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Sustainable food and agriculture: Is it Possible?
Sustainable food and agriculture: Is it Possible?
To be sustainable, agriculture must meet the needs of present and future generations, while ensuring profitability, environmental health, and social and economic equity. Sustainable food & agriculture (SFA) contributes to all four pillars of food security – availability, access, utilization and stability – and the dimensions of sustainability (environmental, social and economic).
Food and agriculture production systems worldwide are facing unprecedented challenges from an increasing demand for food for a growing population, rising hunger and malnutrition, adverse climate change effects, overexploitation of natural resources, loss of biodiversity, and food loss and waste.
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Food Diary.
Please answer the following questions. (10 points – 5 questions – each is worth 2 points). There should be a minimum of five sentences for each response.
1. Were you surprised at how much sodium you consumed with each meal or was it just what you expected? What foods contributed the most sodium to your meals? Does the amount of sodium affect your choice of foods?
When I first input my food and numbers I was very surprised at how much sodium I take in, but when you first sign up it gives you estimates of how much each nutrient you are supposed to take in so even at the sight of my intake value I was surprised. My protein shake, cereal and even water surprised seeing that they were high in sodium. I currently take the Herbalife Protein Shake and eat Post Cereal Honey Bunches of Oats and they both are extremely high in Sodium.
I was trying to implement low sodium intake but it seems I failed at that. Seeing I did this assignment as soon as I got it, I can see a big difference in how I eat now, and understand more about Nutrition. Yes now the amount of sodium is taken in account for a numbers of foods that I consume. I have cut back on a lot but since I work out I still need quite a bit of sodium in my diet.
Food Diary
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2. Identify the nutrients that you exceeded MyFitnessPal’s suggested daily values. Identify the nutrients
: In my numbers chart I’ve colored coded everything. All the green numbers symbolize I was right on track, red numbers mean I was at least ten over from my goal of that day, and light blue means I need more of it. I exceeded the following nutrients: Calories, Carbs, Vitamin C and Sodium. Of course the worse out of the group was sodium then the second was calories. My intake for Calories was set at 2,100 a day, day 3 I exceeded that by 400.
That was what I call a cheat day. Sodium of course as I stated before but the one that amazed me was Vitamin C. My daily limit for Vitamin C was 100, in which my lowest intake was 145 and highest was 307; I couldn’t believe that was a big negative as I thought you couldn’t get more than enough Vitamins in your body. MyFitnessPal proved that to not be true. The nutrients I needed more of would be Protein, Calcium and Fiber.
The on that shocked me on this was the Protein seeing that MyFitnessPal allotted me 105 of Protein for my daily goal and I did not reach it on either day. The closet I got for my goal was 92 that was on the second day and did not get any closer. I see that I eat more Carbs than anything, I guess that balances out with my work out routine.
Food Diary
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3. Do you think a Food Diary is a useful tool for helping a person meet their personal dietary goals?
I would say yes this is a useful but yet not convenient tool see to the fact that most foods listed are not verified, it can help in a way of keeping a log but it would be more up to you to keep the exact amount of the item and verify the contents with the nutrition label. They have some verified items but I feel the system could be fine-tuned. Other than that I think this application would be a great tool to use and keep track of your eating habits along with your workout plans. This tool to me is like motivational technology but encouraged and produced by you.
This app can give insight in to what you need more and or less of at the same time calculate your workouts into your eating habits. Also this app helps you set realistic goals in timeframes. I kept my time frame at five weeks and for the three days every time I completed an entry it would keep me updated on my weight progress. If you are serious about maintaining a healthy lifestyle and eating right I say yes this app will help you achieve those goals.
Food Diary
4. What did you like and dislike about MyFitnessPal
MyFitnessPal is a very easy accessible tool that you can have on any device. It is good at good track of the food you eat and it even saves it once you put it in for the first time making it so much easier the next time you eat the same thing to just select from your previous items. I also grew interested in how it keeps track of your weight lost and if you gained any while using the app, the only reason I know that because my wife fell in love with the app when I showed her what I was doing for class. She uses it to keep track with her current workout and eating plan, the famous 21 Day Fix.
I also like how it shows you what nutrients you eat too much of and which one you need more of. I don’t like the fact that it doesn’t have enough space to list all the nutrients at once or even an easier way to changeover to see the other nutrients. That is the only thing I dislike about the program, other than that once you learn your way through to operate it, it is self-explanatory and is good for given a breakdown of what is in store for you.
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5. Describe your experience with use a Food Diary for three days (Did you record what you ate or drank immediately using a pen and paper, Smart Phone, iPad, or a laptop? Do you think you could maintain an accurate food diary for a week, a month, three months? Explain your answer.
