Throughout 2021, Good Housekeeping will be exploring how we think about weight, our shapes, the way we eat and how we try to control or change our bodies in our quest to be happier and healthier. Our goal here is not to tell you how to think, but to start a conversation about diet culture, its impact, and how we might challenge the messages we are given to find alternative ways to feel attractive and successful.

The dawn of a new year is when many of us scramble to make resolutions, and in the U.S., these are often earnest pledges to shrink, tone, chisel or otherwise alter our bodies. Like years before, in the first weeks of 2021, new signups for virtual workout subscriptions and searches for diet on Google are spiking as millions of us look to detox our poor, puffy bodies of the bad food choices we made over the holidays and start the year fresh

Wait. Stop. Just there.

...detox our bodies of the bad food choices we made...

This language and the above concept implies that our bodies have been poisoned by peppermint bark, cookies, latkes, and eggnog, and that an antidote must be administered urgently, or else. It assumes that certain foods are bad and whats more, we are bad for eating them. To be totally transparent, we can fall into that trap here at Good Housekeeping too we recently published a recipe called Christmas Crack, which perpetuates a trend that equates a delicious, sugary treat to a dangerous, addictive drug that could actually kill you. This problematic nickname for a chocolatey candy concoction is a prime example of diet culture and just how easily it can sneak in under the radar.

Diet culture, a set of beliefs that places thinness as the pinnacle of success and beauty, has become our dominant culture often in ways we don't even notice since it's the water in which we swim. There's a whole lexicon, says Claire Mysko, CEO of National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA). When we say we need to burn off or make up for the cheeseboard we shared with friends; when we ponder snagging a bite of our partners dessert then immediately wonder, Is it worth it?; whenever we ascribe morality to our food choices, giggling that its sinful when we choose to eat what we crave or what comforts us, or good when we opt for low-calorie, low-carb, or other foods weve deemed healthy. All of that talk is part of diet culture, says Mysko. And it is so inextricably woven into the fabric of our culture that most of us arent even consciously aware of the daily inundation.

Even if youre not actively on a diet or trying to lose weight, diet culture can crop up in choices we think were making for health, to feel or look good, fit in, or even just make conversation amongst friends over dinner. But subconsciously, diet culture creates this idea and reinforces it at every turn that you have to be thin in order to be successful, accepted, loved, healthy: All of these things that we want for ourselves that are just understandable human desire, says Christy Harrison, M.P.H., R.D., C.D.N., author of Anti-Diet and host of the Food Psych podcast. It tells us that weight loss is the secret to that. It tells us that weight loss is a way to attain those things. And its a house of cards.

Diet culture refers to all of the messages and the attitudes around what's valued about body size and style, says therapist Judith Matz, L.C.S.W., author of The Body Positivity Card Deck and Diet Survivor's Handbook. In diet culture, there is a conferred status to people who are thinner, and it assumes that eating in a certain way will result in the right body size the correct body size and good health, and that it's attainable for anybody who has the right willpower, the right determination. In actual fact, there is no right body size, and even if there were, its not attainable to whomever does the right thing, as evidenced by the 98% failure rate of diets. This stat alone is proof of the no-win norm that we, as a society, have been groomed to abide by.

Diet culture can be found in Barbies thigh gap and 18-inch waist, which influences little ones perception of what an ideal body should look like. Its Lululemons founder saying publicly that it's a problem when women's thighs touch. Its Kim Kardashian explaining how necessary it is to squeeze into shapewear beneath a dress, saying, without shapewear, youd see cellulite and I just wouldnt feel as confident. (Her shapewear brand, SKIMS, allegedly sold $2 million of product in minutes when it launched.) Its the fact that we've all been told (or recited!) that at the first sign of hunger, you should drink a glass of water first in case youre actually just thirsty. Its the popular article here on Good Housekeeping's own website about 1,200-calorie diets that netted over two million search users in 2019 alone our second-most-read story of the year despite the fact that the number of calories falls within the realm of clinical starvation (Holocaust concentration camp prisoners were fed 1,250-1,400 calories per day).

In one fell swoop, diet culture sets us up to feel bad about ourselves while also suggesting that maybe losing weight will help us feel better. As anyone whos ever looked into the mirror and wished for a flatter this or a bigger that can likely attest, theres an unattainable and rigidly narrow Western beauty ideal to which we often compare ourselves. Nobody ever wakes up in the morning and says, Gosh, I look terrific. I feel so healthy, I'm so attractive: I think I'll go on a diet, Matz points out. It always starts with negative thoughts.

Instagram, movies, runways, and fashion ads are rife with slim, tall women living a life that somehow always looks better than our own could it be because of those perfect bodies? The sample size for many designers is 0-2, while a 2018 study by National Health Statistics Reports published by the CDC places the average American adult woman in a size 18-20, and teen girls in a size 12. While what is normal varies greatly on genetics, family history, race, ethnicity, age and much more, size is actually not a good indicator of health you can be smaller-bodied and unhealthy, or larger-bodied and fit. We're exposed to the steady stream of images and messages that reinforce diet culture and reinforce the idea that to be happy and successful and well-liked you have to look a certain way, have a certain body, and follow a certain fitness or meal plan or diet, says Mysko.

The "average" American woman is a size 18-20; designer sample sizes are 0-2.

The truth is that healthy, attractive, desirable bodies come at every size and shape. But for many people in larger bodies, people in "average" bodies, or even slender folks who don't feel that they're thin enough in the exact right places, a lifetime on the hamster wheel of feeling othered leads to people feeling a lot of shame about their body and feeling that being thin is worth pursuing at all costs, says Matz. The result: People choose from hundreds, if not thousands, of diet plans or restrictive food plans.

But its not our fault: Diet culture has long been institutionalized and is part of an oppressive system thats intrinsically tied in with racism and patriarchy. Whenever we create standards about how we all should live, these norms always benefit those individuals who are already in power, says Sabrina Strings, Ph.D., associate professor of sociology at the University of California at Irvine and the author of Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia.

What constitutes good behavior is going to be far more accessible to white persons, to men, to wealthy persons, than people who do not fit into those categories, says Strings. This includes conventional thinness, and when you have been told that you should only have [a certain amount of] calories or that you must keep your BMI here, you will always feel like you are doing either good or bad, right or wrong by sticking to these dictates, Strings adds. Unfortunately, there are a lot of myths, [including the concept that] if you just restrict your food, then you'll be able to attain that weight, says Matz. The reality, as well get to, is much different.

In short, it keeps us unhappy with ourselves, chasing something we can't ever catch, and spending loads of money to do so. Heres how:

If we lived in a society where neighborhoods were walkable, and people could get access to clean drinking water and plenty of sleep, people would already be far healthier than they are now." But, she continues, rather than focusing on these larger structural issues that could have a global impact on a population, we want to target individuals and tell them to change their bodies in ways that are unrealistic and unproductive.

Its no coincidence that in November 2020, the CDC reported that more people are dieting now compared to 10 years ago yet obesity rates have increased by nearly 10%. Diet culture conditioning leads us to assume that more diets must mean better population health, but trending upward right alongside the growing number of dieters, mean weight, waist circumference, and BMI in adults have increased over the past 18 years," according to a 2018 study. Theres also evidence that yo-yo dieting (or weight cycling) may be responsible for all excess mortality and cardiovascular risks for diseases associated with being in a larger body. But perhaps the larger problem is that because of diet culture, when we do gain the weight back, we have learned to internalize it as a failure of self.

