Organic food, fresh or processed food produced by organic farming methods. Organic food is grown without the use of synthetic chemicals, such as human-made pesticides and fertilizers, and does not contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Organic foods include fresh produce, meats, and dairy products as well as processed foods such as crackers, drinks, and frozen meals. The market for organic food has grown significantly since the late 20th century, becoming a multibillion dollar industry with distinct production, processing, distribution, and retail systems.

Although organic food production began as an alternative farming method outside the mainstream, it eventually became divided between two distinct paths: (1) small-scale farms that may not be formally certified organic and thus depend on informed consumers who seek out local, fresh, organically grown foods; and (2) large-scale certified organic food (fresh and processed) that is typically transported large distances and is distributed through typical grocery store chains. If consumers know their local farmer and trust the farmers production methods, they may not demand a certification label. On the other hand, organic food produced far away and shipped is more likely to require a certification label to promote consumer trust and to prevent fraud, which exemplifies how national certification regulations are most beneficial.

A regulatory framework is most important when consumers and farmers are geographically separated, and such a framework is likely to cater to larger-scale producers who participate in a more industrial system. This regulatory approach does not necessarily match consumers assumptions about organic food production, which typically include images of small family farms and the humane treatment of animals. In general, regulations surrounding organic food do not address more complex social concerns about family farms, farmworker wages, or farm size, and organic policy in some places does little to address animal welfare.

Organic food policies were created largely to provide a certification system with specific rules regarding production methods, and only products that follow the guidelines are allowed to use the certified organic labels. In the United States, the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 began the process of establishing enforceable rules to mandate how agricultural products are grown, sold, and labeled. The regulations concerning organic food and organic products are based on a National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances, which is a critical aspect of certified organic farming methods. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulates organic production through its National Organic Program (NOP), which serves to facilitate national and international marketing and sales of organically produced food and to assure consumers that USDA certified organic products meet uniform standards. To this end, NOP established three specific labels for consumers on organic food products: 100% organic, organic, or made with organic ***, which signify that a products ingredients are 100 percent, at least 95 percent, or 70 percent organic, respectively. Noncertified products cannot use the USDA organic seal, and violators face significant fines and penalties.

Organic regulations vary by country, some of the most comprehensive rules being seen in Europe. Objectives of organic farming in the European Union (EU) include respecting natures biological systems and establishing a sustainable management system; using water, soil, and air responsibly; and adhering to animal welfare standards that meet species-specific behavioral needs. In addition, principles of organic production in the EU are based on designing and managing farms to promote ecological systems and on using natural resources within the farming system. These policy goals go far beyond a defined listing of prohibited materials in organic production.

The overall impacts of organic agriculture are beneficial to the environment. Certified organic production methods prohibit the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, thus reducing chemical runoff and the pollution of soils and watersheds. Smaller-scale organic farming often is associated with significant environmental benefits, owing to the use of on-farm inputs, such as fertilizers derived from compost created on-site. By comparison, large-scale organic farms often require inputs generated off-site and may not employ integrated farming methods. These operations may buy specific allowable inputs, such as fish emulsion or blood meal to use as fertilizer rather than working within the farm to increase soil fertility. While this decrease in synthetic chemical use benefits the environment compared with industrial agriculture, these methods may not promote long-term sustainability, since off-farm inputs usually require greater fossil fuel use than on-farm inputs.

Social concerns related to organic food include higher costs to consumers and geographic variations in demand. Organic food usually is more expensive for consumers than conventionally produced food because of its more labour-intensive methods, the costs of certification, and the decreased reliance on chemicals to prop up crop yields. This often translates into unequal access to organic food. Research indicates that greater wealth and education levels are correlated with organic food purchases. Further, there are trends in some lower-income countries to produce certified organic crops solely for export to wealthier countries. This sometimes generates a situation in which the farmers themselves cannot afford to buy the organic foods they are producing. While this strategy may bring economic gain in the short term, it is a concern when farmers are forced out of producing food crops that feed their local communities, thus increasing food insecurity.

Certified organic agriculture has also become a big business in many places, with larger farming operations playing a key role in national and global certified organic food markets. Given economies of scale, big food-processing companies often buy from a single farming operation that produces organic crops on thousands of acres, rather than from many smaller farms that each grow on smaller acreages, a practice that effectively limits the participation of smaller farmers in these markets. There also is disparity among farmers, since the organic certification process can be prohibitively expensive to some smaller-scale farmers. Although certification subsidies exist in some places, such farmers often opt to sell directly to consumers at farmers markets, for example, and may decide to forgo organic certification altogether.

Overall, organic food has grown in popularity, as consumers have increasingly sought and purchased foods that they perceive as being healthier and grown in ways that benefit the environment. Indeed, consumers typically buy organic food in order to reduce their exposure to pesticide residues and GMOs. Further, some research shows that organically produced crops have higher nutritional content than comparable nonorganic crops, and some people find organic foods to be tastier. The question remains, however, whether organic food shipped in from across the globe is truly a sustainable method of food production. Certainly organically produced food from a local farmer who employs an integrated whole-farm approach is fairly environmentally sustainable, though the economic sustainability of such an endeavour can be challenging. Although humans must decrease their reliance on fossil fuels to combat climate change, many organic policies do little to address the issue of sustainability, focusing instead on the strict list of prohibited substances, rather than a comprehensive long-term view of farming and food.

organic farming

Organic farming, agricultural system that uses ecologically based pest controls and biological fertilizers derived largely from animal and plant wastes and nitrogen-fixing cover crops. Modern organic farming was developed as a response to the environmental harm caused by the use of chemical pesticides and synthetic fertilizers in conventional agriculture, and

pesticide

Pesticide, any toxic substance used to kill animals, fungi, or plants that cause economic damage to crop or ornamental plants or are hazardous to the health of domestic animals or humans. All pesticides interfere with normal metabolic processes in the pest organism and often are classified according to the type

fertilizer

Fertilizer, natural or artificial substance containing the chemical elements that improve growth and productiveness of plants. Fertilizers enhance the natural fertility of the soil or replace the chemical elements taken from the soil by previous crops.