The Food Diary was awesome, I kept track mostly on my smartphone seeing that I am always on the go. Anytime I ate or drank something I recorded on my phone. It was easy to keep track of everything that way, once I got home I would log into MyFitnessPal on my laptop just to see if everything was correct and it was exactly what I typed. I could keep track for a month probably because after that I will probably be eating the same or at least have a better hold over what I eat and drink.
I would also like the fact that it would help with my workout plan. I haven’t keep track but only for a week dealing with this project but my wife has been tracking everything with this app for over a month now and she loves it. I see that after a while you could lose interest in plugging everything into this program because it becomes repetitive, but if I needed it I know it is a good tool to get me back on track.
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Food Intake Analysis
This week you will complete your second food diary project. Keep a 3 day food diary, input your foods into “SuperTracker” on the www.ChooseMyPlate.gov website. This food diary will look at vitamins and minerals in your diet. Have FUN with this assignment! It is a lot of work, but you will learn a lot about what you eat. Early in my career, we had to do our calculations by hand, it is much easier now! This project is similar to your Food Diary #1, but instead of calories, fiber and macronutrients, we will analyze the micronutrients: vitamins and minerals.
Food Intake Analysis
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Keep a DETAILED food record for 3 full days, you will write down everything and how much you eat and drink.2. Please save and submit in .doc, .docx or .xl format3. Input and analyze your food diary with the ChooseMyPlate website (SuperTracker), you may use another website for food analysis if you prefer, if so you must use citations.4. Submit in your assignment folder: your food diary for each day plus your daily totals and 3 day average (total the 3 days, divide by 3).
Mandatory nutrients are vitamins A & C and minerals calcium & potassium. To personalize this, you get to choose 4 other nutrients (2 vitamins, 2 minerals) to analyze in your diet, explain WHY you chose these nutrients. Please use a spreadsheet or table format, there is an example attached.5. Write a summary: based on your daily averages, please summarize your 3 day average for vitamins A & C, calcium, potassium plus the 4 other nutrients that you chose (2 vitamins, 2 minerals) a total of 8 micronutrients. How does this compare to recommendations?
This assignment must include all components for full credit: detailed food diary in a word .doc table or .xl spreadsheet ; analysis and summary for 4 mandatory vitamins/minerals plus 4 of your choice (8 total). Each day’s recording/analysis 25 points each, summary 25 points. (3 x 25 points = 75 points; summary 25 points; total 100 points).
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Street Food Asia: Dehli, India Movie Review
INSTRUCTIONS: Street Food Asia: Dehli, India
Please answer the following questions, in detail and in your own words, after viewing the film:
1. What was your overall impression of the Street Food Asia: Dehli, India film? Do you think it does a good job of highlighting and honoring the food culture of Delhi? Do you have a favorite scene?
2. Explain in detail what chaat is, as described in the scene starting at around 03:32. What is it that Dalchand Kashyap does to make his chaat so special? In the following scene, Dalchand references advice that his father gave him about making chaat while he goes to the local market. This is the key to Dalchand’s success. Tell me what it is in detail.
3. In the scene starting at 07:00, the commentator Rana states that “street food is so popular in Delhi because it started as a necessity”. What does she mean by this statement? Please explain the context in detail, also referencing the previous scene at 03:10, where Rana states that “many people depend on street food for their meals”. Why is this? Who are the people that first depended on street food for their meals, and how has street food changed today, according to Rana?
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4. In the scene beginning at 07:32, a popular dish called Nihari Stew is highlighted. Please describe the dish in detail and explain a little bit about the original language the word nihari comes from and what it means? What does the meaning of the word have to do with the preparation of the dish? What are the ingredients of the dish, and how is it made?
5. Beginning at scene 11:59, what happened in the year 1857 that was so significant, impacting the street food scene of Delhi? What does this historical event have to do with Seekh Kebabs? Tell me about the history and context behind this dish and how it became such a popular street food in Delhi.
6. What is the dish Chole Bhature, as referenced beginning at scene 19:40? What are the ingredients and what is the cultural significance/historical background of this dish? Please give details, also using the previous scene, from 18:33 to help explain the cultural background and context.
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Genetically modified organisms (GMOs)
What is GMOs and its purpose?
Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are organisms whose genes have been modified through addition of a gene that enables the genetically engineered crops express the specific desirable trait. The main aim of genetic engineering of organisms is to improve the nutritional qualities of an organism (Bratspies, n.d.).
For instance, several crops have been engineered to make them resistant to herbicides, become tolerant to extreme environments such as droughts, or add the nutritional value of an organism. The general goal or objective is to make the yield of the plant or animal increase; and to make the products desirable to producers as well as the consumers (World Health Organization, 2013).
How Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are created?
The key steps in creating GMOs include the identification of key steps, specific trait isolation, insertion of the isolated trait into the organism, and organism propagation. Research continues to identify new methods to manipulate the organism’s genes; the most common method that has been used is using bacterial phage’s to insert new genome into the host genome where it is expressed. This has been done successfully for example, in maize using Baccillus thuringiensis. The current genetic engineering methods involve editing of the genome directly (Perry, n.d.)
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Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) foods in the supermarket
The USA is the leader of producing GMOs, which accounts for at least 66% of the GMOs globally. According to Centre for Food Safety, approximately70% of the foods reaches the supermarkets. These include soybean, corn, canola, sugar beet, alfalfa, aspartame, dairy products, papaya, and squash. Approximately, 70% of products made from these substances are GMOs derivatives.
Importantly, the livestock reared for their by-products such as cattle, sheep, poultry and swine have not been genetically engineered, nor are they going to be any time soon. However, GMOs play a huge role in the animal feeds as well as during the processing of these animals by products. The animals that have been genetically engineered for pharmaceutical by products (insulin in sheep) are not approved to be used as food (World Health Organization, 2013).
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Safety issues for Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) food
The issue of GMOs safety is highly controversial. Some people perceive GMOs as health threats whereas some food regulatory bodies (U.S. Department of Agriculture) deem GMOs food as safe. There are few studies that have highlighted potential risks of GMOs to human health, farmers, and the environment as a whole. This includes allergic response to some proteins in GMOs food.
Other risks that have been reported by other research include risks of outcrossing for plants (environmental issue), modification of major organs, infertility, immunological response and faulty regulation of insulin. However, most of these studies have been inconclusive- an area in research that needs more exploration (Centre for Food Safety, 2015).
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Altogether, it is vital to note that there are national and international authorities established whose role is to solely assess the GMOs food rigorously before they are approved for commercialization. These agencies focuses on the safety of GM foods by conducting toxicity tests to identify a) immediate, b) allergenicity, c) stability of the modified genome and the gene inserted, d) nutritional changes and effects associated with the modification, and e) any other unprecedented effects. The GMOs food in our supermarket shelf has met the standard criteria of the tests; thus, are less likely to cause harm (World Health Organization, 2013).
Additionally, the benefits of GMOs outweigh the risks. The benefits includes increased savings through reduction of costs involved during planting and harvesting of the food; reduced cost of production results to low retail of the product. The benefits of nutrition improvement are evidenced in crops such as the golden rice which contains the iron and beta-carotene and insulin producing potatoes. These plants species have not been approved yet, but the research is still underway to increase the productivity as well as the efficiencies of the crop. If biotechnology is embraced, one can only imagine the potential health improvements that will be attained (Centre for Food Safety, 2015).
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Regulation of Genetically modified organisms (GMOs)
In the USA, GMOs laws involve three regulatory agencies including, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)). The USDA responsibility is to ensure that the GMOs pose no threats to the health of the plants and the animals. Therefore, the GMOs researchers and developers are expected to apply for permit to address these potential risks. The EPA has a major role in the regulation of GMOs, especially those that have pesticide genomes (Centre for Food Safety, 2015).
The agencies set regulations such as the acceptable levels of the pesticide. The developers are expected to describe the short term and long term pesticide consequences on the livestock, human, and the environment. In human health, FDA carries the largest role as it is mandated to regulate the safety of the GMOs consumed by the people. FDA ensures that the GMOs foods are not toxic or allergenic (Centre for Food Safety, 2015).
The main issue that needs to be regulated includes the labelling of the GMOs food or products derived from these food products. This will ensure that only safe GMOs is allowed to be commercialized, and must be clearly labelled to ensure that consumers ethical right of autonomy is sustained (World Health Organization, 2013).
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References
Bratspies, R. The Illusion of Care: Regulation, Uncertainty, and Genetically Modified Food Crops. SSRN Electronic Journal. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.353320
Perry, M. Genetically Modified Organisms: Why We Need a Transparent System of Regulation. SSRN Electronic Journal. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1533657
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Low-calorie Microwavable Food: Long term investment Decision
From the previous assignments, it was determined that the demand for low-calorie microwavable food is inelastic. The market for the product is also competitive meaning that the price of the commodity fluctuates from time to time. Therefore, the price of the low-calorie microwavable food can be made less responsive to market fluctuations or less price elastic in two ways. First of all is by making the product become more of a mass product that niche.
Secondly is to make its market rigid so that the clients for the product will have no alternative. This is because the customers will find no substitutes for the commodity and thus stick to it regardless of fluctuations (Brigham & Ehrhardt, 2013). The low-calorie microwavable food is healthy and convenient. To emphasize on these two main aspects, it is imperative to market and advertise the product with no close substitute by the two key attributes.