98% of diets fail Why do 100% of dieters think they'll be in the 2%?

A 2008 survey sponsored by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill showed that a whopping 75% of women reported disordered eating behaviors that cut across racial and ethnic lines, and occurred in women in their 30s and 40s ... at the same rate as women in their 20s. That means disordered eating is the norm in the U.S. for women of all ages and colors. Its a staggering statistic, and one that goes under reported since a lot of these behaviors support the very underpinnings of diet culture itself.

The first step is understanding the science of the matter: Dieting is biologically set up to fail, and the human tendency to regain lost weight is ultimately a success for evolution. Our bodies are really designed to protect us against famine, says Harrison. The message this culture gets is that you can decide what weight you want to be with enough willpower, but its just not true, says Matz. Our weight regulation system is beyond our conscious control. According to a 2010 F1000 Medicine Report, there is an active, biological control of body weight at a given set point in a 10-20 pound range. When people diet, they mess with that, says Matz. Diets work in the short-term, but then our weight regulation system kicks in to help us out: To keep us alive.

Anti-diet does not mean anti-health.

Anti-diet culture aims to dismantle this oppressive system of beliefs ... so that people have the chance and the choice to be able to be free of those stigmatizing and body shaming beliefs, says Harrison. Its discarding the broken vacuum and investing in one that works beautifully and will last a lifetime. The anti-diet movement tosses out the bones of conventional dieting (i.e.: restriction, rules, omission, strict adherence) and replaces these with flexibility, acceptance, and ultimately peace with food and our bodies. Here are some aspects of anti-diet culture that can actionably put an end to the restriction and guilt cycle of diet culture:

Getting reacquainted with your bodys natural hunger cues, cravings, and needs can free you from the learned shoulds of diet culture. The irony: Most find that once you grant yourself permission to eat the things you want when you want, your "fear foods" (you know, the things you declare you cannot have in the house or Ill eat the whole bag!) have less of a siren song. When the scarcity mindset drops, so does the need to overeat out of fear of never having it again. Remember that we come into this world born knowing how to do this, says Matz. Babies, when they're hungry, cry. So really, we're going back to the way we were born: Eating.

Amazon

Health At Every Size: The Surprising Truth About Your Weight

Strings adds that HAES is built upon the belief that you are worthy of love and respect, regardless of your size. In a society that demonizes fatness, its a simple but novel concept. As Strings says: Just to love yourself and to know that you can be healthy regardless of your weight is really a revelation to probably most Americans.

Anyone feeling like they are suffering from disordered eating or an eating disorder can and should reach out for help immediately. The NEDA helpline at (800) 931-2237 is available daily via call or text, and officials also are on standby in digital chats, ready to help you find resources in your area. If you are concerned about a loved one, learn more about how you can help.

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What Is Diet Culture? The Reasons Why Diet Culture Is Toxic - GoodHousekeeping.com

There is a stillness that comes over you inside Glenn Murcutts MPavilion. By stillness, I mean a lack of unharmonious noise, visually and acoustically, as if the architect has hit pause on the spacetime continuum, allowing you to fully take in the spectacle of Melbournes city skyline, with the greenness of the Queen Victoria Gardens in the foreground.

Among the Naomi Milgrom Foundations MPavilions, and indeed in the evolution of modern pavilions, Murcutts is unique. In Pavilion propositions, authors John Macarthur, Susan Holden, Ashley Paine and Wouter Davidts frame the pavilion through the existential question, Is architecture art?1 Indeed, many pavilions around the world are artful objects that form backdrops to cultural programs for visual arts institutions; sometimes, this creates an inherent tension between their function as event spaces and their whimsical form-making.

Murcutts pavilion, in its arresting simplicity, does not conform. While it is no less artful, the artistry lies in the coalescence of its pure architectural expression and functionalism. Nothing is there that doesnt have a purpose. As Murcutt explains, architecture is a science, and the process of design is akin to a process of scientific discovery, of observing and synthesizing omnipresent experiences through an architectonic lens.

His design for the MPavilion was born, subconsciously, out of one such experience sheltering under an aircraft wing at the edge of the Yaxchiln ruins in Mexico.

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Although Glenn Murcutt has been described as the pavilion architect, he explains that his houses are not designed with the idea of a pavilion in mind.

Image: Timothy Burgess

Glenn Murcutt: The shade from the wing had established a place in all this sunshine. We put a tablecloth down, which further established a place. We sat around it and we created not only a place but a room. And I thought: How fantastic this little wing has brought me all the way out here! It was a fabric-covered wing of a six-seater Auster aircraft.

Then I forgot about it altogether. [But] as I was designing this pavilion, I thought: My god, this is starting to be like my experience in Mexico. Here, Ive laid the tablecloth [with the paving], Ive got the wing and Im using aircraft fabric.

Linda Cheng: Youve often been described as the pavilion architect, particularly in relation to some of your houses. What does a pavilion mean to you? And what does it mean to actually design a pavilion?

GM: I read the [dictionary] definition of pavilions. Theyre essentially open structures made from poles and ropes with cloth draped over them. Now, thats very different to my houses, which are not really pavilions. But they are light in feeling. They dont feel impermanent, as such, but they look as if they could perhaps be moved and most of them can. And theyre off the ground.

But these buildings are designed not with the idea of a pavilion in mind. These buildings are designed more as instruments. Ill give you an example. When you go to a concert, youre listening to the work of a composer thats being conducted through an orchestra and you are the recipient, listening to this wonderful score.

I design buildings that are located in relation to the climatic conditions, so that in winter, they get beautiful sun penetration and in summer, they get cooling breezes. And when the breeze is accompanied by some rain, then youre going to get the smell of the forest. You can listen to the sound of the rain on a metal roof, from a beautiful pitter patter to a heavy sound to the gurgling of the water as it gets into the gutter and the throbbing of it as it goes into the water tank.

In other words Ive designed the score for the building. The nature is the orchestra and youre the conductor inside, opening up certain aspects of [the building] to perceive the landscape around you. Its an instrument; its much more than a pavilion. But it looks like a simple building.

Remember that simplicity is the other face of complexity. Im trying to achieve many environmental responses that you can perceive from a level of safety out of the rain, sometimes out of cold winds, sometimes in beautiful cooling wind. And you can adjust [the building], like sails on a yacht. If you can sail a boat, you can work my buildings. Now, thats more than a pavilion.

LC: It certainly is. Hearing you talk about the breeze, the rain, the sound of the water, the birds and the smells its quite apparent that you do a lot of observing and synthesizing

GM: Its my learning. Im a great observer. I dont learn from books. People often ask me: Is there a book thats been highly influential? Absolutely not When I left Ancher, Mortlock, Murray and Woolley [Murcutt worked at the practice from 1964 until 1969], I said I will not subscribe to a single journal because its too influential; I want to think things through in my own way. And people thought I was mad.

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Murcutt emphasizes the need to understand the discipline of other built environment professionals, such as engineers and lighting consultants, when designing a building like MPavilion.

Image: John Gollings

LC: Youve said that architecture is not created, that its there to be discovered. In observing and synthesizing, how do you know what to distil in order to discover the architecture that is there?

