Sustainable agriculture Essay Example for Free

Sustainable agriculture Essay Specific purpose: Organic food advocates claim that organically grown foods are safer and more nutritious than foods raised with non-organic methods such as pesticide and non-organic fertilizer use, or antibiotic and hormone use. Thesis statement: Many people just dont trust these chemicals and dont want to put them into their bodies. Since virtually all non-organically produced foods contain residues of pesticides, fertilizers and other chemicals, the only way to avoid them is to buy organic foods. Introduction Organic foods are grown without using most conventional pesticides and fertilizers. A product that is identified as being organic is not produced by genetic engineering. Ionizing radiation and sewage sludge cannot be used in organic production or handling. Organic farming practices include soil and water conservation measures. Crop rotation, manure, and compost are used to improve the soil in place of using conventional fertilizers. Instead of using commercial insecticides or herbicides, organic farmers might use companion planting to discourage insects and mulch and hand weeding to control weeds. To be certified as organic, food products need to come from farms and processing plants that are certified as organic. This means that they are inspected by certified government officials to ensure that organic farms are up to USDA organic standards. The USDA is responsible for the organic labeling program and allows one of three possible labels: Products labeled â€Å"100 percent organic† must contain only organically produced ingredients. Products labeled â€Å"organic† must have at least 95 percent of their ingredients organically produced. Products labeled â€Å"made with organic ingredients† must contain at least 70 percent organic ingredients. Products that contain less than 70 percent organic ingredients can list individual ingredients as organic but cannot say that the product is organic. Need Not cheaper: Expect to pay more for organic food, since it requires more labor to bring to market. Not local: Organic produce can come from miles away, and may require lots of energy to transport. Not clean: You should still wash organic produce to remove dirt and bacteria, and take all normal food-handling precautions when preparing organic meats and other foods. Satisfaction Organics Are Good for Your Babys Body A variety of wholesome, nutritious foods is what your baby needs to develop in both body and mind. Chemicals, in the form of added artificial flavorings, dyes, pesticide and herbicide residues, and hydrogenated fats, do nothing to promote good health, and can even detract from it. Organically grown and produced food is free of these chemicals, leaving only the good taste and nutrition that nature intended. Babies and children who are fed an organic diet are not overexposed to antibiotic residue in their food, either. Animals are healthier when farmed organically, because they have adequate access to fresh air, appropriate diet, and outdoor space. Therefore, the need for antibiotic overuse is eliminated. (According to USDA rules, organic meat must be antibiotic-free. ) Organics Are Better for the Planet Taking care of the world that your baby will inherit is also good parenting. Organic farming is based on keeping the soil healthy through natural means like rotating crops, letting fields lie fallow, and using natural fertilizing methods rather than spraying on toxic pesticides and herbicides that can run off into water supplies and contaminate the soil. Visualization Action How to Create a Healthy Organic Table As with most everything, in feeding your family variety is the spice of life. Serving seasonal produce in a variety of colors with a wide range of whole grains and protein sources ensures that your family receives the full spectrum of nutrients that bodies need to function at their best. These recommendations Eating a variety of fruits, vegetables, and legumes in a variety of colors Eating a variety of whole-grain products Consuming low-fat or fat-free dairy products or equivalent milk products Limiting added sugar, salt, and saturated fat, and avoiding trans fats Work cited National Organic Program, United States Department of Agriculture, Organic Foods Standards and Labels: The Facts Updated: January 2007. Magkos F, Arvaniti F, Zampelas A. Organic food: buying more safety or just peace of mind? A critical review of the literature. 1: Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2006;46(1):23-56. Colborn, T. A Case for Revisiting the Safety of Pesticides: A Closer Look at Neurodevelopment. Environ Health Perspect. 2006 January; 114(1):10-17. Magkos F, Arvaniti F, Zampelas A. Organic food: nutritious food or food for thought? A review of the evidence. Int J Food Sci Nutr. 2003 Sep;54(5):357-71. Kopke U. Organic foods: do they have a role? Forum Nutr. 2005;(57):62-72.

