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There’s that old saying, “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.”

The same argument could be made for humanitarian aid.

Full disclaimer:Humanitarian aid is needed in MANY forms. Agencies and projects need money to fund them. The food bank needs food to stalk the shelves. People need the donated coat to survive the harsh winter. Any humanitarian aid is good.

This is just an idea for making your contribution go even further.

When I was in high school, I had the opportunity to travel to Costa Rica to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity. Over the course of a week, a group of us helped build a single mom and her two sons a new home. To this day it was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. It opened my eyes to how blessed and sheltered my life was. It sparked my belief that we are one community and have a responsibly to help when and where we can. However, I also equated this ONE house we built, to making a massive difference in the community.

In reality, we had only helped three people (and yes, I fully recognize the massive improvement we made on their quality of life) Now I just wonder how I can help on a larger scale.

How could we have helped the community?

During one of my courses in college, we had a guest speaker come talk to the class about the humanitarian work his organization does. A Better World Canada is a non-governmental organization (NGO) heading projects around the world supporting clean water, healthcare, education, sustainable organization, and income generation. What separated them from other NGOs I’ve heard about, is how they help.

Their projects revolve around helping people help themselves. When a group of dentists travel to a village, they don’t just set up shop and provide care. They teach the people of the village to perform the care. Rather than putting donated money towards bottled water, they work with the local community to dig wells and dug outs. After this, the community can provide for itself.

This is where the idea of the fish comes in. A local resident with some medical training will make a larger impact on the community compared to a team of professionals who are there for a week.

I think organizations like A Better World are really important. They go beyond just helping in the “here and now”. They set up people to be independent in the future.

Are they better than traditional donations?

No. They’re just one more approach we can take to helping people.

References

A Better World Canada. (2019). The story of a better world. Retrieved from https://www.abwcanada.ca/about-us/

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What if someone stood in front of you and burnt a cheque worth $1000 dollars? You’d call them crazy right?

Turns out, we all deserve to be called crazy.

In 2017, the National Zero Waste Council disclosed that the average household in Canada wastes140 kilograms of food per year- a cost of over $1,100! For Canadians as a whole, this amounts to $17 billion dollars of food being wasted. Think of what you could have done with that extra cash!

Food waste isn’t just a fiscal problem, it also affects the environment. The 2.2 million tonnes offood waste Canadians accumulate, is equivalent to the CO2 emissions produced by 2.1 million cars on the road (Love Food Hate Waste, 2018). Oil and Gas always get blamed for our environmental problem, but it turns out, even the environmentalists are leaving their mark.

As you might expect, food waste isn’t just limited to the consumer level. A report by Second Harvest, a food waste prevention agency, showed that 4.82 million tonnes of food are wasted during the processing and manufacturing process. Between consumers and manufacturing, the value of food that is lost due to waste is enough to feed every single Canadian for five months (Janus, 2019). These numbers are even more terrifying when you consider that Canada is also facing a crisis of food insecurity. Going forward things need to change.

Some businesses have already acted to address the problem of waste. This past month, Starbucks partnered with Second Harvest in an attempt to diminish their waste footprint. Starbucks locations in Ontario have started a pilot program that donates one hundred percent of their unsold perishable food items. Starbucks will donate these items to Second Harvest, who will work with community groups to distribute the food (Areta, 2019).

As consumers we need to follow suit, and aid in solving the food waste problem. Here’s how we can all make a difference at home.

Plan Ahead: Make a meal plan for the coming week. Write out the list of ingredients you need before you go to the grocery store, and ONLY buy what’s on the list. This will help you avoid buying extra items that may go to waste.

Get creative: Before you go running back to the grocery store, take a peek inside your fridge. You likely already have ingredients to create a delicious meal. Look up ingredients online and try something new!

Bring your food back to life: Many foods can be given an extended life span through a few simple tricks. You can rejuvenate wilting vegetables by soaking them in ice water for 5-10 minutes. Toast stale chips and crackers in the oven to crisp them back up (Second Harvest, 2019).

