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Could soups and shakes replacing meals help type 2 diabetes-sufferers put the disease into remission? – The Courier

Posted: September 7, 2020 at 7:51 pm

As meal replacement plans are introduced by NHS England as a way of tackling diabetes, Brian Stormont examines what is being done north of the border.

Last week it was announced that diabetics in England will be encouraged to try a soup and shakes weight-loss plan as the health service steps up efforts to tackle a condition that costs an estimated 10 million a year.

North of the border a similar approach is already in place aimed at tackling type 2 diabetes through dietary changes with NHS Scotlands Counterweight Plus programme.

Down south, some 5,000 patients will get access to the diet programme after NHS England said results from a trial showed almost half of people who undertook the plan saw their type 2 diabetes go into remission after a year.

As part of the year-long plan, patients who have been diagnosed with the condition in the last six years and meet other eligibility criteria will be given so-called total diet replacement products such as shakes and soups for three months.

Alongside this, they will be supported to increase their exercise levels, and helped to reintroduce ordinary, nutritious food to their diets, with ongoing advice from clinicians and coaches.

Type 1 diabetes can develop at any age, but occurs most frequently in children and adolescents. With type 1 diabetes, your body produces very little or no insulin, which means that you need daily insulin injections to maintain blood glucose levels under control.

Type 2 diabetesis more common in adults and accounts for around 90% of all diabetes cases. When you have type 2 diabetes, your body does not make good use of the insulin that it produces. The cornerstone of type 2 diabetes treatment is healthy lifestyle, including increased physical activity and healthy diet. However, over time most people with type 2 diabetes will require oral drugs and/or insulin to keep their blood glucose levels under control.

Gestational diabetes (GDM)is a type of diabetes that consists of high blood glucose during pregnancy and is associated with complications to both mother and child. GDM usually disappears after pregnancy but women affected and their children are at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life.

In Scotland, the Counterweight Plus programme involves a total diet replacement phase over 12 weeks, followed by stepped, structured food reintroduction and then a weight maintenance phase over 12-months.

It encourages sufficient weight loss to achieve remission of type 2 diabetes and then focuses on the skills needed to keep weight at this new lower level

The first stage involves total diet replacement (shakes and soups). This is followed by food reintroduction, whereby shakes and soups are reduced with food and drinks gradually introduced back into daily intake.

People are supported throughout the programme which aims to teach them how to manage their weight by making permanent changes to their eating habits and activity levels.

Fife-based nutritionist Louise Blanchfield has little faith in meal replacement plans, believing a quick fix doesnt always result in the long-term success that making lifestyle and dietary changes do.

She explained: In my opinion meal replacement plans dont work. Theyre a quick fix that do result in rapid weight loss initially, but people are hungry all the time on them, they dont balance blood sugar and they dont tackle the root problem, which can result in rapid weight regain when people revert to their previous diets.

The only thing that results in proper diabetes remission is lifelong diet and lifestyle changes, and a proper understanding of how our bodies process food and how to eat to support this.

Nutritionist Louise Blanchfield

The only thing that results in proper diabetes remission is lifelong diet and lifestyle changes, and a proper understanding of how our bodies process food and how to eat to support this.

NHS England are saying that they will follow up the meal replacement plan with food reintroduction, but in my opinion, they should start with education and not false food.

The Scottish Counterweight programme sounds better because of the constant support and more of an emphasis on permanent changes to eating habits and activity levels.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: The Scottish Government is taking wide-ranging action to encourage people to be active and make healthier choices.

As we set out in our 2018 Diet and Healthy Weight Delivery plan, our ambition is to halve childhood obesity by 2030 and significantly reduce diet-related health inequalities.

We are in year three of our ambitious programme to improve weight management services, and investing 5 million this financial year to support people with, or at risk of, type 2 diabetes or with pre-diabetes. This is an increase of 2 million on the last financial year.

As part of this, Scotlands NHS Boards are taking a range of actions to manage peoples weight. This includes a programme called Counterweight Plus with a proven track record in the remission of type 2 diabetes.

Counterweight Plus is a two-year programme with total diet replacement phase, food reintroduction and maintenance phases, led by specialist weight management dietitians.

We are currently collecting data on the outcomes of our remission programme in Scotland. This work has been delayed due to Covid-19 and we expect results to be available in 2021.

Bridget Turner, director of policy campaigns and improvement at Diabetes UK, said the programme is an important first step for patients to access a remission programme within the NHS.

She said: We know that some people with type 2 diabetes want and need support from healthcare professionals to lose weight effectively, and now as these programmes are piloted across the NHS they will.

People with type 2 diabetes who have put their diabetes into remission frequently tell us how it has changed their lives.

We are so pleased to see that others will now have the same opportunity and hope that it wont be too long before more remission programmes are rolled out across the country.

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Could soups and shakes replacing meals help type 2 diabetes-sufferers put the disease into remission? - The Courier

What is a ‘reverse diet’ and can it help you to maintain your goal weight? – Health24

Posted: September 7, 2020 at 7:49 pm

10:51 07/09/2020 Marelize Wilke

With so many diets out there, it can be confusing what to do to lose weight. But for many dieters, an even bigger challenge is to avoid regaining the kilos.

Reverse dieting can be described as a diet after a diet and is something that has become popular among bodybuilders and professional athletes, allowing them to increase the amount they eat while maintaining their weight and body composition.

Many people believe that reverse dieting could be a strategy to ease back into eating more calories after a restrictive period. But does this work?

A calorie deficit and adding back calories

The fundamentals of losing weight revolve around burning more calories than you consume. Over time, your metabolism adapts to the decreased amount of energy you consume by slowing down. This is why we often reach plateaus and struggle to lose more weight after an initial quick loss.

Many people struggle to maintain their new weight when they quickly increase their caloric intake. But reverse dieting allows you to slowly increase your calorie intake by about 50 to 100 calories for four to ten weeks.

This may help boost your metabolism and help your body burn more calories without additional exercise, but there is currently no concrete scientific evidence that this is what happens.

How could reverse dieting work?

While the evidence is lacking, there are other reasons why reverse dieting could be effective in helping you maintain a post-diet weight.

When someone becomes used to controlling their calories to lose weight, they may feel "out of control" as soon as they reach their target weight and start eating normally again. By slowly adding back calories, it would allow you to feel in control.

Reverse dieting can also slowly help to ease someone back into eating more without being too restrictive, and reduce the fear of quickly regaining weight.

Slowly increasing your calories after being in a caloric deficit may also help balance your hunger hormones such as leptin and ghrelin, although there are as yet no studies to back up this theory.

The bottom line

Even though reverse dieting may be a sound practical tactic to increase calories and going back to normal without overdoing it, experts state that weight loss is so much more than only calories other lifestyle factors and the quality of your overall nutrition should also be taken into account.

If you want to lose weight in a healthy way, adapted to your lifestyle and needs, we suggest you contact our team of registered dietitians at Nutritional Solutions.

Not only will they help you reach your goal, but will also assist you in maintaining your weight and creating a sustainable, healthy lifestyle without too many restrictions.