GM: Well, when youre nearly 84, you know what to distil and what to leave out. For me, its no different to science in scientific theory, theres a process of discovery. Its finding the essence. The design has to go through the mind with visual clarity, and a visual understanding of the spaces: how much prospect, how much refuge, how much light, what sort of materials, what sort of colours, where is the view, where is the air coming from?

When you start to analyze all these, they become what I call limiting factors. And I love limiting factors, because theyre the things that you know are right. There are certain things that are unarguable.

Take this building here [MPavilion]. Ive got a site theres no argument about that. I have a northern aspect theres no argument about that because you want shade in summer and, wherever its relocated, you need to get winter penetration as well. Thats why Ive got such a big overhang. If it was just the fabric at the end, the water would be falling off in curves. I wanted to regulate where water is coming off, which of course is like the aileron on an aircraft. And it has very much an aircraft-wing quality. I was very conscious of that.

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Flaps on the pavilions roof, shaped like the ailerons on an aircraft wing, help to regulate rain run-off.

Image: John Gollings

It was also an absolutely critical principle for me to frame the city, because its about the city. I wanted the ceiling to be convex to throw sound out each way, but also to lift the roof so you get the feel of the forest and the city. That was extremely important.

And Ive got to design a building that can be pulled down without a single loss. Even the paving would normally be lost because it would be on a concrete slab with a cement mortar bed. Theres no slab here. The pavilion sits on reinforced ground, so all that paving will come up and it can be laid in the future in its new place. Because theres no slab, you cant rely on it for bracing. So the steel cupboards at the end are connected up to the roof trusses and braced all the way through to the other side to stop the structure from twisting. So, another aspect of our work is understanding the discipline of others [other built environment professionals].

We can use the ceiling space now and install globes that bounce light up into the white roof. The sunshine coming through can bounce down through the aircraft-fabric ceiling. You can clean it, you can change the globes, the panels are all hinged and they unclip. Theyre all givens. Theres no argument. I dont know why people dont think like that.

So, distillation is knowing what is important and how the work responds to its environment, and not imposing on that environment. Its a response, not an imposition. Im not doing it because I want to. Im doing it because its reasonable. And it must be done beautifully. You cant get any more simple than that. Thats really distilled.

LC: Youve also said you wanted the pavilion to be something that possessed serenity and calmness. Why is that important in this particular project?

GM: It allows every activity to take place without the building screaming at you, Look at me! Melbourne is full of look at me buildings and I dont like it. Its not going to last.

[Mexican architect and engineer] Luis Barragn said, Any work of architecture that is designed without serenity in mind is in my view a mistake and when serenity possesses joy, it is ultimate. I hold to that and I think we may have achieved a level of serenity and joy in this work. This is incredibly important because we can always create something other than serenity in a serene space, but we cant create serenity in a rugged space.

Architecture can really lift your spirits. Thats the essence here. I cant take anything out. Its absolutely raw. Its honest. I can tell you its honest because I know I havent put anything in thats there for the sake of it.

Most of the architecture Im critical of [occurs] when the architect has done something that he or she wants. Im not interested in what you want. Im not even interested in what I want. Im interested in what the elements call for. Im interested in what the brief calls for. Im interested in what the human wants.

LC: What is your opinion of the role of a pavilion like this for the city?

GM: The pavilion is for cultural events. Its not for itself. Fancy being able to have a fashion parade where people could do figure eights and circuits [as occurred at the RMIT Master of Fashion (Design) Graduate Showcase on MPavilions opening night]! Thats one thing that I had never planned. I have another principle: if you get the basics right, many other things that you never expected can take place. The role of a pavilion is to be able to provide the flexibility for many cultural events. And, of course, to give shelter. [MPavilion was] designed specifically for summer shelter here but it will go to another place and therefore it needs to be thought about in the wintertime situation as well. But its essentially a summer pleasure ground.

LC: And what do you think is the pavilions place in the architectural discourse?

GM: Ill leave that to others to discuss. Some would say it has no place. But for me, as a personal experience, Naomi [Milgrom] gave me the opportunity to do this pavilion. And I saw it as incumbent on me to do something Id never done before not for the sake of it, but to extend my learning and my architectural development. Even at age 83, I have curiosity still. Curiosity is really important as an architect. I am filled with joy being with nature, because nature has so much to teach us.

Following its intallation at the Queen Victoria Gardens, Murcutts MPavilion was gifted to the University of Melbourne.

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Glenn Murcutt, the 'pavilion architect,' on his MPavilion - Architecture AU

In Pass It On, two seasoned entrepreneurs help women navigate modern-day career conundrums. In this installment, we ask how should women deal with pervasive sexist microaggressions in the workplace?

Sexist microaggressions are fairly common in workplaces around the world, especially when theyre directed at a womans competence and talent. Here, we sit down with The Swaddles founder Karla Bookman, and investor/strategist Rupa Pandit, to find out the best ways to address them realistically, within a male dominated workplace.

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Rajvi: Hello, welcome back. So starting off, when we think of sexist microaggressions, what have they looked like in your career?

Rupa: To me, microaggressions always seem like the ones that are subtle, or disguised as a compliment. Ive had plenty, but I really need to think about which ones were micro, and which ones were aggressive. I remember when I first moved to India, I remember sitting down to lunch with a colleague for the first time, and he said to me in this hushed voice, So, can you tell me now when was your divorce? And I was like, What divorce? And when I unpacked it, I realized there was this assumption that if I moved as a young twenty-something to India, it must be because I was running away from a problem. Why else would a single woman live in India otherwise?

Karla: I have the same thing to me they have all felt so aggressive that none of them felt micro. Things as blatant as in a salary negotiation, for example, you get this classic thing of, Oh youre not the breadwinner, you dont need the money so why are we having the conversation? This, I find out and out extraordinarily sexist, obviously. The more subtle ones are the ones the men in the room dont pick up on. For example, when youre the youngest person in a room, and the only female in a room, and the men are all talking to each other, and often over you and theres this thing of not letting the young woman in the room have her time to speak, and interrupting her, not giving her the floor. So, a major one is having your voice overlooked or sidelined.

Rupa: I would say, like Karla said, in those meetings where youre the only woman and Ive had instances where Im the most senior person there I would ask a question and inevitably the counter-party I was meeting would turn to my male colleague to answer the question. As if, it was his question I was representing. And I would constantly maintain eye contact, and in my reaction show I was the one who needs the answer to my question, so can you please look at me? Even my male colleagues sometimes would signal to me, look at me to show it was my question, but it wouldnt phase the person continuing to give the answer. Ive also been asked to make copies of things, to take notes, to book travel for a group of people who are traveling even when Im the most senior woman there. Another thing is, especially in India, people trying to explain India to me like I havent been working here for the past 15 years. A lot of it is also in these negotiations where I am arguing, male colleagues, will try to soften what Im saying, with things like what shes trying to say or what she means to say. In the beginning, I thought maybe its a good cop or bad cop tactic, but now I just stop them, as Ive already said what I was trying to say. I dont need the interpreter sitting next to me.

Rajvi: Thats really interesting. Youve talked about microaggressions not feeling micro, but I also want to ask whether the subtlety of the sexism sometimes prevents women from identifying any microaggressions as sexist, to speak up about it as a problem. What do you think?