I’m a big believer in tackling problems right from home base. We can all help stop food waste. If I have to sacrifice myself and eat that last chocolate chip cookie before it goes bad, well that’s just the type of humanitarian I am.

References

Areta. (2019, February 4). Starbucks foodshare to rescue 100% of food available for donation [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://foodgressing.com/starbucks-foodshare/

Friedland, J. (2016). Reducing food waste at dining halls key to greater sustainability [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://dailybruin.com/2016/04/13/jonathan-friedland-reducing-food-waste-at-dining-halls-key-to-greater-sustainability/

Janus, A. (2019, January 17). More than half of all food produced in Canada is lost of wasted, report says. CBC News.Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/food-waste-report-second-harvest-1.4981728

Love Food Hate Waste Canada. (2018). Food waste in Canada. Retrieved from https://lovefoodhatewaste.ca/about/food-waste/

Second Harvest. (2019). Get the most from your food. Retrieved from https://www.foodrescue.ca/at-home

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Picture a starving child.

Where is that child living?

You probably imagined some foreign country far, far away. A country with limited resources, completely dependent on foreign aid. You probably didn’t picture a child in Canada. But you should.

1 in 8 households in Canada are affected by food insecurity. This means 1.15 Canadian children live in homes where they struggle to put food on the table.

What is food insecurity?

Household food insecurity is the inadequate or insecure access to food due to financial constraints.  Food insecurity affects your physical, mental, and social health. Food insecure individuals are more likely to experience nutrient deficiencies from poorer diets. Limited funds can be stretched a lot further on processed packaged foods, than it can be on vegetables and meat. Children who go to school hungry are more likely to experience mental health problems such as inattention or hyperactivity. They are also at an increased risk for depression, and suicidal thoughts. Every aspect of their lives are affected.

But if the “pull on your heart strings” tactic wasn’t enough to highlight the problem, there’s also the economic drawback that comes with food insecurity. Food insecurity takes a considerable toll on our healthcare system (PROOF, 2019). Chronic disease account for roughly 58% of Canada’s health care spending annually. This works out to be roughly 68 billion dollars (Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance of Canada, 2017).

What’s the link between gross national spending practices and food insecurity?

Adults living with food insecurity are more vulnerable to chronic health conditions. These individuals are more likely to develop conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension. There is also strong evidence linking food insecurity to poor mental health. Risk of depression, mood disorders, and suicidal ideations all increase with food insecurity. Thankfully these conditions can be treated and managed. However, they come at a high cost to our healthcare system (PROOF, 2019)

It’s been said however, that prevention is cheaper than treatment. Right now, billions of dollars are being spent to manage these conditions. We’re losing the war, trying to band aid the cuts. But what if we redirected our focus to preventing the cut in the first place? I believe that to prevent food insecurity, and lessen he burden it takes on our healthcare system, we need to use upstream thinking. We need to make an individual’s food secure so they never develop these conditions in the first place.

The movement to this has already begun. Food banks and basket programs are set up to aid food insecure individuals. Public programs such as the Universal Child Care Benefit provide support to households with children. Families are provided $100 monthly for each child under the age of six (PROOF,2019). School breakfast and lunch programs are becoming increasing popular to prevent children from going to school hungry. All these programs are great, but they’re not enough. With four million Canadians still deemed food insecure, we’ve barely made a dent in the problem (PROOF, 2019). I believe that to see any real change, focus (and money) needs to be spent on the prevention of this problem.  -------what now?

References

PROOF. (2019. Household Food Insecurity in Canada. Retrieved from https://proof.utoronto.ca/food-insecurity/

Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance of Canada. (2017). 2018 pre-budget submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance. Retrieved from https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Committee/421/FINA/Brief/BR9073636/br-external/ChronicDiseasePreventionAllianceOfCanada-e.pdf

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Heroin Use During the Vietnam War Could be the Secret to Stopping Heart Disease

In 1971, the Vietnam War was heading into its sixteenth year. Two congressmen from the United States visited the soldiers, and made a stunning discovery. Over fifteen percent of American Soldiers were addicted to heroin.

The congressmen took this staggering information back to the United States. President Nixon created the Special Action Office of Drug Abuse Prevention to help addicted service members when they returned home. He was determined to aid all soldiers who became addicted to heroin while on duty.