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organic food | Definition, Policies, & Impacts | Britannica

Netflix's new comedy series Brews Brothers stars Alan Aisenberg, Mike Castle, Flula Borg, and a host of other actors you may recognize.

Netflix's new comedy series Brews Brothers stars Alan Aisenberg and Mike Castle as perpetually feuding brothers who run a struggling brewery, and the supporting cast is filled with actors you may recognize from other shows. Created by Greg Schaffer, Brews Brothersmade its Netflix debut on April 9, 2020.

Wilhelm Rodman (Aisenberg) owns a brewery in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Van Nuys. While he's a talented braumeister who trained with Trappist monks in Belgium, he has no head for business or marketing, and his only regulars are two guys who drink for free. Enter Will's brother, Adam (Castle), who is equally skilled at brewing beer but is obnoxious, pretentious, and horrible at dealing with people. Between them they must find a way to keep Rodman's Brewery above water.

Related:Netflix: The Best New TV Shows & Movies This Weekend (April 10)

Besides the Rodman brothers and their employees, there are plenty of faces that show up at the brewery - whether they be customers, potential food truck proprietors, or monks who love to party. Here's a guide to the cast of Brews Brothers, and where you might recognize them from.

Alan Aisenberg as Wilhelm Rodman- Adopted with Adam as a child by a couple of farmers, Will got into brewing beer at a very young age and went on to change his name to Wilhelm so that it would sound more German. Will's relaxed approach to brewing has good results, but his beer-naming skills leave a lot to be desired. Aisenberg is best known for playing C.O. Baxter Bayley in Orange is the New Black.

Mike Castle as Adam Rodman - Will's brother, who hasn't spoken to him since the two of them had a falling out as teenagers. Adam is an incurable snob about beer, turning away customers and potential distributors alike if they don't meet his standards, and considers himself to be better than just about everyone. Castle is best known for starring alongside Ashley Tisdale in the TBS show Clipped.

Carmen Flood as Sarah - Sarah is the only member of the Rodman's Brewery staff who remotely has a head for business. A former MMA fighter who was forced to quit after developing a cauliflower ear, Sarah still has a strong temper and an even stronger left hook. Brews Brothers is Flood's first major role.

Marques Ray as Chuy - Rodman Brewery's most useless employee, Chuy's main motivation is learning how not to run a business by watching Wilhelm (as well as scoring free beer for himself and his friends). Ray is best known for playing Juan-Julio in the ABC comedy series Dr. Ken, and also played Tahani's diminutive fiance Toms in The Good Place.

Zach Reino as Elvis- One of the owners of the Kids Menu food truck that parks outside Rodman's Brewery, Elvis loves organic food and engaging in inappropriate sexual activity with his other half, Becky, while at work. Reino starred in the ABC digital series Serious Music, and also played abar mitvah DJ in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend's musical number "Remember That We Suffered."

Inanna Sarkis as Becky - The other owner of Kids Menu, Becky considers herself and Elvis to be spiritually two halves of the same person. Like Elvis she likes organic food and public displays of affection, but has an unfortunate disregard for hygiene. Sarkis initially rose to fame as a YouTube star, and also played Molly in the 2019 romance filmAfter.

Flula Borg as Truffle - One of the monks who bonded with Wilhelm at the monastery in Belgium, Truffle gets his name by being a cheap hook-up for high-quality truffles. Like the rest of the monks, his robes disguise a hedonistic soul who worships beer religiously. Borg is best known for playingPieter Krmer, one of the leadsingers of Das Sound Machine, in Pitch Perfect 2.

James Earl as Matt - One of the members of Rodman's Brewery's Founders Circle, who is a permanent fixture at the brewery because he gets to drink for free. Earl is best known for playing Chamberlain Jackson in Scream Queens.

Mike Mitchell as Jack - The other original member of the Founders Circle, Jack has been enjoying limitless beer for the bargain upfront price of $500, though his waistline has suffered in the process. Mitchell is best known for playing Randy Monahan in the Netflix series Love.

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Fast & Furious 9: Every Major Character NOT Returning In The Sequel

Hannah has been with Screen Rant since the heady days of 2013, starting out as a humble news writer and eventually clawing her way up the ladder through a series of Machiavellian schemes and betrayals. She's now a features writer and editor, covering the hottest topics in the world of nerddom from her home base in Oxford, UK.

Hannah enjoys weird horror movies, weirder sci-fi movies, and also the movie adaptation of Need for Speed - the greatest video game movie of all time. She has lived and studied in New York and Toronto, but ultimately returned home so that she could get a decent cup of tea. Her hobbies include drawing, video games, long walks in the countryside, and wasting far too much time on Twitter.

Speaking of which, you can follow Hannah online at @HSW3K

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Brews Brothers Cast Guide: Where You Recognize The Actors From - Screen Rant

NORTHAMPTON Late last month,the Northampton Survival Center closed its buildingand suspended on-site operations as some staff members went into self-quarantine dueto COVID-19 concerns. Now, the center and a team of organizations have launcheda new effort to meet growing food insecurity.

On Monday, the Northampton Survival Center, Grow Food Northampton, and Community Action Pioneer Valley launched theCommunity Food Distribution Project.

Bags and boxes of food are available for pickup three days a week at Jackson Street School in Northampton and once a week at several other locations around the city.

In the first three days, about 280 householdscame to receive food, said Heidi Nortonsmith, executive director of the Northampton Survival Center.

In a more normal period of time, we might serve 250 or 260 in a whole week, she said.I definitely know that we are seeing a lot of new people, she continued,people who have not been in need before but are experiencingthe economic hardship of this time.

Food supplies includeshelf-stable goods and fresh produce from local farms an intentional choice.Many farmers have lost sources of income, including selling at markets andto restaurants, according to Alisa Klein, executive director of Grow Food Northampton, an organization that is in close contact withlocal farmers.