READ | I need to lose weight. Where do I start?

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What is a 'reverse diet' and can it help you to maintain your goal weight? - Health24

Coronavirus: Russias vaccine induces immune response and is safe, early trial results suggest – The Independent

Posted: September 7, 2020 at 7:49 pm

A coronavirus vaccine unveiled by Russia without proper testing appears to be safe and induces an immune response, preliminary trials have found.

Sputnik V, which the Kremlin announced in August would enter mass production this month despite serious international concern, caused no major adverse effects and induced antibodies in all participants in two small rounds of early testing. The results were published in medical journal The Lancet on Friday.

Experts not involved in the study said the findings were encouraging but small and did not yet prove the vaccine was effective or safe.

The Kremlin announced regulatory approval of Sputnik V on 11 August, making it the worlds first Covid-19 vaccine cleared for use, and said it planned to begin mass immunisation in September. But experts condemned Russias announcement as unethical, reckless and foolish as the vaccine has yet to be tested on a large scale in phase 3 clinical trials, considered essential to establish efficacy and safety.

The trials covered in The Lancet study were phase 1 and 2, which involve smaller numbers of participants and aim to establish whether a drug works, if there are any side effects or safety concerns, and appropriate dosage levels.

A total of 76 volunteers took part in the two trials, which tested a frozen formulation of the vaccine planned for large-scale use in existing global supply chains and a freeze-dried version developed for remote regions. The vaccine induced an antibody response in all participants within 21 days and no serious adverse effects were detected over 42 days.

Sputnik V also appeared to trigger a T-cell response, which can help to provide long-term protection again the virus.

The vaccine is one of dozens in development around the world. A Covid-19 vaccine candidate developed by Oxford University researchers was found to induce a strong immune response and to be safe, according to results published in July of phase 1 and 2 trials involving 1,077 people.

The Russian trials, held at two hospitals in Russia, were open-label and not randomised, meaning participants knew they were receiving the vaccine and were not assigned by chance to different treatment groups.

Volunteers were healthy adults aged between 18 and 60 who self-isolated as soon as they were registered for the trial and remained in hospital for the first 28 days after vaccination.

Dr Ohid Yaqub, senior lecturer at the University of Sussexs Science Policy Research Unit, said: Normally, such a study would be the basis for debating whether to proceed into larger trials and the costs that entails. In that context, the study results are encouraging in terms of safety and possible efficacy.

However, in the context of regulatory approval, the design and size of a phase 1 and 2 study is not anywhere near sufficient for widely recognised standards of approval. The study was not randomised, and it was not large enough to detect rarer safety issues.

In an independent comment piece published by The Lancet alongside the study, Dr Naor Bar-Zeev of Baltimores International Vaccine Access Centre, said the trial results were encouraging but small.

The immunogenicity bodes well, although nothing can be inferred on immunogenicity in older age groups, and clinical efficacy for any Covid-19 vaccine has not yet been shown, he wrote. Safety outcomes up to now are reassuring, but studies to date are too small to address less common or rare serious adverse events.

The Russian researchers acknowledged more tests was needed to needed to evaluate the vaccine in different populations, including older age groups and people with underlying medical conditions.

Professor Alexander Gintsburg, director of the Gamaleya Research Institute, claimed unprecedented measures have been taken to develop a Covid-19 vaccine in Russia and preliminary clinical studies had made it possible to provisionally approve the vaccine.

Russias health minister last week said that first large batches of the vaccine will be supplied this month, with healthcare workers and teachers invited to be first injected on an absolutely voluntary basis.

But international scientists warned the latest trial results did nothing to dispel concerns about fast-tracked roll-out of the jabs.

At this stage, we do not know if the vaccine actually works that is what the phase 3 trials will tell us, said Dr Michael Head, senior research fellow in global health at University of Southampton.

Public confidence in any licensed vaccine is vital, and suggestions from both Russia and the USA that a vaccine may be fast-tracked without the proper research having taken place are problematic. We must be open and transparent about the effectiveness and safety profiles of all vaccine candidates. Ultimately, we must not pour additional fuel on the anti-vaccine lobby fires.

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Coronavirus: Russias vaccine induces immune response and is safe, early trial results suggest - The Independent

Denver Arts & Venues Is Wounded, but It’s Not Dead | Westword – Westword

Posted: September 7, 2020 at 7:49 pm

Denver Arts & Venues isn't dead, and this is no eulogy. But the city agency, its 67 employees and the hundreds of thousands of people their work touches are grieving. Last week, executive director Ginger White announced massive cuts at Arts & Venues through early 2021. Starting in late September, the department is furloughingeverybody. Some staffers will go part-time; others will be temporarily out of work for months. The city has also offered incentivized retirements. Those venues that aren't already dark will be closing for now.

"It's been a rough go of it," White told Westword. "It's pretty heartbreaking to be in the position like so many other organizations are or have been."

But the role of Arts & Venues in the city is larger than any one arts or entertainment group even the biggest, like Live Nation or the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, both of which have experienced mass layoffs and cuts.

The city's cultural agency spins a web between nearly every concert promoter, public art project, DIY space, barroom venue and mural on the city's wall. No organization, other than perhaps the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District which manages the area's penny-on-the-$10 sales tax, funding 300-plus nonprofit arts, culture and science groups shapes the city's cultural life as Arts & Venues does. And SCFD doesn't have the direct scope of Arts & Venues, touching everything from the scrappiest individual artists to global entertainment juggernauts like AEG.

In recent months, Arts & Venues employees worked with nonprofits, foundations and Colorado Creative Industries on the Colorado Artist Relief Fund and the COVID-19 Arts and Culture Relief Fund. The agency created virtual programming and promoted other groups' projects around the city. The staff led anti-racism workshops, celebrated Pride with art exhibitions at the McNichols Building, and helped turned some of its venues into emergency facilities that offered shelter and medical aid during the pandemic.

Arts & Venues staffers also interviewed venue owners and arts organizations for two important reports: "The 2020 City of Denver Creative Economy Report" and "Initial Impacts of the COVID-19 Crisis on the Music Industry in Colorado and the Denver Metropolitan Region."

"Both reports reveal the initial effects of the COVID-19 crisis are substantial, estimating Denver's creative industries have lost an estimated 29,840 jobs and $1.4 billion in sales revenue between April 1 and July 31, while Colorado's music industry alone lost an estimated 8,327 jobs between April 1 and July 31, representing a 51 percent loss," the agency wrote in early August.

Umphrey's McGee played at Red Rocks with opening act Spafford on Friday, June 21, 2019.

Jacqueline Collins

Arts & Venues staffers are trusted allies to many in Denver's culture scene. Knowing they won't be just a text away is a blow.

"It's what they do that's so critical and impactful, and the spirit of how they do it," says White. "They're the best group of people I've ever had the privilege of working with. They deserve all kinds of credit and kudos."

