Thursday, November 28, 2019

12 Interesting Ethical Topics for Essay Papers

12 Interesting Ethical Topics for Essay Papers Writing a persuasive essay requires identifying interesting ethical topics, and these options might inspire you to create a powerful and engaging essay, position paper, or speech for your next assignment. Should Teens Have Plastic Surgery? Good looks are highly prized in our society. You can see advertisements everywhere urging you to buy products that will supposedly enhance your appearance. While many products are topical, plastic surgery is probably the ultimate game-changer. Going under the knife to enhance your looks can be a quick fix and help you achieve the look you desire. It also carries risks and can have lifelong consequences. Consider whether you think teens- who are still developing into mature individuals- should have the right to make such a big decision at such a young age, or if their parents should be able to decide for them. Would you tell if you saw a popular kid bullying? Bullying is a big problem in schools and even in society in general. But it can be difficult to show courage, step up- and step in- if you see a popular kid bullying someone at school. Would you report it if you saw this happening? Why or why not? Would You Speak Up If Your Friend Abused an Animal? Animal abuse by youngsters can foreshadow more violent acts as these individuals grow up. Speaking up might save the animal pain and suffering today and it might steer that person away from more violent acts in the future. But would you have the courage to do so? Why or why not? Would You Tell If You Saw a Friend Cheating on a Test? Courage can come in subtle forms, and that can include reporting seeing someone cheat on a test. Cheating on a test might not seem like such a big deal; perhaps youve cheated on a test yourself. But it is against the policies of schools and universities worldwide. If you saw someone cheating, would you speak up and tell the teacher? What if it was your buddy cheating and telling might cost you a friendship? Explain your stance. Should News Stories Slant Toward What People Want to Hear? There is much debate over whether the news should be unbiased or allow commentary. Newspapers, radios, and news television stations are businesses, just as much as a grocery store or online retailers. They need customers to survive, and that means appealing to what their customers want to hear or see. Slanting reports toward popular opinions could increase ratings and readership, in turn saving newspapers and news shows, as well as jobs. But is this practice ethical? What do you think? Would You Tell If Your Best Friend Had a Drink at the Prom? Most schools have strict rules about drinking at the prom, but many students still engage in the practice. After all, theyll be graduating soon. If you saw a friend imbibing, would you tell or look the other way? Why? Should Football Coaches Be Paid More Than Professors? Football often brings in more money than any other single activity or program a school offers, including academic classes. In the corporate world, if a business is profitable, the CEO and those who contributed to the success are often rewarded handsomely. With that in mind, shouldnt it be the same in academia? Should the top football coaches get paid more than the top professors? Why or why not? Should Politics and Church Be Separate? Candidates often invoke religion when theyre out campaigning. Its generally a good way to attract votes. But should the practice be discouraged? The U.S. Constitution, after all, dictates that there should be a separation of church and state in this country. What do you think and why? Would You Speak Up If You Heard an Ugly Ethnic Statement at a Party Filled With Popular Kids? As in the previous examples, it can be hard to speak up, especially when an incident involves popular kids. Would you have the courage to say something and risk the ire of the popular crowd? Who would you tell? Should Assisted Suicides Be Allowed for Terminally Ill Patients? Some countries, like the Netherlands, allow assisted suicides, as do some U.S. states. Should mercy killing be legal for terminally ill patients who are suffering from great physical pain? What about patients whose diseases will negatively impact their families? Why or why not? Should a Students Ethnicity Be a Consideration for College Acceptance? There has been a long-standing debate about the role ethnicity should play in college acceptance. Proponents of affirmative action argue that underrepresented groups should be given a leg up. Opponents say that all college candidates should be judged on their merits alone. What do you think and why? Should Companies Gather Information About Their Customers? Information privacy is a big and growing issue. Every time you log onto the internet and visit an online retailer, news company, or social media site, companies gather information about you. Should they have the right to do so, or should the practice be banned? Why do you think so? Explain your answer.

Sunday, November 24, 2019

Make a Mixture and a Compound from Iron and Sulfur

Make a Mixture and a Compound from Iron and Sulfur A mixture occurs when you combine matter in a way where the components can be separated again. A compound results from a chemical reaction between components, forming a new substance. For example, you can combine iron filings with sulfur to form a mixture. All it takes is a magnet to separate the iron from the sulfur. On the other hand, if you heat the iron and sulfur, you form iron sulfide, which is a compound. What You Need Iron filingsSulfur  (powder or flowers of sulfur)MagnetTest tube or beakerBurner or hot plate or stove Creating a Mixture and Then a Compound First form a mixture. Stir some iron filings and sulfur together to form a powder. You have just taken two elements and combined them to form a mixture. You can separate the components of the mixture by stirring the powder with a magnet (iron will stick to it) or by swirling the powder with the magnet under the container (the iron will fall toward the magnet at the bottom - this is less messy).If you heat the mixture over a bunsen burner, hot plate, or stove, the mixture will start to glow. The elements will react and will form iron sulfide, which is a compound. Careful! Unlike the mixture, the formation of a compound cant be undone so easily. Use glassware that you dont mind ruining. When you form a mixture, you can add components in any ratio that you want. It doesnt matter if there is more iron than sulfur, for example. When you form a compound, the components react according to a set formula. If there is an excess of one or the other, it will remain after the reaction that forms the compound. For example, you may have some leftover iron or sulfur in the tube with your mixture. 2 grams of sulfur with 3.5 grams of iron filings will completely react.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Nurses as leaders in health care reform Coursework

