The best grocery delivery services will be extremely helpful during the coronavirus aka COVID-19 pandemic. Healthy people can continue to move about in public and shop in grocery stores, but if youre practicing social distancing (one of the most essential coronavirus tips to staying healthy), you may want to shop for groceries online. And sick people who are quarantined at home will get the food they need without endangering others.

If you dont want to rely entirely on food delivery apps and cook at home, youll need the sites on our best grocery delivery services list. They offer fresh produce, meat, seafood, eggs, cheese, prepared foods and meal kits. Others only sell nonperishable, shelf-stable pantry items like pasta, cereal, canned goods and snacks.

As far as delivery fees and times, they run the gamut. Some offer free delivery with add-on memberships, and most require a minimum order. You can get groceries delivered within an hour in some places or schedule them for the next day or later in the week.

And in light of the coronavirus situation, most of these services are instituting contact-less delivery, so the order will be dropped off outside the door. However, many are also experiencing major delays and have very few delivery slots available.

Here are the best grocery delivery services right now.

Online shopping has become ubiquitous in recent years. Now, people buy everything online: clothes, electronics, furniture, toilet paper and even groceries. The best grocery delivery services offer everything that you can get at the store, but with the convenience of being dropped off at your home. At the top of our list of the best grocery delivery services are Amazon Fresh and Instacart, both of which are widely available across the United States. They operate differently (Amazon Fresh puts together orders in a warehouse, while Instacart uses personal shoppers who go to local stores near you), but both offer a range of goods, from fresh produce to meat and seafood to non-perishables like pasta to cleaning supplies.

The other options that round out the list of best grocery delivery services have more limitations, whether its availability in many locations or the breadth of products they sell. None are exactly cheap when it comes to delivery fees, but convenience comes at a premium. FreshDirect has top-quality organic produce but at higher prices and in only a handful of states. Peapod and Shipt also have limited coverage areas, though they do feature great deals and coupons. The best grocery delivery services will help budget-conscious shoppers find savings. And even if you just want to stock up the pantry, options like Google Shopping and Prime Pantry allow you to do so at just the click of a button.

For anyone looking to replace their regular, weekly in-store grocery shopping experience, Amazon Fresh may be the best choice if youre already an Amazon Prime member, but Instacart provides targeted access to your favorite store.

Locations: More than 2,000 cities (check availability); no dorms | Membership required: Yes, included with Amazon Prime ($119 per year) | Shipping fee: Free with minimum order of $35 | Delivery times: As fast as 1 hour | What you can buy: Groceries and non-perishables, including Whole Foods

Free 2-hour delivery

Whole Foods products

Requires Amazon Prime membership

Amazon Fresh is essentially a digital grocery store. It used to be an add-on service but now comes free for Amazon Prime members. The store offers fresh produce, meat, dairy, seafood, packaged foods, Whole Foods 365 products and household goods, such as cleaning supplies. You can even shop for electronics, clothing and toys on Amazon Fresh. The interface is the same as the rest of Amazon, so using it is easy and familiar. Just add items to your cart and then check out.

Amazon Fresh offers free two-hour delivery in most cases if you meet an order minimum (which vary by area). For a fee in some areas, you can get your delivery within the hour. You can also schedule a time in advance. Pickup is available in some cities and is free. Plus, Amazon Fresh offers coupons and deals if you are looking to save on groceries.

Try the Amazon Fresh service now.

Locations: 40 states, plus Washington, D.C. (check availability) | Membership required: No | Shipping fee: Starting at $3.99 with minimum order of $10; free with Instacart Express ($99 per year or $9.99 per month) with minimum order of $35 | Delivery times: 2 hours to 6 days | What you can buy: Groceries, non-perishables, alcohol from local stores

Shop at your favorite stores

2-hour delivery

Delivery fees can add up

Instacart uses personal shoppers to pick up items for you from local stores. You can even order from Costco and Sams Club without needing a membership (though you will pay more than members would in the store). Some areas even allow you to order from liquor stores, pet stores and pharmacies. As youre shopping, you can indicate substitutes if any items are unavailable. Or you can have the shopper contact you to ask about replacement products. Youll receive live updates and can track the shoppers progress on GPS.

If you upgrade to Instacart Express, you get free two-hour delivery on orders over $35 and you can also shop from multiple stores at the same time. Otherwise, you have to pay a fee starting at $3.99, which goes up during busier times of the day and varies by how quickly you want your delivery.

Try the Instacart service now.

Locations: 1,600 cities (check availability) | Membership required: No | Shipping fee: $7.95 to $9.95, free with Delivery Unlimited ($98 per year or $12.95 per month) | Delivery times: Same day to one week | What you can buy: Groceries, non-perishables, other Walmart products

Low Walmart prices

Access to many types of products

High delivery fees

Walmart Grocery is a fairly new delivery service introduced by the megastore in most major cities. Previously, the service allowed you to order from Walmart for same-day pickup. Now, you can have that order delivered to you, also same-day. Walmart Grocery has existed on a separate app from the main Walmart app, but the company plans to merge them soon.

So, what can you buy? Everything from groceries (perishable and nonperishable) to home goods to electronics to beauty products to clothing anything Walmart sells at low Walmart prices. You can get fresh fruit and outdoor gear at the same time! Once you order, you can select an open delivery window up to a week in advance. And if you sign up for the Delivery Unlimited package, shipping is free. Otherwise, the delivery fee starts at $7.95.

Try the Walmart Grocery service now.