People like Arts & Venues Program Administrator Lisa Gedgaudas, a steadfast champion of this city's musicians and small venues, who brought Denver's live-music scene to an international audience through the Music Cities initiative. After the DIY scene faced a series of evictions starting in 2016, she brought artists to the table with city officials. That led to the creation of the Safe Creative Spaces Fund, which helped some Denver spaces get up to code. During the COVID-19 closures, she has worked with groups like the National Independent Venue Association to try to save local venues.

There's Director of Cultural Affairs Tariana Navas-Nieves, who preached the merits of equity long before the word was trendy and sucked dry of its meaning by agencies and corporations scrambling not to look racist as the country deals with its history of racial violence. Her work has helped turn Arts & Venues into an explicitly anti-racist organization, a move embraced by others in the city as a model. She has championed artists from marginalized communities who too often have been ignored by people in power. Through her work, the agency has connected with often-forgotten communities and brought an important depth and freshness to the art that Arts & Venues funds.

There's Mary Valdez, one of four Arts & Venue staffers with in-depth institutional knowledge that the agency lost in the past week to the City of Denver's retirement incentive. She is responsible for commissioning hundreds of murals that grace the Mile High City's walls. She, too, has been a champion of artists often neglected by people with the money and power. Through her work with the Urban Arts Fund, she has helped transform this urban landscape and make it into a world-class tourist destination for arts lovers.

And among many, many more, there's White herself, who has led the agency since predecessor Kent Rice departed in 2018. At the helm of the organization, she has enabled her talented staff to fight for the underdogs. While other city agency leaders take credit for their employees' tireless work, she puts them in the spotlight. But whenever tensions have risen between artists and the city, she's in the hot seat. She has taken blows over how Denver brass handled the mass displacement of longtime residents and artists, safety-code issues, the corporate takeover of the music industry, and so much more. No set of decisions has been as painful or crucial to the long-term survival of Arts & Venues as those she is making during the pandemic. No matter how turbulent things have become, she has stayed the course.

Arts & Venues has a team willing to learn from its failures and imperfections, quick to remedy what it can and struggle with what isn't so easy to fix. These people understand the power of art to heal and its importance as Denver attempts to recover from the harm caused by this pandemic.

The agency is still working out many of the dates and details of the cuts. What's clear for now is that crucial limbs are on the chopping block until the live-entertainment economy recovers.

Eager ticket-buyers outside the Ellie Caulkins Opera House.

Danielle Lirette

"It's not like we're putting chains around the doors. We don't have any events," says White. "At the Ellie, we don't have events booked between now and December. There is nothing on the books. There is hardly anything to cancel, and nothing is coming in the door at the same time. It's a natural atrophy. We're just incredibly dark."

While things are dark, Arts & Venues will strategize. "How can we take advantage of what we know to be a period of dormancy, almost, and try to preserve what we could while still conducting our essential work?" White wonders. "Hopefully, in 2021, we have enough gas in the tank so we can come back and support those organizations that want to come back or audiences and fans that want to come back."

That's hopefully.

The depressing truth is that live, large-scale events are likely not coming back safely any time soon. Without a widely distributed vaccine, the stages will stay dark, the sector will suffer, and Arts & Venues will lose its main revenue stream.

Unlike Denver Public Library or the Denver Police Department, which are funded mainly through the city's taxpayer-supported general fund, the bulk of Arts & Venues revenue comes from renting out spaces like Red Rocks Amphitheatre, the Denver Coliseum and the Denver Performing Arts Complex. Those venues have either been shut down, restricted by the city and state for use as emergency facilities, or vacated by cultural groups that have canceled or postponed shows.

White says Arts & Venues isn't at risk of being dissolved for good somebody has to run the city's legally mandated public art program and take care of the venues. But the closures may require the agency to make gut-wrenching calls that other city departments supported by the general fund won't have to make.

Ginger White, executive director of Denver Arts & Venues.

Kyle Harris

While most events from Colorado Ballet's The Nutcracker to the DCPA's Broadway season and the Colorado Symphony's holiday shows are canceled, a few things may still happen. Denver Film will likely extend its Film on the Rocks Drive-In in the Red Rocks Amphitheatre parking lot a few weeks more; this year's film festival will be virtual. After the art shows at the McNichols Building close, it will become a polling center for the election. The Music Advancement Fund, which will grant $75,000 to music projects, is still on, and Arts & Venues received CARES Act funding that the agency plans to distribute to artists and organizations.

The Public Art Program which has been around since 1988 and mandates the city spend 1 percent of its budget for capital improvement projects that cost more than a million on incorporating art will continue to be in effect.

The agency is still figuring out what to do with the Trading Post and Visitor Center at Red Rocks Amphitheatre; the venue itself will be shut down temporarily because of construction. "We're upgrading and getting a new roof that goes over the stage to match the historical character of Red Rocks," says White. "That roof is ending its useful life. We're seeing more and more concert productions coming in with fancy lighting. We need a roof that can handle the weight of different tech equipment."

In short, the organization is not giving up on live events returning.White points to the new banners outside Boettcher Concert Hall as a sign of hope.

"It's a really lovely message," she says. "I think it says it well: "Until we gather again, be safe, feel joy, give thanks. Our show will go on."

Kyle Harris quit making documentaries and started writing when he realized that he could tell hundreds of stories in the same amount of time it takes to make one movie. Now, hooked on the written word, he's Westwords Culture Editor and writes about music and the arts.

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Denver Arts & Venues Is Wounded, but It's Not Dead | Westword - Westword

Defending the beaching method of ship recycling – Riviera Maritime Media

Posted: September 7, 2020 at 7:49 pm

Over the last decade, numerous articles have highlighted how the beaching method of ship recycling in South Asian yards results in dirty, toxic and dangerous scrapping with dire working and living conditions for workers. Many proponents of this view vehemently oppose the beaching of ships for recycling in South Asian countries. These institutions conclude that poor working conditions, with no infrastructure, low wages, compromised labour rights and environmental standards, are the only reason why end-of-life ships fetch more money when sold to recycling yards operating in the Indian sub-continent when compared with recycling yards in Europe and Turkey.

In the last four years, nearly 80 ship recycling yards in India (out of 120 working yards) have achieved Statements of Compliance (SoC) with the Hong Kong Convention by various IACS class societies including ClassNK, IR Class, Lloyds Register, and RINA. In addition, a yard in Chattogram, Bangladesh has become the first to achieve a SoC by ClassNK (in January 2020), having first achieved a RINA SoC in 2017.

To encourage growth among Indias ship recycling sector, in November 2019 the Government of India acceded to the Hong Kong Convention for Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships and became the only South Asian country and major ship recycling destination to take such a step.

Additionally, major blue-chip shipowners, including Maersk, China Navigation, Teekay, Transocean, MOL, NYK, and several other major Japanese and Norwegian owners have visited and vetted yards in Alang. They have determined that Indian yards are a viable destination to recycle their end-of-life tonnage.

The ship recycling yards in South Asia not only boost their respective local economies, but also create direct job opportunities

Twenty Indian ship recycling yards have submitted applications to the European Commission to audit their recycling facilities for inclusion in the EUs list of approved ship recycling yards; several of these yards are currently undergoing EU-audits. This demonstrates that they must have passed the preliminary requirements to merit a possible inclusion under the EU Ship Recycling Regulation (EUSRR).