Karla: So, I personally never had that problem. I always saw it as a very sexist attempt to not pay attention to what the woman in the room had to say. The evolution, for me, is I didnt call it out earlier in my career and I would have gone with it, internalized it, and dealt with it. The difference is that now, I would react differently, I would assert myself.

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Rupa: For sure, the ability to not second-guess and speak up evolved when my seniority evolved in the room. But also I think the conditioning came into play for me in the form of me willing to be the person who takes one for the team, willing to get my hands dirty. I never saw these qualities as something inherent to my gender, but just qualities that one needs when building a business. I would think okay, I can be the one to book something or I can be the one to do the call nobody wants to do or I can do the admin stuff really quickly because it needs to get done and I never saw any task as too small. And I started to see that was sometimes negative and there was a cost to that. I had to deliberately say no, like okay, it doesnt matter that Im willing, there has got to be someone else on the team who is also willing. And everybody needs to learn that to be a part of any team.

Rajvi: So, tell me about the decision to start saying no, or to call someone out when something sexist was happening. We are told that just speak up, but more often than not it is detrimental to the person who speaks up. How do you reconcile this?

Rupa: Ive heard plenty of advice around what you should do in a situation like that, mostly along the lines of go against the grain to assert what you deserve. But to me, that didnt work. What worked better was to be better at my job. Unfortunately, when youre any kind of minority, you have to always prove youre as competent, even when youre more. Just be prepared for that meeting, be more ready with what to say, be more ready with the responses youd give to your colleagues. When you say something and they dont even have an idea of what youre saying, so they cant mansplain, Ive found it to be much better than calling someone out. Its much easier to make sure I was ready every time. I would say no to the admin things, albeit with a gulp in my throat, but to be better at your job Ive found it to be easier.

Karla: I dont think its possible to call these things out when youre a junior. I cant envision a scenario in which youre called to a meeting with senior men, where nobody is making eye contact with you or speaking directly to you, and you stop the meeting and say I just think this is incredibly sexist, why isnt anyone looking at me? I mean, you would destroy your career at that organization. You cant have an outburst in the middle of a professional setting. Its easier to enforce boundaries when you get senior. But that said, even junior people who are relatively disenfranchised in the organization, there are options you can go to a senior manager outside of the context of that meeting, and say hey listen, this is happening, how can you help me? Another is to make sure you work in teams that are diverse, and where some of the bosses come from whatever minority you are. That way, it helps to have people who understand what youre thinking and feeling, and are sensitive to your experiences. But other than that, just know your shit inside and out. Because if youre the only person who can answer questions well, then they will have to look at you, have to listen to you.

Rajvi: Youve talked about being in junior positions, but youve also made it to managerial positions. So, as people who have managed teams, and have the power to help people, how do you handle situations when someone comes to you with a problem, like theyre being dismissed within a team?

Rupa: So, when I manage teams, I see this happening to women, but also to anyone against whom there are biases. So whenever were in a team meeting, I ensure I walk away from any biases even I might have, and make sure I give that person a chance to speak, a chance to contribute. For women in a meeting, there is this assumption that women may not know things, or they may not have an aggressive enough viewpoint or be willing to go against the consensus. These are biases a manager has to step away from, to allow people to have their voice. Anytime Im in a group where someone is not going to be as vocal, I do ask them to voice their opinions, to encourage them to challenge people who are more vocal. Essentially, pass the mic to someone. As a manager, you always know who has important things to say but are just not telling me. And one thing thats important to remember is not to try to emulate the most vocal or more aggressive person in the room, to be comfortable and confident in your own skin. Even if you dont have ten things to say in a meeting, but have one important thing to chime in with, good managers will notice it. It carries a lot of weight for people who have been in hundreds of those meetings before.

Karla: And youre also more capable of identifying those people when youve gone through the same thing. And give those people an opportunity to speak.

Rajvi: I also want to touch upon sexual microaggressions, which can be sexist, but may not attack your competence, but instead simply your existence as a woman. What have those looked like in your careers?

Karla: I worked in environments that had a boys club feel. Especially in my start-up experience, where senior management was all men and things were laxer than in a staid corporate environment. This may sound controversial, but those didnt bother me. Theyd sound something like, Lets send Karla to that meeting because the client likes young women. But they werent said with disrespect, or to negate what I would bring to a meeting substantively. They always felt like a commentary on what that sleazy client is like, not me. And so I never felt like I was being taken less seriously. The times that made me feel undermined were the other types of microaggressions that arent defined as sexual harassment per se.

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Rupa: I had the same thing, colleagues would be like why doesnt Rupa go see this person, shell change their mind. The ones where I wasnt taken seriously were the times that bothered me a lot more, but I think one evolution Ive seen in the 20 years Ive worked is the acceptance or willingness to let comments like that fly about anyone has reduced and thats a good thing. Just the fact that people are a lot more conscious about what they say, thats a good thing.

Rajvi: But what if a woman today doesnt want to accept a culture like that? How could she go about it? You know, in pop culture, theres this trope of a woman who can give it back, like shes risking a comfortable relationship with a colleague for a more combative one. I was wondering if thats actually possible to do in reality?

Karla: Again, I feel thats a personality thing. And it also takes some level of seniority in an organization to be allowed to behave that way, with impunity. I would say its probably better for everybody if we dont aspire to be that, and actually aspire to rein in some of the behavior that makes everybody else feel uncomfortable. But, of course, we need to draw a line between microaggressions that would be totally inappropriate to speak out in the middle of a meeting, and when there somebody engaging in predatory behavior, going after junior women in the office. In that instance, speaking up and speaking out is important, finding a female manager who can help you walk through the POSH reporting process, to have some managerial or leadership support. To make a complaint, and see it through the process is really important.

Rajvi: But speaking up and speaking out is also not so cut and dry. Often, people who speak up are let go a few months later for mysterious reasons or are deemed dangerous to work with, as happened with several women in corporate environments after #MeToo. If these are real consequences for speaking out, then what can they do?

Karla: I dont have a great answer for you. A lot of times corporate structures make it difficult to report the person who is harassing you, and sometimes your boss is on the POSH committee. Lets not underplay the blowback, the consequences can be severe. Its not easy, and every person needs to individually weigh it. But the more people stand up and say something, we can try to create a culture in which there are consequences for the harasser, and not just for the accuser of the harasser. Its how more people will be incentivized to keep people in check.

Rajvi: So, in the end, whats the ideal scenario, both from an employee and employer perspective?

Rupa: Id say for somebody who is starting out in their career, be conscious when youre choosing a place of work. Be conscious of whether or not you respect the people you work with, and you see them embody values you care about. To me, theres a lot of crossover between how someone appears in an interview and how they run their business. When you meet someone senior in an interview setting and you feel theyre disrespecting you, know that there isnt going to be this huge divide between how they act personally and how they handle their team. People should make decisions based on that, even the job sounds great. The job will ultimately not end up being great if you ignore your instincts. Thats where you have a choice, where you have agency. And then, as people get senior, to hire for integrity and kindness than any particular words you want on a CV will end up being better for your business. The same bar you have for friends you let into your personal life, to an extent should be the same bar you have for people you work with.