Government policies have both positive and negative impact on production and employment in the market. Governments always put in place rules and regulations that guide the way business is done in the market (Mason & Brown, 2013). These policies have an influence on profitability and competitiveness of business enterprises. Government policies act as market catalysts by changing the social behavior in the business environment.
By exempting some companies or particular sector in the economy from tax and duty, the government will be able to trigger investment and generate growth. On the same note, government policy helps to create political stability and hence promote local businesses as well as attract foreign investors.
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Government spending also has an effect on businesses, increased spending result in increased taxes that might discourage investment. Similarly, the government can influence the interest rates. An augment in interest rates add to the cost of borrowing. Therefore, it will discourage business because the entrepreneurs and business enterprises will not be in a position to obtain enough capital at a low price (Tricker, 2015). Low-interest rates, on the other hand, encourage investment.
Trade regulations also have an impact on business activities. Regulations such as the requirement for permits, federal minimum wage among others affect business practices. However, fair and effective regulation tends to promote business growth.
In our case, the government policies help to ensure that there is fairness in the microwavable food industry. Government involvement in the low-calorie, frozen microwavable food industry has led to fairness in the following ways.
Fair Competition: Government involvement in the industry has let to fair competition among the key players in the industries. Some firms often use unfair competitive strategies that may be of harm to other key players in the industry. For instance, use in predatory pricing strategies where firms set low prices to attract more customers and drive out other competitors who do not enjoy the economies of scale.
Large companies with high economies of scale can maintain low prices while small and medium-sized firms may not be in a position to maintain such low prices without incurring losses. Therefore, such small companies may end up quitting the market making the remaining large corporations enjoy monopoly power. As such, these strategies are unfair to small companies and thus the government comes in to regulate prices and protect small infant firms.
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Minimization of corruption through regulations: Government regulations often prohibit firms from taking advantage of their positions to ask for special treatment that can lead to their success in certain commerce or market economy. For example, some firms may bribe auditors to avoid scrutiny. Such practices are often illegal and unethical and result in unequal distribution of resources.
Undue advantage by some firms in the industry: Firms that are large and powerful often manipulate individual to gain favors at the expense of other firms. It is the requirement of the government to come up with regulations and rules that will ensure that there is an equal distribution of resources in the industry. The government should intervene and prosecute firms that take advantage of their position to make companies avoid such behavior. Therefore, it will enable companies in the low-calorie, frozen microwavable food to embrace legal and fair strategies that may not end up being unfair.
Therefore, government regulations have enabled the low-calorie, frozen microwavable food firm to enjoy fairness. Government regulations have enabled the company to have an equal opportunity of achieving tremendous success as long as it is in a position to develop legal and effective business strategies.
Similarly, government involvement in the industry helps to shield consumers from exploitation. It is the responsibility of the customer to ensure that products and services available to consumers are safe for consumption. In the same way, government develops rules that help ensure market efficiency and govern international trade.
Some of the major complexities that would arise under expansion via capital projects include:
Uncertainty: The process of capital budgeting is primarily based on future cash flow estimates. However, in the real situation, there are some uncertainties that can make a project fail. Capital budgeting analysis also utilizes multi-period model which lay down costs and benefits of more than one year. During this period, the cost or benefits factor may drastically change. Therefore, use of estimates and uncertainty, realities may result in complexities in capital budgeting (Kardes et al., 2013).
Discount factor: The process of capital budgeting is time-weighted. The future cash flow is often discounted using the present time discount rate. It is also difficult to choose a discount rate. Each project assumes a unique risk associated with itself making it difficult to approximate a discount rate for a project
Indivisibility: It is hard to divide a project. Therefore, a project must be taken up either in entirely or not at all.
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Evaluation is also a big challenge: There are different techniques that are used such as discounted techniques and non-discounted technique, when evaluation techniques conflict, business acumen, and manager’s prudence takes over the capital budgeting decision (Healy & Palepu, 2012).
In the case of low-calorie, frozen microwavable food company the big issue is the agency problem. This problem is because of the conflict of interest between the managers and the stockholders. Therefore, the microwavable food company can take the following steps to help bring convergence between the firm’s managers and stockholders.
First of all, the firm should align some part of the compensation package to the sales and profitability growth of the firm. Similarly, the firm should plan for stock options with the requisite T & C and provide it to the management to make them feel that they are part of the company (Grant, 2015). This way, the managers will be able to think for the betterment of the firm. Finally, the firm should develop a profit sharing plan that is linked to the performance of the managers.