Nurses as leaders in health care reform - Coursework Example Modern nurses are equipped with the ability to make decisions pertaining any level or department in an organization. Additionally, considering the time nurses spend in their practices, it would a logical strategy to allow nurses make important decisions in healthcare institutions. National Academy of Sciences (2011) points out that practices have realized the potential of nurses if trained enough to make all level decisions in their practices. For this reason, nurses are placed as the main decision makers in health institution. However, this is done in respect to their job description and work experience. Regardless of these conditions, the nursing profession is well equipped to make important decisions at all levels of a practice. Minus the influence of nursing in making such decisions, it is an obvious assumption that a practice may not be well equipped to run the institution effectively. Benefits of researching on this area revolve around having adequate evidence on the importance of nursing on important healthcare decisions. In addition, research enables one to understand different measures taken by an organization to fully take advantage of opportunity presented by the nursing practice. Through research, organizations undermining the significance of nursing in their practices change their perception on the subject. However, there are numerous challenges in conducting research in this priority. Many practices dismiss the significance of nursing in making important decisions in their healthcare facilities. For this reason, there is limited information obtained on the level at which practices allow nurses to make important decisions. Additionally, there area limited number of practices from which research can be conducted. Practices available for research are small healthcare facilities. Large healthcare institutions have a limited mandate provided to their nurses. In these institutions, nurses require authority from top

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

The Most Important Contributors to Health Compromising Behaviors Essay

The Most Important Contributors to Health Compromising Behaviors - Essay Example One in five of all deaths every year in the United States have been credited to smoking, killing more than AIDS, suicide, alcohol, car accidents, homicide, and illegal drugs combined (American Cancer Society, 2004). Smoking is badly affecting the society. It is the most common addiction all around the world. In developing and countries where literacy rate is nil or less are more addicted to smoking and hence their behavior towards their relatives, education, society and future changes. With the adverse affect on health they face mental sickness. To decrease the rate of smoking many coutries are taking necessary steps as Bishop and Yoo (1985) declared that a surgeon's general report in 1964, regarding the knowledge of severe health affect of smoking, showed a diminution in cigarette sales. Before the provision of this report, taxes fixed on cigarettes were intended just to raise the revenue on the sale of cigarettes. However, after the provision of the Surgeon General's report, the ta xes fixed on cigarettes had an additional purpose of discouraging cigarette smoking (Meier & Licari, 1997). However, a great amount of people are addicted to alcoholic drinks, which are also a chief cause of ill-health nowadays. Drug abuse not only affects an individual but harm the whole society or community. The people who are addicted to alcohol consumption not only waste their money and precious time due to intoxication but also leave a bad impact on their young ones. Research explains that increased sales law enforcement can decrease the selling of alcohol to individuals. Plainly, setting up enforcement of lowest alcohol buying age laws is desired to make them more efficient (Grube, 1997). Drinking is harmful for the social and cultural values of a person. Intoxicated drivers do not just harm their own life but may also create risk for the other drivers and people around. Alcohol users being well aware of these problems do not quit it. Extreme drinking is really terrible for physical and mental conditions. Alcohol increases the risk of serious illness like heart disease, liver disease, reproductive problems and memory loss. It is declared in journal of the American medical association, the death rate of Alcoholic women is comparatively greater than Alcoholic men. This journal also declares that the danger of breast cancer rises with the regular use of alcohol. Although alcohol use is ordinary among a greater part of college undergraduates (Kuther & Timoshin, 2003; Ziemelis, Bucknam, & Elfessi, 2002), a division of students busy in a type of drinking behavior that occupies great levels of alcohol use which may put them at danger for communal, mental, emotional and physical troubles. This specific type of drinking behavior has been identified in the literature as binge drinking and includes the extreme use of alcohol in short periods (Murgraff, White, & Phillips, 1996). Current approximation discovers that about 44 percent of college students are resulted to be involved in binge drinking behavior (Torr J.D., 2002). Excessive drinking is a severe problem found in numerous colleges. To tackle this problem, study has swung towards knowing why college students use alcohol at height well over secure limits on sole drinking occasions (Murgraff et al.). More