Locations: New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Washington D.C. (check availability) | Membership required: No | Shipping fee: $5.99-$15.99 with minimum order of $30; free with Delivery Pass ($129 per year, $79 for six months or $39 for six months of midweek deliveries) | Delivery times: Same day to one week | What you can buy: Groceries, non-perishables, alcohol in some areas

High-quality groceries

Prepared meals and meal kits

Limited coverage area

FreshDirect is limited to a handful of Northeast states and offers those areas high-quality produce, meat, seafood, cheese, baked goods and pantry staples. They also make their own brand of meal kits and prepared meals you could buy an entire Thanksgiving meal, as an example. You can also buy farmshare boxes, fresh flowers, household goods, personal care items and alcohol in some areas. Because their goods are top-notch (and often organic), their prices reflect that so you may experience some sticker shock.

If youre in New York City, you can also use their sister grocery delivery service, Food Kick, which offers same-day shipping. And in the summers, FreshDirect expands its coverage zone to the Jersey Shore and Hamptons. Their fees are high, depending on the specific area, as is the monthly and yearly passes. But if you want quality groceries, you have to pay for them.

Try the FreshDirect service now

Locations: New England and mid-Atlantic states (check availability) | Membership required: No | Shipping fee: Varies by order total; free with PodPass ($119 per year, $49 for three months, $69 for six months) with minimum order of $100 | Delivery times: Next day to two weeks | What you can buy: Groceries, non-perishables

Great sign-up deal

Double coupons

Limited coverage area

Peapod is one of the first of the best grocery delivery services, though its not in many regions right now. They recently pulled out of the Midwest and the Washington D.C. area. Peapod offers all the standard groceries like fresh vegetables and fruit, meat, dairy and pantry staples but also their own brand of meal kits. Theres decent savings to be had, too: They double manufacturers coupons up to $0.99. Be sure to sign up for their emails, which also tout special deals.

When you first sign up for Peapod, you can save $20 off your first order and get 60 days of free delivery with the promo code 60DAYSFREE. After that, you can get free delivery with PodPass, but only by ordering over $100. Otherwise, the delivery fee varies by your order total and the day and time you select.

Try the Peapod service now

Locations: Everywhere (check availability) | Membership required: No | Shipping fee: Free with minimum order of $25 or $35, depending on store | Delivery times: Varies, depending on store (some offer same-day) | What you can buy: Non-perishables from stores including Target and Costco

Shop at favorite stores

Free delivery with minimum order

No groceries

Google Shopping, formerly known as Google Express, offers mostly non-perishable items from a variety of stores, including Target. Think Prime Pantry crossed with Instacart (but without the personal shopper). Again, if you order from a membership-exclusive store like Costco, you will pay a premium price that is more than members would pay. Depending on the store, if you meet the order minimum, you get free shipping.

The delivery windows also depend on the store; some offer same-day shipping from Fedex and UPS, but youre more likely to receive your items the next day or in several business days. As to what you can buy, you can shop the standard pantry staples like baking ingredients, pasta, beverages, canned vegetables and fruits, snacks and condiments. In some areas, you can buy non-refrigerated vegetables and fruit and fresh flowers.

Try the Google Shopping service now

Locations: The Southeast, parts of Texas, Chicago (check availability) | Membership required: Yes ($99 per year or $14 per month) | Shipping fee: Free with minimum order of $35 | Delivery times: 1 hour to two weeks | What you can buy: Groceries, non-perishables, alcohol in some areas

Shop at favorite stores

1 hour delivery

Requires membership

Shipt is similar to Instacart but requires you to sign up for a membership, which comes with free shipping on orders over $35 (for smaller orders, the fee is $7). Shipt has a somewhat limited coverage area versus the other best grocery delivery services, but still offers convenience and decent prices. They promote weekly sales, coupons and deals (including buy-one-get-one-free) if youre looking to save on your grocery budget.

Like Instacart, you get a personal shopper who will pick up the items on your list from various local stores, including Kroger, Target and CVS. In some areas, you can even get alcohol. If your personal shopper has questions about substitutes, they will contact you to discuss adjustments to the order. Once you place an order, you can get your items as quickly as within the hour or schedule the delivery in the next two weeks.

Try the Shipt service now

Locations: Nearly 100 cities (check availability) | Membership required: Yes, included with Amazon Prime ($119 per year) | Shipping fee: Free with minimum order of $35 | Delivery times: 1 hour to 2 days | What you can buy: Groceries from Whole Foods and select non-perishables

Whole Foods groceries

1-hour delivery

Requires Amazon Prime membership

Think of Amazon Prime Now as two storefronts, one of which is Whole Foods. That means you can buy the grocery stores fresh produce, meat, cheese, baked goods and prepared foods. The other storefront is Amazon goods, including its own groceries (like the ones available via Amazon Fresh) as well as other items like electronics, clothing and household supplies. The Whole Foods items and Amazon items will go into separate carts when you check out. Then, you can select a time slot as soon as within two hours (some areas have one-hour delivery).

So what is the difference between Prime Now and Amazon Fresh? Well, Fresh sells Whole Foods 365 branded items, but not Whole Foods groceries (meat, produce, cheese, etc.) But yes, the two services are very similar and we wouldnt be surprised if they merge soon.

Try the Prime Now service now

Locations: Most cities except in Alaska and Hawaii (check availability) | Membership required: Yes, included with Amazon Prime ($119 per year) | Shipping fee: Free with minimum order of $35; free with Prime Pantry membership ($4.99 per month) and minimum order of $10; $5.99 for orders under $35 | Delivery times: Within 4 business days | What you can buy: Non-perishables only

Available almost everywhere

Good deals

Slow ground shipping

Prime Pantry, like Amazon Fresh, is free for Amazon Prime members. But unlike Amazon Fresh, Pantry doesnt have groceries. Instead, it offers nonperishable, shelf-stable household goods like pasta, cereal, and snacks as well as cleaning supplies and pet food. Pantry sells these goods in bulk and in smaller portions, like a single box of cereal or personal-sized snacks. Its one of the best grocery delivery services if youre looking to stock up on household goods as preparation for a natural disaster or the recent coronavirus pandemic.