They are chomping at the bit wanting the farmers markets to resume, Klein said.

The program supports both those experiencing food insecurity and local food producers.

To me, thats the definitionof a really just and resilient food system, she said.And to create thekind of model in the heart of pandemic, in an emergency time, is a testament to what our communityis capable of.

Pickup is Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. The school acts as a distribution site for the projectbecause its size, unlike the Survival Centerbuilding,allows for proper social distancing, Nortonsmith said.

Food is also delivered to several sites Hampshire Heights, Florence Heights, Meadowbrook Apartments, and 236 Pleasant St. for pickup on Tuesdays from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.Nortonsmith and Klein plan on soon expanding the numberof sites. Groceries can be delivered to doorsteps atHampshire Heights, Florence Heights and Meadowbrook Apartments to those who fill out a form atcutt.ly/growfoodshares.

Anyone who needs food can access the program, Nortonsmith said.Theres no shame, theres no barrier. This is meant for people who are struggling, she said.

I just want people to know that this is happening, she said, so when you hear of a neighborsaying Ithink Im going to lose my job, or my smallbusiness is closing, or Im going to be furloughed for three months. Let them know, let them know, let them know.

Recently, the city gaveNorthampton Survival Center and Grow Food Northampton $25,000 in federal relief funds. A group of residentsalso contributed money to put towardproduce, Klein said.

The organizations arestill seeking additional funding, Klein said.This is anexpensive venture for all the organizations involved becausewe are buying this fresh, and in most cases organic, produce from local farmers.

This article has been updated.

Greta Jochem can be reached at gjochem@gazettenet.com.

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Groups team up to fill Northampton food gap - GazetteNET

Last month, there was an outcry when people started panic buying toilet roll - and now other popular supermarket items, like flour and eggs, have been in short supply thanks to a rise in home baking during the coronavirus pandemic.

Now, the polite plea of a shopkeeper for people to buy essentials responsibly has been widely praised on Twitter.

In a post, Liverpool-based store Mattas - who stock international foods, and particularly cater for those wanting vegetarian, vegan and organic produce - revealed they were putting up notices that read: Live simply so that others may simply live.

Captioning an image of the sign, they wrote: We put these signs up in our shop just as a gentle reminder, more to our new shoppers and its all about shopping for what you need.

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The moving post has been liked more than 540 times, and has received more than a hundred shares.

One person wrote: That's wonderful! Thank you.

Another commented: Beautiful words.

A third shared: How wonderfully thoughtful.

Read more: Wagamama releases famous katsu curry recipe to make at home

And a fourth added: Love this.

It comes as it was revealed that certain foods can be eaten months after their best-before dates, according to consumer watchdog Which.

Eggs can be eaten one week after their best-before date, while opened milk can be consumed up a week after the use-by date.

The government have been encouraging people to shop less and try to use upwhat is in their cupboards and freezers.

Read more: Do we really need to disinfect our groceries during the coronavirus outbreak?

However, many are confused about the various dates on produce labels - and often throw out food too soon.

According to the Food Standards Agency (FSA), a use-by date on a label is about safety and is therefore the most important date to remember.

The best-before date, sometimes shown as BBE (best before end), is about quality and not safety.

They also explain that a best-before date will only be accurate if the food has been stored according to the instructions on the packaging.

Originally posted here:

Shopkeeper praised for signs encouraging people to 'live simply so that other people can simply live' - Yahoo Lifestyle

Lets talk worms.

I was always late to school because my mother worked dinner service at her restaurant, so was never awake for the morning school run. When I started year one we moved across the road from our school so we could manage ourselves in the morning.

We dutifully rose at 7am, had breakfast, did our ablutions, made ourselves lunch then settled ourselves on the couch to watch The Wonderful Wizard of Oz the 52-episode anime version that came on every day at 8.30am. Then wed bolt to school a little after the bell rang at 9am. Sometimes wed make it, sometimes we had to sit at the late bench. It all depended on whether the light was green when we got to the school crossing.

What does this have to do with worms? Well there was one episode that made such an impression on me that I still remember it clearly after 35 years.

It featured Guphs Giant Dirt-Devouring Worm, a creature that could eat through solid rock across the underworld between kingdoms. As a kid raised in the city, it blew my mind.

Before that point worms were so disgusting to me I avoided them at all costs. It never once crossed my mind they might be a subject worth pondering. .

They lived in the dirt, phallic in form, eating out of one end then expelling from the other. Not to mention they were slimy, unhygienic, dirty, alien and just gross worms even rhyme with germs. And then theres the myth every kid is fascinated by, that if you cut them in half they will just go ahead and multiply rather than die. Its not actually not true, the head may survive to grow a new tail but it does not essentially become two worms. But still, to my child brain: ewwww.

I can only express my shame now.

I have come to love and value worms. The presence of earthworms in the soil makes me fist pump the air. They are a visible indication of how healthy your soil microbiome system is. Where there are worms, there will likely be other micro organisms like fungi, protozoa, nematodes and actinomycetes. All very important for the soil, and many completely invisible to the naked eye. The worm is the clinical yardstick.

Although they make terrible pets unlike other domesticated animals, they will never care for you I still recommend everyone with even just a little bit of space keep composting worms.

Your return for investment is not affection; instead you will be gifted glorious vermicompost and worm juice from your scraps that is top-notch fertiliser for your garden or potted plants.

They are there to eat, and eat anything and mostly everything they will.

However, like anything done well, there are guidelines.

The following are lessons I have learned the hard way:

Make sure you start off with the right worms. Despite all this time you now have, do not go worm hunting in the garden! Leave those ones right alone. There are 6,000 known species of earthworms categorised in 20 families and not all of them are keen to eat your kitchen scraps. The most efficient worms available in Australia for composting are red worms, tiger worms and blue worms.