Ship recycling yard owners have made massive investments to upgrade their recycling facilities, including: 100% impervious floors with drainage systems; heavy-lift cranes; yard- and vessel-specific training for workers; and the development and implementation of Ship Recycling Facility Plans and Ship Recycling Plans (as per IMOs guidelines in Resolutions MEPC.210(63) and MEPC.196(62)).

Tremendous improvements

The institutions that have been critical of South Asias yards have remained blind to the tremendous improvements that have taken place. Such large-scale development cannot be shrugged-off with baseless statements that the beaching method is toxic, or with incorrect statements that all yards in South Asia are the same, irrespective of their level of advancement.

There can only be two logical reasons for this criticism: the critics view these certificates as being not good enough and believe that the yards continue to operate in the same manner as they were operating before obtaining their HKC certification; or in the minds of the critics, the Hong Kong Convention may be an inadequate standard to regulate the recycling of ships.

In response to the first point, it would be unwise to question the integrity and professionalism of reputed classification societies with IACS memberships. Regarding the second point, it is true that critics of the beaching method are also critics of the Hong Kong Convention because it does not ban the beaching of vessels.

Nevertheless, it should be remembered that the Hong Kong Convention was developed by many countries under the aegis of IMO, a United Nations Specialised Agency. IMO decided that banning the beaching method (which is currently used for over 92% of recycled tonnage) would be wrong as well as counterproductive.

It is important to explore the reasons why South Asian countries recycle over 92% of end-of-life ships.

The value of end-of-life ships varies from country to country, as it depends on the availability and demand of downstream markets for the products derived from a vessel. The main products of ship recycling include ferrous scrap, non-ferrous scrap, and machinery. In some cases, residual fuel on-board also adds to the value. The value of the recoverable ferrous scrap largely determines the price which can be offered to a shipowner. Scrap steel is traded at different prices in different countries and it is the major factor which dictates the variation in the price offered by the various recycling locations. The major use of scrap steel in every recycling country is in steel making. However, the technology used differs among counties.

The two main steel-making processes are: (1) production from iron ore in a blast furnace-basic oxygen furnace (BF-BOF), which also uses some amount of scrap steel during the refining process; and (2) production from scrap steel in an electric arc furnace (EAF)/or induction furnace (IF). Globally, around 75% of new steel is produced by the BOF method, while the remaining 25% is produced by the EAF method.

According to The National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog): Recycling of one tonne of scrap saves 1.1 tonne of iron ore, 06-0.7 tonne of coking coal and around 0.2-0.3 tonne of fluxes. Specific energy consumption for production of steel through BF-BOF (primary) and EAF and IF (secondary routes) is 14 MJ/Kg and 11.7 MJ/ Kg, respectively. Thus, it leads to savings in energy by 16-17%. It also reduces the water consumption and GHG emission by 40% and 58% respectively.

NITI Aayog states: Local factors dictate the scrap steel pricing, which eventually leads to lower overall offer prices for end-of-life ships. Interestingly, amongst the major ship recycling nations, the percentage BF-BOF/EAF-IF mix in 2019 showed contrasting results. For example, in India, BF-BOF route caters to around 45% of Indias steel making whereas the remaining 55% is through EAF & IF route.

For Turkey, it was approximately 30% steel making through BF-BOF and the remaining 70% through EAF and IF. Turkey has 24 electric arc furnace mill plants (EAF), five induction furnace plants and three BOF plants. Because of the Turkish steel industrys heavy reliance on EAF, the country is the worlds largest scrap importer by volume. In 2018, Turkey imported a total of 20.7 Mt of material. Overall, Turkey was the recipient of around 22.4% of total world scrap exports.

Higher imports

These numbers clearly show the higher imports of scrap steel into Turkey and how they contribute to the local factors that dictate the scrap steel price, which eventually leads to lower overall offer prices for end-of-life ships.

To compare South Asian countries with Turkey, it is important to understand that when a ship is recycled in countries like India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, the irregular pieces of steel obtained are earmarked as melting scrap, which is fed into EAFs. This type of steel scrap is only about 15-20% of the total weight of the ships steel. The remaining 70-75% is derived in the form of plates, profiles, beams, girders, and angle bars which are generally re-rolled in South Asia and sold at a premium when compared to melting scrap. However, this is not the case in Turkey, where most of the scrap steel is considered as melting scrap. The re-rolling process is simpler and less energy consuming and that is why re-rolled steel products fetch more money than the melting scrap.

The ship recycling yards in South Asia not only boost their respective local economies, but also create direct job opportunities to over 15,000 people and indirect opportunities to over 500,000 people (source: Gujarat Maritime Board). The ship recycling industry in South Asia is associated with a huge downstream market for second-hand goods, such as furniture, machinery, joinery, electrical equipment, household appliances, home dcor, paints and hardware items.

Critics of South Asias yards have remained blind to the tremendous improvements that have taken place there

This supports industrial ecology and industrial symbiosis, as the output from ship recycling yards are utilised as inputs to small-scale industries working to refurbish items which are eventually traded in the second-hand market. All this is in addition to the steel re-rolling mills and steel melting mills which utilise ferrous scrap from end-of-life ships to produce steel goods such as bars, ingots, pipes and plates. The entire localised industry that has developed due to ship recycling yards is a major boost to the local economy, as it assists in the flourishing trade of second-hand goods, ferrous scrap, and non-ferrous scrap.

To compare the labour and hazardous waste(s) management costs for yards in Turkey and India, consider the recycling of a 10,000 light displacement tonnage (ldt) container ship. A typical 10,000 ltd container vessel will have about a 5% weight loss due to corrosion, loss during recycling, as well as wear and tear over the operational period of the vessel. In addition, nearly 0.5% non-ferrous, 4% machineries and 0.5% reusables (like furniture and fixtures) are recovered by recycling; the remaining 90% is ferrous. In the case of South Asian countries, nearly 75% of the remaining 90% ferrous goes to re-rolling mills as steel plates, including direct use of steel plates to make flanges, girders, and pipes; 15% of the remaining 90% goes for melting, which includes irregular size scrap. In the case of Turkey and other EU recycling yards, most of the remaining 90% ferrous goes directly for melting and a fraction of it goes for re-rolling.

The daily wages paid to laborers is prescribed by the respective recycling country, based on the socio-economic conditions of the country. The prescribed wage in South Asian countries for unskilled labour is between US$4/day and US$6/day. Wages in Turkey are US$16/day to US$17/day for unskilled laborers. The difference of US$12/day equates to US$36,000/month (considering 100 workers per yard with paid leave). For recycling of a 10,000 ldt container vessel in Turkish yards, which takes about four months to completely recycle, these wages add up to US$144,000. This means US$15/ldt of additional costs on wages when compared to recycling the same vessel in sub-continent countries.