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Pass It On: To Counter Sexist Microaggressions In The Office, Set Boundaries And Find A Mentor-Ally Who Can Help - The Swaddle

One of the UK's top organic health product firms has warned that post-Brexit barriers to trade are threatening the supply of organic goods north and south.

en Moody of the Health Made Easy Group, which supplies more than 300 retailers across the island, said millions of pounds of trade was at risk, as well as the survival of many small businesses.

He said the cumbersome bureaucratic processes the company was now faced with could cost almost a million pounds in extra certification and additional administrative costs - and "at a stroke make the trade commercially unviable".

For every consignment of organic products, he said a Certificate of Inspection (CoI) had to be created for each product in the consignment - and there could be up to 500 different products per single consignment.

The firm expected to make 10,000 consignments to Ireland per year.

Currently, a CoI costs 25, plus administration costs, and Mr Moody estimates each CoI will cost at least 50 in extra costs - meaning a potential bill of 750,000 to cover the cost of all the certificates needed under the new regulations, plus a further 200,000 to cover additional customs administration.

"Our customers are absolutely up in arms," he said.

"Their businesses are at risk, and if we can't find a solution relatively quickly, not only will consumer choice be affected, but the existence of these local retailers - who've been around for decades - will be tested."

Mr Moody said: "We're being told that we can't ship organic products from GB to Northern Ireland, and shipping products into the Republic is a complete no-no."

His warning over organic products came as a leading garden centre owner said Northern Ireland's horticulture sector faces "disarray" this spring due to post-Brexit trading rules.

Robin Mercer, owner of Hillmount Garden Centre in Belfast, called for Government help.

Northern Ireland has remained in the EU's plant health system, meaning NI must apply EU rules on all horticulture products entering from GB.

Some plants now need a health certificate before they can enter Northern Ireland.

Other products have been completely banned, including soil as it can carry pests.

Some businesses in the UK have already halted sales to Northern Ireland customers.

"The whole thing is ridiculous," Mr Mercer said.

"We have been ordering the same plants, bird food and gardening tools for years and almost overnight a wooden-handled trowel cannot be delivered to us.

"Roses can't be shipped due to how they are grown. Yet one supplier in GB is saying they can ship our order to Europe and drive it to us via the Republic.

"Where is the sense in that?" he asked.

The Department for Agriculture has been contacted for comment.

Belfast Telegraph

Excerpt from:

Brexit trade barriers threat to future of organic food supplies - Belfast Telegraph

In the framework of a visit to Mercabarna and the Biomarket, the first wholesale market for organic food in Spain, the Spanish Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, said that Spain could achieve the European Commission's objective of making 25% of the agricultural production organic by 2030.

He stressed that Spain is at the forefront in Europe in terms of organic production, accounting for 9.3% of the total useful agricultural area devoted to this type of production, despite the fact that consumption is way behind."

In this sense, Planas said that the recently inaugurated Biomarket could help develop the promotion and distribution of these foods, so that they reach the public more easily. The Minister said that it is "a leading example for the sector, not only in Spain, but in southern Europe."

In his speech, the Minister also mentioned the reform of the Food Chain Law, whose parliamentary process started this week, and which will make it possible to "improve the income of producers" and will ensure "greater transparency in price formation."

Trust in the end of US tariffs The Minister believes that the arrival of Joe Biden to the White House will lead to the end of the tariffs on European agro-food products that former United States President Donald Trump imposed.

The Council of European Ministers of Agriculture will ask the European Commission to accelerate contacts with the new US administration to be able to cancel the "unfair" tariffs "as soon as possible," he said.

Source: efeagro.com

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"Spain could achieve the goal of 25% organic production by 2030" - FreshPlaza.com

Nurture Life is a healthy meal delivery service for all ages, offering dietitian-designed meals that are nutritious and likely appealing to picky eaters.

The company offers finger foods for baby-led weaning, meals for toddlers, kids, teens, and adults, as well as meals that the whole family can share.

The meals are precooked and ready to heat and eat upon arrival.

This article reviews Nurture Life, the types of food it offers, its pricing and delivery, and pros and cons.

Nurture Life is a meal delivery service that offers foods for the whole family, from infants to adults.

The meals are designed by registered dietitians and include organic produce, whole grains, and healthy protein sources.

Theyre fully cooked, so you only need to reheat them prior to eating.

Nurture Life is a weekly subscription service. However, its easy to skip weeks or pause your subscription.

Nurture Life offers several menus with a variety of meal choices for all ages:

Nurture Life uses organic ingredients when available. According to the companys website, the service sources animal proteins from trusted purveyors who meet Nurture Lifes quality and food safety standards.

For example, the company uses antibiotic-free chicken, and Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC)-certified salmon.

Complete nutrition information and ingredient lists for all meals are available on the Nurture Life website.

To some degree, Nurture Life can accommodate special dietary needs or food allergies.

The company offers several gluten-free meals, but the facility itself uses gluten-containing ingredients, so theres a risk of cross contamination. Therefore, this service may not be right for people with celiac disease.

Additionally, the companys facility is completely free of peanuts and tree nuts, but other common allergens may be used in some dishes.

You can filter meal options by picky eater fav, vegetarian, and soy-, gluten-, egg-, coconut-, fish-, pork-, milk-, and sesame-free.

Note that the vegetarian options are lacto-ovo-vegetarian, so they may contain dairy and eggs.

This table breaks down the pricing for Nurture Life meals:

The minimum order size is $39 with an $8 shipping fee. However, if you spend at least $59, you get free shipping. If you spend at least $79, you get free shipping and 5% off your total. Finally, if you spend at least $99, you receive free shipping and 10% off your total.

If you dont pause, cancel, skip, or change your order by the order cut-off date, you will receive the same shipment you last ordered.

Nurture Life delivers anywhere in the contiguous United States, but it currently doesnt serve Alaska or Hawaii.

The company uses the United Parcel Service (UPS) and United Delivery Service (UDS) for shipping. The meals are not frozen but packaged to stay at or below refrigerated temperatures for at least 48 hours until they arrive at your residence.

To ensure maximum freshness, refrigerate them as soon as you get them. If you dont plan to eat them within 1 week, they can be frozen for up to 90 days.

For orders under $59, shipping costs $8.

For busy families, Nurture Life provides convenient meal options for family members of all ages. The meals are also healthy and packed with fresh, organic produce.

The prices are comparable to those of a restaurant, but the food is likely much more nutritious.

Additionally, the companys pricing structure incentivizes larger orders with free shipping and discounts, so Nurture Life could be a good option for small families and large households alike.

Nurture Life meals can be expensive much more so than comparable infant or toddler meals you may find at the grocery store.

However, the service offers discounts and free shipping for large orders. Plus, if youre regularly spending money dining out, investing in Nurture Life may be worth the expense to give your family some healthier options.

Nurture Life may also not be a good fit for your household if anyone in your family has severe food allergies or needs to follow a strict gluten-free diet for medical reasons like celiac disease.

Overall, Nurture Life is a great choice for families looking for convenient, healthy meals that appeal to children.

Although Nurture Life is more expensive than some alternatives, its meals are designed by registered dietitians, nutritionally balanced, and easy to reheat and eat.

To minimize the cost of each order and since the meals can be frozen for up to 90 days you can easily skip weeks until you can place an order thats $99 or more, which would qualify for free shipping and a 10% discount.

Nurture Life is a meal delivery service that provides heat-and-eat meals for people of all ages. The meals contain healthy ingredients and are designed to appeal to kids and picky eaters.

