UK Children Malnutrition due of Food poverty?

                                                         

More people are suffering from malnutrition as a result of worsening food poverty, experts have warned. The Faculty of Public Health said conditions like rickets were becoming more apparent because people could not afford quality food in their diet.It comes after health figures recently revealed a 19% increase in the number of people admitted to hospital with malnutrition over the past year.
                                                         

Ministers say that billions of pounds are available to tackle health issues. The government said the money would help councils cope with public health problems such as malnutrition. UK Vice president of the Faculty of Public Health, John Middleton, said food-related ill health was getting worse "through extreme poverty and the use of food banks". "It's getting worse because people can't afford good quality food. It's getting worse where malnutrition, rickets and other manifestations of extreme poor diet are becoming apparent," he said.
                                 

The faculty recently claimed that UK food prices had risen by 12% since 2007. It also noted that in the same period, UK workers had suffered a 7.6% fall in wages. Separately, numerous schemes have been running throughout the summer holidays to help families feed their children.

"Families were finding it difficult to find affordable activities and to provide extra meals." Muna Choudhury from Ashram said

Manchester GP Aisha Awan said healthy food did not have to be expensive, suggesting tinned food - as long as it was not high in sugar or salt. She added: "If you buy them [tins] they keep for longer - they're often a cheaper option for people who might be on a budget."

Taiwan Engineer turns to deer for a better life

                                             

Seven years ago, a young engineer took stock of the quality of his life and decided he wanted to escape from his stressful job and the fast-paced modern life in technologically advanced cities. This led him to resign from his job and take up his father’s business of raising Formosan sambar, and he unexpectedly discovered a whole new kind of life as well as an interesting hobby.

Mr. Chang, 35, said his previous job at a renowned electronics company, where he had worked for three years, was extremely stressful, as the job required him to be on call at all times, meaning that he could never relax and have quality time with his friends or family.

                                       

“Even after leaving the company’s premises at the end of the work day we had to keep our cellphones on, so we could be contacted at any time to return to work,” Chang said, adding that he had become fed-up with a life of toil and having no time for himself.

Chang decided to quit his job to pursue a life where he could be in control. He returned to his hometown as he wanted to learn how to take care of the deer his father had raised for the past four decades and to prevent his family’s deer farm from being sold.

When asked how he feels using the same hands that used to dance across computer keyboards to feed deer, Chang said that while neither job is easy, caring for his family’s deer has given him a new understanding of life.
                                     

“Every morning we have to check the deer’s condition and give them fresh food and water,” he said. He added that because he is breeding and raising deer, his job does not stop at feeding the animals, but includes the correct preparation of their food.“The job is physically taxing and there is always something that needs doing,” Chang said, adding that in the end all his different daily activities boil down to concentrating on caring for his deer.

“The deer can recognize their owners and usually stare at a person whom they are familiar with,” Chang said. He added that his job is hard, but being looked at so warmly by his deer with their docile eyes is all the thanks and inspiration a person needs to carry on.

Aside from just raising deer, Chang said his family also spends time doing research on how to be better farmers, and improve their techniques and productivity. Pointing to sambar bucks he started to care for recently, Chang said that their velvet antlers are seeing better growth than ever. One particular buck had grown a rack weighing 11kg several years ago, but this year produced velvet antlers weighing almost 20kg, he said. “It is very satisfactory, just like raising your own children,” Chang said, adding that the better the deer under their care perform, the happier he is.

Chicfarm Aero Doric

                                                             

An aeroponic growing system and method is disclosed- Chicfarm Aero Doric. In a particular Doric embodiment, the system includes at least one vertical column of interconnected growing pots and an overhead support to suspend the vertical column of interconnected growing pots. The system also includes a supply conduit that is in fluid communication with a top of the vertical column of interconnected growing pots and a return conduit in fluid communication with a bottom of the vertical column of interconnected growing pots. In addition, the system includes a reservoir in fluid communication with the supply conduit and the return conduit. A turning mechanism may also be used for rotating the column to achieve uniformity of illumination.

Chicfarm Aero Doric System has applied a number of technologies to support aeroponics. These include pumps, valves, fluid filters, piping systems, fluid level sensors, moisture sensors, artificial lighting, timers and electronic controllers, relays and other electrically-controlled actuators, nutrient mixing injectors, and horticultural enclosures.

                                              

The advantages of Chicfarm Aero Doric are:

1.    Limited water Consumption.

2.    Agricultural success independent of land and soil quality.

3.    Intensive food production on l limited land surface area.

4.    It can be constructed in a greenhouse, net house or home balcony.

                            

                                

5.    Yields are independent from cold, hot, winter or dry weather.

6.    Non-stop production cycles.

7.    Automation of most agricultural operations with a limited labor and investments.

8.    Higher organic qualities of the products.

9.    Aero Doric system follows an industrial model: daily fixed working hours, no more unsuitable back-breaking work in the farm but sheltered from the   the weather, no more seasonal or occasional work but uninterrupted activity during the whole year.