A Prime Pantry membership costs $4.99 a month and offers free delivery with a minimum order of $10. If youre a non-member, you have to order $35 worth to get free delivery. Orders under $35 will cost you $5.99 in shipping. All deliveries take up to four business days, though, so this is one of the slower grocery delivery services on our list.

Try the Prime Pantry service now

The first thing to do when deciding which is the best grocery delivery service for you is determining which are available in your city or area.

If you want to find out which of the best grocery delivery services is in your area, heres a handy list to check for availability. Just visit these links, enter your zip code or address information to learn which grocery delivery service will bring groceries right to your door.

Once youve narrowed down the list to the best grocery delivery services in your area, consider what you need to buy. If you need fresh produce and meat, you should go with Amazon Fresh, Walmart Grocery, Instacart, FreshDirect, Peapod, Shipt or Amazon Prime Now. If you only need non-perishables, consider Google Shopping or Prime Pantry.

You may also want to consider the quality of the groceries. If you want organic produce, we recommend FreshDirect or Prime Now (which sells Whole Foods produce). If you want to shop at your favorite store, go with Instacart or Shipt. If you want to buy pre-made meal kits, check out Peapod and FreshDirect. If youre all about a budget, Walmart Grocery may have some of the lowest prices.

The rest is here:

Best grocery delivery services to get you through the coronavirus outbreak - Tom's Guide UK

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While International Womens Day this year has already passed, it doesnt mean that we should stop celebrating the many achievements of women to date. From developing much-needed sustainability solutions to leaving behind a positive social impact, there are women every day working hard to bring about change. Below are 10 brands led by women that are making the world a better place in their own ways.

Founded in 2012 by Kavita Khosa, Purearth is an award-winning ethical skincare and wellness brand offering fair-trade, toxin-free, vegan and cruelty-free beauty products. All its products are handcrafted in small batches with natural wild harvested ingredients, and is driven by a zero-waste ethos with its plastic-free packaging and free-of-charge recycling collection service. For every container returned, the company plants a tree. Committed to leaving behind an additional social impact, Khosa decided to partner up with a number of microcredit and grassroots organisations to help local marginalised women in the Himalayan region to engage with urban markets on fair terms.

Purearth products are available online via their website.

Founded by two Hong Kong mums Anita Patel and Sheetal Avlani, ZeroYet100 is a local vegan-friendly and clean skincare brand. Its entire collection is formulated using only natural ingredients and is 100% free from synthetic nasties that are not only harmful to our own health and wellbeing but the environment too. Unlike conventional personal care and beauty products on the market, Anita and Sheetals products wont pollute waterways and harm wildlife, and come in plastic-free and recyclable metal and glass containers.

Zero Yet 100 products are available online via their website and store location in 702 Car Po Commercial Building, 18-20 Lyndhurst Terrace, Central, Hong Kong.

LUNA Naturals was founded in 2015 by Olivia Cotes-James out of a frustration of the lack of non-toxic menstrual products on the Asian market. Based in Hong Kong and Shanghai, her social impact period care brand offers monthly subscription boxes for 100% toxin-free, organic and natural cotton sanitary pads and tampons and a reusable menstrual cup product. Olivias brand is catered to women in Asia, where 90% of women currently use non-biodegradable synthetic feminine care products that not only wreak havoc on our health and wellbeing, but contribute a significant amount of landfill waste. Partnering with Hong Kong charity Free Periods, LUNA also supports low-income women with free sustainable and safe menstrual products as well as breaking menstrual taboos with mainland China-based NGO Bright & Beautiful.

LUNA Naturals products are available online via their website.

Created in 2019 by Denise Tam and Terry Wu, Heavens Please is Hong Kongs ultimate CBD wellness and lifestyle platform offering customers the best CBD products. In addition to curating high-quality CBD oils, tinctures and topical beauty and skincare products from the United States and United Kingdom all of which contain only broad spectrum CBD and CBD isolates rather than full-spectrum CBD (which may have traces of THC, the psychoactive compound of the hemp plant) Denises brand supplies the citys first CBD beer made by OH CBD Beer HK. Plus, committed to being plastic-free, all of Heavens Pleases products are offered in glass jars and containers and cardboard packaging.

Heavens Please products are available online via their website.

Created in 2018 by Clarisse Akonyi who hails from the Democratic Republic of Congo and is a refugee herself with the support of Tegan Smyth, Art Women is a creative collective of works by female asylum seekers in Hong Kong. In addition to offering a collection of handicrafts, fashion and jewellery pieces made by refugee women in the city, the group serves as a counselling and therapy platform for women who are overcoming traumatic events and everyday discrimination. Art Women also provides a safe environment aimed at empowering women with self-esteem, autonomy and personal power.

Art Women products are available online via their website.

MeMeraki is Indias first handcrafted artisanal brand on a mission to revive traditional folk arts with fashion. Founded in 2017 by Yosha Gupta, the MeMeraki works with over 100 artists to create beautiful handbags, totes, laptop cases and clutches using age old handicraft techniques with sustainable eco-friendly fabrics such as vegan cork and ethical leather from certified suppliers. Yoshas brand is also dedicated to leaving behind a positive social impact, and has previously run a crowdfunding campaign to raise money to build an art school for girls in an Indian village.

MeMeraki products are available online via their website.

Headquartered in Hong Kong, Everything Organic is an Asia-Pacific distributor of organic foods and was launched by Susanna Chan in 2016. Working alongside CityFarm, Turkeys largest and most established organic food brand and retailer, Susannas platform brings a whole range of quality organic foods to the Asia region, most of which are plant-based ingredients such as dried nuts and fruit, chocolate, oils, sauces and vinegars.

Everything Organic products are available online via their website.