Monday, November 18, 2019

Equal Pay for Women Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Equal Pay for Women - Research Paper Example There are different factors or causes of the pay gap between the two genders such as education, skills, discrimination, and experience. In this paper, we will discuss why the pay gap exists and how that pay gap affects the lives of women in our societies. Common Factors of Pay Gap Let us discuss some of the most common factors of pay gap in order to get a better understanding of the issue. Talent and Confidence Talent of women is one of the most influencing factors regarding the difference in the pay gap between men and women. In most of the societies, women are not considered equal to men. Women are considered less talented and less skilled as compared to men. It is really a misconception because talent and skills have no concern with the gender of a person. Many women in the history have performed exceptional roles in various fields of life. We can take examples of Annie Easley, Henrietta Swan Leavitt, and Rita Levi-Montalcini who marked their names in the list of most talented wom en scientists of the world. Therefore, we cannot say that skills and talent of women are less as compared to men in any field of life. Most of the employers do not prefer to hire women because they consider women less productive. Women also face sexual harassments and different kinds of discrimination during their jobs, which discourages them from going out to do some job. Such women usually do not have much confidence to report any incident related to harassment or wage discrimination to the higher authorities. The less confidence of women is one of the most critical elements behind the pay differences, which exists between men and women. Some employers think that women are not confident enough to face major challenges that occur during jobs. They think that male employees have more ability to face the challenges as compared to female employees and that is one of the reasons for why employers offer high wages to male employees and comparatively low wages to female employees. Employ ment Opportunities Another factor behind the pay differences is employment opportunities for men and women. Employers think that men usually have more employment opportunities and they can get alternate jobs easily whereas women do not have enough job opportunities So, the employers offer high wages to male employees in order to retain them. The governments of most of the countries are also responsible for creating such pay gaps between the two genders. It is the responsibility of the governments to provide equal employment opportunities to both men and women in order to reduce the pay differences. Governments need to understand the importance of work for women because in the present world, it is not easy for men to work alone in order to earn for their families. Women need to provide financial help to their husbands in order to run the cycle of life but when there will be less job opportunities and low pay scales for women; they will not be able to support their husbands in a prope r way. Therefore, governments should take steps to reduce the pay gaps that occur due to less employment opportunities for women. Pay Gap Due To Color The pay gap, which exists between the two genders, is significantly wider in case of women of color. â€Å"