Although its more expensive than other convenient options like fast food or frozen meals from the grocery store, it may be worth using this service if youre looking for healthier options to feed your family.

Get started with Nurture Life here.

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Nurture Life: Review, Menu, Options, and More - Healthline

ROCHESTER, Pa. (AP) Ten years of planning, 10 years of want ads and hope and worry ended one day in October when Don Kretschmann realized it wasnt going to work. No one was going to step in.

This was going to be the last harvest at Kretschmann Family Organic Farm.

Come spring, the Beaver County farm will be idle for the first time since he first turned the soil there in the spring of 1979. Kretschmann is retiring after failing to find someone to take over his 80-acre operation.

I just thought somebody would come, the 71-year-old self-taught farmer said. Nothing worked out there unless some miracle happens.

The inability to find a successor surprised him. He was offering a turnkey operation, an opportunity for an entrepreneurial farmer to simply start growing and harvesting by leasing the land.

Access to land is the biggest barrier for beginning farmers along with the cost of equipment which Kretschmann also offered for lease along with his house.

His only requirement is that the land be farmed organically.

We ran lots of ads in agricultural publications, he said. Maine, New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, Minnesota, Iowa, California. We went all over.

A woman from Santa Fe was interested, but wasnt suited to the rigors of farm work. A Kretschmann neighbor expressed interest, but later backed out.

And the guy from Ithaca, New York, sounded promising, toured the farm and Downtown Pittsburgh but later said he didnt want to leave his extended family.

A couple of times he was so close, said Hannah Smith-Brubaker, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of Sustainable Agriculture, a Harrisburg-based trade group, who has known Don and his wife Becky, 73, for years. Its very sad. Its such an important farm and hes been a mentor to so many farmers.

And theres money in organics.

Direct-to-consumer farm sales is a $439 million industry in Pennsylvania, according to PASA. In a U.S. Department of Agriculture study, organic food products generally commanded a premium exceeding 20% over conventionally grown vegetables. And the popularity of organics continues to grow.

Theres really a great future in organic farming, said Carolyn Dimitri, associate professor of food studies at New York University. Im surprised they werent able to find people to take over that farm. A farm like that could have so much potential.

Corn, Tomatoes And Cabbage

Potential was on Kretschmanns mind when he met his future wife, a native of Arnold, Westmoreland County, and University of Pittsburgh graduate, at a greenhouse in Latrobe where she worked in the 1970s.

By then, Kretschmann, a New York City native had graduated with a degree in psychology from St. Vincent College in Latrobe after switching his major from physics. The switch came after he worried that studying physics could lead to a career in military defense systems, Kretschmann said.

The owner of that Latrobe greenhouse had some advice that proved prescient: You could make a living growing corn and tomatoes.

The young couple took his advice. We rented a farm and started growing corn and tomatoes.

They began farming organically in 1971 on leased acreage in Latrobe and Greensburg and were married in 1974, about the time that farm markets were regaining popularity. The Kretschmanns also sold vegetables to Strip District vendors, restaurants and the supermarket chain Giant Eagle.

Organic farmers rely on natural substances and insect repellents to grow vegetables. A preferred soil fortifier at the Kretschmann Farm is processed feather meal chicken feathers.

In December 1978, they bought the first parcel of land on Ziegler Road in New Sewickley Township in what would become the Kretschmann farm, which includes a pond for irrigation and solar panels along the road out front.

By the 1990s, the idea of consumers making down payments early in the growing season for produce that would be harvested and delivered later was getting traction.

The couple bought into the community-supported-agriculture idea early, becoming among the first farms in Pennsylvania to be certified organic and starting what was among the first direct-to-consumer sales operations in the state, farming experts said.

Community-Supported Agriculture

The Kretschmanns began by selling shares in their harvest in 1993 with 85 people who signed up for vegetable-filled boxes ranging between $12 and $18. The summer of his first year which brought a dry spell with only 1/2 inch rain falling in five weeks by mid-August Kretschmann wrote a note to his customers.

I might bring a little discussion of what is Community Supported Agriculture, he wrote in a newsletter. Its what were doing. It started with the realization that we all need one another.

He told them he would be digging the remainder of the early potatoes within a week and that he would soon have fresh oregano, thyme, chives and spearmint. Later, Ill have dill and cilantro. We also have peppers and tomatillos, he wrote, with produce deliveries matching whatever was being harvested.

By the second year, the Kretschmanns had 185 customers and eventually the farm would serve 1,000 customers in the greater Pittsburgh area from Moon to Zelienople to Bridgeville, Baldwin and Gibsonia.

Buoyed by the early success, the Kretschmanns quit selling at farm markets in the early 2000s and shifted the business completely to the CSA. Supermarkets began catching up by then, too, sprucing up produce aisles and adding organic and locally grown products that consumers increasingly wanted.

Long hours and studying organic farming methods in books made the Kretschmanns successful. But there were also failures: fava beans, edamame, shell beans, artichokes, peaches, plums, cherries none worked out.

Organic produce had gone mainstream by 2006 when retailing giant Walmart began expanding its line of organic vegetables. Instead of cutting into Kretschmanns business, the rise of supermarket organics only made the farms delivered vegetables more popular, he said.

Best All Season

The last harvest at the Kretschmann farm began as a brisk November wind raked fields of ripe cabbage, kale and lush rows of feathery dill. Helping the farmer in the fields were his nephew, Hans Kretschmann, and three Mexican brothers, the second generation of a family to work Kretschmanns land.

Look at that dill, Don Kretschmann marveled, whistling under his breath and cutting hand-sized bundles with a knife. Its the best all season, he said.

Kale, too, was plentiful, with deep green leaves quivering in a cold wind. Wow, thats beautiful, Kretschmann said. It may be the grace of the final year.

Hans Kretschmann, 35, was among family members who considered taking over the farm along with the couples three daughters. For different reasons, none of them worked out, although daughter Maria Kretschmann will continue tending the apple orchard after the farm closes.

The vegetables that will be planted will just be for family use.

Harvesting organic apples from the orchard, Maria began brewing hard cider for retail sale last year. Her cider, called After the Fall, features a label with a woman atop a ladder reaching precariously for an apple on a tree, a label she said was intended to allow multiple interpretations.

Her plans include converting part of a barn basement into a tasting room, but the COVID-19 pandemic popped the hard cider bubble for now.

Its a messed up time to start a business, said the 39-year-old sculptor who does large scale art installations and lives in Wilkinsburg. She had to shelve plans for rolling out a line of premium hard cider in 2020. Everybody has a situation.

Still, the farm will not be her life.

I feel a connection to the orchard; I feel a connection to the land; I feel an obligation to the farm, she said. But I have a lot of other things I want to do with my life.

A Neighborhood Battle

Maria Kretschmann, who studied ceramics as an undergraduate at Rochester Institute of Technology, had been living in Philadelphia for 10 years when her parents told her about an energy companys plans to build a natural gas compressor station next to their farm.

She said she grew obsessed with stopping it, commuting between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh to take up the battle before moving back to Pittsburgh in 2017, a city she hadnt lived in since leaving at age 17.

In 2014, Cardinal PA Midstream LLC filed plans with the local municipality to build a gas compressor station on a 46.6-acre site just beyond Kretschmanns cabbage field. The station would connect to four natural gas wells and condensate, a type of ultralight oil from the gas, which the company would then pump to market.