By employing the above strategies, the firm will be able to motivate managers to work towards achieving the organization goals (Tricker, 2015). This is because the managers will begin perceiving their owned align with organization goals. Due to their hard work the firm will achieve growth in profitability, sales and profitability of the company. Increased sales will result in an increase in the compensation of managers. On the same note, it will increase the share price of the low-calorie, frozen microwavable food company. Therefore, both the managers and stockholders will mutually benefit.
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The name of the firm should not be used as an initiative of converging manager’s interest with those of the stockholders. The reason is that such strategy may result in copyright related issues. Be as it may, an organization with good HR practices can align the interest of managers, employees, and the stockholders. Performance management linked and motivation strategies such as bonus payment will also helps to converge the manager’s interest with those of the stockholders.
In conclusion, the low-calorie microwavable food can make its commodity less price elastic by making the product more of a mass product and making its market rigid. The government, on the other hand, helps in the regulation of the industry to ensure fairness in the low-calorie, frozen microwavable food industry (Mason & Brown, 2013). When it comes to capital expansion, firms face complexities because of uncertainty, discount factor, abandonment options, indivisibility and conflict between evaluation techniques.
Finally, the low-calorie, the microwavable food company can converge the company managers and stockholders interest by making the managers feel like they are part of the company and linking compensation schemes with the performance of the managers.
References
Mason, C., & Brown, R. (2013). Creating good public policy to support high-growth firms. Small Business Economics, 40(2), 211-225.
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Nutrition
Careful assessment of the patient is essential for the development and the successful diagnosis of the comprehensive treatment plans for the many nutrition issues. The geriatric patient’s assessment will be carried out using the Lawton instrument activities of daily living (IADL scale).The 75-year-old female patient presents some problems. The following activities preparation of food, handling medications, handling of cooking items such as gas and stove.
Using transportation and movement ability is also assessed using the IADL scale (Nykanen et al, 2012). The scores for the patient read lowest values as been 3 and highest to be six which implies poor physical and cognitive functioning (Naseer et al, 2015).
The patient is malnutrition thus has lost a lot of weight. The patient is independent in her activities of daily living, and the poor functioning has impacted the nutrition and hydration of the patient causing malnutrition (Nykanen et al, 2012). The patient experiences the low oral intake due to mild cognitive impairment to prepare meals and carry out other functions as assessed using the IADL scale (Graf, 2013).
The patient suffers from the coronary artery disease thus is at risk of also having the stroke medical condition. The patient has some dietary needs that have contributed to the malnourishment and also the high risk of developing the coronary artery medical condition.
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Vitamin deficiencies such as folate, vitamin B6 and B12 lacks in her diet (Graf, 2013). These deficiencies are associated with the cognitive inability of the patient. The vascular functioning of the patient is affected by the lack of these vitamins, thus causing malnutrition (Naseer et al, 2015).The patient is currently not attempting for any of the medical issues since the ability to handling medication has also been a major problem for the independent geriatric patient (Naseer et al, 2015).
The nutrition problem presented during the assessment of the patient can be solved through the supplementation using the B12 and B6 vitamins for the patient. Provision of a care giver for the patient will also reduce the high rate of independence. The elderly patient’s oral intake improves when there is the person to help in preparation of the meals and also carrying out other activities(Nykanen et al,2012).A diet with low fats contributes to eliminating the vascular risk factors. Nutrition intervention after the assessment of the patient improves the quality of life.
Naseer, M., Forssell, H., & Fagerström, C. (2015). Malnutrition, functional ability and mortality among older people aged ⩾ 60 years: a 7-year longitudinal study. European journal of clinical nutrition.
Nykänen, I., Lönnroos, E., Kautiainen, H., Sulkava, R., & Hartikainen, S. (2012). Nutritional screening in a population-based cohort of community-dwelling older people. The European Journal of Public Health, cks026.
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A low calorie or healthy option microwavable food is a fresh concept which has gained a lot of interest among consumers. A majority of consumers are evaluating the food products provided in the market and consideration is given to the healthiest diet. Thus, introduction of microwavable products made up of low calorie has gain a high market due to consumer’s health concerns. To cater for the needs of the market, managers must formulate methods that will increase the product’s market share and profitability while increasing value to consumers.
As such, the intention of this paper is to outline a plan for managers in anticipation of rising prices, examine the major effects the government have on production and employment, determine whether government regulations are fair in the food industry, examine the major complexities under expansion via capital projects, and lastly suggest how a company could create convergence between the interests of stock holders and managers. The Company aims to keep the prices of its products as inelastic as possible.
Low calorie dietary is the new form of healthy foods and it has gained a lot of popularity among the consumers. In schools, homes, and restaurants, the concept of healthy feeding is not new. With the emergence of many chronic diseases, people desire to live healthy lives and lifestyles, thus the need for low calorie diets as will be produced and sold by Lean.
