It's Time For Businesses To Take Responsibility

Edited Feb 20, 2015

Today, businesses are focused solely on making money. In their quest to achieve their selfish goals, they harm their employees, customers and all of Nature. This kind of behaviour has to stop.

We have to change from selfishness (for me) to bestowal (for others). Instead of seeking to benefit ourselves, we should seek to benefit others and all of Nature.

Businesses have to start taking responsibility for how their products affect people, animals, society and all of Nature. 

One of the ways to achieve this (and in the spirit of transparency), is to disclose how their products are made through clear and obvious labeling. Here are some suggestions, perhaps you have your own ideas:

1. Food:
• GMOs:
• All genetically modified foods (GMOs) should end immediately.
• Where they temporarily persist, GMOs (and products with GMO ingredients) should be labeled.
• GMO Free:
• All food that isn't GMO (and products that don't have GMO ingredients) could also be labeled, e.g. GMO FREE.
• Nutrition Scale:
• All food/products ingested by people and animals should have a label with a nutrition scale. For example:
• 1 - for low (or no) nutritional value
• 10 - for the highest nutritional value
• All items could be subjected to this scale, not only food, but also things like cigarettes, alcohol etc. Special labels could be used for products that are known to cause harm to others. 
2. Treatment:
• Products should be labeled to let consumers know how employees, suppliers etc., are treated. For example:
• Ethical Treatment of Animals (ETOA)
• Ethical Treatment of Farmers (ETOF)
• Ethical Treatment of Suppliers (ETOS)
• Ethical Treatment of Employees (ETOE)
3. Environment:
• Products should be labeled to show the impact the product has had on the environment. For example:
• Environmentally Friendly Product (EFP) could mean that no herbicides, pesticides, insecticides, growth hormones, fertilizers, toxins etc., were used. Or that no harm was caused to the air, land, waters and Nature as a whole.
4. Recycling:
• Businesses should be more actively involved in recycling their own products. Having a recycling logo on a product isn't enough.
• Businesses could include clear recycling instructions, even mailing instructions if need be.
• Businesses could also offer money, credit or other incentives for used products that are returned, which could include items such as electronics, to burger wrappers, to coffee cups, to gum wrappers etc.
• Whenever I see fast food wrappers, gum wrappers, cups, bottles with logos etc., littered on the ground, I always think - why aren't the companies doing more to make sure that doesn't happen. It's negative advertising for companies when their wrappers / products / containers (with their logos) are strewn as litter.
5. Benevolent Score: 
• Just as FICO [1] scores are used to measure consumer credit risk, benevolent scores could be used to measure business benevolence - the positive impact businesses have on people, animals and all of Nature.
• Businesses that harm people, animals and all of Nature, receive a low benevolent score.
• Businesses that benefit people, animals and all of Nature, receive a high benevolent score.

It's time for businesses to take responsibility for their actions, specifically how their products affect people, animals and all of Nature. It's no longer about making money, because that system is antiquated and unsustainable.

Round tables need to be established to discuss these issues and find solutions that benefit people, animals and all of Nature.

In everything we do, we should seek to benefit others instead of ourselves.

_______
References:

1. FICO. www.en.wikipedia.org. Retrieved Feb 19, 2015.

Copyright © 2015, Carter Kagume. All Rights Reserved.

Community Living: Food

Edited Nov 8, 2014.

This post is a suggestion of ideas and ways that we could create a society that's based on bestowal, where we all seek to benefit others instead of ourselves. The goal is to increase the connection between us, foster cooperation, collaboration and unity, increase efficiencies and decrease costs, while focusing on our basic needs - food, water, clothing, shelter, healthcare, education etc. I'm sure you have your own ideas.

Here are some notes about FOOD:

1.  Have Community Dining Rooms:
• Meals: The dining rooms would serve all meals to the community, including breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks.
• Options: You could make it an opt-in/opt-out service.
• Main Dining Rooms And Satellite Dining Rooms: You could have main dining rooms that have the widest selection of food (perhaps like a food court at a mall, combined with a buffet), then have smaller satellite dining rooms that offer a select menu. You don't want people travelling too far to get their meals. The closest dining room should be within walking distance.
• Chefs: You could have professional chefs demonstrate their talents, offering a wide variety of cuisine. This would mean the highest quality of food. Chefs could visit from other communities, bringing in new ideas and fresh recipes.
• Nutritionists: You could have nutritionist working in tandem with chefs, so all food has the highest level of nutritional value. Also, all special needs would have to be considered and met, for example people with diabetes, food allergies etc.
• Socially Conscious Managers: You could have socially conscious managers who ensure that all food sources are humane, environmentally friendly and not genetically modified.
• Simplified Selection: Instead of having many choices of the same thing, the selection could be simplified to have only the best items.
• Rides: You could offer rides to and from the dining room so people could be picked up and dropped off.
• Delivery: You could deliver food to people at home.
• Efficiencies:  Efficiencies would be gained in several ways:
• Saves Money: The price of food would go down as people share food. Also people wouldn't have to spend money to equip their kitchens with kitchen utensils, tools and supplies.
• Saves Time: People wouldn't have to spend time going grocery shopping, preparing meals or cleaning up after meals. This would eases people's minds and give them more time to do other things. People may have a few snacks and drinks at home, but not a fully stocked kitchen of food. 
• Saves Space: There'd be more space at home since there wouldn't be all the kitchen utensils, tools, supplies, equipment or food.
• Better For Nature: With few kitchen utensils and supplies being made, they'd be less of a drain on Nature.
• Other Advantages:
• Connection: People would become more closely connected. People who eat together stay together. We'd truly be one family.
• Outings: Going to the dining room could be an outing for people, a chance to meet up with others.
• Decreased Loneliness: People would have the opportunity to interact with others more frequently.
• Issues:
• Overeating: If food were readily available, would people overeat? Would obesity become an even greater issue? This concern would have to be resolved. Limits or other solutions would have to be put in place to ensure this wouldn't happen.
2. Have Community Kitchens:
• Prepare Meals: You could have community kitchens where people could prepare their own meals.
• Learn How To Cook: People could use community kitchens to learn how to cook, under the instruction of a professional chef. This could be part of an educational system.
• Social Events: People could use community kitchens as a way to meet up, socialize and interact with each other.

