UK foolball club giants Manchester United has chosen the Cystic Fibrosis Trust as their charity for this year (2006-2007). The disease, which is genetically passed down clogs the internal organs with a sticky mucus. At worst, it can lead to serious chronic infections, as well as lung inflammation.

In the UK alone, Cystic Fibrosis is the leading life-threatening disease that is genetically inherited. Each week, when 5 babies are diagnosed with the disease, 3 of them will die.

Young Man U fan, Max Paton (pictured above with his heroes Rio Ferdinand and Darren Fletcher), who also suffers from the disease, will be fronting the campaign to raise funds and awareness for the charity. The six-year-old takes 30 pills of medication a day, needs physiotherapy and intravenous antibiotics regularly just to stay healthy.

On October 28th and 29th, the Trust will be holding an Abseil Fundraiser (a dangerous clinbing technique) in Old Trafford to hopefully raise the £50,000 needed for gene therapy research to help children like Max who suffer from the disease.

The participant who raises the most funds will win a pair of football boots signed by defender Rio Ferdinand, who says:

“I always get an adrenalin rush when I run onto the pitch at Old Trafford – and am sure people will feel the same if they take part in this abseil. It’s a great chance to do something different and I’m sure lots of fans will love the chance to get so close to the action. It will make a real difference to the thousands of young people that have cystic fibrosis.”

Technorati Tags: Manchester United, Cystic Fibrosis

Categories: Charities, Children, Events, Fundraising, News, Organizations | Tags: Cystic-Fibrosis, Manchester-United

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Paul Newman‘s range of products are the perfect example of what commercial foods should be. They are delicious, charmingly packaged, good for you and they help millions of charities around the world. And on top of that, they are now also good for the environment, what with the new organic line created with his daughter Nell.

Founded by the formidable Hollywood star Paul Newman, Newman’s Own was based on idea of homemade extras- all-natural salad dressings, sauces and lemonade. Paul did not expect the venture to be a big success, but over 20 years later, the company has made more than $ 175 Million in profits, all of which has gone to charity.

The newer line of organic products, Newman’s Own Organics (a division of Newman’s Own) was launched in 1993 by Nell Newman, Paul’s daughter and because a separate company in 2001. The products here are again fantastic-tasting, but more importantly are organic, meaning the ingredients are without any harmful chemicals, pesticides, hormones and other nasty things, as well as being farmed in way that preserves the environment.

Pretzels, cookies, fair trade coffee, oil, and pet food are among its products, and recently a new range of fresh produce of salad greens, spinach and baby carrots have been added.

Wouldnt it be great if the other large food companies around the world followed suit in the pursuit of common good?

Technorati Tags: Paul Newman, Newman’s Own, Natural food, organic food

Categories: Charities, Environmental, Organizations, Products | Tags: Natural-food, Newmans-Own, organic-food, Paul-Newman

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Many environmental foundations are researching the potential of going into spirulina farming as a livelihood project for people in areas with high unemployment.
Why? this green food is not just fantastic for the health, but it is also easily farmed in ways that actually benefits the environment, so it seems like a natural path would be to help those who can grow it was well.
If you havent heard about this superfood, read on:

Spirulina, blue-green algae, is well documented as a safe human food. It was consumed by Mexicans as a food for centuries during the Aztec civilization and more recently by people in the Lake Chad area of Central Africa. Spirulina is the staple diet for the Lesser Flamingoes in East Africa.

Hundred of scientific articles published in the past 30 years have found Spirulina to be safe and nutritious. In the past 20 years, Spirulina has been widely consumed by people in about 70 countries.

Spirulinas advocates say that it is a low fat, low calorie, cholesterol-free source of protein containing all the essential amino acids. It may contain antioxidants, and therefore help to defend against “free radicals”, which are believed to be a major factor in aging and can lead to ailments like cancer, arthritis, and cataracts. Many believe that it helps combat problems as disparate as diabetes, cancer, ADHD, anemia, atmospheric pollution and radiation poisoning. Another potential benefit: gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), which is said to be present in spirulina, dissolves fat deposits, helps prevent heart problems and reduces “bad cholesterol”. The National Cancer Institute USA has additionally announced that sulfolipids in spirulina are remarkably active agains HIV. Regular intake of spirulina could even increase anti-viral activity, stimulate the immune system, reduce kidney toxicity, improve wound healing, and reduce radiation sickness, believers claim.

Spirulina production in open systems is frequently chosen for industrial production due to its low production cost, easy handling and high production of biomass. This method uses a pond with a central islet, a motor operating a paddle wheel which allows continuous displacement of the liquid culture in the peripheral channel. During the growing season ponds are harvested every day. In the peak summer sun, harvesting occurs 24 hours a day, around the clock, to keep up with the explosive growth rate. (so reported by a spirulina farm in California)

Spirulina is an excellent food for the rapid recovery from malnutrition and related diseases.

U.N. World Health Organisation (WHO) confirmed:

“For WHO, spirulina represents an interesting food for multiple reasons, rich in iron and protein, and is able to be administered to children without any risk. We at WHO consider it a very suitable food.”

Technorati Tags: spirulina, who, malnutrition, nutrition, health

Categories: Campaigns, Environmental, Ideas, Jobs, Products | Tags: health, malnutrition, nutrition, spirulina, who

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