The purpose of this paper is to assess the main impacts the government has on production and employment, if government policies and laws facilitate fairness, determine the complications of expansion, and finally, offer recommendation on the merger of a company’s stakeholders and the management. For sustainable growth and profitability, the firm seeks to have the prices of its products as inelastic as it possibly can (Sullivan and Sheffiran 2013).
It therefore means that the strategy used for pricing should have no effect on the way consumers recognize and purchase the commodities. In general, the type of demand occurs only for products that are essential for the normal living of consumers. However, the situation is not the same for food products that are microwavable. Elasticity of demand for low calorie products highly depends on the offered price, availability of substitutes, expenditure on promotions, income level of consumers, and prevailing economic conditions.
Considering the demand function and elasticity, low calorie products are favorable in a monopolistically dominated market. In a monopolistic competitive market, buyers and sellers are usually few. Therefore, if one company raises its prices, consumers shifts to another brand. As thus, firms in this market increase demand for their products through differentiation.
ThProfit (NP) = Total revenue (TR) Total Cost (TC)
According to the FOC of profit maximization,
=Marginal Revenue =Marginal Cost = 0
So Marginal Revenue = Marginal Cost
By applying the elasticity of 1.9, it was stipulated that demand for low calorie microwavable processed products is low. Since the company purposes to keep the prices of the products inelastic, it will strategize on differentiation to obtain a competitive advantage in the market. Differentiation is important since consumers will be able to pick the product from other substitutes hence increasing the sales. More so, it is proved that when product differentiation is noticeable to competitors, a firm’s market power and leadership increases. As such, it is advisable for the firm to strategize on product differentiation to increase the rate of returns.
Globally, the government usually has the mandate of regulating the market to protect consumers and the firms. However, whether markets are regulated or unregulated they are always influenced by the forces of demand and supply. As such, government regulation is critical for stability. For instance, the government handles externalities through provision of public utilities such as roads, contracts enforcements, and supply of currency (Wall and Griffin 2013). All theses aspects are better done by the government compared to private firms whose main aim is profit making.
A lot of discussion has been made on determination of the activities that the government is limited. Though regulations are important, extreme policies and laws are adverse to the growth of an economy. An ideal economic climate is only possible when government regulations are in accordance with the prevailing market conditions. The main reasons that the government involves itself in a market are enactment of policies and rules to facilitate exchange between buyers and sellers, and enforcement of the policies.
In the area of employment government sets rules for employers to follow when selecting, recruiting, and compensation. No employee should be paid below the set minimum wage rate, they are to be treated humanely and allowed to interact and work freely without fear of intimidation. Labor unions and other industrial agencies set regulations for firms follow failure to which employees have the right of suing the firm.
The government also limits production through the taxation rates, production costs, and prices for raw materials (Frank 2013). When terms are favorable, firms are able to produce to full capacity but when there is over production, the government sets higher terms to stabilize the market. As such, the effects the government will have on the company are limitation of production capacity and selling prices, employment, and eventually profitability since regulations are costly to the firm.
It is the mandate of the government to ensure the market is stable and at equilibrium for benefit of all stakeholders (MIT 2012). For instance, without intervention, big mergers and monopolistic conditions would be possible leading to excessive exploitation of the consumers. Thus, the government gets involved by limiting mergers and monopoly situations. It is fair for the government to get involved in the low calorie microwavable commodities to control prices, limit entrants and exit for fair market competition, and avoid emergence of monopolistic powers that would made the firm irrelevant.
When many unregulated firms are in the market, price wars would lead to consistent low prices causing the prices to be unstable. More so, unregulated market causes poor quality goods to be introduced as firms seek to minimize production costs for profits.
Thus, the major reasons for government involved are to control prices, ensure that the market is stable for protection of local firms, and protect consumers from exploitation. For microwavable foods, firms have to correctly label the contents of the products and they should be processed in certain measures to avoid provision of unhealthy contents. Moreover, regulations also assist in protection of the environment where firms are supposed to observe efficient waste management practices, as well as reduce usage of production methods that release poisonous gasses in the environment.
An example of government involvement is the control of industries in China which have the tendency of producing smog that forcing people to wear masks to avoid getting contaminated. These goods are exported to US and other countries and the government has set measures to control the packaging of the products, their distribution and usage. Additionally, the government enforces policies to regulate the banking and finance industry by setting minimum interest rates so that consumers are not exploited and for banks to remain in business.
Some capital projects that the firm could undertake are mergers or acquisitions for expansion purposes. The reason for the projects is to increase market share, share operational risks, and increase market leadership and profitability (Harris et al. 2014). However, these projects bring complexities such as collusion between the shareholders and management. Managers tend to get additional capital from the reserves or by requesting shareholders to top up using their savings.
