Babies need a lot of nutritional foods to develop their brains and bodies. It is also necessary for building their immune systems. Once a baby reaches the age of six months, it is recommended that they start with eating solid foods. By solid foods, I am referring to soft foods. The easy method would be to buy pots of baby food but who knows how much preservatives and other added ingredients are in those food pots. If you want to, you can make your own baby food.

Making baby food is not really difficult. It’s much simpler than you would expect and there are many varieties that you could make. All you need is a small pot and a blender; plus the ingredients, of course. Then you can prepare it yourself. With baby food, you want to keep the meal as natural as possible. So only the vegetable and fruit will feature. No added salt, sugar or other additives.

Fruit based baby food can consist of one or a number of fruits. You can mash a banana as a sweet treat or you can mash strawberries. For an interesting option you can add the two together. Apples are also a great fruit to use. Peel the apple and cut it into slices then cook it until it is soft. You can either mash it with a fork or blend it.

With a vegetable based baby food you can play around with different options. You can cook sweet potato, potato, carrots, or butternut. Using a blender, you can blend the potato with any one of the aforementioned vegetables. Alternatively, you could blend and serve each vegetable on its own.

You could also incorporate chicken in these meals. Be sure to cook the chicken breasts thoroughly before you blend it. You may need to add a bit of water or milk when you blend it so that it can reach a smooth consistency that your little one can digest.

A blender that offers high speed to blend fruit and vegetables to a smooth and soft consistency would be the ideal catering equipment for preparing food for your little one. When you prepare the vegetables and fruit yourself, you know exactly what is in the food and what you are giving your child – a natural wholesome meal. If you’ve made too much baby food, you can store it in little food pots or in ice cube trays and freeze it for another day.

This isn’t exactly news because it came to light several years ago, but chocolate isn’t the health food it was proclaimed to be, say, 5 or so years ago.

Yet people still seem to think it is – so they eat it and tell themselves it’s good for them.

Why they do that? Well, they like it; it’s easy to like.

Chocolate also feels like an easy answer to various problems because it’s a mood changer. The mood-changing chemicals include theobromine (similar to caffeine) and phenylethylamine (likened to the feeling of being in love). It also triggers endorphins (beta-endorphin) and serotonin, two brain chemicals associated with mood.

Were You Caught in the Chocolate Trap?

I was not, and here’s why.

Chocolate – even 70-plus percent dark chocolate – contains sugar, and I’m fiercely anti-sugar. In fact, I’ve been anti-sugar for well over 25 years, long before anyone was talking about its negative effects on health or its addictive properties.

A few clients have called me The Sugar Nazi. What can I say? I wear the label proudly.

When health gurus were pushing chocolate, I was against it because I was certain the drawbacks of the sugar in chocolate would override any benefits we were then hearing about cacao itself.

What the Chocolate Story Turned Out to Be

Basically, it’s an unsurprising story. Chocolate manufacturers and the cocoa industry funded scientific studies to “prove” the benefits of chocolate. One company, Mars, maker of Snickers, M&Ms, Milky Way and many other candies, actually funded hundreds of such studies.

It doesn’t feel worth it to me to hash through the alleged benefits of chocolate, but here’s a partial list. It was said to lower blood pressure and cholesterol, enhance weight loss, decrease risk of diabetes, stroke, atrial fibrillation and heart failure, as well as alleviate immune disorders.

Gee, will it make my brown eyes blue, too?

Claims like these keep springing up even in current articles – and are still affecting the eating behaviors of my colleagues in the fitness industry.

My recommendation is to forgo chocolate because of the sugar. If you must consume cocoa or cacao, make sure it’s unsweetened. Problems with sugar affect health, appetite, food preferences, mood disorders, hormones, brain chemistry, and a lot more.

Sugar’s negative effects can’t be overstated. Chocolate can’t and won’t override those.

Two years is an important milestone when it comes to you little one’s eating habits and the food they consume. At the age of two years, your baby needs a lot of nutrients in his body and milk is not enough to cater to the needs of their growing bodies. So, while it is important to always feed them healthy baby food, baby food for 2 years old is an especially critical topic. In fact, at this age, your child outgrows food and should be eating three major meals a day along with one or two snacks.

They can eat everything that you are eating, but obviously their food shouldn’t be as spicy, if at all. It is important to prepare food for 2 years old and follow a set time table for your toddler. To help ease the process of putting one together, you can refer to the following pointers for a 2 years baby food time table. But remember to also follow your baby’s cues and adapt their good according to their tastes and preferences.