Friday, November 15, 2019

The Classification Of Fruits Marketing Essay

The Classification Of Fruits Marketing Essay The literature review carried out on this research contains information and data from different sources. Since there was very few numbers of literatures available on this topic locally, most of the information was gathered from the internet and through the internationally published journal articles. Some of the information was collected from locally published citations and through local institutions and organizations. The literature review attempts to make some relevant information of fruit processing sector, namely, fruit industry, consumption and trade, fruit processing, type of processes, industry and quality practices in developing countries and quality issues related to fruit processing industry. 2.2 CLASSIFICATION OF FRUITS Fruits can be commonly classified according to the growing region as follows: tropical, subtropical and temperate-zone (Kader and Barret, 1996). The quality of fruit is mainly affected on growing region and most significantly the environmental conditions specific to each region. Listed below are the examples of fruit grown in each region. 2.2.1 Tropical Fruits Major tropical fruits: banana, mango, papaya, pineapple Minor tropical fruits: cashew apple, durian, guava, longan, lychee, mangosteen, passion fruit, rambutan, tamarind, sapota, carambola 2.2.2 Subtropical Fruits Citrus fruits: orange, lime, lemon, grapefruit, pummelo, tangerine, mandarin Non-citrus fruits: avocado, pomegranate, cherimoya, fig, kiwifruit, olive 2.2.3 Temperate-Zone Fruits Small fruits and berries: grape (European and American types), strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, blackberry, cranberry Pome fruits: Asian pear (nashi), European pear, apple, quince Stone fruits: plum, peach, cherry, apricot, nectarine Fruits are essential in the human diet. They contain compounds of nutritional importance, including vitamins which are not synthesized by the human body. Fruits serve as a rich source of energy, vitamins, minerals and dietary fibre. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Dietary Guidelines encourages consumers to choose fresh, frozen, dried or canned forms of a variety of colours and kinds of fruits. Fruits can be defined as the reproductive organs arising from the development of floral tissues with or without fertilization. 2.3 WORLD PRODUCTION OF TROPICAL FRUITS The availability of detailed information and reliable statistics is very less on tropical fruit production and world trade (Chang, 2007). Therefore, it constitutes a major constraint in the analysis of supply and demand trends of tropical fruits in the world market (Kortbech- Olesen, 1997; Chang, 2007; and FAO, 2008a). Most fruit producing countries do not have proper routinely record or collect data regarding tropical fruits that are basically produced and/or traded in small quantities (Chang, 2007; and FAO, 2008a). Therefore, production and trade data from reporting countries suffer from a lack of uniformity (FAO, 2003). Data on tropical fruit production, commercial applications and trade are difficult to be estimated when analysing the global reports, an attempt has been made in this dissertation report to analyse the global production, supply and demand trends of tropical fruits in the world market. In fact, the analysis gives much importance on the research study with regard to the development of fruit processing industry in our country to foresee the future of the fruit industry. According to the research report published by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources and Development has stated that worldwide fruit species of tropical and subtropical are estimated to be around 3,000. Moreover, they have revealed that 500 out of total fruit species are found in Asia. In South East Asia around 120 major and 275 minor species of tropical and subtropical fruits and nuts are found. The most interesting part of that publication is that around 200 species of fruits are remained undeveloped and underused. According to the report published by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the world tropical fruits production reached 96.8 million tonnes in 2000 excluding banana. This production increased approximately 3.6% annually during the period 2000-2007 to reach 123.7 million tonnes in 2007 (FAO, 2008b). Tropical fruits production in 2004 represented 8.1% of the global world production of fresh fruits and vegetables (FAO, 2007). The annual increase of world production of tropical fruits has been estimated to be 1.7% (FAO, 2003; and Chang, 2007). The projected value of world production of tropical fruits is 139.2 million tonnes by 2014. Banana, mango, pineapple, papaya and avocado are the five major tropical fruit varieties produced and constitute the most important tropical fruit species produced worldwide which account for approximately 75% of the global fresh tropical fruit production (Chang, 2007). Asia consists of major producing region followed by Latin Americ a and the Caribbean and Africa. The world production of tropical fruits from these countries is estimated to be 98% (Ramiro, 2000; FAO, 2003; and Centeno, 2005). 2.4 CONSUMPTION AND TRADE OF TROPICAL FRUITS Approximately, 90% of all tropical fruits produced worldwide are consumed domestically. The remaining 10% of tropical fruits produced is traded as fresh, accounting for 5% or processed tropical fruit products, accounting for 5%. These processed tropical fruit products include dried or dehydrated fruit, frozen fruit, fruit juice, concentrate, pulp and puree which is further referred to as fruit juice and concentrate and canned fruit (Kortbech-Olesen, 1996; FAO, 2003; CBI, 2007a; and Chang, 2007). Although, the proportionally small quantities of tropical fruits traded internationally, the trade value of them is very significant. The total value of trade of fresh and processed tropical fruit products was estimated at 4.0 billion US dollars internationally in 2004 (Chang, 2007). The total international trade value of fresh tropical fruits amount was 4.7 billion US dollars in 2006. Moreover, an additional 1.3 billion US dollars accounted for the processed tropical fruit products. On the o ther hand, the value of international trade of bananas and plantains reached 5.6 billion US dollars in 2006 (Chang, 2008). Pineapple is the most dominating fruit in international trade in fresh and processed tropical fruits, with a significant growth in volume and value (Chang, 2007, 2008). Asia is the leading supplier of processed tropical fruit products. According to the trade data, it shows that Latin America and the Caribbean as the major exporters of fresh tropical fruits (Ramiro, 2000). The European Union (EU) is the largest import markets for both fresh and processed tropical fruits making the United States of America (USA) as the second largest. The both import markets are together accounting for approximately 75% of import of tropical fruits in world production (FAO, 2003; and Chang, 2007). The import of fresh fruits in the EU reached 26.4 million tonnes (8.6%) and 21.0 billion Euro (10.7%) for the concerned tropical fruits. Import volume of fresh tropical fruits in the EU can be cascaded as follows: pineapple-56.3%, mango-14.7%, avocado-13.2% and papaya-2.2%. The total is accounting for approximately 86% of all fresh tropical fruits imported in the EU in the year 2007 (Eurostat, 2005, 2006, 2008). The processed fruit products in the EU increased during the per iod 2003-2007, accounting for 10.5 million tonnes and 10.0 billion Euros in total imports in 2007. Fruit juice and concentrate of about 62.8% accounted for the largest group of processed fruit products in 2007 in terms of volumes and other processed fruit products accounted for: canned of about 24.8%, dried of about 6.8% and frozen of about 5.6% fruit (Eurostat, 2008). From the total import volume of processed tropical fruits in 2003 constituted 15.4% and it increased to 17.1% in 2007. One of the most