Mental Health Break-

Carrots for the Cure

  America is the fattest country in the world. As more and more people are becoming overweight at a young age, it is important we try to stop the trend early in its tracks. Snack foods are always going to be a part of American culture, and all cultures for that matter, but what snacks can we eat that taste good and are good for us?
  Baby carrots are the perfect option. With a revamped campaign to market vegetables and turn people in the right direction and inspire healthier lifestyles, the baby carrot is making a comeback. At the start of the recession, people reverted back to buying normal carrots because they were seen as less of a luxury. Now, with new packaging for vegetables, they are becoming more prevalent.
  We need to start eating healthier. Not only will it help our health, but our economy. We won't have to rely on other nations to import food if we can rely more on our agriculture.

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Pounds of Perception

  According to health.com 2 out of 3 adults are either overweight or obese, and 1 out of 3 kids is overweight or obese. These numbers are astounding. America is the fattest country in the world, and we need to change. The problem is that as America becomes fatter, overweight people become more and more normal in society. The people who are overweight see themselves as normal and don't feel the need to lose a few extra pounds. M.D. Nicole Dumas says, "A lot of their misperception has to do with the fact that overweight and obesity is becoming the norm." The study was conducted by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center who found that over 80 % of the mom's surveyed were overweight, but only 40% of the kids thought their parents were overweight.
  Obesity is a big problem in the US and we need to change. During my community service we sorted food that was suitable for less fortunate people. We can help the overweight by giving them the opportunity to buy cheaper food.  Many poor people turn to fast food because its so cheap, but if we helped them find healthy and cheap options, we can make our society healthier. 


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FDA Bans Japanese Food Imports

 Japan's economy has taken a turn for the worse after the recent devastation. The earthquake and tsunami that occurred in the past week have left many people in dire straits. With all of the destruction, Japanese people will not be able to buy stuff from the US and other countries. They have allocated most of their funds to rebuilding and to helping the situation and are in need of more help.
  Its going to be hard for Japan to rebuild, especially because the US and other countries have banned buying food from them. The radiation that has been leaked in the past week from the nuclear reactors has contaminated a lot of the food products coming out of the country. Thus, the FDA just announced on tuesday that they will not be purchasing any food from Japan that has been contaminated. They are going to step up screenings for food from Japan to ensure that the American public is not affected. Although Japanese imports only make up about 4% of our food supply, it still could affect us. Everything that happens to Japan affects the rest of the world. We are living in an interconnected world, and with more and more people spreading news on Twitter and Facebook, we are more connected to other cultures.
  This FDA inspection of food is like the community service I did. Working in the food bank, we had to reject certain foods to see if they were good or bad. This ties in to the Japanese situation right now.

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Nuclear Nourishment in Japan

  In the past week Japan has been in serious trouble. a 9.0 earthquake hit which caused a massive tsunami that devastated everything in its path, leaving thousands dead and thousands more without homes. Now, the nuclear reactors located along the shore are also in serious danger. 2 of them blew up in the past few days and are releasing massive amounts of radiation into the atmosphere.
  Now, a huge threat is being posed with drinking water in Japan. The radiation from the nuclear reactors has poisoned some of the water in surounding areas and Iodine-131 has been found in many samples. Infants aren't advanced enough physically to handle the amount of iodine in the water and are thus being cautioned. Adults can handle the amounts and thus aren't in danger.
  this is just adding to the problems in Japan. There economy is already in the toilet and now they have to be careful of drinking water too.  The United States and other countries around the world need to rally to help Japan get back on its feet because their economy is vital to our economy as well. We rely on Japan to consume a lot of our exports, and their downfall could mean ours.

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*AMAZING*

Peyton's Language

Fragile Food Supply

As most people now know, China has the fastest growing economy in the world. In turn, this has led to an increase in the amount of food needed to keep their economy running. Reserve Bank Governor Glenn Stevens raised the prospect of global food shortage today. He remarked that, "These price rises will be unwelcome for very poor countries who's population's spend much of their meager income on food." This is scary for much of the world's population because most people live in 3rd world countries. With the food supply running low and the population continually expanding, it will be interesting to see how our nation reacts to the news. the Reserve Bank also reported that productivity will need to move at a higher rate than ever in history to keep up with people's demand for food. This will play a huge role in our economy as prices for food, gas, and other commodities rise in the future. Hopefully we will pull through the economic downturn and refresh the prices that were held years ago.


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Green Jobs Still Waiting

With such a large unemployed population in America today, president Obama has outlined what jobs he thinks will contribute to an economic boom in the future. Many of the fields the Obama administration have recommended involve green jobs and trades relating to the environment. Some of these fields include solar installation, sustainable landscape design, and green demolition. After losing his way in the economy, Lawrence Anton decided that it was best to get training in some of these areas to help him get back into the workforce. The only problem is that all of the training he has received hasn't led to even one job offer. Obama's recommendations have Anton wondering when the changes are going to take effect. The nation as a whole is wondering when Obama's changes are going to take effect. With Congress divided in two, it is very difficult to pass legislation because it always gets shot down when sent into the other house. Americans (especially Republicans) are very skeptical about the president's motives as of now and are shooting down everything. People like Lawrence Anton, and others who are looking to work at a green job seem to be skeptical as to whether or not the green jobs will take hold. As for now they are playing the waiting game. In my opinion, Obama's administration needs to pass some quick legislation to fund green jobs ASAP.



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Silky Smooth

Although it may seem irrelevant, silk can be used for many different materials that make our world a better place. For years, spider silk has been the talk of scientists that it could one day be used to make cables that are stronger than steel. Silk also is used to make glue and many other items that people don't know about. Recently, spider silk has been used to make elctro arrays that are printed on thin flexible sheets taht could one day be used to treat epilepsy and other diseases. The only thing holding it back is the spider's ability to produce it. Although spiders can produce 5 different types of silk, they don't seem to produce a large amount of any of them. this is what has bugged scientists for years, they just don't produce enough. The main reason why is because they are meat eaters. Spider's don't eat plants, they eat other bugs. Because of this it would be impractical to ranch spiders. Silkworms and silkspiders are incredibly important to our research as Scientist Hayashi says in the article, "there's no lab in the world where somebody has an artificial silk gland." Silkworms are helping our research of fighting diseases and could help our economy a lot.

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Metal Madness

An Australian mining company called "Lynas" has just started building a new refinery for processing rare metals in Kuantan, Malaysia. For years China has held a monopoly on the crucial metals of the earth which has contributed to their vast amounts of wealth. Now, with the construction of the largest refinery for rare earth metals beginning, it could tip the balance of power to another country. The new refinery poses some serious environmental hazards to the surrounding are which has inspired controversy. Some of the metals have been known to contain radioactivity and thus could harm the environment. Although it is somewhat dangerous, I think that they need to build the refinery for economic purposes. As of now, China controls about 95% of the world's supply of rare metals. China will continue to grow and become the most powerful nation in the world if we don't tip the balance of power somehow. If rates stay the same, the new refinery will generate over 1.7$ billion in revenue per year.

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