Eat Fresh was originally launched in 2011 by three Hong Kong mums Naoko, Annamaria and Charlotte who were concerned about food safety and is now run by female health coach duo Mia Man and Martina Bin. Providing home delivery services of locally grown fresh organic fruit and vegetables, Eat Fresh hopes to offer customers healthy, top-quality HKORC certified produce alongside healthy recipes to inspire more people to eat whole plant produce.

Eat Fresh produce is available online via their website.

Lead image courtesy of listed brands and compiled by Green Queen Media.

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Sally Ho is Green Queen's resident writer and reporter. Passionate about about the environment, social issues and health, she is always looking into the latest climate stories in Hong Kong and beyond. A long-time vegan, she also hopes to promote healthy and plant-based lifestyle choices in Asia. Sally has a background in Politics and International Relations from her studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

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#IWD2020: 8 Female-Led Asian Brands That You Should Know, From Fashion To Food - Green Queen Media

The latest report by ReportsCheck.biz on Global Organic Food And Beverages Market 2020-2026 is an elaborative assessment of all industry aspects, growth factors, market drivers, top players, types and applications at the global and regional level. Also, top countries within these regions, competitive landscape, product portfolio, and opportunities are presented. The assessment period considered for deriving market numbers is from 2015-2026. The Organic Food And Beverages Industry has reflected rapid growth in the past few years and will grow at a CAGR of xx.xx% in coming years.

The well-established market players in this industry and their market size and share are:

Organic Valley Amys Kitchen Inc. United Natural Foods Incorporated Cargill, Inc. Private Label Companies Whole Foods Market Inc. Everest WhiteWave Foods General Mills, Inc. The Hain Celestial Group Inc.

Click On This Link To Receive Free Sample Report Copy: https://reportscheck.biz/report/47837/global-organic-food-and-beverages-industry-market-research-report/#sample-reports

The in-depth analysis of value-chain structure, Porters five forces, market trends, restraints, driver opportunities, and every sub-segment is provided. The current and forecast industry situations, major product types and application analysis are provided below. The development strategies implemented by top players, business plans, mergers and acquisitions, raw materials and pricing analysis is done.

Top Product Types Are:

Biodynamic Farming Organic Farming

Key Application Analysis Is As Follows:

Online channel Supermarket Departmental Store Others

The market size in terms of value & volume, and top region analysis for North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Central & South America, Middle East & Africa is conducted. The import-export volume, upstream raw material suppliers, downstream buyers, and opportunity analysis is conducted. Top countries in these regions are United States, Canada, Mexico, China, Japan, India, South Korea, Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, Germany, France, UK, Spain, Russia, Brazil, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Turkey, and rest.

The capacity, volume, production, market status, development plans, SWOT analysis, and other factors are analyzed. The definition, classification, market scope, Organic Food And Beverages overview, concentration, and maturity analysis is presented. The aim of the Global Organic Food And Beverages Report is to provide type, application and region analysis. The significant trends, factors driving or market growth and inhibiting growth are stated. The opportunities for stakeholders, individual growth of every player and their contribution is stated. The new product launch events, as well as market status and prospect, is provided from 2015-2026.

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Every top company in Organic Food And Beverages Industry are analyzed based on capacity, sales, price, cost, gross margin, revenue, and other factors. The entire Organic Food And Beverages revenue in USD Million, research and development, volatile market dynamics and prospective opportunities are evaluated. The historical years considered in this report are 2015-2018, the base year is 2019, estimate year is 2019 and the forecast year is 2020-2026. The consumer analysis, sales channel, analysts views, appendix and research methodology is presented.

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Chapter 1: Definition, Classification, Scope, Applications, Market Segment By Regions, and Overview of Organic Food And Beverages Industry;

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Chapter 3: Technical Data, Manufacturing Plant Analysis, Production Date, Manufacturing Plants Distribution, R&D Status, and Technological Details Analysis;

Chapter 4: Complete Organic Food And Beverages Market Study, Capacity Analysis, Segment, and Sub-Segment Study, Sales, Pricing Analysis;

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Chapter 9: Latest Organic Food And Beverages Trend Analysis, Regional Trends, Raw Materials, Cost Structures, and Rest;

Chapter 10: Consumer Patterns, Import-Export Study, Downstream Buyers, Traders, Dealers, Distributors, Supply Chain Analysis and Rest;

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Organic Food And Beverages Market 2020 Report Analysis By Regions, Countries, Types, End-Use Applications, And Top Companies Forecast To 2026 - Posts...

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This week's market activity probably wasn't the shot of confidence you were hoping for if you're retired or planning to retire soon.

And your first instinct is probably to protect your retirement income.

Yet experts caution that the worst way to do that is to take dramatic actions with your investments.

"Clearly, you don't want to sell in a low market," said Steve Parrish, co-director of the New York Life Center for Retirement Income at the American College of Financial Services.

You also want to avoid making big, bold decisions before you fully think them through.

"I want to caution people, don't make rash decisions when there are bad things going on in the market," said Carolyn McClanahan, director of financial planning at Life Planning Partners in Jacksonville, Florida.

Instead, look to other strategies outside your investment portfolio that can help extend how long your assets last in your golden years.

"If you're close to retirement, but haven't, it really makes sense to keep working," Parrish said.

For example, if you were planning to retire in June and just extend that deadline until the end of the year, that's extra income coming in. Plus, it extends how long your portfolio will cover you in non-working years.

"Say you wait until the end of the year when the market recovers," Parrish said. "That's going to have an exponential effect on what your retirement income is."

Plus, if you aren't yet 65 and eligible for Medicare, that prevents you from having to pay for COBRA or private health insurance, he said.

One rule all individuals should strive for: Work as long as you are healthy, McClanahan recommended. That's one thing you can depend on, rather than counting on the markets to take care of you for 20 years to 40 years.

"Your human capital is your safest asset," McClanahan said. "Controlling your ability to work is definitely something that is easier than trying to control the stock market."