Perfect food for 2 years old early in the morning:

1 cup milk

2-3 almonds soaked in water

For breakfast, they can eat:

1 small parantha + ½ cup curd

2 idlis with 1 bowl sambhar

1 slice brown bread + cucumber /tomato sandwich

Oatmeal

1 cup vegetable poha

1 cup upma

1 ragi dosa/chila

Hungry again? Give them some late morning snacks:

1 fruit, diced

1 cup vegetable soup

Time for Lunch? Here are the 2 years baby healthy food options:

2 tsp of seasonal healthy vegetable with 1 roti or ½ cup rice and ½ cup dal

½ cup baked vegetables like carrots, beans, and/or potato

½ cup rice with kadhi/rajma/chana

½ cup khichdi with seasonal vegetables

Evening snacks that can double up as baby food for 2 years old:

½ cup milk with chocolate/banana muffin

1 cup fruit smoothie

1 pc paneer/vegetable cutlet

½ cup fruit chaat

Cornflakes with ½ cup milk

½ cup fruit yoghurt

Dinner options for 2 years baby healthy food:

1 roti + ½ cup seasonal vegetable

1 cup vegetable pulao

1 vegetable parantha with chutney

1 small parantha with paneer curry

½ cup rice with soya granules

The food items listed above are all healthy food options for two-year-olds that are also easily digested. However, these are only a few examples of baby food for 2 years old and you can always experiment with what your child likes. So, mix and match these options to create your own 2 years baby food time table.

Parents should also keep the following pointers in mind while putting together the 2 years baby food time table:

1. Offer lots of water to your baby

2. Avoid offering sugary and aerated drinks and fast foods

3. Do give at least two servings of green vegetables

4. Get them in the habit of eating fruits

5. Use honey as a sweetener whenever you can

6. Eat healthy yourself since your children learn by watching you

7. Make desserts an occasional affair

The world is far from perfect and many challenges are clamoring to be solved. A problem that should be the number one priority is food-waste management.

According to the UN Food and Agricultural Organization report, one-third of food produced for human consumption is wasted. That amounts to a huge 1.3 billion tonnes per year. On the other side as per the Food Aid Foundation, 795 million people go hungry and undernourished. That comes to 12.9% of the world population.

When we talk about innovation and changing the status quo, can these glaring numbers be ignored?

The distance between the produce and the consumers is a prime reason behind a considerable amount of food wastage. Agriculture is a rural activity and requires open farms for cultivating the crops. But consumers are clustered in cities.

Sometimes crop yield must travel 1000s of kilometers before arriving at the retail shelves. Food is a perishable item and a significant portion becomes unfit for consumption before reaching the destination. Refrigerated vehicles was an excellent innovation to deal with this problem. But refrigeration in movement is a costly proposition and not affordable for developing and third-world countries. Ironically, they need it the most.

To solve this issue, startups are shifting farm activities closer to the consumers.

Innovative Solution 1: Hydroponics

We always assumed that farming needs land and open farms. But 21st-century startups are challenging this assumption. They are using hydroponics farming which doesn’t need soil.

These indoor hydroponic farms are established closer to the city centers. The nutrients are fed to the developing crop through trickling water rich with nourishment. That’s why the name, hydroponics. In the total absence of sunlight, the light is provided by LED bulbs.

This technique requires only a fraction of water, about 5% compared to the traditional farming methods. Startups companies like ‘Aerofarm’ and ‘Plenty’ are also using technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and big data science to enhance productivity and the crop yield. These crops are also healthier and enriched with more nutrition.

Innovative Solution 2: Food Tracking

Many times food takes more time to reach the destination than planned. it can be due to vehicle failure, bad weather, or even local strikes and other reasons.

Hydroponics is in its early days. Its share in the world food today is minuscule. A large amount of crops and foods perish in the transit. To solve this problem, the innovators are applying Radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, or RFID technology.

This technology is used for tracking apparel inventory in the fashion industry. Airlines use these RFID tags to track luggage. Now it is adapted to track the food in inventory and transit.

With RFID tags we know where the food is. We can decide if it will reach the destination in consumable form or not. If the transit takes a longer time then planned, food journey may be curtailed. The food can be sold in the local grocery markets at a reduced cost, or we can share it with the needy people.

Innovation Solution 3: Robin Hood Army.

Not all food problems can be solved by technology alone. We need the heart too. And that’s where Robin Hood Army, headquartered in Delhi India shines.

They connect excess food in restaurants and the hungry people in close localities. It is a nonprofit organization, run by volunteers. Mostly students. Robin Hood Army is present in over 100 cities in India.

Conclusion:

We can say, finally, food-waste is under the radar now and entrepreneurs are working hard, pushing the boundaries to solve this acute problem.

Birds, squirrels, chipmunks, raccoons, deer and more. They look cute but when your back is turned, watch out. They’ll easily take a chance to rummage around for your food. Although many of these animals are small they pack a big strong bite and their sharp teeth can cut through just about anything, their sharp claws can open up most boxes and containers.