internationally traded tropical fruit is banana which accounted for about one-fourth of 70.89 million tons in 2004 production sold overseas. The export of remaining tropical fruits is less than 10% of the total production. As the major exporters of banana, Ecuador, Costarica and the Philippines accounted for 85% of all tropical fruit exports. Volume of export grew up from less than 1% in 2002 to nearly 8% in 2004 (FAOSTAT, 2012). United States is the major market for banana, accounting 26% of world total production in 2004 followed by Germany and Japan. Mexico, India and Brazil represented the bulk of mango exports. The total volume exported increased in 2004 by a modest 5% in contrast to an enormous increase of 41% in 2003. The total exported amount of mango by Mexico is about 190 kilotons while the Brazil is about 140 kilotons. USA is the major importer of mangoes accounting for 35% while the EU accounting for 20%. Papaya is major tropical fruit with exports increased by 47% in 2004 compared with the year 2003. The largest exporter of papaya was Mexico accounting for 75 kilotons during the year 2004 followed by Malaysia accounting for 70 kilotons Brazil accounting for 40 kilotons. USA was the major papaya importer that accounted for 50% of the world total papaya production. Import demand for tropical fruits worldwide for the next decade is expected to increase, thus import volume is also projected to expand. The projected increase in exports of tropical fruits by FAO in 2014 indicates an annual increase in export volume by 1.4% for mango, 1.7% for pineapple, 2% for avocado and 5.6% for papaya while the USA, EU and Japan remain the largest import markets for tropical fruits. (Rita M. Fabro, ST Media Service) 2.5 FRUIT PROCESSING Fruits and vegetables are rich sources of many nutritional intakes to human beings and are widely consumed in varying amounts. Although it has been highly advised to have good consumptions of fresh, unprocessed fruit and vegetables it is not always realistic or possible. This may be due to the cost, availability and seasonality. Processing of fruits and vegetables is, therefore, necessary and in many ways desirable. The processed forms of fruits may be complemented the increase of overall consumption as well as enabling regular intake throughout the year instead of fresh produce. Fruits are highly perishable, therefore, they need kind of processing to aid their preservation. Processing (canning, drying, freezing, and preparation of juices, jams, and jellies) increases the shelf life of fruits and vegetables (Cantwell and Suslow, 1999). Processing steps include preparation of the raw material, cleaning, trimming, and peeling followed by dehydrating, canning, or freezing. Fruit process ing extends not only the shelf life but also results in value addition, generation of employments. This also enables vertical integration and diversification. Processing will, further, help to combine different ingredients, removal of inedible parts and carrying out other steps that consumer would do at home. 2.5.1 Fruit Products Canned juices, pulps, fruit drinks, jam, cordials, jelly, dried and dehydrated fruit products are the products that can be considered as direct fruit products in the current consumer market which are available locally as well as globally. Individual quick frozen (IQF) products do not fall in to the direct product category. The IQF products are globally used as substance for baby food manufacturing (cereals), bakery productions and confectionary manufacturing (chocolate). Depending on their applications, dehydrated fruits are also considered as a substance for the derived products as IQF products. 2.5.2 Types of Processes used in fruit processing Within the current trend in behaviours of consumers, it can be seen that the healthy eating and drinking (Datamonitor, 2007; and Hughes, 2008) have shown growing potentials. When aiming at satisfying health-related consumer needs and demands, the number and variety of processed fruits have substantially increased in the recent past. With the recent development in the technology, updated and modernized processing and preservation methods such as heating, drying or dehydration and freezing together with more commercialized varieties of processing techniques continue to serve the consumers with the increased varieties of processed fruit products. These achievements have been gained through new process protocols and products, new heating and freezing techniques, namely, microwave or ohmic heating, cryogenic freezing and radiation treatments. The trend in recent processed fruits is value addition through the increase of taste or flavour while retaining their nutritional value, making a nu mber of varieties of fruit products with longer and more consistent shelf life. The following describes the types of modern processing techniques those are being innovated and used by the developed countries in order to get competitive advantages over the developing countries in the international processed fruit market. xxxx-more neededxxxx 2.6 FRUIT INDUSTRY IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES It has been evident that there is high potential growth and trend in fruit processing industry in many of the developing countries (DC) in Asia, Africa and former Soviet countries. The major trends on these DCs can be analysed on focusing the quality oriented aspects where it is a major concerned when exporting processed fruits to the developed countries especially European Union (EU), America and Japan. This will be beneficial to identify and indicate the major issues that are needed to be addressed in quality aspects when such products are exported. The fruit processing industry in the developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region is booming rapidly. This potential is due to the less trade barriers and agreements of global trade and increasing demand of consumers in developed countries. The reason for this boom is not merely for economical factors. This has major concerns regarding healthy, tasty and safe foods. The processed fruit industry is dealt with the challenge of being competitive in the international market where quality oriented aspects are of high concern. Many of the developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region, however, have only a few fruit processing and exporting companies that are practising the modern quality assurance and improvement systems for fruit processing. Therefore, processed fruit products from such countries cannot cope in the international processed fruit market due to the lack of quality assurance and the products those have usually been declared to lower end markets. India accounts for a wide variety of fruits and vegetables production. It is the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables production in the world while China ranks the first. It accounts roughly 10 and 15 per cent of fruits and vegetables in global production respectively. According to the report published by National Horticulture Board, during 2009-2010, India produced 71.52 million metric tonnes of fruits and 133.74 million metric tonnes of vegetables (National Horticulture Database in India, 2010). At present, the country processed around 2.2 per cent of fruits and vegetables, even though it is ranked as the second in the world in terms of production. When compared with other countries, the processed fruit and vegetable industry is comparatively low. In Brazil the processed fruit and vegetable industry is 30 per cent, USA 70 per cent and Malaysia 82 per cent. The major fruits cultivated in India are Banana, Mangos, Papaya, Grapes, Apple, Apricots, Orange, Water Melons, Avocados, Guava, Lichi, Sapota. Mango accounts for 40% of the national fruit production and India and one of the leading exporters to the global market. The positive growth in the global market for processed fruits and vegetables products (dried or preserved and dehydrated vegetables and fruits), ready to serve beverages, fruit juices and pulps has led the countrys