One surefire way of shoring up your personal balances is to make more with the money you already have.

"If you need to be panicked, do it in the form of saving money, rather than trying to liquidate your investments," Parrish said.

For starters, take a look at your cell phone plan to see if you can whittle it down, or maybe go out to eat less. Revisit recurring subscriptions like cable television packages and how much you are using them.

"Everybody has a different mindset about what's important to them," McClanahan said.

If, for instance, you've decided eating only organic food is a priority for you, try to see how you can reduce those costs by bargain shopping or learning to grow your own vegetables, McClanahan suggested.

More from Personal Finance: What a payroll tax cut could mean for Social Security, Medicare How Coronavirus could financially cripple many Americans Dos and don'ts to avoid panic in your 401(k)

Taking on debt should always be done with a great amount of caution.

Yet depending on your needs and the terms, it sometimes can make sense.

That's because taking money out of the market will likely have big long-term consequences for your financial health. Meanwhile, interest rates on loans are at record lows.

"Consider a short-term bank loan if you need cash flow, rather than liquidating some of the equity that normally pays some of your retirement income," Parrish said.

The key is to limit that debt to short-term to carry you through the market until the novel coronavirus is under control, he said.

Keep in mind that bank loans, whether offered by a brick-and-mortar or online institution, are preferable over credit card loans, which come with much higher interest rates.

If you own a home and were on the fence about whether or not to borrow against it, that strategy could make sense now, Parrish said.

"Your equities are presumably in the tank, but the equity in your house is probably still OK," Parrish said. "A line of credit certainly makes a lot of sense right now."

Money from that loan, whether through a home equity loan or reverse mortgage, can serve as fixed income you can count on.

Making such a move requires caution, Parrish said, because these transactions often come with a number of fees and take time to process.

"It's not something where you call up the bank tomorrow and get it going," Parrish said.

While reverse mortgages can be helpful for some people, they often have loopholes that people didn't recognize when they signed up for them, McClanahan said. And that can lead to regrets if you don't know what you're getting into.

"Don't make rash decisions; really research those," McClanahan said.

When it doubt, consult a financial advisor who charges hourly fees and can help you sort through your overall income and spending needs and help you come up with a plan, McClanahan suggested.

See the rest here:

At or near retirement? Consider these moves to protect your nest egg - CNBC

The energy used to grow, process, package and transport food accounts for about a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions. But not all food is equally carbon-intensive. Researchers can measure the impact of different food choices at each stage of their journey from farm to fork to work out their carbon footprint.

Experts suggest that, to reduce your food-related carbon footprint, the best dietary changes to make include replacing red meat and dairy products with plant-based alternatives, and avoiding products that are flown in, or grown in a commercial greenhouse.

In our research, we found that many people arent aware of this advice. In a national UK sample, most people mentioned one or two dietary changes for reducing the climate impact of their food choices, but they rarely mentioned the strategies that experts suggest are the most effective.

Respondents in our study thought that buying local and organic were the best choices for the climate, with reducing packaging and avoiding processed food coming close behind. Although these strategies can have benefits for the environment and animal welfare, they are far from the most effective strategies for mitigating climate change.

Even the respondents who were most engaged with environmental issues were often ill informed rarely mentioning the most effective strategies and frequently suggesting relatively ineffective ones. This suggests that advice about how people can make more sustainable food choices isnt even reaching the ones who might want to do the most.

So why are people in the dark about the right dietary choices for the climate?

For one, corporate sustainability campaigns tend to shift responsibility onto consumers by focusing on reusing and recycling packaging. This has the obvious appeal of presenting no risk to a companys bottom line. Although reducing the amount of plastic packaging that ends up in landfill is important, its unlikely to make much difference to climate change.

It also doesnt help that there is so much information to process, and so many complex choices to make. What should we do when the organic vegetables are wrapped in plastic and non-organic ones arent? Or when the milk-based yoghurt pot is decorated with a landscape of happy cows wandering free in lush fields, while the plainly packaged soy yoghurt conjures images of the Amazon burning to ashes? What about when the fresh bananas arrive from Ecuador but the local Scottish strawberries are kept in the freezer? Whether its plastic packaging versus organic produce, animal welfare versus deforestation, or travel miles versus energy consumption, there is a lot to consider.

Another cause for confusion might be the nature of advice given by climate experts. Often, the climate impact of food choices is presented in terms of grams of greenhouse gas emissions.

We found that people were confused when they were asked how many grams of greenhouse gas emissions could be saved by growing 1 kg of produce organically instead of conventionally?, or packing 1 kg of produce into a paper bag instead of plastic? They were less confused and could answer more accurately when asked the same questions about the percentage of the greenhouse gas emissions that could be saved.

Read more: Four ways to reduce the carbon in your food basket

For most of us, decisions about what to eat involve many factors, including how healthy or tasty food is likely to be. We simply dont have the time, the motivation, or the ability to always figure out exactly which food option has the lowest carbon footprint.

Making choices becomes a lot easier when we have heuristics, or simple rules of thumb. One example is the five-a-day rule, which encourages people to eat five portions of fruit and vegetables each day. Its much easier to follow than weighing and adding up your daily intake of different fruits and vegetables to see if youve consumed the necessary amount in grams.

Popularising simple rules of thumb like replace red meat and dairy with plant-based products helps people skip the stupefying step of computing the complex carbon footprint of every single meal they eat. They allow people to make fast and effective decisions about what to eat.

Heuristics are remarkably effective compared to more complex strategies for making decisions. According to research in psychology, this is probably due to them being easier to remember, implement in different situations, and stick to over time.

If you want to reduce the climate impact of our food choices, try to replace red meat and dairy with plant-based products more often, and avoid products that are flown in or grown in a greenhouse. These choices would be good for the climate, with the added bonus of being good for your health.