You dont need a fancy worm bin. A bucket with a spout that allows a bit of air flow is absolutely fine if you are composting indoors. Use any receptacle that you can drain, that doesnt conduct too much heat. There are so many vermicomposting systems available, but I have found worm farming success is less about the container and more about the balance of contents you put into it. On our farm, old bath tubs propped up on some bricks are ideal as they come already complete with a drain hole. Whatever you choose make sure you can cover it up with a lid, wood plank or fine netted material. This helps by keeping out the fruit flies and undesirable pests and rodents. Another great system I use in our home garden is cutting out the bottom of a garbage bin and burying that straight into the ground with the lid intact. You can then fill the bottom with some bought worms, or wait for the earthworms already in your garden to come hither and then start composting straight away.

Dont overfeed your worms! When youre first starting out, its easy to overwhelm your worms with too much food. Dont get excited and start overfeeding them just to see what they can handle. You will likely be starting with 1,000 worms, which sounds like a lot but is actually only a large handful. They will multiply over time, but that doesnt happen immediately, and youll end up with a smelly bin. Worms while efficient dont work that fast, and you can help them by chopping up the food contents into smaller pieces.

Break down your scraps by using a bokashi composting system first and then add the cured scraps to your worm bin. This will help the worms break the compost down even more efficiently so you can add the vermicompost to your garden faster. Also, the bokashi will have somewhat neutralised the odour.

No large bones and no citrus directly into the worm bin. Break down the citrus first in your bokashi or avoid putting it in altogether.

Acidity is the enemy of a healthy worm composting system. If you find that you have an uncontrollable amount of fruit fly larvae in your bin, add a sprinkling of diatomaceous earth, not lime. In my experience the wrong kind of lime will kill invertebrates and upset the PH balance of the environment. So make sure you have a good balance of carbon to nitrogen. I find a little more carbon than nitrogen is the key. You can tell if youve got the right mix by eyeballing your bin contents there should be a good ratio of carbon such as newspaper, empty loo rolls, egg cartons and leaf litter to nitrogen rich organic food matter, egg shells and dog poo.

If you find that the bin starts to smell, add shredded newspaper and even torn-up egg cartons. Do that too if you are going away and cannot feed the worms for an extended period.

Water your worms. They need a moist environment. A layer of wet newspaper over the contents also helps regulate the moisture. Use the dripping from your watering in your garden. Do not throw it out!

You know when vermicompost is ready when it looks like soil and is neutral in odour. It should be a lovely dark colour and not soggy. It will hold a ball shape when you throw it into the air and be friable (easily crumbled). This is an indication that it contains water soluble nutrients and microbes. If youve got a large bin or bathtub, move the vermicompost to one side, then start another pile of food on the opposite end of the container. The worms will naturally migrate there. In a bin, once you have a rich vermicompost and the food looks completely digested, stop adding more food for a couple of days. You can sieve the worms out to separate them from the vermicompost and then start another lot. If you have too many worms, split the lot into another bin or gift them to someone like a sourdough starter!

Vermicast is an incredibly rich fertiliser. Besides the set-up cost of buying some worms, if you care for it a worm farm is essentially free continuous fertiliser, and a way to transform your garbage into food.

I admire Auckland council and City of Melbourne council for implementing a New Zealand invention Hungry Bins in their city centres and around public buildings like the Queen Victoria market, embracing worm composting on a public scale.

My wish is that more city councils around the world replicate this as a way to deal with our organic waste. In doing so it might help city children, like my little ignorant past self, come to see worms not as disgusting but as magical creatures that play a tremendous role in our environment.

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'You dont need a fancy bin': hard-won lessons from farming worms - The Guardian

Trend forecasters Kantar Worldpanel has estimated that there will be a rise of 38% in the amount of meals eaten at home during the coronavirus lockdown. But what will we be eating?

If you are the sort to follow so-called influencers on social media (silly you), you might be in for a surprise. Rather than producing a complicated hot chocolate matcha marble cake or majoring in seed-soaked trendy gluten-free vegan options, Kantar Worldpanel say consumers are less likely to experiment in uncertain times, and we should expect a rise in family favourites, especially those that can "fill up" the family such as stews and casseroles, curries, and shepherd's pies.

What are we buying?

Figures from America show that the trend towards buying more fresh or organic foods has been reversed. Basically, shoppers are reaching for oven chips and boxes of sugary cereal rather than organic food and whole grains.

So processed food is back?

For the moment, yes. It's good news for firms producing tinned and frozen foods, though it might not be quite so good for our waistlines.

What's the appeal?

It's hard to be certain but it seems the pull of comfort food is strong. This generation of parents were often brought up in the 1970s and 1980s. Back then, a trip to Fine Fare or William Low was a highlight of the week.

Supermarkets were exciting?

Yes. People increasingly had freezers and microwaves, more disposable income than before, and more women were working full-time, and that led to a boom in convenience food. For the first time, the mass of people had a choice when doing the messages. Supermarkets brought colour into our lives.

So oven chips are cool again?

Treats for this generation of parents included Findus Crispy Pancakes and French bread pizzas, Viennettas, microwave curries and black forest gateau. The emotional pull of processed food, or "food" as it was know then, remains strong.

What about Ice Magic?

Sadly, you can no longer buy the treat, which was poured over ice cream, and would set within moments. The advert lives on on YouTube though. Described as the most exciting thing that has ever happened to ice cream, it showed a very attractive lady skier out-running an avalanche of chocolate, without spoiling her back-combed hair.

Are snacks back too?

Kantar Worldpanel expect to see a significant rise in home snacking. Indulgent categories including chocolate and sweets as well as ice cream. As George Orwell found in The Road to Wigan Pier, in tough times most families prefer to buy something tasty to enrich their dull lives. Lots of sugar, basically.

Will this last once the lockdown is over?

Robert Moskow, an analyst at Credit Suisse, says: We counted three economic recessions in the past 30 years, and in each of them the data show that consumers shifted more toward at-home food consumption to save money. I would expect food-at-home consumption to increase, and not just for the next two months but for the next 12 months.