Sylvia Plaths Lady Lazarus and Stings Essay -- Lady Lazarus Essays

Lady Lazarus and Stings Sylvia Plath's works are known for their extremes. Much of the influence of her poems came from the males in her life that had the most effect on her; her father, Otto Plath and Ted Hughes, who she married and later it fell apart when Ted began having an affair. The effects of these men on her were mostly negative, making her poems to have loathing and suffering. Otto Plath published a book about bees early in Sylvia's life, and he kept bees, which was an n activity later carried on by his daughter. Sylvia wrote a poem about bees called "Stings." Otto had a form of diabetes, and he refused any kind of medical treatment, therefor leading to his death. Sylvia followed his example and it is shown in "Tulips" and "Daddy". The fact that she devoted an entire poem to her father, and the hurt and pain that was caused by him, shows how intensely she felt about him. "Her father's death left her not only with a hoard of unresolved grief, but it also left her defenseless against her mother's unintended vampirish harm. She... Sylvia Plath's Lady Lazarus and Stings Essay -- Lady Lazarus Essays Lady Lazarus and Stings Sylvia Plath's works are known for their extremes. Much of the influence of her poems came from the males in her life that had the most effect on her; her father, Otto Plath and Ted Hughes, who she married and later it fell apart when Ted began having an affair. The effects of these men on her were mostly negative, making her poems to have loathing and suffering. Otto Plath published a book about bees early in Sylvia's life, and he kept bees, which was an n activity later carried on by his daughter. Sylvia wrote a poem about bees called "Stings." Otto had a form of diabetes, and he refused any kind of medical treatment, therefor leading to his death. Sylvia followed his example and it is shown in "Tulips" and "Daddy". The fact that she devoted an entire poem to her father, and the hurt and pain that was caused by him, shows how intensely she felt about him. "Her father's death left her not only with a hoard of unresolved grief, but it also left her defenseless against her mother's unintended vampirish harm. She...

Expectations

Finally, the blade deepens and hits just right, the scar of what the doubtful and painful knife has left me insecure and filled with emptiness. The sparks of love I had was weak and burning low, it soon became a weapon that only caused me harm. This body soon became an empty vessel searching for a purpose in this constant non-fiction world. Tick tock, tick tock, the clock goes, teachers writing riddles on the board, speaking of a foreign language that I cannot comprehend. Various noises filled the classroom, speaking of gibberish as I sit in this isolated bubble of my own. Surviving in this vessel, searching for a purpose- no, but rather waiting to be re-wired and commanded day by day. I love the languages subjects so I am pretty good at it, but I hate maths and sciences, hence I am bad at it. With no further comments I scanned through the whiteboard, but everyday I worry on how people kept instructing me how to grow as a person; giving me options on what's right and wrong, but in the end, the things that I will choose will forever be false.Everyday, I noticed to have a work that is always incomplete; I stare at the blank piece of paper reflecting about my life. With not much personality as an individual, hence I do not find it as an inconvenience to survive in this school. As time continued to pass by, I realized that I'm currently stuck in a never ending cycle of hypnotism, staggering through the same hallways each day, and soon it feels as though everything is on repeat. In class again, questions and answers that are not even needed in my daily life, being drilled into my mind, as I flipped through the textbook, which contains no specific answer. â€Å"How are your grades?† you asked with a smile.I shrugged, â€Å"The same, I guess.†Piercing me with your eyes, reminding me of the â€Å"future† I will soon have. If my tears were colours, then my pillow would be painted with rainbows. Thus in the morning, I would wake up with dark rings around my eyes, taunting me every time I look at myreflection. I would try and cover it up so that they would be a shade lighter, but I know they can never completely disappear. Staggering through the same hallways, towards an empty seat, one far from the sunlight, but rays still reached, blinded me and left me a daze, as if it is trying to question me; â€Å"What were you expecting in life?† â€Å"What are your dreams?