economy towards new way. The existence of 4000 fruit processing units offers India tremendous export opportunities. During the period of 2010-2011, India has exported fruits and vegetables worth 7 million USD comprised of fruits worth 4.8 million USD and vegetables worth 2.2 million USD (National Horticulture Database in India, 2010). The major importers of Indian fruits and vegetables are UK, UAE, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Pakistan. Even though the share of India in the global market is still nearly 1% only, the tendency towards increasing acceptance of horticulture production is high in the country. The concurrent developments in cold chain infrastructure in the areas of state of the art technology and quality assurance measures have paved the way for this tremendous growth in this sector in India. Moreover, large investment funded by the private sector and public sector has also taken initiatives with Agricultural Processed Food Products Export Development Authority in India (APEDA). With APEDAs assistance, several centres for integrated post harvest handling and perishable cargoes facilities have been established in the country. Also in achieving these growth rates in processed food industry, the programmes like capacity building initiatives at the farmers, processors and exporters levels has also contributed towards this effort. As the Indian food processing industry is still largely based on primary processing accounting for 80% of the value addition, Indian government has set up a separate fully authorised ministry called Ministry of Food Processing Industries for the entire development and promotion of food processing industries within the country. Harvesting of fruits is widely practiced by manual methods due to the abundant supply of surplus agricultural labour. The fruits are mostly harvested by hand or by simple hand tools, Sorting and grading of fruits are done on a very limited scale and that are only based on visual inspection methods. Limited pre-cooling facilities are only available for grapes, strawberries etc. for exporting purposes. Indian farmers suffer from disfavour in growing fruits as it requires high initial investment and long gestation period. The yield of fruits and thereby return to the farmers are highly affected due to the poor quality of seeds and other planting material available . Low educational level together with poor technical training facilities has led the farmers to the reluctance of adaptation to the new technologies and it has always been a problematic area. These factors result in non-uniformity in quality of fruits produced in India. To ramp up the fruits and vegetables processing, the ministry is pumping financial support for setting up new units, modernization and up gradation of existing units in processed fruit industry. The Indian national policy targeted to increase the percentage of food processed in the country to 10% by 2010 and would aim 25% by 2025. When it is taken in to the consideration of Thailand processed fruits market, its major exporting market is the United States, the EU and South-East Asia. Thailand today is accounting for a significant amount for total horticultural exports from the country. This amount is about 50% together with processed vegetables. The most exported processed fruits by Thailand comprise of juiced and canned pineapple, canned banana from which 30% goes to the United States while 90% of fresh banana are from Hong-Kong and China. The United States and EU markets are the most prominent importers of dried and canned mango from Thailand and most fresh mango importers are Asian countries. The other factors that contribute to the growth in processed fruit industry in Thailand are: maintaining of high quality of processes, products and value addition with low cost by the use of modern technology for their processing industries. To face to the competitiveness in the demanding market environment in processed fruit industry, Thailand maintains relatively high standards in processes as well as in facilities. This is of much more importance as the quality aspects of processed fruits are very stringent in countries like European Union, USA, Japan etc. The practice of GMP, HACCP and other modern quality aspects in Thailand is higher compared with other Asian countries so that they gained competitive advantage over other countries to enter into the developed countries processed fruit market. The modern fruit processing industry in Bangladesh covers relatively small volumes of canned fruits, jams, jellies and dehydration of fruits. But the volume of production of jams and jellies are done in large quantities. Mainly the small entrepreneurs at the home or cottage scale level are engaged in this jams and jellies processing. Most of the larger companies have new facilities in fruit processing which operate more hygienically to conform with the good manufacturing practices (GMP) used by most of the food industry. When considering most of the facilities available in fruit processing sector in Bangladesh it seemed that there is a need of upgrading quality aspects, technology, processing techniques and requirement of considerable training on personnel who are engaged in the industry. 2.7 QUALITY PRACTICES IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES The developing countries in the world have shown a continuous growth in the fruit processing industry (FAOSTAT, 2009). The processed fruits and vegetables trade in international market is very large with an ever increasing number of different types which are processed and exported. Once the processing of fruits and vegetables was limited to mostly temperate zone climate types, but now the change has widened to include the types of tropical and subtropical species. There are many reasons for this change, but they can be broadly explained as the increase in consumers dietary habits in developed as well as in developing countries that have become more diverse. This is not merely due to the economical reasons of increase of per capita income but for the healthy, tasty and safe food consumption. The industry is facing to the challenges of being competitive in the international market where quality oriented aspects are of high concerns. The other reason for the change is the development an d growth in processing techniques. The processing of tropical and subtropical fruits and vegetables have been improved to an extent where final product is palatable, nutritious and of long and reliable shelf life regardless of whether they are for drying, canning or freezing. Due to continuing demand for processed fruits and vegetables worldwide, many of the developing countries have taken advantages over it and earning valuable foreign exchange from exports of products to profitable markets around the globe. The quality control and inspection in this industry is very important and directed at ensuring that the final products have been processed in a registered establishment that is constructed, equipped and operated in a hygienic and efficient manner. The conformation to the requirements of the export regulations for processed fruits and vegetables and those of the importing country play a vital role with respect to the ingredients, quality grades, defects, packaging materials, sty les, contaminants, additives. Apart from these, the following aspects are also of high concerns when exporting the processed fruits and vegetables. They are: conformance to labelling requirements, drained weight, filling of container. Even though the aspects of quality matters are high in this industry, many of the enterprises engaged in this processed fruit industry are very few those who have equipped with modern quality assurance and improvement systems. Therefore, the developing countries with such kind of shortage in quality assurance systems in place lack their competitive edge in competing with other developed countries in international processed fruit market thus their product have usually been usually directed to lower end markets or in some cases products are abandon. This situation requires immediate attention to improve the quality aspects of the fruit processing industry where the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are in particularly of much importance in developing countries. These SME sector represents a large proportion of the fruit industry in the region. This requirement can be fulfilled by creating awareness among SMEs of modern concepts of quality assurance, good manufacturing practices-GMP and improved concepts such as hazard analysis and critical control point-HACCP and ISO 22000. Much stress is put on implementing such systems in the relevant industry. Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) can be applied in production and harvest while Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) can be especially applied during post-harvest and Quality and Safety Assurance Systems such as HACCP, throughout the entire food chain to avoid hazard and to control them. HACCP is currently recognized as global system for the management of food safety for all companies that are engaged in the processing, production, storage, and distribution of processed foods for the consumption of human beings. But most of the companies engaged in fruit processing industry are confronted with many technical issues, legal, socioeconomic and challenges in the process of adoption of HACCP or ISO 22000. Asian countries like, India, Thailand, Pakistan, Malaysia, Philippine and South American countries like Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, etc are in the continuous process of overcoming the barriers to the widespread adaptation of HACCP, ISO 22000 and other quality assurance systems in processed fruit and vegetable industry as this industry has now become the driving seat of the economy of most of the developing countries. Even though some of the enterprises who have been awarded with above certifications, their applications in practical scenario are questionable in most of the developing countries due to lack of awareness, competence and management support in implementation. Apart from these quality assurance systems, there are other quality systems that can be applied to the processed fruit and vegetable industry. Those quality systems are namely, Total Quality Management (TQM), Six sigma, The Toyota Way etc. In the recent past, quality experts have put forward the approaches, concepts and systems for addressing quality during manufacturing in all aspects. Total Quality Management (TQM), ISO 9000 and ISO 22000 have been set up in large manufacturing and service industries worldwide. Most of the processed fruit and vegetable manufacturing establishments have developed and implemented TQM or ISO 9000 or ISO 22000 series programmes in order to enhance their quality objectives. Details on applications of these quality programmes in the food industry have been reviewed recently (Surak, 1992, Battaglia, 1993; and Golomski, 1993). Since the lack of availability of literature on these quality assurance systems with regard to processed fruit and vegetable industry, their correct applicability in the fruit industry should be further studied. 2.7.1 Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) Good manufacturing practices are the written procedures intended to be followed while the processing plant is constructed and when it is in operation to make sure the wholesomeness of foods. These practices are the minimum requirements of processing and sanitary conditions that should be followed in processing plants built on proper requirements. GMP includes the following requirements. They are: Cleanliness and sanitary for personnel involved in Building and facilities used in Equipment and utensils used in Food processing requirements and controls The requirements of cleaning and sanitation can be considered as a procedure involving the cleaning and sanitizing of the processing plant. Food processing and controls highlight the actual manufacturing operations which include cleaning, sorting, grading and packaging that can be applied to both fresh and processed foods. With the correct implementation of GMP will help to reduce the new forms of biological, chemical and physical contamination while eliminating existing contamination. The processing plants and facilities should be constructed as per the U.S. and European standards. These facilities should be used with approved materials and maintained under proper hygienic and sanitary requirements. The following of GMP will make sure that the foods produced in an establishment are healthy and wholesome for the consumption of human beings. The applicability of the GMP in processed fruit and vegetable sector is very useful for their quality assurance system and it establishes better perspectives in consumers minds regarding the products that they consume while keeping competitive in the market due to the proper quality of their products. This will lead to increase the revenue of a company who follows the GMP making more space to further development in GMP. 2.7.2 Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) HACCP is a management tool that was developed in the United States in 1971 in space flight programmes to make sure the safety of foods (Ropkins and Beck, 2000). The technique used for ensuring food safety has become widely accepted in the food industry. Most of the government regulatory agencies, food manufacturers and world organizations such as WHO and FAO are following this tool for food industry and related industries (Perera and De Silva, 1999; Ropkins and Beck, 2000). North America, the European Union, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore and many other countries have implemented the HACCP system today. Effective measures for ensuring the safety of foods and food products are the key aspects addressed by HACCP with regard to known hazards. HACCP has now become the basis for controlling and ensuring food safety in food manufacturing processes. It has become part of total quality assurance programs in the food industry and can be incorporated within an ISO 9000 quality system (BSI Q uality Assurance, 1991; Perera and De Silva, 1999; and Ropkins and Beck, 2000). The implementation of an HACCP programme in the fruit industry can lead to the identi ¬Ã‚ cation of known hazards that affect the safety of the  ¬Ã‚ nal product. The objectives of HACCP programme are the eliminating of those identified hazards at the earliest possible stages and at any subsequent stage of the manufacturing or production system (Alli, 1993; Perera and De Silva, 1999). In the fruit industry, there are wide varieties of known hazards. In fresh, frozen or canned fruit, the detriments associated with the product might vary in signi ¬Ã‚ cant amount depending on the types of products. Also, the HACCP is not a stand-alone system where it requires GMP as a pre-requisite to be in place before HACCP is applied. With the successfully implemented HACCP system having a proper monitoring will make sure the effective control of hazards as well as public health risks. This will ultimately lead to improved food safety. As all the known hazards are taken care by HACCP procedures in any production line, it helps to improve product and process efficiency, reduces waste and reduces the need for rework in the production lines. This cuts down on cost, enhance sales performance and improve consumer con ¬Ã‚ dence in the product. The relative significance in quality and safety of processed fruits are directly connected to the level of quality of the incoming fresh fruits which are used in subsequent processing. The incoming fruits must meet certain minimum speci ¬Ã‚ cations to avoid microbial contaminations, impurities and the general appearance which are used in production. It is of much importance that the suppliers follow an HACCP procedure to make sure that all raw materials coming in shall meet the desired speci ¬Ã‚ cations of producers of processed fruits such as canned, frozen and modi ¬Ã‚ ed atmosphere packaged (MAP