GARRY

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Issue of the day: Forget the healthy stuff, processed food is back - HeraldScotland

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Every day, grocery workers are restocking toilet paper, eggs, produce and canned goods as fast as the items fly off the shelves.

They disinfect keypads, freezer handles and checkout counters as hundreds of people weave around them, sometimes standing too close for comfort amid the coronavirus pandemic. Some work for hours behind clearplastic barriersinstalled at checkout counters, bulwarks against sudden sneezes or coughs that can propel germs.

They arent doctors or nurses, yet they have been praised for their dedicationby Pope Francis, former U.S. President Barack Obama and countless people on social media, as infections and death counts rise.

From South Africa to Italy to the U.S., grocery workers many in low-wage jobs are manning the frontlines amid worldwide lockdowns, their work deemed essential to keep food and critical goods flowing. Some fear falling sick or bringing the virus home to vulnerable loved ones, and frustration is mounting as some demand better workplace protections, including shorter hours to allow them to rest, and hazard pay for working closely with the public.

Everyone is scared everywhere, here in South Africa and everywhere in the world, said Zandile Mlotshwa, a cashier at Spar supermarket in the Johannesburg suburb of Norwood.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, and the vast majority survive. But for others, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can be more severe, even causing pneumonia or death.

In the U.S., a handful of states Minnesota and Vermont were the first have given grocery workers a special classification that allows them to put their children in state-paid child care while they work. Unions in Colorado, Alaska, Texas and many other states are pressing governors to elevate grocery workers to the status of first responders.

The governments responsibility is to step up in these moments, said Sarah Cherin, chief of staff for the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union in Seattle, the first U.S. epicenter of COVID-19.

The union, which represents about 23,000 grocery workers and 18,000 health care workers, won early concessions for higher pay.

We have always been a group of people who come to work when others stay home, Cherin said. Our workers need the same protection others get.

U.S. grocery and food delivery workers are insisting employers pay them more and provide masks, gloves, gowns and access to testing. Whole Foods workers called for a recent sickout to demand better conditions, including double pay. A group of independent contractors for the Instacart grocery delivery service walked out to force more protections.

Some of the biggest employers in the U.S. are responding.

Kroger, the nations largest grocery chain, said it will give all hourly employees a $2-an-hour Hero Bonus through April 18. That follows temporary $2 pay bumps by Walmart, Target and others.

Walmarts raise is just for hourly employees in distribution centers, but its also giving bonuses to full- and part-time workers. Walmart, the nations largest private employer, and Target will provide masks and gloves to front-line workers and limit the number of customers in stores. Walmart is taking the temperatures of its nearly 1.5 million employees when they report to work.

Most will see it as a welcome relief, Walmart spokesman Dan Bartlett said of the new measures.

But that doesnt alleviate the fear when shoppers wont follow the rules, including social distancing.

Jake Pinelli, who works at a ShopRite in Aberdeen, New Jersey, said customers dont stay 6 feet (2 meters) away from others and typically dont wear masks or gloves. Staffers have protective gear, but the younger employees often give it to older co-workers or those they know have health conditions.

Most of us are terrified, Pinelli said. But he stays on because he wants to help.

I have not only bills to pay, but its the only way right now I feel like I can do anything for my community and help out, Pinelli said.

Some have fallen sick.

The Shaws supermarket chain told workers last week at six stores in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont that one of its employees had been diagnosed with COVID-19. The company reminded workers to wash their hands regularly and stay home if they dont feel well.

At the Organic Food Depot in Norfolk, Virginia, cash is no longer used. Customers cant bring reusable bags. Children under 16 are banned.

If somebody fell sick in the store, the store is most likely going to shut down, manager Jamie Gass said.

Gass, 47, said his wife has asthma, which means she would be more vulnerable to the coronavirus. Yet he feels pride going to a job that helps ensure people get fed in a crisis.

Am I scared that I could catch this? Absolutely, Gass said. But Im sure everybody is in that position. Im just taking as many precautions as I can, so I dont have to worry as much.

In Italy, where more than 14,000 people have died of COVID-19, consumers seem to prefer smaller, family-run stores and markets.

One of them, the Innocenzi grocery store in Rome, was established in 1884 by Emanuela Innocenzis grandfather. Its wooden shelves, marble entrance steps and cherished custom of clerks waiting on each customer hearken back to another era. The small store now allows in only two customers at a time.

A dentists office provided masks, which employees wipe down with alcohol each day and reuse.

Emanuela Innocenzi shrugged off the popes praise.

The doctors, the nurses have special training, she said. This is our work.

Associated Press writers Ben Finley in Norfolk, Virginia; Michael Casey in Boston; Alexandra Olson and Anne DInnocenzio in New York; Frances Demilio in Rome; Andrew Meldrum in Johannesburg; and video journalist Rodrique Ngowi in Quincy, Massachusetts, contributed to this report.

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Grocery workers are key during the virus - and they're afraid - Shelbyville Times-Gazette

Reading Time: 12 minutes

Gibran Khalil Gibrans poem Pity the Nation, published in 1933, could almost have been written about lockdown in modern day Lebanon. Most prophetic is the line pity the nation that eats a bread it does not harvest. Lebanon is indeed far from harvesting its own bread, given that we import 85 percent of our food needs and that even what we produce locally is reliant on imported items, be it in the packaging or raw material.

Amidst the ongoing economic crisis, now compounded with coronavirus crisis, prices on a wide range of imported and locally produced food items (based on individual and collective observations)including basics like potatoes, pasta, and riceare on an increasing trajectory, while consumers purchasing power is simultaneously decreasing.

Back in November 2019, the World Bank warned that, if the economic situation continued to worsen, 50 percent of Lebanese could be living below the poverty line. With the situation showing no signs of improvement anytime soon, a growing number of Lebanese are worrying about how to feed their families and collectively we have all been reminded of the importance of well-developed agriculture and agro-industry sectors. Unfortunately, the agriculture sector in Lebanon is underdeveloped and contributes a mere 5 percent to GDP, with an additional 5 percent coming from agro-industry, according to the UNs Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

It is this reality that is facing local stakeholders in food production who tell Executive, via telephone interviews, about the challenges of operating under the existing crisis and how the agriculture and agro-industry sectors can be supported in order for Lebanon to meet more of its food demands locally, and so decrease its dependency on imports.