†Searching frantically for an answer in that textbook, I can't breathe, I'm choking and it hurts. The stares that they give, beating down my confidence and pride all over again, I tried to find an answer, but its all the same; still an empty white paper, reflecting about my accomplishment in life. â€Å"I can do this†¦Ã¢â‚¬ I keep repeating those words in my mind, as I stare at that incomplete work, reminding me about â€Å"responsibilities†, â€Å"success†, â€Å"achievements†, â€Å"grades†, and so on, and every time I climb back up, your words kept knocking down my stance, chaining me down, to expectations, that I cannot achieve. Expectations and dreams, which are so heavy chaining me, more than gravity ever will. â€Å"I've tried†¦I'm tired†¦It hurts†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Ã¢â‚¬ When will you ever grow up?† But let me ask, what is the meaning of â€Å"growing up† in the first place? If this is what's it feels like, then I just want to stop. The path they build for me is dictated to be perfect and filled with beautiful lies. Feeding me with expectations, rewiring my senses, choking me with perfection. I cannot breathe, I feel nauseous. My body cannot sustain it. Staggering to a mirror, I see the rings under my eyes, as a constant reminder the about those disappointing glares I noticed:†Ah†¦ they are getting darker.†

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 7 Words: 2196 Downloads: 7 Date added: 2019/02/20 Category Health Essay Level High school Tags: Nutrition Essay Did you like this example? Abstract This paper will attempt to encompass the Supplemental nutrition program, but specifically, fraud in this program. The author will detail the history of SNAP, give a description of the program itself, and then go onto analyze the program. From here, the paper will detail how how the program is exploited by fraud, how politicians present this epidemic in mainstream media, and if these claims are true. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program" essay for you Create order Finally, the paper will provide an alternate to SNAP, analyze its strengths and weaknesses and compare this to the current program in place. The goal of this research is to try to discover if there can be an alternate to SNAP, or if it would be more sensible to patch the holes in the existing program. Keywords: SNAP, Fraud, Alternative, staple food The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Introduction The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is a program that is designed to help people in the United States who at or below the poverty level. In an ideal state, the United States government will give a stipend to impoverished people, and they can use this money to buy food. But as with any bureaucratic program, there are a lot of holes in this program that would allow someone to take advantage of the American tax payer. The original intent of the program was to help out a struggling American get back on its feet, a helping hand in dark times. But today, instead of a hand up, the program is being used as a hand out. According to â€Å"Time Magazine,† SNAP, also known as â€Å"Food Stamps† is a $70 billion program that provides assistance to 44 million Americans. A government program this big is bound to have some holes that allow for the system to be exploited. This paper will attempt to provide a description of the program, detail the programs structure, how fraud is committed, how politicians use this as a platform, give an alternative to the program, explain its strength and weaknesses, and compare this to the existing program. The end of the paper will decide whether to keep the current system, or whether to move towards an alternative measure. What is the Supplemental Nutrition Program and how does one Qualify? As previously discussed in the paper, SNAP, or â€Å"food stamps† is a program that is designed to help those in need. The program itself is run by the United States Department of Agriculture, however, requirements vary from State to State, and for how many people reside in that household. For example, according to â€Å"benefits.gov†, a four-person household in the State of Florida has a maximum total income of $49,200 before taxes in order to receive benifts. Overall, standard requirements across the country require the applicant to be a citizen of the United States and a citizen of the state that you are applying for benefits from, and a Social Security number. According to the â€Å"Center on Budget and Policy Priorities†, the average household receives $253. This money is then distributed on an Electric Benefit Transfer (EBT) card and can be used like a debit card. According to the â€Å"United States Department of Agriculture: Food and Nutrition service,† EBT benefits can be used to purchase food for a household. Food can be classified into two categories; Luxury and staple. The staple foods include bread, foods fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, poultry dairy, and seeds. Luxury foods include junk food, sodas, steak, bakery items, and seafood. T he benefits received can also not be used on things that are inessential to the household, such as pet food, paper products, or medicine. Retailers and SNAP However, it is not just people who need benefits that who have criteria to meet in regards to EBT. Retailers have to meet eligibility requirements in order to accept a customer’s EBT benefits. According to the â€Å"United States Department of Agriculture: Food and Nutrition,† there are one of two criteria that a retailer must meet. These criteria are â€Å"inventory of staple foods† and â€Å"sales of staple foods.