Looking at the environmental costs, the removal and disposal of each tonne of asbestos costs US$800 in Turkey, whereas in India it costs US$300 (as the waste disposal facility is owned by the Government of Gujarat). Considering 10 tonnes of asbestos for a given vessel (a higher value), it costs about US$8,000 for disposal in Turkey. Disposal of paint chips generated during the recycling cost US$500/tonne in Turkey, whereas in India it costs about US$200/tonne.

In summary, we can consider US$150,000 as the environmental cost, or waste management costs, in Turkey for all types of waste identified in an Inventory of Hazardous Materials (IHM), developed as per IMOs Resolution MEPC.269(68) guidelines. This adds up to an additional US$15/ldt for hazardous waste management, if recycled in Turkey when compared to India.

The higher cost of wages and hazardous waste management are not necessarily related to a higher quality of work. For example, heavy metal contamination levels at the coast of Aliaga (Turkey) ship recycling zone exceed the prescribed limits and are considered heavily polluted.

Including labour and hazardous waste management costs, Turkey should offer US$30/ldt to US$35/ldt less than the price offered in India (or any South Asian recycling country). But Turkey consistently offers US$90/ldt to US$160/ldt less than India (or any South Asian recycling country) as the value of steel generated from recycling is less when compared with South Asian countries. The European ship recycling yards offer even lower prices US$200/ldt to US$300/ldt less than the sub-continent.

All the factors discussed and the significant improvements undertaken by South Asian recycling facilities over the last few years should be acknowledged and appreciated by the global maritime community, rather than criticised and demeaned because of the use of beaching as a method of docking/grounding/landing ships for recycling.

The contribution of the ship recycling industry towards sustainability is immense; it helps decarbonise the atmosphere.

To conclude, irresponsible recycling is possible across all methods of recycling. However, to associate such practices only with a particular region, or a particular method of recycling, is incorrect. The landing method practiced in Turkey is really not different to the beaching method practiced in South Asian countries. What matters is how a given ship is recycled safely and in an environmentally sound manner after beaching or landing.

This article is adapted from the series of Thought Leadership pieces published by GMS on its website.

Riviera hosts the Ship Recycling Webinar Week from 15 September 2020. Register here to take part in the webinar.

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Defending the beaching method of ship recycling - Riviera Maritime Media

How to Satisfy a Sweet Tooth if You Have Type 2 Diabetes – Everyday Health

Posted: September 6, 2020 at 8:59 am

Just because you have type 2 diabetes doesnt mean you cant ever let anything sweet pass your lips again. With a bit of strategizing, there are ways you can satisfy your cravings from time to time.

According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), if you have diabetes, you can absolutely include sweets and desserts in your diet, as long as theyre part of a healthy eating plan and you dont overindulge. The ADA also recommends working with a registered dietitian, a certified diabetes care and education specialist (CDCES), or another diabetes healthcare professional to help you formulate an eating plan thats right for you.

When you eat or drink carbohydrates, such as sugar, starch, and fiber, your body breaks them down into glucose, raising levels in your blood, according to the ADA. If you have type 2 diabetes, your body isnt able to use insulin efficiently to move this glucose from your blood into cells, where its used for energy. So its important to take steps to make sure your glucose levels dont spike too high.

You also want to make sure you eat healthy foods that are nutritious and high in vitamins, minerals, and fiber, and avoid or eat only small amounts of foods that contain unhealthy ingredients such as added sugar, high amounts of sodium, and unhealthy fats.

Many sweets, including cakes, cookies, and candy, tend to be highly processed and chock-full of added sugar, refined flour, and saturated fats, which is why they should be enjoyed in reduced portion sizes as an occasional treat.

Try these tips from diabetes nutrition experts to include sweet treats in your healthy eating plan.

1. Allow yourself the occasional treat. Deprivation isnt likely to work, says Karen Lau, a registered dietitian and CDCES at Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston. Completely eliminating treats from your diet may backfire, and you may end up craving those foods more, notes Lau.

2. Plan ahead. Consider how many carbs youre getting in your meal, not just in your dessert, says Tami Ross RD, CDCES, author of What Do I Eat Now? A Guide to Eating Well with Diabetes or Prediabetes and a spokesperson for the Association of Diabetes Care and Education Specialists (ADCES). That total number should factor into your calculation of what you will eat on days you have dessert or a sweet snack.

Make sure the meal is balanced with other foods. Cut out carbs from the main dish, and save it for dessert instead, says Lau. For example, if youre planning to have dessert, skip the bread, pasta, or side of mashed potatoes at dinner.

3. Be mindful of sugar-free foods. Kristen Smith, RDN, a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, suggests choosing foods that dont list sugar in the ingredients and have sugar substitutes instead. But keep in mind that these foods are often still made with flour and other carbohydrate-containing ingredients, says Smith.

4. Pay attention to what you drink. You probably know that regular soda, juice, and fruit punch are loaded with sugar, but sports drinks, energy drinks, and bottled tea can also raise blood glucose. Plus, these sugary drinks can contain as many as several hundred calories in just one serving, according to the ADA.

Healthier options to help you stay hydrated while still giving your taste buds a treat include seltzer water with slices of lemon or lime or water infused with fruit, says Veronica Brady, PhD, an advanced practice registered nurse at MD Anderson Cancer Center and assistant professor of nursing at The University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston. She is also a spokesperson for ADCES.

5. Swap out ingredients. In the kitchen, use whole-grain flours, such as wheat or oat, or versions made from nuts, such as almond flour, to help with blood sugar control, advises Smith. You can also look for recipes that use fruit or fruit puree to reduce or eliminate sugar, says Smith.

6. Designate a sweet treat day. Depending on how well your diabetes is managed and what you and your diabetes management team decide is best for you, you can decide how many days you can budget in per week or month to indulge your sweet tooth.

7. Focus on fruit. Not only is fruit delicious enough to satisfy your sweet tooth, but it has the added bonus of being healthier, because it has fewer carbs and no added sugar, compared with processed sweets, explains Smith. Plus, fruit has fiber, which is helpful, because it takes longer to digest and is less likely to cause a rapid rise in blood sugar, she adds.

That said, its still important to watch portion size and sugar content when eating fruit. If youre making a smoothie, for instance, youll want to stick to about 4 to 6 ounces rather than drinking a giant tumbler of it, notes Dr. Brady. And if youre snacking on dried fruit or using it in a recipe, make sure you take into account how much sugar it contains: Just 2 tablespoons of raisins or dried cherries can contain as many as 15 grams of carbohydrates.

Some great ways to enjoy fruit:

8. Pick something you really like. Rather than settling for something that you might not like as much just because its labeled low sugar, eat smaller portions of something you love, notes Lau. Not only will eating what you prefer leave you feeling more satisfied, but opting for the diabetes-friendly version may also prompt you to eat more than you should.

9. Take a few bites and make them last. Split that piece of cake with a friend, or just have half of a large cookie. The first few bites are often what you enjoy most, notes Ross. Try to stick to two or three bites, and practice mindfulness about what youre eating.

The next time you take a bite of a treat, try this: Eat more slowly, think about what youre eating, and savor the taste, suggests Brady.