Click here to subscribe to our climate action newsletter. Climate change is inevitable. Our response to it isnt.

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Even concerned consumers don't know which food choices have the lowest climate impact - The Conversation UK

MADISON (WKOW) -- During the coronavirus pandemic, it can be easy to feel like we're constantly in danger.

"Those emotional states really wear down our system and it actually weakens our immune system and we don't think the most constructively," Dr. Shilagh Mirgain, a psychologist at UW Health, said.

She says the panic right now is just as contagious as the virus, so taking care of your mental health is just as important as your physical health.

"Monitor your own emotions and when you start to get keyed up, the first thing to do is just to calm the system," Dr. Mirgain said. "The second is to put this in perspective."

She equated this current emergency to 9/11 or the Boston marathon bombings, two terrible tragedies that we were able to overcome as a nation.

"We want to take this seriously and really engage in the kind of self-care that will keep ourselves and others safe," she said. "It isn't just a common cold or a flu."

With recent school closures, communicating the situation with your children calmly will also help prevent further harm for your family.

"Stick to the facts. You might want to limit how much your kids are exposed to media because certainly things like social media posts can be exaggerated or there can be misinformation that can scare your children unnecessarily," Dr. Mirgain said.

As large gatherings are being cancelled, she says you should try to have more family bonding time.

"You can do a hobby, spend time outside and certainly prioritize health for your kids and yourself," she said. "We want to be eating well, we want to be exercising and prioritize sleep."

She also said to watch local news and read enough to get your necessary updates but then avoid social media or constantly checking for more information on the pandemic.

If you're really struggling, you should seek help from a professional.

Many of them are going to do telehealth appointments to get the help you need without having the risk of infection.

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Managing mental health in face of coronavirus pandemic - WKOW

The precise rate of artificial-intelligence (AI) adoption in South Africa is unknown. Some reports suggest half of the countrys larger businesses are actively plugging in, while others indicate that South African companies are slower on the uptake. Regardless, the transition to a workplace in which AI has a significant role to play is under way and is having a knock-on effect on the skills required by business especially for entry-level positions.

During this transition, fewer positions will be available, and we will see a significant shift in skills requirements for entry-level positions, commented World Wide Worx managing director and fourth industrial revolution project principal, Arthur Goldstuck. This, of course, is the fundamental challenge of the 4IR.

This issue is playing out particularly vividly in the global financial services sector, which, according to a McKinsey report, is one of the leading adopters of AI and machine learning.

From banking to trading, AI is reducing the time it takes to generate reports, analyse risks and rewards, make decisions and monitor financial health. AI is used to give more accurate, personalised advice, combat fraud, automate savings, make indecipherable data intelligible for service providers and their customers, and make self-help options viable, practical and safe. These are many of the skills that financial-services graduates are traditionally trained in.

University graduates today are stepping into a world in which they will be working alongside AI, and they will need a different skill set and mindset to do so. Research is identifying a growth mindset as a key requirement in workplaces in which humans and computers work side by side. The term was coined by Stanford University professor Carol Dweck, and having a growth mindset means that you believe your talents can be developed (through hard work, effective strategies, and input from others). By contrast, if you have a fixed mindset, you believe your talents are innate gifts. People with a growth mindset tend to perform better in the modern workplace because they worry less about looking smart and put more energy into learning. They dont get as easily knocked back by criticism or failure because they are less defensive, quicker to admit errors and move on, and more likely to share and collaborate.

The good news is that although developing a growth mindset is not easy (it seems that a fixed mindset is often the default setting for our brains) it can be done. And it starts with helping individuals to become more self-aware.

To remain in a growth zone, we must identify and work with [our] triggers, says Dweck. Many managers and executives have benefited from learning to recognise when their fixed-mindset persona shows up and what it says to make them feel threatened or defensive. Most importantly, over time, they have learned to talk back to it, persuading it to collaborate with them as they pursue challenging goals.

It falls to educators from primary school through to tertiary education to make sure that we are preparing our students for the future world of work. It is our responsibility to develop not only the technical skills and competencies they need but also the self-awareness and associated mindsets that will make them more resilient and adaptive. Furthermore, we will have to co-operate more closely with industry recruiters to understand their precise needs in respect of talent. This is the premise upon which the African Institute of Financial Markets and Risk Management [AIFMRM] at the University of Cape Town was founded more than five years ago.

Against a backdrop of skills shortages, 8.3% of graduates are reportedly struggling to find jobs in the current economy; this suggests that academic institutions and the world of work and business are somewhat misaligned. Realignment is essential for the survival of academia, industry and the economy. And in the age of AI, this challenge is magnified.

The World Economic Forum estimates that automation will displace 75-million jobs worldwide by 2022, but that with sufficient economic growth, innovation, and investment especially in wise human-capital development there can be enough new job creation to offset the effects of automation.

AI cant do everything. It (currently) cannot make moral decisions or explain how it came up with a particular solution. It is essentially subordinate to its algorithm and generally doesnt act in ways that are outside of its training. It is in these functions that graduates will need to excel.

We must embrace this imperative and act together systemically to find the best of traditional education, and rewire it to emerging requirements and trends in the workplace so that graduates can complement the role of AI and maximise its benefits for consumers and the economy.

Professor David Taylor is the director of the African Institute of Financial Markets and Risk Management at the University of Cape Town

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We must equip graduates to excel in tasks that are beyond the scope of AI - Mail and Guardian

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Your ability to strike a reasonable balance between family and work life demands is about to be tested like never before.

In the last few weeks, attempts to increase social distancing and address the coronavirus pandemic has led to businesses all over the world shifting to remote working. Without much preparation, many people are abruptly having to adjust to new ways of operating, leading and connecting.

Working parents have an additional burden now that universities and school systems are sending students home to conduct virtual learning and daycare providers are suspending services. You now have two environments coming togetheryour job and your home lifethat were never meant to overlap this much.