† In order to qualify under the criteria â€Å"inventory of staple foods† the retailer has to have â€Å"three stocking units of three staple food varieties in each of the four staple food categories, including three stocking units of one perishable in at least two food categories† (United States Department of Agriculture: Food and Nutrition Services). In order to qualify for â€Å"sale of staple foods,† the retailer has to have at least 50% of its total sales come from the sales of staple foods. It is important to mention t he retailer because they can commit SNAP fraud as well. What is SNAP Fraud? According to the â€Å"United States Department of Agriculture: Food and Nutrition Services,† there are three kinds of SNAP benefit fraud. The first kind, is when SNAP benefits are exchanged for cash, or also known as trafficking. The second way to commit SNAP fraud, happens when someone lies on their application and receive benefits, or get more than they were supposed to. The third way fraud is committed is when the retailer has been disqualified from the program for prior abuse and lies on the application to get back in. Although these terms seem full of jargon, â€Å"Time† gives a couple of really good examples. According to â€Å"Time,† food stamp recipients in Ohio were selling their benefits to merchants in exchange for cash. Ever since the economy collapsed in 2008, there has been a staggering increase in benefit fraud. The most recent data, according to â€Å"Forbes,† SNAP fraud has increased 61%. What is most fascinating about this fact, is that 5% fewer people are receiving benefits. The United States Department of Agriculture estimates that every cent on the dollar is being used fraudulently by members of SNAP. It is estimated by â€Å"Forbes† that annually $592.7 million was stolen in 2016, which is comparable to $367.1 million in 2012. â€Å"Forbes also estimates in 2016 there have been 963,965 investigations nation wide. Much like the statistic stated above, although the investigations have increased by 30%, the program cut spending by $8.1 billion in a four-year period. According to â€Å"CNN,† we should expect to see another $17 billion cut in 2019. What should be taken away from these statistics, is that the USDA is doing its job by cracking down on fraud. The Statistics These statistics were provided by the â€Å"Center on Budget and Policies Prioritie† article â€Å"SNAP is effective and efficient.† These statistics show people who were both over paid, and under paid from the years 1990-2011. According to the â€Å"Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,† over paid is defined as â€Å"benefits either went to to ineligible house holds, or went to eligible house holds in incorrect amounts.† As we can see by this graph, less than three percent of household were overpaid in 2011. Moreover, the article goes on to say that a majority of the time, overpayment is not done out of malicious intent, but rather, are honest mistakes by either the applicant, the application reviewers, or by the data enters. The United States Department of Agriculture has begun to put in safety net systems to make sure that all eligible households are receiving the proper amount, and ineligible households are declined from the program. Punishment for Fraud Depending on how much an individual fraudulently took, they can be charged with either a felony or a misdemeanor in the state of Florida. According to â€Å"Hussein and Webber Law Firm,† anytime a person uses less than $200 a month for twelve consecutive months, this individual will be charged with a misdemeanor in the first degree, which is punishable by a $1,000, a year of probation, or a year in jail. If an individual has taken more than $200 a month for twelve consecutive months, this individual can be charged with a felony in the third degree, which is punishable by a $10,000 fine, five years in jail or five years of probation. SNAP Fraud in Politics The past couple of years, SNAP has become the target of the republican party. In an effort â€Å"protect the American tax payer,† several politicians have made made the reform, or at least targeting abusers, of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program a part of their platform. As a result, the Obama and Trump administrations have aggressively targeted abusers of the program. The most recent statistics on fraud was published in 2017 by the â€Å"Uni ted States Department of Agriculture: Food and Nutrition Services,† which claims they used a â€Å"robust investigation process† which has lead to 849 stores being permanently removed from the program, and