I have lost a fleece jacket to a squirrel after leaving it on our picnic table for an afternoon with a few bits of nuts in a pocket. That squirrel ate his way through my zipper to get to the pocket and eat the bits of nuts.

We’ve also had what we thought were raccoon proof containers invaded. The lids were torn apart and broken off and the food inside became a buffet for a family of raccoons one night.

Even some types of food coolers are easily broken into by bears. With crafty paws, sharp teeth and a desire to stop at nothing to munch on your food the only animal proof way to protect your food and containers is to either hang your food or better yet when camping with your family, keep your food stored in your vehicle when you are not at your campsite.

Even dry food that is sealed in containers or zip lock bags can attract wild animals. Their sense of smell is so much greater than a human’s sense of smell and even sealed food can become easy prey for them.

Do not store your food inside your tent either. You risk losing your tent to the wild if they really want a sample. These animals can rip through fabric, tear through zippers and will stop at just about nothing to get to your great smelling food.

Our best advice is to keep your food inside the large containers and coolers you’ve brought with you camping. Only bring food out for meal time and snacks. When you are leaving your campsite for long periods of time place your food containers inside your vehicle. And never leave open food or any food item on your picnic table, eating table, inside your tent or just laying around your campsite unless you want it to disappear. If you do, you’ll attract more animals as they’ll see your site as easy prey.

Some coolers are more bear proof then others and if your cooler is a very large and heavy one you can chance it and leave it out at night. It also depends on how bear friendly the area is where you are camping. If there are bears in the area I wouldn’t leave your cooler to chance.

Protect your food, protect your food containers and keep the animals at a safe distance from your campsite. They look cute but don’t mind stealing your food. Don’t leave any food out after eating, keep all your food inside containers and place those containers inside your vehicle during extended time away from your campsite.

Happy Camping!

Food sustains life, yet it is so much more than something we need to nourish our bodies. Food at its essence is love, life and the heart of society. Food brings people together. It is the shared flavors of friendship and community. We like being with others enjoying the tastes and textures of food. Often through these shared experiences intimacy develops, memories exist and relationships thrive.

We fondly remember childhood food experiences, often wishing to duplicate those tastes that remind of us of home. Food is at the center of our sense of family and relationships. Certain aromas transport us back in time to the people and places we care about. We remember family picnics and food festivals.

No matter who we are or from which culture we come, every society gives careful thought to the daily preparation of meals for family, friends or even strangers. Food means love. This is true whether we are the cook or the one who eats.

Food is at the heart of society. We learn how to behave in society and interact with others in life based on the kind of eating ritual we experienced growing up. We are connected to others near and far through foods. We are interdependent because of global trade and commerce. The food on our tables comes from farmers everywhere throughout our planet.

Food, more than any other element in society, binds us together. Our lives are emotionally impacted by food production around the world. In some countries, people go hungry, while in others, people suffer illness caused by an over abundance of food.

A 13th-century Buddhist leader-philosopher, Nichiren, while in exile, wrote in a letter thanking a follower for sending him food: “Rice is not simply rice, it is life itself.” Food is life itself. It is our link with each other. Food is love, life and at the heart of society. Fittingly, the foods that are best for our bodies are also best for our society.

The history of food delivery services traces its inception over sixty years. Since this time food delivery services still have the same basic principle to ensure that members of the community can have a hot, tasty and enjoyable meal.

The first meal delivery services are believed to have been started in wartime London. As a result of the Blitz, many Londoners had lost their homes and their ability to cook for themselves. In response to this need the WVS (Women’s Volunteer Service) produced meals and delivered them to people who had lost practically everything. This caring approach was carried on in various areas of the UK where injured servicemen were provided meals by volunteers in the local vicinity.

After the war the first true food delivery service evolved in Hemel Hempstead in 1947. The recipients were still servicemen who were incapable of cooking their own meals but instead of the vans used to transport meals today, these early services apparently used prams, lined with felt and even straw to ensure that the meal was delivered warm. Understandably this type of service was extremely labour intensive requiring a vast network volunteers, each with good cooking knowledge and skills. Today, the processes involved incorporate mass production principles.

In the UK food delivery services operate in a number of different ways. There are agency led programmes, typically ran in conjunction with local councils to cater for the local population. There are also private services that cater for those people that would like the benefits of food delivery but do not necessarily meet all of the criteria.

In the modern age there are also a number of different ways in which the food is delivered. Some programmes deliver meal that are cooked in a central location and then kept warm as they are delivered. Other programmes cook the food, allow it to cool and then cook the food before delivery in mobile units that both cook and deliver the food. The final type of programme delivers frozen meals that can be heated by the recipient in the microwave or oven.

