWSLETTER APPS DESTINATIONS FORUMS HOTELS CLASSIFIEDS WEATHER DATING MORE      Sign In    Create Account AdvancedThis topic Thailand Forum → News → Thailand News   View New ContentHelp  2 Bangkok Is In Desperate Need Of Open Spaces And Fresh Air"

"Siam Square: Bangkok's most expensive land price BANGKOK, Oct 25 - A real estate company estimating land prices in the Thai capital indicates that the most expensive plots of land in the country would reach Bt1.5 million/square wah (2 sq metres) in Bangkok's Siam Square, a prime shopping area, this year.   An agency for Real Estate Affairs recently conducted research on changes of land prices in Bangkok. The prime areas are at Siam Paragon department store, Siam Square, and areas near Chidlom and Ploenchit BTS stations. The company said already high prices would increase this year from currently Bt1.4 million per square wah. The second prime areas are land around Wireless Rd and Silom Rd at Bt1.1 million per square wah. Prices of land along BTS skytrain stations have continously increased, particularly at Siam Square and Ploenchit stations, by 16.7 percent in the past year, while prices of land along MRT underground stations have increased by 14.4 percent. The company said price estimates will continue to rise over the next five years."

Iceland 'best country for gender equality' Iceland's government is led by a female prime minister, Johanna Sigurdardottir Continue reading the main story Women in the Workplace Job gap 'narrowing for mothers' Gender case hits insurance costs Call for more women on boards Women find glass ceiling 'intact' Iceland remains the country that has the greatest equality between men and women, according to an annual report by the World Economic Forum (WEF). It is the second year in succession that Iceland has topped the foundation's Global Gender Gap Report. Nordic nations dominate the top of the list of 134 countries, with Norway in second place and Finland third. The report measures equity in the areas of politics, education, employment and health. Continue reading the main story Lowest gender gaps in 2010 1 Iceland - no change from 2009 2 Norway - Up from 3rd 3 Finland - Down from 2nd 4 Sweden - No change 5 New Zealand - No change 6 Republic of Ireland - Up from 8th 7 Denmark - No change 8 Lesotho - Up from 10th 9 Philippines - No change 10 Switzerland - Up from 13th 11 Spain - Up from 17th 12 South Africa - Down from 6th 13 Germany - Down from 12th 14 Belgium - Up from 33rd 15 UK - No change Source: World Economic Forum Sweden is in fourth place, with New Zealand fifth. "Nordic countries continue to lead the way in eliminating gender inequality," said Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum. "Low gender gaps are directly correlated with high economic competitiveness. Women and girls must be treated equally if a country is to grow and prosper." The UK came 15th in the latest rankings - no change from 2009. France was one of the biggest fallers, down to 46th place from 18th in 2009. WEF that said was a result of a decline in the number of women holding ministerial positions in the French government. Meanwhile the US has risen to 19th place from 31st in 2009, because of a higher number of women in President Obama'

Fortune favours the big Jul 12th 2012, 15:45 by The Economist online Where are the biggest companies in the world WHEN RANKED by revenue America has almost twice as many companies in the biggest 500 than any other country, according to Fortune. This is not solely down to its size; America's ratio of companies to people is also striking. It has one company on Fortune's list for every 2.4m people, only a handful of European economies do better. China is moving in on America's spot though. In 2005 the Middle Kingdom housed only 16 of the biggest firms. This year it has 73-more than Japan. In contrast to the American way, China's government has a hand in most of its biggest firms. The highest ranked is Sinopec, an oil producer, which came in fifth. A look at the ratio of big firms to GDP highlights the places where tax is low and business is easy to do. Luxembourg (not shown) does best with 34 companies per trillion dollars, followed by Switzerland and Taiwan. All 500 firms on the list racked up combined revenue of $29trn. From this $1.6trn was profit, about the same as Australia's GDP.

"Since 2000, the Bangkok region has experienced annual population growth 2.5 times the rate of growth from 1980 to 2000. By 2010, the Bangkok region - which includes the provincial level city of Bangkok and the provinces of Samat Prakan, Samut Sakhon, Pathum Thani, Nonthaburi and Nakhon Pathom -  was nearing a population of 15 million "

"IT'S ENOUGH TO MAKE YOU CANCEL YOUR RESERVATION A vacation is supposed to be your time away from the crazy. Remind me never to travel to any of the same vacation spots these people have booked. I'll take that upgrade and trade you a bus tour of "OH MY GOD THESE PEOPLE ARE NUTS!" - THESE ARE ACTUAL COMPLAINTS RECEIVED BY "THOMAS COOK VACATIONS FROM DISSATISFIED CUSTOMERS" : 1. "I think it should be explained in the brochure that the local convenience store does not sell proper biscuits like custard creams or ginger nuts." 2. "It's lazy of the local shopkeepers in Puerto Vallarta to close in the afternoons. I often needed to buy things during 'siesta' time - this should be banned." 3. "On my holiday to Goa in India , I was disgusted to find that almost every restaurant served curry. I don't like spicy food." I'll book it but only if I can screen my fellow travelers first. 4. "We booked an excursion to a water park but no-one told us we had to bring our own swimsuits and towels. We assumed it would be included in the price" 5. "The beach was too sandy. We had to clean everything when we returned to our room." 6. "We found the sand was not like the sand in the brochure. Your brochure shows the sand as white but it was more yellow." 7. "They should not allow topless sunbathing on the beach. It was very distracting for my husband who just wanted to relax." 8. "No-one told us there would be fish in the water. The children were scared." 9. "Although the brochure said that there was a fully equipped kitchen, there was no egg-slicer in the drawers." 10. "We went on holiday to Spain and had a problem with the taxi drivers as they were all Spanish." 11. "The roads were uneven and bumpy, so we could not read the local guide book during the bus ride to the resort. Because of this, we were unaware of many things that would have made our holiday more fun." 12. "It took us nine hours to fly home

"If a new scientific paper is proven accurate, the international target of limiting global temperatures to a 2°C rise this century will not be nearly enough to prevent catastrophic melting of ice sheets that would raise sea levels much higher and much faster than previously thought possible."

"The abandoned skyscrapers of Detroit The Telegraph 2.8M views"