However, when soldiers returned home, only five percent of them became re-addicted. Even more astonishing, only twelve percent of users relapsed within three years (Clear, 2018). For reference, the average relapse rate for substance abuse after treatment is 40-60%. (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2018). Essentially, nine out of ten soldiers who used heroin in Vietnam, eliminated their addiction almost overnight (Clear, 2018).

So, what does this information mean?

This example shows how powerful our environment is in shaping our behaviours. When soldiers were immersed in a drug filled society, they could only stay “disciplined” for so long. Heroin was considered a norm in Vietnam. It only makes sense that soldiers would eventually mimic the behavior.

Research has shown that individuals who appear to have tremendous self-control, aren’t that different from those who are struggling. These people just structure their lives so they do not have exude endless willpower. Simply put, they do not put themselves in tempting situations (Clear, 2018). The easiest way to change your habits is to change your environment.

This strategy goes far beyond drug abuse. The idea of changing your behaviour can work to prevent disease.

Ischaemic heart disease, stroke, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are respectively the top three global causes of deaths (World Health Organization, 2019). With the structure of North American society, these statistics makes sense. We live in a world of “cue-induced wanting”. This means an external trigger causes a compulsive like craving which makes us repeat a habit.

Think about it this way:

You stop for coffee on the way to work. While in line you notice the smell of freshly baked donuts. You decide to pick up a box for the break room at the office. You tell yourself you’re only going to eat one donut, but after passing by the box multiple times, you give in. You end up eating three. That evening you begin reflecting on the day. You beat yourself up for not having the “willpower’ to avoid the donuts. You begin to feel more and more anxious. To calm yourself down, you go outside to have a smoke. Your neighbour comes out and lectures you about the dangers of smoking. Upset, you come inside. To make yourself feel better, you reach for the tub of ice-cream in the back of the freezer.

We blame our bad habits on not having enough “will power” or “self-control” to say no. But self-control can only be used for so long. It’s a short-term solution (Clear, 2018). The easiest way to break the cycle of the bad habit, is to stop putting yourself in situations that causes you to have to use will power at all.

In our sugar addicted, convenience emphasized society, this is easier said than done. However, you can go against the grain and be a leader in changing your own environment.

How?

-      Take a look at your social circle. It’s said that we are the average of the five people we spend the most time with. If your best friends constantly live under a storm cloud, it is going to seem impossible to have a positive attitude

-      If junk food is your kryptonite, do not keep it in the house. We can tell ourselves a thousand times over that we are “going to eat healthy today”. But if that package of Oreos is sitting in the middle of the pantry, you’re going to be in constant battle with yourself. Why tempt yourself in the first place. Out of sight, out of mind.

-      Join a fitness group. There’s something about shared pain that brings people together. Getting through a grueling workout feels a lot more manageable when you have the support of others. The group also keeps you accountable. Use their motivation on days where you seem to have lost yours.

-      Be an advocate for health at your workplace. Monday mornings in the office are hard enough without the box of donuts in the break room calling your name. I have always found it ironic that people go to a hospital to regain health, and yet the cafeteria is stocked with unhealthy foods. Tameside Hospital in Manchester shared my discomfort in this irony. In 2018, this British hospital removed all sugary snacks, meals, and drinks off its menus. This bold move came directly from staff in attempt to tackle Britain’s growing concern with obesity (Marsh, 2018).

We are a product of our environment. However, we can choose what environment we live in.

References

Clear, J. (2018). Atomic Habits: An easy & proven way to build good habits & break bad ones.London, United Kingdom: Avery PublishingMarsh, S. (2018, January 09). NHS hospital bans sugar from its meals to tackle staff obesity.