10. Freeze bite-size treats. One great way to have portion-controlled sweets on hand is to freeze bite-size Halloween candies, says Brady. Eat one of these slowly for a treat, she says.

11. Keep temptation out of sight. Ask family members to be supportive and help you stay healthy by not eating sweets in front of you or bringing cookies or candy into the house. Store ice cream at the back of the freezer, and dont put sweets in front or at eye level in the pantry, where you can see them, suggests Smith.

12. Identify your cravings. Are there circumstances where youre more likely to be tempted? Think about what makes you crave sweets, says Smith. Are you often influenced by a TV show or commercial? Be mindful of activities that might spark a craving, advises Smith. If you know youre always tempted when you pass a certain restaurant or billboard, for instance, try to avoid going that way.

13. Dont be too hard on yourself. You dont need to always aim for 100 percent, notes Lau. Instead, she recommends striving to strictly follow your diabetes diet at least 80 percent of the time and allowing yourself the occasional indulgence.

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How to Satisfy a Sweet Tooth if You Have Type 2 Diabetes - Everyday Health

Rays Tyler Glasnow hopes to keep the good times rolling in series finale – Tampa Bay Times

Posted: September 6, 2020 at 8:59 am

ST. PETERSBURG Rays right-hander Tyler Glasnow, who starts in Sundays series finale against the Marlins at Tropicana Field, hopes to build upon the dominance he displayed in his past three outings.

Glasnow has won twice and registered a 1.93 ERA (along with 30 strikeouts and just five walks) in the 18 innings of those three starts. Overall, hes 2-1 with a 4.24 ERA.

Rays manager Kevin Cash said Glasnow set the bar high last season. Glasnow opened 6-0 with a 1.47 ERA and 46 strikeouts in his first seven games before going on the injured list with a forearm strain.

I dont know how you can improve on that,' Cash said. What hes doing now seems to fall right in line with that.'

Glasnow said he has a better approach now. To paraphrase former Rays manager Joe Maddon, Glasnow is trying easier.

What I took away (from last seasons early outings) was I put too much into the effort level,' Glasnow said. If Im going to do this for 30 starts a year, Im going to need to mellow out a bit.

The biggest difference is not trying to throw the ball 1,000 (miles per hour) every single pitch. You cant really do that for 30 starts a year. Once I realized that being relaxed and having very little tension was good, almost holding the ball lighter and trying to be more smooth, it allowed me to stay the same, if not better. My overall recovery and arm health has been much better.'

Glasnow, who has four consecutive games with eight strikeouts or more, leads the majors with 15.09 strikeouts per nine innings (minimum 25 innings pitched). Its an extremely small sample size. But for perspective, Gerrit Cole set the major-league season record (13.81 strikeouts per nine innings) last season, 13.81 strikeouts per nine innings, with the Astros.

Natural first baseman Nate Lowe, who was recalled from the alternate training site at Port Charlotte last week, started at third base Saturday. In 50 games last season with the Rays, Lowe had one start at third, but he has been working more at the position.

The more he can help us in different roles (the better),' Cash said. The (coaches in Port Charlotte) have been very complimentary of Nate and the work he put in at third base. It was part of his daily routine to get reps there. We tell our guys were not asking for anything spectacular. Just put yourself in position to make the routine play.'

Lowe said he feels more agile after dropping about 20 pounds (it had been about 35, but he has gained some back).

Losing weight never was the end goal,' Lowe said. I never said I have to lose 5 more pounds or 10 more pounds. It was about being the healthiest version of me. I played in the minors at 250, 255, and in the spring, I saw 212, 210. Thats a pretty big window, but a lot of guys have success doing it different ways. As long as I can stay on top of my sleep and diet, that puts me in a good spot to show up and compete every day.'

Saturday was Childhood Cancer Awareness Day at Tropicana Field. Rays players wore yellow ribbons on their jerseys to commemorate the occasion. Centerfielder Kevin Kiermaier, who works with the Childrens Dream Fund for kids with life-threatening illnesses, said the cause is especially meaningful.

The positivity and the mindset these kids and families have are truly incredible,' Kiermaier said. I dont think I could be that positive and happy as some of these families. Especially having a young son, I know how fortunate it is to have a healthy, functional son who lives a healthy life.

Its tough for me to find words for how powerful and emotional this is to be around these kids. They have no idea what impact they bring on my life. Im grateful I can have a small impact.'

On the strength of a 21-4 run heading into Saturday tying the best 25-game stretch in club history Kiermaier said the teams confidence remains high.

Confidence is something that I dont think the people on the outside realize how much it can do for an individual or a team,' Kiermaier said. Theres a certain confidence thats just flowing in our clubhouse, whether home or on the road. Its a true joy each day to show up and compete with these guys and see whos going to be the hero on any given night.

Were one of the best teams in baseball, and were aware of that. The greatest thing about us is were not content with that. We want to be the best team in baseball, when all is said and done. We want to be the last team standing. We want to let people know were dangerous and were not messing around.'

Left-hander Ryan Yarbrough (left groin tightness) threw a successful bullpen session Friday. Hes scheduled to come off the 10-day injured list Tuesday, when he could draw a road start against the Nationals. Cash said right-handed reliever Oliver Drake (right biceps tendinitis) is progressing well but remains about a week away from active duty. After Sundays series finale, the Rays have 19 games remaining (nine at home, 10 on the road, although the Rays will be at home during one of the road' games against Baltimore, making up for the Aug. 27 postponement). The Rays also have three more off-days in September. ... At Port Charlotte, left-hander Shane McClanahan suffered a left knee hyperextension while attempting to cover first base on a ground ball. He is expected to miss about two weeks.

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Allergies vs. COVID: KU doctors give tips on knowing the difference – hays Post

Posted: September 6, 2020 at 8:59 am

LEFT to RIGHT: Dr. Dana Hawkinson, University of Kansas Health Center medical director of infection prevention and control; Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer; andDr. Selina Gierer, specialist in allergy, immunology and rheumatology medicine.

By CRISTINA JANNEYHays Post

Is that runny nose and cough COVID or just your run-of-the-mill seasonal allergies?

Doctors at the University of Kansas Health System tried to give viewers tips on how to distinguish between the two during their daily news briefing Wednesday.

Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer, and Dr.Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control, were joined byDr. Selina Gierer, specialist inallergy, immunology and rheumatology medicine, andear, nose and throat surgeon Dr. Keith Sale.

Gierer said Kansas has reached its peak allergy season. Children are also returning to school and can be exposed to viral infections.

"It is always a challenge when we go back to school when kids get any viral infection on top of season allergies trying to pick a part what's an illness and what is an allergy symptom," she said.

Itchy and water eyes as well as sneezing are common symptoms of allergies, but not of COVID-19.

Then there is an overlap zone for both allergies and COVID,Gierer said.

These include cough, fatigue, headache, sore throat, shortness of breath and runny nose.

"Ultimately, if you are having fever, if your symptoms are not typical for your allergy symptoms,"Gierer said, "perhaps this is not a typical allergy season for you.