Lebanons compounded crises have created new challenges for local food production sectors and brought them to the forefront of public debates on social media and news programs. However, agriculture and agro-industry had been struggling long before Lebanons economic woes accelerated in the last quarter of 2019. Before we talk about the crisis, we have to know that the agro-production sector was facing many problems even before the economic crisis, says Marc Antoine Bou Nassif, founder of LAtelier du Miel, a honey production company that has been in operation since 2012.

One of the problems facing agro-industry, according to Bou Nassif, is a lack of government imposed regulations and control over food production, which creates a chaotic local market and regulatory barriers to exporting Lebanese products in external markets (he gives Executive the example of not being able to export honey to European markets because a test for a certain enzyme is not available in Lebanese government labs).

The regional export market is another area where the food production industry has been suffering since the onset of the war in Syria in 2012 and the subsequent closure of land borders (the impact of which was felt starting 2015), says Mazen Khoury, production manager at Khoury Dairy. Because of the longer routes refrigerated trucks had to take to reach Iraq, in the example Khoury gave, the cost of transport increased from 10 percent of overall production cost to 40 percent. The regional market, according to him, is still suffering from many of the same factors today.

Indicative of a weakening economy, and another detrimental factor to local agro-industrialists according to Khoury, was the closure of regional (in 2017) and local (in 2018) supermarket chains. These closures in addition to the smaller markets who were also struggling with paying back the credit they owed us caused us an estimated annual loss of $500,000, he says.

It is in this fertile ground of challenges that buds of Lebanons ongoing economic crisis made their first appearance. As the agro-industrialists interviewed for this article explain, Lebanons food production industry is a value-added one, in the sense that almost all raw materials are imported, paid for with foreign currency, and are used in Lebanon to make the final product.

Food producers were faced with a severe cash flow problem when, after the banks reopened on November 1, 2019 (following almost two weeks of closure), their credit lines were cut and access to their dollar accounts severely restricted. Its like somebody opened a new company on November 1 and they have zero cash flow, says Youssef Fares, general manager of olive production company Olive Trade, which owns Lebanese olive oil brand Zejd. Our only cash flow is the stock we have at hand and so we are trying to sell that and use the money to buy our supplies, because the money we have in the bank has no meaning anymore. This is the big problem. Fares tells Executive that he only imports the bottles and containers for his olive oil because Lebanese glass production factory Soliver shut down in 2017.

The increased parallel foreign exchange (FX) rate coupled with the restrictive banking policies led to both financial and access related difficulties across the sector. Speaking for Biomass, a company which produces an organic line of fresh produce, dairy products, and pantry items, its executive manager Mario Massoud says: Most of the organic raw material we use in farming [from the seeds and animal feed to the greenhouses and equipment] is imported. This has dramatically increased in cost and became more scarce, making it more costly to operate than before October 2019, because of the halting of the credit lines and the issues with the FX exchange. He says that buying from local agricultural distributors is also costly since their prices have increased as well (the price of organic seeds has increased threefold, for example) and they ask to be paid in cash dollars.

Khoury also tells Executive about the increased costs from local suppliers, saying that even the price of the milk they use as raw materialwhich they buy from the local farms they control to supplement their own supplyhas increased from LL900 per liter to LL1,350 (which was the amount set by the Ministry of Agriculture on March 4 to support farmers, who have had pay the increased cost of imported cattle feed). Khoury says their cost of production has increased by roughly 50 percent because of these factors.

Another major consequence of the economic crisis, according to Nadine Khoury, CEO of Robinson Agri, is that the halting of credit lines means the company can no longer extend credit to farmers, who are dependent on that support. The problem with the agriculture sector is that banks do not give loans to individual farmersyou need land or assets as collateral, when most farmers rent the landso what usually happens is that private sector agriculture companies lend to most farmers, she explains. The economic crisis cut off our credit limits in the banks so we were no longer able to lend to these farmers and started asking for payments in cash. Robinsons Khoury explains that since the spreading of COVID-19 and increased fear about possible food shortages and limited imports during the crisis, several NGOs, in collaboration with agriculture companies, have launched campaigns to support small growers and sustain the agricultural sector. These interventions could help in alleviating the hard times we are going through, although they are not enough on their own, she says.

The coronavirus has largely made matters worse for Lebanons food producersalthough some have seen sales pick up with Lebanese in lockdown looking for healthier options.

Local sales of Taqa, a Tripoli-based wholesale bakery that produces healthy snacks, had decreased by 35 percent since the start of the economic crisis in October 2019, but Soumaya Merhi, founder of BreadBasket sal, which owns Taqa, says they have stabilized since the beginning of 2020 with the start of the coronavirus lockdown. We have experienced a positive shift in our product sales because people are looking for healthy products to consume at home, she says.

Massoud has also noticed this increased demand on health-conscious products since news of the coronavirus hit Lebanon, although he says it is too soon for him to quantify it. Also, people are now experimenting with cooking in their homes like never before, he says. For farmers and sellers of fruits and vegetables or healthy foods, this is opening a bigger market for them [as those looking to prepare healthier meals at home source fresh produce]. According to Massoud, demand for Biomass products has increased tremendously in the past month, both regionally and locally, to an extent that he is worried they wont be able to keep up in the supply side (these observations are based on feedback at points of sale, when asked for a percentage increase he told Executive no figures had been finalized yet). If we want to increase the production of lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers, we should have done so three months ago, he says. We are starting to do this now and expect the augmented harvest in August. We expect the demand to remain high because people are now more aware of the benefits of eating healthy, fresh, and organic foods.