Even if youre a seasoned pro at working from home, doing it alongside a spouse or with children around is sure to present a whole new set of challenges. But before you get overwhelmed, here are five tips to help you communicate more effectively, manage the unavoidable stress of this situation and balance competing priorities.

1. Plan holistically

You may be tempted to hope for the best and take one day at a time; you plan to try to work from home and meet family needs as they come up. This is a mistake.

If you dont make the time to plan for how you will address the myriad of tasks coming your way, you will inevitably find yourself failing to meet expectations at work or working around the clock because home life required more from you than you anticipated.

Before now, you may have taken for granted the luxury of working without constantly being interrupted by the people you love. Take time to play out the various scenarios that will likely come up when working around your family, and ask yourself important questions. Do you need quiet to focus and can you get it? How often will you need to multitask while working? Can you predict the best times to take calls?

For some, it may be an option to carve out exclusive work time by sending older kids off to entertain themselves or by alternating childcare with a spouse that is also working from home. For others, you may have to be the primary (or only) caretaker of young children, which leaves limited time to work.

Face these realities up front while drafting your initial plan of attack. This will help you to better communicate your needs and not underestimate the challenges ahead.

2. Get real with your boss and teammates

While its a privilege to have the option to work from home and continue to get paid, dont let your gratitude for the situation make you lose sight of the practicality. Trying to remain at the top of your game at work while also taking care of young children is completely unrealistic.

Even older children may end up needing more attention than you expected. Consider what is being asked of your kids. Theyve had to suddenly stop all of their normal routines, from school interactions to sports to activities, and sit at home every day with you while you try to work. They will get restless.

Its time to have a candid conversation with your boss and team about your unique circumstances. Explain your commitment to helping the company navigate these unprecedented times, but also make sure you voice what obstacles you will have to manage in the background.

You dont want anyone making their own assumptions about what you can and cant do. This is especially true for working fathers as gender bias may create the incorrect perception that you have fewer responsibilities at home.

Address any parts of your job that will be impacted from working from home and confirm what tasks you can commit to or complete. This will help you and your boss to get ahead of any potential issues. Do your best, but dont overpromise.

3. Confirm changing priorities and deadlines

Your goal for the next few weeks is to successfully fulfill the essential requirements of your job while caring for your family physically and mentally.

While only meeting the minimum required at work has a negative connotation, in this case, that strategy may be your only shot at finding a sustainable balance to get through the next few weeks. Now is not the time to waste energy on initiatives that are no longer as important as they were previously or projects with changing deadlines.

Theres a good chance some new mitigating circumstance may have changed the priorities of your work. Be sure to follow up with your team and get explicit feedback on when things are due so you arent overextending yourself in order to meet a timeline that is outdated.

The same applies if you routinely ask your colleagues for support. Be thoughtful about what you actually need versus what you want and set clear deadlines. Consider things you requested previously. Are they still necessary?

Delivering for your clients will remain a high priority, but as much as you can, be sure to provide your colleagues with flexibility to manage family life.

4. Optimize your stamina

Managing your physical stamina is one of the most important things you need to do right now.

This means getting as much sleep as you can, eating high-quality food, staying hydrated and sneaking in stress management practices like meditation. These are all things that you are sure to struggle to incorporate into your schedule in the coming weeks.

Do yourself a favor and skip the late-night stress eating while binge watching the news. This will leave you grumpy and frazzled the next day and not ready to take on your workload that is even higher than usual.

If you find yourself only able to protect one self-care habit in the days to come, make it sleep. Guard your rest aggressively. It is not selfish to choose sleep over sending emails or finally watching a show with your partner.

Try to remind yourself that your entire family will benefit from being around the healthier, or at least better rested, version of you.

5. Communicate, communicate, communicate

You need even more support from your partner while living in closer proximity with them but with greater physical isolation from your work team. Yet a failure to communicate effectively could bring unnecessary tension.

Dont make any assumptions about how you will balance childcare or other home tasks. And dont hesitate to speak up when an established relationship norm no longer works in this new setting. For example, after putting the kids to bed you may need to skip your habit of watching Netflix together because you need more alone time now that youre both home and working around each other all day.

Whatever it is that you need, share your thoughts and concerns early. If you wait until you are truly frustrated, youre more likely to become demanding or blame your partner for failing to help with a desire they didnt even know you had. Its critical that you discuss each of your needs, wants and expectations frequently.

Navigating change is hard. Go easy on yourself if you start to feel you are falling short. This lifestyle change wont be easy, but long after you get through this tumultuous time, you will be proud of your ability to adapt and persevere.

Kourtney Whitehead is a career expert and author of Working Whole. You can learn more about her work atSimply Service.

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5 Tips To Balance Remote Working While Your Family Is Also At Home - Forbes

Prayer, to me, is about service and becoming a more efficient, creative instrument of The Divine. Here is my personal testimony.

In my experience, prayer and Self-knowledge go intrinsically hand in hand, forming the bedrock of a rich, sustainable, inner life. Honed through many trials and tribulations, prayer is an integral part of my spiritual and creative practice, hard-wired into the sound of silence, the expansion of inner space and the movement and prompting of the creative spirit. Connecting to the realm of prayer reminds me to breathe in the clear, clean mountain air, drink directly from The Source and allow the noise of the busy world to drop away.