"If you are having cough, if you are having congestion and you are having change in your sense of smell, it's time for you to be thinking about contacting your doctor to get tested for coronavirus."

She suggested keeping control of your allergy symptoms and avoiding people who are sick.

Monitor your triggers, such as dust, mold, pollen or animals. Monitor the local pollen count. Stay on your allergy medications.

"If you know you are going to be doing yard work, and the next day you feel itchy and drippy and sneezy, you can probably attribute that to your allergies and not an acute onset of coronavirus,"Gierer said.

Asthma is an underlying medical condition that increases the likelihood of complications from coronavirus. However, it is on the lower end of the range of complicating factors.

Asthma is much less common to cause complications than obesity and hypertension,Gierer said.

However, one of the biggest triggers of asthma is a viral infection. She said it is also important to keep your asthma under control by staying on medications, avoiding triggers and keeping a 30-day supply of medication on hand.

Dr. Sale saw a patient in his clinic who was having typical symptoms for allergies, such as a runny nose, but was not getting better on her normal medications.

She thought she had a sinus infection or something else. A friend from out of town had visited the week before. She was tested for COVID and was surprised with a positive COVID test, Sale said.

Sale said his office is taking COVID precautions, including using PPE, hand sanitizing between patients and patients wearing masks unless their nose or mouth is being examined.

Gierer said allergy medication or a rescue inhaler will probably not help with COVID-19 symptoms.

Sale said fatigue may be common to both allergies and COVID, but the persistence of the symptom may be a sign of the later.

Gierer said, "If the allergy medications are not working, that might trigger you to think there is something else going on."

Hawkinson said scientists are working to combine testing for flu and COVID-19. He said if a patient has a nasal swab for COVID-19, a lab could use that same sample to test for flu and RSV.

RSV, is a common respiratory virus that usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms. Most people recover in a week or two, but RSV can be serious, especially for infants and older adults, according the Centers for Disease Control.

The flu season is in full swing in South Africa and Australia and has been lighter this year there than in years past,Hawkinson said. He said that could be in part to mask use and increased hand washing.

KU Med is working on mass flu vaccination at this time.

Gierer urged members of the public to get flu vaccines. That is usually recommended starting in October.

The doctors also gave tips on staying in good general health.

You can naturally boost your immune system by getting adequate sleep, eating a healthy diet, as well as hand washing and staying away from people who are sick.

Those tips can help with COVID-19, flu or RSV.

Sale also said caring for your mental health can have an effect on maintaining physical health, which includes socializing in a safe way.

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We care more about what we eat than ever so why are we getting fatter? – Telegraph.co.uk

Posted: September 6, 2020 at 8:59 am

Back in 1992, when I was 23 and had wangled a job on the features desk of the Sunday Express, a research and health information service was set up called the World Cancer Research Fund. Its aim was to establish the link between diet and cancer. My aim back then, in between filing stories (my patch included going undercover at fashion shoots and dressing up as Barbara Cartland), was to drink as much as possible while having equal amounts of fun. My liquid diet was supported by full English breakfasts, dinners in restaurants, and then wholesome food back home in Northamptonshire at the weekend.

According to a report this week from the WCRF, looking at how diets have changed over the past 30 years, my diet was not unique. Lots of red meat, quite a lot of white bread, not much fruit and sterling amounts of booze. Most of us were at it.

The report of the nations eating and food shopping habits analysed data from the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs on weekly purchasing, and the results show startling changes. Today we buy 50 per cent less tea, 56 per cent less white bread and 32 per cent less red meat (pork, lamb and beef). We are also buying 23 per cent more fresh fruit.

Which goes to show that I dont appear to have moved with the times. Im still eating what I did back in the early 1990s. And Im still not eating any fruit.

The point of the WCRF is to raise awareness of the reasons people get cancer, and how vital the role of diet is in disease prevention. Over the years, its campaigning has coincided with a soaring interest in food inBritain.

The 30-year British Food Revolution has seen the emergence and growth of food TV from the launch of MasterChef in 1990, to entire TV networks devoted to the subject. The internet happened; recipes became one of the most searched-for items. Web-based food delivery grew with Ocado founded in 2000 (it still hasnt made a profit). Apps became a thing, many offering dietary advice, while things around your wrist could measure the amount of exercise youwere taking.

Restaurants grew in quality and number, young chefs from across the world flocked to apprentice at the kitchens of people such as Gordon Ramsay in London. Farmers markets grew to a point where you couldnt find a space in a provincial car park on a Saturday morning. Coffee drinking became a high street obsession. Waitrose stocked things called sumac and zaatar, and suddenly all your nieces and nephews were vegans.

And here we are, 30 years later. With more exposure to information about food and more variety at any time in our history, and the results are in. In addition to the previous WCRF stats, sales of ready meals are up 100 per cent and pizza by 143 per cent. Alcohol purchasing is also up by 38 per cent and guess what obesity rates are at an all-time high; some 63 per cent of adults are overweight. Obesity, that most terrible of modern phenomenons, which costs the Government more than terrorism.

Dr Giota Mitrou, director of research at WCRF, has coined a new behaviour pattern called the nutrition transition. She points to the fact that today people [are] more reliant on processed foods that are high in fat, salt or sugar. Being overweight increases the risks of at least 12 types of cancer.

Dr Mitrou and her chums must be scratching their heads. 30 years work, a nation more interested in food than ever, with access to a wider variety of ingredients and more available knowledge than at any time in history. And more gyms and fitness gurus everywhere. Were obsessed with food, yet were fatter and sicker than ever.

When food becomes a sport of jeopardy on TV, a badge of trendy credentials and a multibillion-pound discount business, is it any wonder? I weigh the same as I did in 1992. I glug booze voraciously, eat greedily, swim, cycle, play tennis and panic most of the time.

I may yet succumb to a dreaded disease, but I suggest we all ignore the food fads and the campaigns and reports and the telly, and follow the meat-and-two-veg rules of my mother, who still hates cooking and lacks a modern fascination for food.

She should do a cookbook and save the nation.

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Hunger is threatening to kill more people than COVID this year – Stars and Stripes

Posted: September 6, 2020 at 8:59 am

Stars and Stripes is making stories on the coronavirus pandemic available free of charge. See other free reportshere. Sign up for our daily coronavirus newsletterhere. Please support our journalismwith a subscription.

(Tribune News Service) The world is hurtling toward an unprecedented hunger crisis.

As many as 132 million more people than previously projected could go hungry in 2020, and this year's gain may be more than triple any increase this century. The pandemic is upending food supply chains, crippling economies and eroding consumer purchasing power. Some projections show that by the end of the year, COVID-19 will cause more people to die each day from hunger than from virus infections.

What makes the situation unmatched: The massive spike is happening at a time of enormous global food surpluses. And it's happening in every part of the world, with new levels of food insecurity forecast for countries that used to have relative stability.

In Queens, New York, the lines snaking around a food bank are eight hours long as people wait for a box of supplies that might last them a week, while farmers in California are plowing over lettuce and fruit is rotting on trees in Washington. In Uganda, bananas and tomatoes are piling up in open-air markets, and even nearly give-away prices aren't low enough for out-of-work buyers. Supplies of rice and meat were left floating at ports earlier this year after logistical jams in the Philippines, China and Nigeria. And in South America, Venezuela is teetering on the brink of famine.