Those Executive spoke with have attributed the desire to cook at home and eat more healthily as behind consumer decisions they have witnessed during the lockdown period, though caution it is too early to determine the longevity of these trends or their impacts on their businesses long term. Increased interest in eating healthy and home cooked meals aside, the coronavirus crisis has caused disruptions to the food production business. Besides making imported goods even scarcer and costlier to secure, Massoud says coronavirus has had a negative impact on their exports. We used to export via air freight with Middle East Airlines but today the airport is closed, he says. We do have a few cargo planes, such as DHL, but they are not enough and so everyone is fighting for cargo space in air freights. Because of the corona[virus] lockdown, export is kind of limited or more expensive.

A big percentage of Zejds clients are in the hospitality sector, from caterers to restaurants and hotels, according to Fares. With hospitality outlets across the country shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic, Zejds local market demand is down to almost zero. While Khoury admits that agro-industry is faring better under the coronavirus lockdown than other sectors that have been completely shut down, he tells Executive that despite it being too early for exact numbers he has noted a drop in consumption of dairy products that he attributes both to a decrease in consumer purchasing power and to people being more conscious of food waste (buying only the quantities they need and avoiding wasting food).

Food producers struggles with the increased cost of production, and the other operational pressures they are dealing with, makes it increasingly difficult for them to sustain their businesses without increasing their prices. Producers are in full knowledge, however, that most consumers are struggling financially and cannot afford excessive price hikes, and so tell Executive they are trying to maintain a balance between managing their costs without pricing out their customers.

Most of the agro-industrialists interviewed mentioned relying on their export markets to introduce fresh money into their local accounts, which, in turn, are used to pay their suppliers. With the high conversion rates, its almost impossible for you to continue without guaranteeing fresh money so, for me, its become essential to keep my good books with my export partners in order to sustain my purchasing power, says Merhi, who imports 20 percent of her raw material and now exports almost 50 percent of her production to Qatar, Canada, and very recently to Saudi Arabia.

Merhi says she has been able to keep Taqas price as is not only by relying on exports but also through producing less quantities, trying to access raw material locally when possible, negotiating the best possible deals with her suppliers, and creating synergies with local producers who use similar ingredients as her.

Khoury says that, despite a long resistance to doing so, those in the dairy production sub-industry could no longer absorb the compounding cost increases and so hiked their prices by 8 percent in January 2020, followed by another 8 percent increase in March. He explains that while Dairy Khourys prices have increased by 16 percent so far this year, their cost of production has increased by around 50 percent. Biomass also only recently, in early April, introduced an average price increase of 15 percent on some products, although they are trying to keep their prices in check by leveraging both their export markets and stocks and attempting to negotiate better deals with their suppliers, according to Massoud.

This increase in the price of food, in a time when a big percentage of Lebanese are losing their jobs or experienced reductions in their salaries, has scary implications. The potential problem is bigger than a factory closing or companies going bankrupt, says Khoury. Today, if people can no longer afford to feed their children, we will be facing a social problem where people might steal or commit crimes before they allow their family to go hungry. The problem started with an economic crisis and corona[virus] but it is heading to an even worse direction of a problem of famine.

Given this scenario of increased prices on imported foodstuffs (and the upward creeping prices of locally produced ones) it has become clear that if the Lebanese government wants to avoid the looming threat of hunger among the countrys population, then one of the immediate and more effective ways of doing so is through supporting local food producers. Today the crisis is an opportunity to solve the key problems facing beekeeping and agro-industry in general,Bou Nassif. It is forcing us to give importance to our local production since we can no longer import at the same rate as before. We also have to export agro-industry products to get fresh money into the country so thats another reason to support the sector. Supporting local food production, according to Merhi, also has the added benefit of employing Lebanese, decreasing dependency on imported foods, and therefore benefiting the local economy through generating a circular economy.

Both Fares and Robinsons Khoury tell Executive separately that the government should subsidize some of the food production industrys imports. A new strategy should be placed by the government who is the body responsible to provide real solutions to the current economic collapse, Khoury says. What is needed in the short is an immediate action plan to assist the agri input companies by subsidizing their import needs just like they are doing with fuels, grains, and medical supplies. We still only need $75 million till the end of 2020. She explains this figure is based on the cost estimations made by the association of the distributors of supplies for agricultural production in Lebanon, and was presented to Riad Salameh, the governor of Banque du Liban, Lebanons central bank, and the agriculture minister separately a couple of months ago. For Mazen Khoury, the short term measures the government can take in support of the sector are subsidizing the difference in the currency exchange or, if that is not possible, supporting agricultural businesses with exports so they can sustain themselves with the fresh money accounts.

While short-term measures such as subsidies are vital to offer immediate support to the sector, it is also important to keep the lessons learned during these crises in mind and foster long-term measures to develop the food production industry. The aim, according to those interviewed for the article, is not to have food production be the sole, or even the strongest contributor to GDPas there are too many obstacles in the way for that (see article on food sufficiency)but rather to develop it enough to at least meet local demand and be less dependent on imports. I hope now we understand that the economy should be built on a multitude of factors, such as a well-planned agriculture sector that can contribute 8 percent to GDP, good industry (including agro-industry) that is 20 to 25 percent GDP, and also services and tourism, says Atef Idriss, CEO of MENA Food Safety Associates. That way, if one sector is hit the other sectors can support it. We got to a time when our economy became too dependent on services and tourism and we spent a big portion of our budget to develop infrastructure, real estate, and tourism in urban areas, forgetting that we have citizens in rural communities such as areas of the Bekaa who can only live from their land, or in the south who want to export their olive oilone does not cancel the other. We need a minister of economy who can look at the big picture and develop an interconnected economic model for Lebanon.

The need for a long term vision and plan developed by the public sector that would guide the development of the food production industry was stressed by all those to whom Executive spoke. The plan would have, as its main pillar, the reduction of dependency on imports both for needed ingredients in the agro-industry and the supply chain materials for agriculture. For local consumption to [help improve Lebanons trade balance], it is important to produce locally and try as much as possible to meet local demand in some products, such as wheat or potatoes, through local production, Fares says. There needs to be a strategy to provide food for people at lower costs, so that means with reduced imports.