The family had hints something like this might happen. The Kretschmanns had turned away umpteen gazillion landmen who approached them about signing gas leases, Don Kretschmann said.

The family lobbied neighbors, worried about the station contaminating their crops, and spoke out at standing-room-only municipal meetings where many people wore buttons reading Kretschmann Farm.

Kretschmanns appeals extended to Cardinal PA Midstream partner Richard Weber, chairman of PennEnergy Resources LLC, who befriended Kretschmann each trading books they felt the other should read and chatting about the future of energy.

At a municipal hearing in July 2014, Weber testified that the township was on the verge of developing its natural gas reserves in a way that will generate significant royalties to the residents for decades, according to a later court ruling.

New Sewickley Township approved the plans for the compressor station, which continues to hum and occasionally flare across a valley from the Kretschmann home.

After the plan approval, the Kretschmanns turned to the courts, first Beaver County Common Pleas Court, then Commonwealth Court and finally the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, running up tens of thousands of dollars in legal bills and losing every step of the way.

We were all furious, Maria Kretschmann said. Its just a completely incompatible use of land.

What the family didnt know then was that by the time Cardinal submitted its municipal application for the compressor station, oil and gas leases had already been signed with 678 landowners in the municipality, representing about 71% of New Sewickley Township.

Don Kretschmann said he was surprised when he found out, but daughter Maria said the family knew the odds from the start.

We knew out of the gates that we couldnt win, she said. We did it because it was the right thing to do.

The family has since become a resource and refuge for people who come to their senses about fracking and natural gas production, she said.

The experience drove a wedge between Don Kretschmann and some of his neighbors.

I still feel really bad, he said, years after the state Supreme Court declined to hear their appeal. They were really good neighbors.

In the end, pursuing the case against long odds was part of the environmental message, our philosophy, he said. Lets put it that way.

Still Going Forward

All that will be left after harvesting the cabbage, kale and dill will be little tail-end things in closing down the farm, Kretschmann said.

In a few weeks, he would drive the three Mexican brothers to the airport for their flight home for the winter, but not before having made arrangements for them to start new jobs in the spring for a nearby landscaper.

Kretschmann had also seen to it that his CSA customers would be taken care of by selling his customer list and associated computer programs for what he called a modest price to Who Cooks for You, an organic farm in Bethlehem, with the understanding they will contact each customer about a new CSA service come spring.

The last of Kretschmanns boxes for consumers were filled to overflowing.

Nephew Hans Kretschmann planned to return home to Maryland after the harvest. With farm work at a standstill and the hard cider enterprise on hold, daughter Maria Kretschmann would take a job with the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank.

Don Kretschmann said he will continue to help his daughter cultivate the apple orchard and spend the coming months finishing work on a family trust he created to protect his land from ever being used for anything but organic farming.

For now, most of the land will lie fallow.

Read more here:

Organic farm's last harvest: With no successor to till the land, farm's days numbered - Agri News

Market Overview

The demand for clean labelled food & beverages products has been expanding in recent years, these factors will drive the organic foods & beverages market. With growing consumer awareness and increasing incidence of diseases coupled with emerging trend of food traceability throughout the production and distribution involved in the supply chain in order to identify and address risks and protect public health will further accelerate the demand of organic food & beverage products.

ALSO READ : http://foodandbeveragesnew.over-blog.com/preview/23a7b6c46a935f2aaa2351876eee335876da4532

Clean Label includes natural ingredients with no artificial ingredients and chemicals. With growing demand for sustainable agriculture, it is important that organic foods & beverages industry address the major challenges faced at the global level and this Covid-19 Impact on Organic Food and Beverages Market will continue to experience remarkable growth owing to growing demand of additive free and organic products. Organic products are considered chemical free and work exactly like conventional food with high-fiber content.

The growing demand for organically produced foods is growing rapidly. Changing consumer buying routines, growing consumers concerns regarding health, the environment, and animal welfare, along with their readiness to pay superior price for healthy food is fuelling the demand of organic food market in Asia-Pacific region. Even at the global level, market is driven by factors such as increasing consumer awareness towards benefits associated with its consumption, adoption of organic farming methods, and implementation of organic regulations. The presence has increased over the years in conventional food supply chains due to the development of private labels and growing interest of large retailers such as Wal-Mart and Tesco to sell organic products.

ALSO READ : https://marketresearchfuturereports.blogspot.com/2020/10/covid-19-impact-on-organic-food-and.html

Leading Key Players

Manufacturers in the organic foods & beverages market are found to target the developing countries to expand their business and strengthen their portfolio. Manufacturers are identified to be expanding their business majorly in the North America and Asia Pacific regions, which are seen as emerging markets on a global level. Manufacturers are now more inclined towards setting up their manufacturing plants in these emerging countries which is cost efficient and also helps in targeting the mass population of these countries to increase the sale of their products. These considered as a potential market wherein the sale of organic food & beverage products is on demand.

The key players profiled inOrganic Food and Beverages IndustryareHain Celestial Group, Inc., SpartanNash Company, Kraft Foods Group Inc., AMYS Kitchen Inc., Dean Food Company, General Mills Inc., The Kroger Co. and Whole Foods Market

ALSO READ : http://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/digital-signal-processors-market-growth-analysis-emerging-trends-opportunities-sales-revenuecovid-19-analysis-business-strategy-future-prospects-and-industry-outlook-2023-2021-01-06

Market Segments

Organic Food and Beverages Market has been divided into product type, packaging material, distribution channel, and region

On the Basis of Type: Bakery & Confectionary, Dairy and Frozen Desserts, Meat & Sea food, Frozen and Processed foods, and others

On the Basis of Packaging Material: Metal, Glass, Plastic, Paper and others

On the Basis of Distribution Channel: Store based, and Non- store based

On the Basis of Region: Europe, North America, Asia Pacific and ROW.

ALSO READ : http://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/wireless-power-transmission-market-growth-factors-developments-strategy-historical-analysis-covid-19-impact-on-industry-and-regional-forecast-2022-2021-01-05

Regional Analysis

Organic Food & Beverages Market is segmented into Europe, North America, APAC and Rest of the World (RoW). Europe region is accounting for the maximum market proportion in the year of 2017 in the global foods & beverages market and it is estimated to retain its dominance throughout the forecast period of 2017-2023.

ALSO READ : http://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/flexible-plastic-packaging-market-2021-supply-chain-analysis-study-by-influential-factors-growth-status-competition-restraints-2020-12-31

However, Asia Pacific region is projected to expand at a high pace as compare to the other region and will register a healthy CAGR during the forecast period. Increasing middle income population group with more disposable income, continuous urbanization in developing economies are anticipated to fuel the sales of organic foods & beverages in the Asia Pacific region.

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Covid-19 Impact on Organic Food and Beverages Market Insights, Overview, Analysis and Forecast 2021 NeighborWebSJ - NeighborWebSJ

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Green Chef provide a meal kit delivery service that offers options to suit different dietary preferences. The ingredients are certified organic, and the company emphasize green eating and living.

This article looks at what Green Chef offer and how their meal delivery service works. It also discusses the meal options on different plans and their potential health benefits.

Green Chef provide a meal kit delivery service, delivering ingredients and recipes to people so that they can make meals at home. The company offer meal plans for people with different lifestyles and diets.