Shareholders may not be willing to use their reserves or contribute extra capital due to uncertainty of the venture. To avoid the complexity, managers should undertake projects that have high chances of generating returns in the short run by carrying out comprehensive evaluation of the project. For instance, managers should acquire a brand that is already dominating in the market to avoid experiencing losses.
Convergence between managers and shareholders is created through a firm’s strategic decision making process and through the use of financial statements. Whereas the shareholders own the company, they have limited control over the decision making process and the actions of management. On the other hand, managers are responsible for controlling the affairs of the firm.
Managers seek for higher income and allowances irrespective of a firm’s performance while shareholders are usually interested in higher profits for increased dividends. As such, shareholders seek for firm’s growth through mergers. However, mergers may compromise manager’s job security and control leading to divergence between the interests of shareholders and managers.
Therefore, strategic decision making should be done such that managers get allowances and salaries depending on the generate profits. If profits are high, their salaries are high and vice versa. As a result, managers will become productive so as to get high profits and allowances and in the process, the interests of shareholders will be met and both parties will be satisfied. Therefore, convergence of shareholders and managers lead to higher profits since managers become preoccupied in generating high revenues so that they pay is high and when the revenues are high, dividends are also high.
Instances that bring convergence of the interests of managers and shareholders include: managers being employed on contractual terms such that their contracts are renewable if they perform as required, and application of commission terms whereby managers are paid depending on the income generated at a certain period.
It therefore shows that the government should get involved in microwavable food market to ensure products are of high quality, control monopoly activities, and stabilize the market. For better returns, managers and shareholders should have a common vision and the needs of each party considered. The firm is likely to excel and attain market leadership through product differentiation since demand is inelastic, ensure all the needs of stakeholders are met, and follow government conditions as they relate to production and employment.
References
Frank, R. (2013). Microeconomics and Behavior, (7th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
McGuigan, B. P., Moyer, R. C., &Harris, F. H. (2014).Managerial economics: Applications, strategies and tactics, (13th ed.). Stamford, CT: CengageLearning.
Mit. (2012). Government Regulations in the Market. University of Cambridge.
How VITAMIN D Deficiency Affects the immune response in HIV patients
ABSTRACT
Vitamin D deficiency is a common issue in patients diagnosed with chronic conditions including Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection. Research estimates that vitamin D deficiency in HIV infected people range between 12-100% (Lake & Adams, 2011). Generally, vitamin D deficiency is associated with various risk factors including age, race, overweight, geographical location and exposure to some antiretroviral therapy medication.
However, there is little research on the role of vitamin D in human immune system. This systematic review explores in depth analysis of on the factors associated with vitamin D deficiency. The paper also explores the role of vitamin D on the immune system (both adaptive and innate immune system).
However Ginde, Liu and Camargo(2009) believes, Vitamin D deficiency and supplementation in patients diagnosed with HIV is not well understood. The rationale of this dissertation is to provide to review current information on the role of vitamin D on HIV patient’s immune system. The aim of this literature review is to understand the impact of Vitamin D in HIV patients.
The key words that were used during literature search were structured the dissertation topic which was to find the impact of vitamin D on HIV patients. This included; Vitamin D, HIV, Vitamin D deficiency, Vitamin D role in innate immune system, Vitamin D in adaptive immune system, ; disease progression, pathogenesis of HIV, CD4, CD4+ T cells, CD$ count, Vitamin D supplementation, CD4 percent, role of Vitamin D,25(OH)D and the immune system, and factors that influence Vitamin D levels in HIV patients
Current strategies to help manage HIV
Regardless of the fact of progress in antiretroviral treatment (ART) in the last 10 years, HIV diagnosis is still very high. Recent studies stress on the importance of nutrition in HIV patients, especially the Vitamin D. Most of HIV patients are diagnosed with vitamin D deficiency. The deficiency has been shown to affect the immune cells (B cells and T cells) because the immunologic cells may not metabolize the active part of the vitamin D which is D3. There are many factors that contribute to vitamin D deficiency such as skin colour and diet. These limitations will be discussed in more detail in chapter 2.
Sun (2010) suggests, vitamin D has an impact in anti-inflammation and anti-infection which has newly founded and important movement for calcitriol receptor . Salahuddin (2013) suggests that vitamin D increases protective immune responses to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB) by reducing Interferon-gamma (IFN-g) and suppressing diseases linked with inflammation in the host. This study suggests, increased vitamin D dosage helped TB patients and enhanced their host immune response compared to deficient vitamin D levels. This suggests vitamin D can be used to treat TB. Vitamin D deficiency causes patients to be more susceptible to autoimmune conditions such as tuberculosis (Norman & Henry 2006; Aranow, 2016).