To Merhi, any plan to support the agro-industry sector through the production of raw material should follow through the production process until the end product. To invest in agro-industry, you need to have the supply chain buckled, she says. To simply plant something is not enough, you need to think of distribution, supply, and workers [employed] under good working conditions. She adds that, in order for this to succeed, it needs private sector initiative from individual companies with the support of the public sector, the latter of which she sees as having failed agro-industrialists to date.

We are living in unprecedented times globally, where nothing is certain and the future is obscure. In Lebanon, this is compounded by an ongoing economic and financial crisis. Lebanese are dealing with the very real worry of going hungry, having lost parts of their incomes or their jobs and seen prices of food increase. This should not be a time to panic and give in to despair, however, it should instead be the time for the government to take immediate measures to support local food production. Lebanese food producers were succeeding prior to these crises, despite all the obstacles in their pathsall they are asking for now is for some support to be able to feed the nation.

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Lebanese agro-industrialists discuss challenges and opportunities in times of crisis - Executive

A "motivational" message has been circulating during the coronavirus lockdown, which is allegedly supposed to kick our butts into gear since most of us now have more time on our hands.

Here's one version:

On its face, it may sound logical. We often don't do things because we lack timeor think we doso now that we supposedly have more time, we should be doing those things now, right?

Just one thing thoughthere's a deadly global pandemic and massive economic crisis happening, which might be just the tiniest bit distracting right now, Jeremy.

A trauma psychologist from Beirut weighed in on this idea that we should be extra productive right now, and she didn't mince words. Alaa Hijazi's Facebook post has been shared 19,000 times, so people are clearly appreciating her wisdom. She wrote:

I thought I was spared the horrid 'motivational' phrase going around now'If you don't come out of this with a new skill, you never lacked time, you lacked discipline'until I saw it on my local yoga studio page.

As a trauma psychologist, I am utterly utterly horrified, enraged, and bewildered about how people can believe and spread this phrase in good conscience.

We are going through a collective trauma, that is bringing up profound grief, loss, panic over livelihoods, panic over loss of lives of loved ones. People's nervous systems are barely coping with the sense of threat and vigilance for safety, or alternating with feeling numb and frozen and shutting down in response to it all.

People are trying to survive poverty, fear, retriggering of trauma, retriggering of other mental health difficulties. Yet, someone has the nerve to accuse someone of lack of discipline for not learning a new skill, and by a yoga teacher!

This cultural obsession with [capitalistic] 'productivity' and always spending time in a 'productive,' 'fruitful' way is absolutely maddening.

What we need is more self-compassion, more gentle acceptance of all the difficult emotions coming up for us now, more focus on gentle ways to soothe ourselves and our pain and the pain of loved ones around us, not a whipping by some random fucker making us feel worse about ourselves in the name of 'motivation.'"

Indeed. Even those of us who are still employed full-time are finding it difficult to focus some days like we used to. The enormity of this pandemic and the global shutdown over it weighs heavy on all of us. Our sense of normality has been turned upside down and the uncertainty over what even the near future holds makes sustained attention a challenge.

Add in the fact that many people now have children at home who used to be at school or childcare, many are struggling to figure out how they're going to pay rent or buy groceries, many are watching businesses or careers they've spent years building crumble before their eyes, many have health conditions that make them anxious about catching the virus, and it's not hard to see how neither "time" nor "discipline" are our big problems right now.

If you want to go read books on hustling and build up some skill set, Jeremy, go for it. But let's not lay a guilt trip on people who are going through a traumatic experience that none of us have experienced before and none of us were prepared for.

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A trauma psychologist weighs in on the risks of 'motivational' pressure during quarantine - Upworthy

No matter where you are in the world, chances are, youre locked up at home. Everyone everywhere in the world is dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. Most places are dealing with it through lockdown which requires people to stay at home as much as possible.

So, if youre stuck at home, you probably need something to help pass the time, right? Youve probably gone through the entire Netflix library at this point, too. What else could you do, then? Well, now might be a great time to jump into a new podcast.

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Here are six podcasts from varying genres that could help keep you entertained.

Roman Mars is the creator of the hugely popular radio show called 99% Invisible. In it, he discusses the subjects of design and architecture in great detail. However, hes one of many stuck at home around the world. So, he decided to apply his design knowledge to things that he can get his hands on around the house and talk about them. Its a fascinating listen and gives a lot of context to mundane, household items.

This is a podcast that should be on everyones playlist, whether theres a quarantine or not. Neil deGrasse Tyson is great at communicating complex concepts of astrophysics anyway, and nowhere is that more apparent than in Startalk Radio. You dont even necessarily have to listen to the newest episodes, either. Even his older episodes are filled with fascinating information.

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Alex Goldman and PJ Vogt are the hosts on this one. Reply Alls concept is very simple, too. They scour the internet for amazing stories that no one has covered and told people about them. Theyve also started taking calls from their listeners recently and they Livestream it all on Twitch.

If you liked studying history in school, youll love especially love this one. If you didnt, give it a listen anyway. Dan Carlin is an engaging storyteller and listening to him highlight some of historys lesser-known events is quite illuminating.

Sticking with the historical theme, Behind The Bastards does what its name suggests. It analyses the lives of some of historys most brutal rulers and shines and light on their motivations. Its not just the more popular names like Adolf Hitler, either. There are sure to be some names in here that you wont hear anywhere else.

For the film buffs reading this, Unspooled is the perfect podcast for you. Youve likely seen many movies throughout this quarantine and want to talk about them with someone. Unspooled will fill that hole in your in heart, with comedians Paul Scheer and Amy Nicholson going through the American Film Institutes top 100 movies.

If youre looking for even more podcast recommendations, head on over to The Ladders list.

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The Best Six Podcast: Will Give You Motivation To Utilize This Quarantine - - Trending News Buzz