sanctioned 549. In 2012, 1,400 were permanently removed from the program. These statistics give credibility to their claim that they indeed have among the lowest fraud rate in federal programs. Anti-Obesity SNAP: An alternative There has been a vein of thought running through the Public Administration community which Craig Gurdsen addresses in â€Å"SNAP Matters: How food stamps effect Health and Well-being,† which is that SNAP leads to higher levels of obesity. The individuals who contend this point that by moving SNAP in the direction of anti-obesity, they can begin to eradicate fraud, and end a perceived problem of recipients of SNAP being obese. Logic would tell one, that you cannot make someone do something that they do not want to do. As Gurdsen notes, this program was founded to help end hunger in the country. Although he did find that SNAP had positive effects on obesity on a subset of the population, if this program was implemented, it would be likely that both poverty and hunger levels will rise across the country. People who receive the benefits would rather use the cash-like system to continue to buy what they want, rather than being constrained to fight the new criteria of an â€Å"anti -obesity† welfare service. American Harvest Box: An alternative According to â€Å"CNN,† Another reform to the program that the Trump administration has suggested is taking an approach much like â€Å"Blue apron† and providing â€Å"meal kits.† What the administration dubs â€Å"American Harvest Box,† includes canned good and cereals. Considering the constraints that the institution faces, this is as realistic of an alternative where the government distributes food is going against. This American Harvest Box the idea of â€Å"staple foods† which allows the individual to buy nutritious food, and instead would deliver the box of food to the door of the recipient. When this idea is given some thought, it is easy to see how terrible this idea is. The recipient would go from receiving benefits to buy nutritious foods, to receiving food which Jill Filipovic calls â€Å"canned sodium saturated goods.† If the administration implements this, sure it would solve a short term problem of ending fraud and extortion of the American tax payer, but the long term implications are much scarier than the current implications. Much like the anti-obesity reform, it is possible to see an increased level of poverty, but also the level of obesity would increase because of the content of the food being distributed. Besides this, because it would be a large government-operation, it would be possible for the food to go bad, and to still be distributed. Although this is the mo st feasible option to end the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, it is still not a good reform. Final decision After considering the anti-obesity program and the American Harvest Box, the choice is clear. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, with all of its flaws, is the best option. Even though there is a problem with fraud, the United States Department of Agriculture has implemented new investigative techniques, and has announced new programs that would allow for States, such as Massachusetts to communication with the headquarters in Washington DC, and communicate with other states. â€Å"Communicate† in the Context of the previous sentence means to exchange information regarding potential fraudulent occurrences. With the Anti-Obesity program, there was in fact a positive relationship between Obesity and receiving SNAP benefits, but to change the entire program because of a subset of the population is unreasonable. There are certain needs that an individual needs that cannot be catered to if they have to abide by a certain standard of food under the program. There is a similar problem with the American Harvest Box. This program would deny people the freedom to buy t heir own food, and would instead give them a box food that could have gone bad, regardless of their health conditions, such as allergies or high blood pressure. While both of these programs have potential, you cannot deny the allure of freedom to buy the foods that you need. A potential way to fix the problem in the Supplemental Nutrition assistance program, is to only allow chain retailers to use benefits, instead of anyone who meets the minimum requirements, because most cases of fraud come from small stores. Another way to fix the problem, is to create a wider safety net around the application pool, by making sure both the date entered, and the application is reviewed properly, and entered into their system correctly, to make sure that households are neither receiving more benefits than they need, or receiving less benefits. Conclusion To conclude, the problem of fraud is not as wide spread as it once was. Under previous administrations, the United States Department of Agriculture has been given the tools necessary to end the exploitation of the tax payer.