According to the companys website, the United States Department of Agriculture have certified Green Chef as an organic company.

Additionally, the company emphasize their commitment to sustainability and green practices. They note that their meals produce less food waste than traditional grocery store meals and state that they are the only meal kit company that offset 100% of their direct carbon emissions and plastic packaging.

Their website also mentions that they work with farmers to source sustainable, delicious ingredients and maintain high animal welfare standards.

Please note that the writer has not tried this service. All information is research-based.

The Green Chef service is available for purchase online.

Customers create an account and choose their dietary and delivery preferences. They can select a box catering for two, four, or six people, with prices starting at $5.99 per serving. A person can opt to receive three or four meals each week (or two if they sign up for the four-servings plan). After subscribing, people can skip weeks or cancel at any time.

Green Chef deliver premeasured ingredients, including some that they have already prepared, such as chopped vegetables, sauces, and marinades. They also color-code the chef-crafted recipe card and the ingredients so that people can easily match them up. A person can then make the meals at home.

Green Chef may be suitable for someone who wants to prepare meals at home easily using healthful ingredients. Green Chef could also appeal to people who wish to eat organic food and support local, sustainable suppliers.

The website says that the chefs tips explain and guide someones cooking experience so that people who are new to cooking can still use the service.

According to Green Chef, most recipes are ready in about 30 minutes, which could be beneficial for busy families or individuals who do not have much time to spend cooking.

Green Chef point out on their website that due to processing facilities, cross-contamination may occur. Someone who has a severe allergy should, therefore, use their discretion when choosing a meal plan service.

People can choose a varied plan that includes meat and fish or opt for one catering to a vegan, paleo, or keto diet. The plans also include gluten-free options.

The following are menu examples from each plan.

The types of diets that Green Chef cater to could have potential health benefits.

For example, the authors of a 2019 systematic review concluded that a plant-based diet could have many health benefits, including a positive effect on weight, blood glucose, and inflammatory markers.

Learn more about vegan diets.

Green Chef also offer keto meal plans. Some people use a keto diet to lose weight and improve their lean muscle mass. However, according to a 2019 viewpoint article, the risks and adverse effects of a keto diet may make it unsuitable for someone to use in the long term.

Learn more about keto diets.

Paleo meals are also an option with Green Chef. A small 2015 study indicated that even short-term consumption of a paleo diet could improve glucose control and lipid profiles in people with type 2 diabetes.

Learn more about paleo diets.

Two separate studies from 2017 found that people who plan meals and eat home cooked foods are more likely to have a healthful diet and a lower risk of obesity. A 2019 study also suggested that meal kit delivery services have the potential to provide nutritious meals.

People can choose from a wide range of meal kit delivery services, including:

Those who do not want to use a delivery service could reduce the time they spend shopping, preparing meals, and cooking by:

The Green Chef service caters to different diets and preferences and allows someone to cook healthful meals easily and quickly.

Those who are new to cooking may find the chefs tips and recipe guidance helpful. People can choose the number of meals and servings that they require, so the service can suit both smaller households and larger families.

Some diets, such as a plant-based one, could have potential health benefits. People should use their discretion when choosing a diet to suit their health and lifestyle. They could also consider discussing any dietary concerns with a dietitian or healthcare provider.

Continued here:

Green Chef review: What to know - Medical News Today

Chipotle Mexican Grill the fast-food restaurant that has long ruffled the feathers of many in the agricultural industry is premiering its first-ever Super Bowl commercial, during the second quarter of Super Bowl LV between the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The ad spot, titled Can a Burrito Change the World?, features a young boy rhetorically asking that question while touting Chipotles Food with Integrity marketing and making claims about the impacts those standards can have on carbon emissions, water conservation, and local growers.

To further sweeten its Super Bowl stance, Chipotle said it will donate $1 from every delivery order on game day (Feb. 7) to the National Young Farmers Coalition and is pledging $5 million over the next five years to help remove barriers and enable the next generation of farmers and ranchers to succeed. These are extremely positive steps that can translate into tangible success for the future of agriculture. These efforts to bolster the farming community dovetail with Chipotles recently launched Cultivate the Future of Farming campaign to raise awareness of the hardships being experienced in agriculture, while then offering thoughts and seed grants in order to reverse it.

However, as has been asked often in recent months, the question is whether Chipotle is doing too little to late to help todays farmers. For years, the company has criticized and undermined farmers and ranchers, bullied them for using modern breeding techniques and for treating their animals with medications. The video short The Scarecrow, which depicted a dystopian world of food production, was Chipotles first leap into the rabbit hole. And then in 2014, Chipotle produced the inflammatory Farmed and Dangerous video, which tore into the very industry that produces the very stuff that goes into their tortillas.

One article described the fast-food restaurants approach as such: Chipotles new ag-vertisment is akin to pouring gas all over a dry forest, throwing in a match, and then a few years later wanting to be perceived as tree friendly by planting a few saplings.

Some of the best approaches to carbon sequestration and water conservation include the food-production techniques that Chipotle demonizes things like the adoption of drought-tolerant genetically engineered seeds and biotech crops that require fewer protection applications (or none at all), thus reducing tractor and fuel use. These GMOs that Chipotle stands against also better allow for no-till agriculture, further helping the environment and the sustainability of farming and ranching as a whole.

So, why does Chipotles actions often run afoul of the practicality of agriculture advancements, and what does the Food with Integrity statement mean?

The company says on its website that this manifests as:

Despite its stance against GMOs and promotion of organic foods, Chipotle has continued to sell high-margin products with genetically engineered ingredients, such as sodas and cheese, in its restaurants.

There are ways to be proud of what you do without needlessly sinking others in agriculture.

The company believes the global pandemic has shifted consumer behavior to lean towards a community-focused society, further igniting a passion inside of many for making purchasing decisions that drive difference in the world around them, the company said in a news release accompanying the launch of the ad. With this spot as part of a series of brand actions, Chipotle is shedding light on how greater awareness of where food comes from and how it is grown can not only help everyone, but also begin to reverse an agricultural industry crisis, which has lost 40x more farmers than it has gained over the last decade.

Last year, the brand spent more than $300 million in food premiums to purchase supplies that are responsibly sourced, humanely raised and often locally grown, the news release said.

Chipotle itself has been starved for good PR in recent years, after numerous food-safety issues have cropped up in its restaurants, leading, in part, to a 2020 lawsuit in which the company was ordered to pay $25 million to resolve criminal charges related to foodborne illness outbreaks that sickened more than 1,100 people between 2015 and 2018.

People in agriculture proceed with caution because Chipotles decisions to fight agriculture or embrace it are not borne from altruism, said Kevin Folta. Public-facing corporate positions are spawned from focus groups and surveys, as a multinational, billion dollar food empire certainly has its greasy finger on the consumers pulse. Ad campaigns play into reinforcing the consumers perceptions and identity, showing that Big Burrito aligns with their values.

So yes, while Chipotle spearheads some very positive and noble causes in addition to this new effort to support young farmers, the company has also sponsored virtual farmers markets and food waste programs there is a lot of work to be done to mend the fences it broke and to really elevate itself to embracing the full sustainability of modern agriculture.

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Chipotles first Super Bowl ad ever and the rabbit hole of its tired claims - AGDAILY