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Civil War Journal Essay example -- essays research papers

1861, July 16 The battle of Bull Run ended today. Northerners, like myself, know it as Bull Run but the Confederates know it as Manassas. This battle is giving me bad thoughts about the outcome of this war. This was a Southern victory and the Confederate army looks high in spirit and high in confidence, compared to the hurt, tired, and disappointed North. The great leadership of the Confederate generals won this battle. Their plans and attacks were no match for the Union ones. I hope the North can do something to rebound from this great loss, maybe there will be a second battle. 1862, December 31 Today I attended a gathering at the Tremont Temple. It was in Boston so I had to travel a ways. At the Tremont Temple many black, including myself celebrated the issuance of the Emancipation proclamation that is effective at midnight tonight. At the gathering everyone's spirits were high and everybody was excited. The black men who have learned that the Emancipation could mean the end of slavery were as happy as little boys were when they were getting a present. They have forgotten everything bad about being black, but its only temporary, the struggling of slaves and in this time period cannot be measured. At midnight tonight, millions and millions of people's lives will be changed. 1863, January 1 Today, the 1st of January is the day where the Emancipation Proclamation issued by Abe Lincoln begins. The streets are filled with free blacks celebrating and rejoicing. People are having parties and celebrating but most of all praying. Groups of blacks are praying together and thanking God for setting them free. 1863, February 24 Today I became an agent for the U.S. Government to recruit Negro soldiers into the Union Army. These black men will be involved in all black regiments and fight the Confederate army. My prediction is that it won't be hard to find willing blacks to fight for the Union. I hope this is successful and the blacks will have a big part in freeing all slaves and winning the Civil War. 1863, February 27 Today I issued the "Men of Color, to Arms." This challenge to black men to fly to arms, and smite with death the power that would bury the government and your liberty in the same grave. I worked on the end of my message for a long time to get my point across, it sounded like this, "Remember that in a contest with oppression, t... ...can still survive without him. He has played a big part in rebuilding this country and if you are Southern or Northern you know that and recognize it. 1865, April Today I had another speech at the annual meeting of Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society in Boston on "What the Black Man Wants." Basically it was about the rights blacks should have, and how we deserve them now because we are free. 1865, May 30 Another speech to add to my many†¦ I spoke at a memorial meeting on the life and death of Lincoln. Negroes of New York City called this memorial after New York Common Council refused to permit Negroes to participate in the funeral procession when Lincoln's body passed through the city. This was a great way to show how much we appreciate and respect Lincoln. 1865, August 17 Today I thanked Mrs. Lincoln for sending me the president's walking stick. This was a very nice gesture of her and I will cherish this piece of his life. 1865, October Today I delivered a lecture at the inauguration of Douglass Institute, school for Negro children. I think this school will help the black children learn and become successful in their life. I am glad I am making a difference.