Marsh, S. (2018, January 09). NHS hospital bans sugar from its meals to tackle staff obesity. The Guardian.Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/jan/09/nhs-hospital-bans-sugar-from-its-meals-to-tackle-staff-obesity

National Institute on Drug Abuse. National Institute of Health. (2018). Drugs, brains, and behaviour: The science of addiction. Retrieved from https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugs-brains-behavior-science-addiction/treatment-recovery

World Health Organization. (2019).  The top 10 causes of death. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/the-top-10-causes-of-death

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Current health news is headlined with the recent surge in measles outbreaks across the globe. The World Health Organization reported that the measles epidemic in Madagascar is responsible for 68,000 cases of the disease since September 2018. This has resulted in more than 900 deaths(Risber, 2019). The epidemic isn’t just confined to developing countries though. There has been a 30% rise in measles cases worldwide since 2016 (30%). Cases have been confirmed in Europe, Latin America, The United States, and now even Canada (“Measles Cases Rise”, 2018). In just the first 6 weeks of 2019, there has been five confirmed cases of measles in Canada.

If only we had a way to stop this epidemic and save people.

Wait...we do.

Measles can be prevented with a vaccine. In fact, medical advances have allowed us to create the MMR vaccine. This single injection protects against measles, mumps, and rubella. Two doses of this vaccine are roughly 97% effective in preventing measles. This vaccine is even free!

So, if we have this seemingly “miracle solution”, why are we still seeing cases? It’s not medicine that’s failed. It’s us.

There is a current movement in Canada against vaccinations. Part of this rebellion is due to misinformation. Some believe vaccines are dangerous, leading to adverse outcomes or other diseases. Thanks to scandalous lies, some even believe vaccines cause autism.

Wrong

Alberta Health Services has declared on multiple occasions that vaccines are safe, effective, and will not cause other diseases.

However, It’s not just the measles vaccine people are avoiding. Many choose to miss yearly injection such as the flu shot.

I believe in autonomy, and being your own advocate for health. The problem with choosing not to vaccinate though, is that it doesn’t just affect you. Your decision impacts everyone. It was once explained to me that you don’t get the flu shot for you. You get it for those who can’t. You get it to protect the newborn baby or your great grandma, whose immune systems arent as strong as yours. You may get a virus or disease such as flu, and recover. But they may not be as lucky.

Some countries have taken a stand against preventable outbreaks. Australia has issued a policy “No Jab, No Pay”. This policy stipulates that families cannot claim part A of the Family Tax Benefit payments for unvaccinated children. Families miss out on a potential $728 AUD/year for choosing not to vaccinate. Other countries have acted against anti- vaccination as well. Italy and France have made several vaccinations mandatory for children. Germany has an open policy requiring schools to report parents who haven’t vaccinated their children. So far though, Canada doesn’t have any penalties or national policies in place regarding vaccines (Abedi, 2018).

My question: What will it take to change people’s minds about vaccines?

-       Is it better education about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines?

-       Is it a mandated policy that punishes those who rebel?

-       Is it going to be some celebrity who makes a statement praising vaccines?

Ultimately, I don’t care what it is that finally gets people on board. As long as they jump on the train. Especially when the ticket aboard is free.

                                              References

Abedi, M. (2018, July 9). Australia penalizes parents who don’t vaccinate their kids- should Canada do the same? Global News. Retrieved from https://globalnews.ca/news/4320573/australia-vaccination-policy-no-jab-no-pay/

Risber, E. (2019, February 21). Measles epidemic in Madagascar kills more than 900, says WHO. CTV News. Retrieved from https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/measles-epidemic-in-madagascar-kills-more-than-900-says-who-1.4306391

Government of Canada. Public Health Agency of Canada. (2019). Measles & rubella weekly monitoring report- week 6, 2019: February 3 to February 9, 2019. Retrieved from https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/publications/diseases-conditions/measles-rubella-surveillance/2019/week-6-february-3-february-9-2019.html

MackyKid. (2019). Dear anti-vaxxer, if you stand at the edge of a cliff behind a fence, then there's 99.997% chance that you're safe...better jump over it, eh[Image]. Retrieved from https://www.reddit.com/r/memes/comments/a2u4do/dear_antivaxxer_if_you_stand_at_the_edge_of_a/

Measles cases rise 30 percent worldwide: UN. (2018, November 30). CTV News.Retrieved from https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/measles-cases-rise-30-percent-worldwide-un-1.4198800