Vitamin D deficiency in HIV populations
The published rate of associated with Vitamin D deficiency/ insufficiency in HIV infected people range between 12% and 100% posted by Lake & Adams(2011). Generally Lake & Adams, (2011) suggest the rates of low 25 (OH)D in HIV patients is high and is associated with traditional risk factors such as age, race, overweight, seasonality, overweight and exposure to ART Research by Aranow (2011), suggests that the impact of Vitamin D status on health status of human being played a significant role.
Therefore, Ginde, Liu and Camargo(2009) believe the African community in Europe, UK, and USA are likely to be affected by the geographical location, such that their current vitamin D intake is low due to restriction due to high melanin content in their skin. In addition, the USA Black ethnic group is associated with vitamin D deficiency because they need longer exposure to produce the same level of vitamin D as the white ethnic people do.
For instance, in USA, the average 25(OH) D concentrations are low for blacks is 17.4 ng/ml as compared to 21.9 ng/ml d 28.3 ng/ml in fair skin tones respectively. Therefore Prietl et al(2013) suggests , HIV patients with darker skin pigment in these regions are likely to report Vitamin D deficiency These studies suggests that in the future, skin pigmentation is an effective strategy to identify people who are at risk of vitamin deficiency, especially among the HIV infected population so as to reduce further HIV related issues.
In some specific ART sessions and agents are associated with Vitamin D deficiency. Some studies have indicated that non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) is associated with 25OHD deficiency.
Giusti, Penco, & Pioli (2011), suggest that the protective function of Vitamin D against disease progression and mortality in HIV patients can be explained by its role in immune response. Djukic et al., (2017) suggest 1, 25 (OH) 2D is active in all organ systems and plays an important role in human immune system. Especially, 1, 25 (OH) 2 D reduces T cell activation and genes associated in cell differentiation and ability to spread.
Furthermore Djukic et al., (2017) believes it reduces the amount of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as Tumor Necrosis factor (TNF – α),Interlukin 2 and 12 (IL2, IL-12) and Interferons (IFN –γ) triggers the T cells to response to TH1 and TH2 responses; these responses also play an important function in controlling the immune cells and antimicrobial defense including monocyte chemotaxis and their differentiation into macrophages, releasing nitric oxide by macrophages and production of ß defensin 4 and cathelocidin and anti-microbial peptides that stops virus from copying. Due to these antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory functions, it has been suggested that Vitamin D deficiency has a great role in immune anti-inflammatory (Giusti, Penco, & Pioli, 2011).
Effects of vitamin D on immune response
Bailey et al., (2010) suggest that Vitamin D triggers the immune system. The results suggest that Vitamin D plays a major role in boosting the immune system. Many studies including Rathish(2012), have looked at human T cells in the lab to study the complex process of Vitamin D in innate and the adaptive immune system, and how the different cells fights infection. These findings are supported by the discovery of people with vitamin D deficiency tend to be more likely to have infections and that supplementation of vitamin D may boosts immunity. This chapter explores the role of vitamin D in innate and adaptive immune response.
The studies provided suggest that Vitamin D deficiency allegedly had an effect on immune cells and the reaction quickly destroys CD4 count and furthers the disease. Evidence from Langfordet,al,(2007) does provide that low CD4 is associated with low vitamin D in HIV paitents knowing that, CD4 count are low compared to intracellular pathogens .
Moreover Sun (2010) suggests, enough vitamin D can help increase that natural immune system, fight pathogens, regulate infected CD4 cells and other immune cells. Vitamin D can reduce the progression of HIV progression through CD4 response, recognizing cytokines secretions.
References
Diamond, T., Levy, S., Smith, A. and Day, P. (2000). Vitamin D deficiency is common in muslim women living in a Sydney urban community. Bone, 27(4), p.27.
Djukic, M., Onken, M. L., Schütze, S., Redlich, S., Götz, A., Hanisch, U. K., … & Bollheimer, C. (2014). Vitamin D deficiency reduces the immune response, phagocytosis rate, and intracellular killing rate of microglial cells. Infection and immunity, 82(6), 2585-2594.
Giusti, A., Penco, G., & Pioli, G. (2011). Vitamin D deficiency in HIV-infected patients: a systematic review. Nutr Dietary Suppl, 3, 101-111.
Holick, M.F. (2007). Vitamin D deficiency. New England Journal ofMedicine, 357, 266–281.
Holick, M. (2007). Vitamin D Deficiency. New England Journal of Medicine, 357(3), pp.266-281.Prietl, B., Treiber, G., Pieber,