Today there are a range of different food delivery services out there catering for the elderly, disabled and also those with special dietary requirements. It is this commitment to caring and ensuring people eat well that has been a consistent theme throughout the development of food delivery services.

“Taking in foods that take away more energy than they provide will lower Your bodies ability to deal with the natural processes of Digestion, assimilation and elimination.”

Our bodies operate on a subtle electromagnetic current. Nerve signals are in fact electrical charges-your brain, heart, and all organs emit and create a Field of electrical current.

Your body’s cells communicate with each other with pulses of Electricity. When we eat food our body breaks down the food particles into there Smallest size (COLLOIDS). A colloid is the smallest possible form of nutrient particle (generally – The size ranges from .01 to .00001 of a micron in diameter).

Then these nutrient particles are then carried to our cells through an Electrical charge. When you are choosing something to eat for high Energy, remember foods like fast foods, processed foods have low energy Frequencies, we are not providing the body with the electrical energy it Needs. By doing this we are requiring our body to exhaust electrical nerve Energy To run the digestive system to break down the food in your body.

This Basically means that the food that we are eating actually is taking more Energy than it is giving.

(The energy and foods we consume is measured In Megahertz, MHz)

Megahertz is a technical name for the electrical frequency charge Around Food. The foods we eat must be living and energetically – alive foods that Carry the proper nutrients to our cells and our body. If not we will become tired and sick.

Your probably asking yourself what percentage of energy (MHz) do I need in my food to become and stay healthy.

The megahertz charge range from 0 to 250 plus of MHz. Here are some Examples of the foods that we eat and the energy they provide.

Canned foods are the worst with 0 MHz, chocolate cake 1-3 MHz, Kentucky Fried chicken-3, Big Mac-5, vitamin/mineral supp 10 to 30, raw almonds 40 To 50, fruits-60 to 70,green vegetables 70 to 90. So if you want your body to be full of vibrancy and high electromagnetic Energy, (which will result in your body being able to properly Function, not to mention helping our bodies aging process as well) which foods will you try to eat?

Eat live and water enriched foods instead of processed foods. If anyone is interested in learning more about your bodies own Electromagnetic energy there is a good book called “Sick And Tired”, The Author’s Name is Dr. Robert Young. I met him in Hawaii When I was at a Tony Robbins seminar.

Jobs can come with several types of hazards. From inclement weather and heavy lifting, to chemicals, violence, machinery, and more, an employee can be at risk of various workplace accidents. Under these circumstances, the risks are quite obvious. But there are also some unsuspecting risks that can happen at work. For instance, not many people would consider the food they eat at their place of employment as a risk, but it can be. Food poisoning is a common illness that can cause severe symptoms and pain for several days; and it can be easily contracted in a workplace setting given the right circumstances.

Of course, there’s always a risk of getting hurt or being involved in an accident when you step out into the world. But when it happens while you are at work, you may be entitled to compensation for your losses and damages, so long as the injury occurred while you were performing work-related duties. In the case of food poisoning, the contaminated food or drink must have been consumed while you were doing something for work specifically. If you were not performing work-related duties while consuming the contaminated food that caused you to develop food poisoning, then you would not have a valid workers’ compensation claim; or, it would be extremely difficult proving that you do.

Continue reading to learn 3 examples in which food poisoning would be a valid workers’ compensation claim, and a few more in which it would not.

3 Valid Workers’ Comp Cases of Food Poisoning:

So remember, the contaminated food or beverage must have been consumed while an employee is either performing or participating in work-related activities. Review the 3 examples below for a better understanding of when food poisoning is work-related.

I. Your employer benefited from you eating the food. If your job is to taste food, and your employer benefited from you tasting and eating the food you ate, then you could have a valid workers’ compensation claim. This could apply to food critics, food bloggers, restaurant cooks, servers, bartenders, and other vocations in which food tasting would be common part of the job.

II. Your employer provided the food. If your employer supplies the food that caused you to develop a food-borne illness, you could easily have a valid claim. For instance, if you were attending a mandatory paid work meeting that the employer had catered, and the food gave you food poisoning, it could be a valid workers’ comp claim. In contrast, if you get sick from your own food you brought from home and ate at your desk, you would not.

III. You developed food poisoning from a workplace cafeteria that is for employees only. Some workplaces have cafeterias that are strictly for employees to eat in, while others may have one that is open to the general public and employees. If you develop a food-borne illness in a cafeteria setting that is provided by the employer strictly for employees, you could have a valid claim. If the café is public, you would not.

Get Legal Representation

It can be confusing to understand what constitutes “at work” or “performing work-related duties”, so it is important to contact an experienced personal injury lawyer to determine if your workers’ comp claim is a valid one or not. They have the resources, knowledge, and experience to assess your case for validity and implement the best strategies for financial recovery.