"We'll see the scars of this crisis for generations," said Mariana Chilton, director of the Center for Hunger-Free Communities at Drexel University. "In 2120, we'll still be talking about this crisis."

COVID-19 has exposed some of the world's deepest inequalities. It's also a determining force in who gets to eat and who doesn't, underscoring global social divides as the richest keep enjoying a breakneck pace of wealth accumulation. Millions of people have been thrown out of work and don't have enough money to feed their families, despite the trillions in government stimulus that's helped send global equities to all-time highs.

On top of the economic malaise, lockdowns and broken supply chains have also created a serious problem for food distribution. The sudden shift away from restaurant eating, which in places like the U.S. used to account for more than half of dining, means farmers have been dumping milk and smashing eggs, with no easy means to redirect their production to either grocery stores or those in need.

Don Cameron of Terranova Ranch in California took a hit of about $55,000 this year on his cabbage crop. Almost half the loss $24,000 came because Cameron decided to donate to local food banks after demand from his usual customers dried up. He had to pay for the labor needed to do the harvesting and truck loading. He even needed to cover the cost of some bins and pallets to get supplies moved. It would've been a lot cheaper to just let the crops rot in the field.

"We know other parts of the country need what we have here. But the infrastructure has not been set up, as far as I'm aware, to allow that. There are times when there is food available and it's because of logistics that it doesn't find a home," said Cameron, who still ended up destroying about 50,000 tons of the crop since nearby food banks "can only take so much cabbage."

Initial United Nations forecasts show that in a worst-case scenario, about a tenth of the world's population won't have enough to eat this year. The impact will go beyond just hunger as millions more are also likely to experience other forms of food insecurity, including not being able to afford healthy diets, which can lead to malnutrition and obesity.

The effects will be long lasting. Even in its best-case projections, the UN predicts that hunger will be greater over the next decade than forecast before the pandemic. By 2030, the number of undernourished people could reach as high as 909 million, compared with a pre-COVID scenario of about 841 million.

The current crisis is one of the "rarest of times" with both physical and economic limitations to access food, said Arif Husain, chief economist with the UN's World Food Programme.

By the end of the year, as many as 12,000 people could die a day from hunger linked to COVID-19, potentially more than those perishing from the virus itself, charity Oxfam International estimates. That's calculated based on a more than 80% jump for those facing crisis-level hunger.

Projections for increased malnutrition also have a profound human toll. It can weaken the immune system, limit mobility and even impair brain functioning. Children who experience malnutrition early in life can see its impact well into adulthood.

"Even the mildest forms of food insecurity have lifelong consequences," said Chilton of the Center for Hunger-Free Communities. Problems with physical and cognitive development in children and adolescents can hamper the chances of staying in school or getting a job, continuing a cycle of poverty.

Government programs, food charities and aid organizations have mobilized across the globe, but the need far outstrips their reach. The UN's WFP aid group alone needs a record $13 billion for the year to deliver food in 83 countries, and at the start of the second half faced a shortfall of $4.9 billion to meet the goal.

Hunger can spark seismic shifts in the political landscape. Going back to the days of the French Revolution, food insecurity has sent people into the streets demanding better conditions. Surging food prices were part of the economic crisis that helped fuel recent protests in Lebanon and demonstrations over shortages erupted in Chile earlier this year.

Deep-seated inequalities along gender and racial lines also correspond to disproportionate impacts from hunger. In the U.S., for example, Black Americans are two-and-a half times as likely as their White counterparts to have low or very low access to enough food for an active and healthy life. Globally, women are 10% more likely to be food insecure than men.

"We have to make sure that we're addressing gender inequality if the international community is not doing that, we will fail to avoid the worst of the hunger crisis," said Tonya Rawe, a director at hunger relief and advocacy group Care.

Data from the UN show that throughout the world, there are more than enough calories available to meet every individual's needs. But even in the U.S., the richest country in the world, almost 2% of the population, or more than 5 million people, can't afford a healthy diet (one that protects against all forms of malnutrition). More than 3 million Americans can't afford to even meet basic energy needs. In India, 78% of people can't afford healthy diets that's more than 1 billion people. Those figures don't even take into account the pandemic and its lasting effects.

Costs and logistics prevent food surpluses from being easily shifted to areas without. That's the dilemma faced by potato farmers in Belgium. When freezers filled during the pandemic, most of their spuds weren't fit for food banks or grocers. The main variety that's grown to meet demand from places like the country's famous fry shops get black and blue spots after just a few days, said Romain Cools of industry group Belgapom. Sales to supermarkets quickly stopped after complaints, and a bulk of the region's 750,000-ton surplus was instead used for animal feed or biogas.

"It's hard to take surplus milk in Wisconsin and get it to people in Malawi it's just not realistic or practical," said William Moseley, a geography professor at Macalester College who serves on a global food-security panel.

Despite the abundant supplies, food is growing more expensive because of bungled supply chains and currency devaluations. Costs are up in parts of Africa and the Middle East and they're also rising in developed countries, with Europeans and Americans paying extra to stock their fridges.

Even within major food-producing countries, being able to afford groceries is never a given.

Latin America, an agriculturally rich region that exports food to the world, is leading this year's surge in hunger, according to the UN's WFP.

In Brazil, a huge cash-distribution program has helped millions and driven poverty rates to historic lows. But that hasn't met all the need. In the country's northeast, Eder Saulo de Melo worked as a guard at parties until the virus arrived. With events suspended, he hasn't been paid in months. He's been locked out of the emergency cash program and the 130 reais ($25) he gets in regular monthly aid goes to energy, water and gas bills, leaving little to feed his three children. Baskets of non-perishables, vegetables, bread and eggs from a non-governmental organization are the family's main sustenance.

"I needed to stop buying fruit and meat," he said. "Instead of a slice of chicken, I buy offal to make a soup."

The hunger estimates for this year have a "high degree of uncertainty," and the disease's devastation is largely unknown, the UN cautioned about its figures.

The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization began tracking global hunger in the mid-1970s. Current data can't be compared past 2000 given revisions in methodology, said Carlo Cafiero, team leader for food security statistics. But general trends can be observed, and they show that hunger moved lower over the past several decades until a recent reversal started in 2015, spurred by by climate change and conflicts.

The increases in the last few years are nothing like what is forecast now even the best-case of the UN's tentative scenarios would see hunger surge in 2020 more than the past five years combined. And when looking at other notable periods of need in the world, such as the Great Depression, the level of food surplus that exists today is without comparison thanks to the advent of modern agriculture, which has seen crop yields explode.

"It's impossible to look at the situation and not think we have a problem," said Nate Mook, chief executive officer of food-relief group World Central Kitchen. "This pandemic has really exposed the cracks in the system and where it starts to break down."

___

(c)2020 Bloomberg NewsVisit Bloomberg News at http://www.bloomberg.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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