I use the power of prayer as a vehicle of praise and gratitude, an intentional way to help others and as a practical portal to access higher levels of consciousness and the world of infinite supply through which we can manifest all manner of possible things. Life is a mystery. We never know when, why or how a divine spark of creativity will strike or where an initial creative impulse will lead

On 5th January 2020, the American-Iranian conflict was raging, as were the Australian Bushfires. At the end of a condolence call to my friend in Adelaide, I said We must pray for rain and offered up a prayer to see if I could write something. that would speak to the moment. The words came swiftly:

Prayer for Peace to Rain

Pray for the rain to come again

To quench the flames and soothe the pain

Pray to unite our world entire

To stave off war and quell the fire

May healing rain and fury cease

Pray for our planet, pray for peace

Reflecting on the prayer, led to a clear, spiritual call to action, to mount and choreograph a Vigil for Our Planet around the torchlit, healing waters of The Roman Baths in Bath where I live. What better place to hold this timely, spiritual gathering than in a historic site, with a sacred spring in the heart of a beloved World Heritage City? The event would be in aid of the Australian Bushfire appeal. I hesitated to take on such a major undertaking, but it was the words of Greta Thunberg Our planet is burning that compelled me to commit and do all I possibly could to realise this wonderful vision.

The Vigil for Our Planet was duly dedicated to our children and our childrens children a call to action to people of all faiths and none to stand together as one. Date and time: 8th March, International Womens Day, 8.00-9.00 pm.

Organising the event was a deep act of faith and it was prayer that gave me the courage and strength to dare to walk forward into the unknown, trusting that my hand was held in the unseen world and that I was being guided in my mission at each step. The project was blessed with a groundswell of generosity and warm-hearted community support from my friends, sponsors, volunteers, musicians, performers and ongoing prayer throughout from the Benedictines at Prinknash Abbey in Gloucestershire.

On the night. we were a reflective, prayerful gathering of around eighty people, quietly holding the light in the magical setting of The Roman Baths. The programme of words, music and silence included a Maori water prayer, Prayer for Peace to Rain set to music and sung by a local duo, Sinnober, and the work of two Australian poets, one a member of the Aboriginal community and another who evacuated his home due to the bushfires in New South Wales. At a practical level, the vigil raised over 1,000 in donations, proceeds going to the World Wildlife Fund and the British Red Cross.

I invite you to stand with me in praying for peace to rain and holding the vision of a global Vigil for Our Planet. Who will carry the torch next? Every single vigil, however small, will help to build the dream and help create a better, brighter world for ourselves, our loved ones and the treasured generations yet to come.

Lizzie Davies

Lizzie Davies is a committed change agent and innovator who has been actively involved in promoting peace through the arts for over twenty five years. She is a writer and performance poet and the originator of the Candala, an illuminated art form to light up our world. A trauma survivor, she is passionate about the power of beauty and the creative spirit to overcome unimaginable loss and suffering and has just completed writing a self-help book on her unique practice of resilience training.

http://www.prayerforpeacetoran.com http://www.thecandalaproject.com

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Prayer for Peace to Rain - Thrive Global

The drop in foot traffic and a reluctance to go out will leave shops and restaurants empty.

While federal, state and local governments will need to step in with financial help and other policy measures, there also are some small ways that individuals, if they have the means, can help their favorite small businesses stay afloat through the crisis.

Purchasing a gift card to your favorite shop, theater or restaurant is an immediate way to put cash into the business, said Amanda Ballantyne, national director of The Main Street Alliance.

That's exactly what Luz Urrutia, CEO of the Opportunity Fund, a nonprofit microlender, has done. "I just bought gift cards to every one of the [local] restaurants that I love. They get their cash today. And I'll be able to use it later."

Molly Moon runs several ice cream shops in Seattle, which already has been hard hit by coronavirus. Moon, who employs 120 people, said she's now considering "extremely reduced hours ... It's breaking my heart."

For healthy customers running errands, she encourages them in good humor to "stock up on pints for the hard times." For those who stay home, Moon invites them to buy gift cards and store merchandise on her company web site.

When it comes to shopping locally, health guidance from the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control "is literally disrupting business as usual," said Abigail Ellman, a director at the Cooper Square Committee, a nonprofit working to prevent the displacement of residents and small businesses on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

Right now, Ellman noted, businesses are worried about how to make rent and payroll. Customers alone can't cure that strain, but she said "they need you to shop there. Support your local pharmacies and restaurants and businesses."

Taproom No. 307, a craft beer restaurant in New York City, is usually packed on Friday nights, and is really busy around St. Patrick's Day.

As of this week, the place has been practically empty. "People are afraid," said co-owner Roberta Souza.

It doesn't help that the restaurant is a place patrons come to watch live sports and most have now been canceled.

To entice customers who would rather stay home, Souza is offering a 20% discount on takeout.

In Seattle's Chinatown, restaurants are offering different types of deals to attract customers, said Monisha Singh, who runs the Chinatown-International District Business Improvement Area, a nonprofit providing marketing, street cleaning and other services to local shops and restaurants.

Some are offering incentives for first-time users that order delivery through services like Uber Eats and Postmates, Singh said. They're also offering curbside pickup for takeout orders.

And in a bid to help neighboring businesses in the area, some restaurants in Chinatown are offering a 20% discount to customers who show them a receipt from their purchases at another small business, Singh added.

Many independently owned restaurants and food businesses that haven't previously done so are now getting on to delivery platforms like Uber Eats or Postmates, as Moon is doing.

How you pay may be a concern. If you're sick or in a self-quarantine or if you're elderly and at risk, you might use your credit card to pay over the phone, including the tip for the delivery person, and ask them to leave the bag of food outside your door, said Dr. Robyn Gershon, an epidemiology professor at New York University's School of Public Health.

"But if you are fine and not in a 14-day quarantine, there's no reason not to open your door and hand the delivery person a tip."

If you do go to a restaurant or bar, or when you order takeout, consider being a little extra generous on the tips for wait staff and delivery people, since their income will drop due to fewer patrons.

A bigger tip may not directly contribute to a restaurant's bottom line, but it does help others and it contributes to the spirit of goodwill and appreciation in the community, which can help with everyone's mood.

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How to help your favorite small businesses survive the coronavirus crisis - CNN