What ideas do you have for building a new society that's based on cooperation, collaboration and bestowal? In everything we do, we should seek to benefit others instead of ourselves.

Copyright © 2014, Carter Kagume. All Rights Reserved.

Our Basic Needs - A Snapshot Of The World

The world's population is estimated to be about 7 billion people. [1] Here's a snapshot of the world today, based on our basic needs:

1. FOOD:
• About 1 billion people are undernourished. [2]
• About 1.3 billion tonnes of food is lost or wasted each year. [3]
• About 1.4 billion people are overweight, of whom 500 million are obese. [4]
2. WATER:
• About 700 million people still use unsafe drinking water sources [5]
• About 2.5 billion people lack improved sanitation facilities. [6]
• About 1.1 billion people still defecate in the open. [7]
3. SHELTER:
• About 1 billion people live in slums. [8]
• About 1.3 billion people don't have electricity. [9]
4. HEALTHCARE:
• About 1/3 of the world's population (about 2 billion people) don't have access to essential medicines. [10]
5. EDUCATION:
• About 700 million adults are illiterate. [11]

We need to simplify our lives and focus only on meeting our basic needs. We need to ensure that the basic needs of all people on earth are met.

Round tables [12] need to be established with experts from the relevant fields, in order to resolve these issues, dealing with the most desperate (emergency) situations first.

In everything we do, we should seek to benefit others instead of ourselves.

____________________

References:

1. World Population. www.wikipedia.org. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
2. Global hunger declining, but still unacceptably high. www.fao.org. Food And Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. Economic and Social Development Department. Sept 2010. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
3. Cutting food waste to feed the world. www.fao.org. Food And Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. May 11, 2011. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
4. Obesity and overweight. www.who.int. World Health Organization (WHO). Media centre. Fact sheet No. 311. Reviewed May 2014. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
5. United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). www.unicef.org. Water, Sanitation and Hygiene. 2013. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
6. United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). www.unicef.org. Water, Sanitation and Hygiene. 2013. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
7. Deputy UN chief calls for urgent action to tackle global sanitation crisis. www.un.org. UN News Centre. Mar 21, 2013. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
8. The Challenge of Slums - Global Report on Human Settlements 2003. www.unhabitat.org. PDF Report, Foreword. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
9. World Energy Outlook 2012. www.iea.org. International Energy Agency (IEA). Nov 12, 2012. PDF Report, page 7. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
10. The World's Medicines Situation 2011: Access To Essential Medicines As Part of The Right To Health. World Health Organization. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
11. Teaching and Learning: Achieving Quality For All. www.unesco.org. Education For All (EFA) Global Monitoring Report 2013/4. PDF Report, page 5. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
12. Round Tables Are Required. www.carterkagume.blogspot.ca. Aug 29, 2013. Retrieved Aug 28, 2014.

Copyright © 2014, Carter Kagume. All Rights Reserved.

One Event, Two Different Stories

I was out and saw corpses, dead bodies everywhere, dismembered pieces lined up in a row. I was hungry, so I took some home, cooked it and ate it. Sound strange? Yes.

Another way to say it - I went grocery shopping, bought some meat, got home, cooked it and ate it. Sound strange? No.

Copyright © 2014, Carter Kagume. All Rights Reserved.

Jesus Wept

In everything we do, we should seek to benefit others instead of ourselves.

Round tables need to be established to seek to eliminate starvation, malnutrition and under-nutrition in the entire world.

We Have To Eliminate Starvation and Under-Nutrition

We have to begin to seek to benefit others instead of ourselves. It's time for the world to focus on things that are really important. We have the intelligence, the technology and the means. It's time.

In the spirit of mutual concern and responsibility and in the quality of bestowal/love of others/altruism, we have to eliminate starvation and under-nutrition in the entire world.

According to reports from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, nearly 1 billion people around the world are undernourished [1]. At the same time, each year over 1 billion tons of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted [2].

The solution is pretty simple: get the extra food to the people who need it, strengthen the food supply chain and educate consumers.

Round tables need to be established to address this issue. It has to be dealt with immediately and it has to be solved permanently.

Participants of the round table could include representatives from all over the world, experts, professionals and/or leaders who work in government, in not-for-profit organizations, in the food industry, in logistics, in technology and in other relevant fields.

Once the round tables have been established, all problem-solving discussions and deliberations have to be transparent and broadcast live on television and/or the internet, giving everyone around the world a chance to comment and/or vote on relevant matters. Once the course of action has been decided, the solution can be implemented.

May The One True God, The Infinite God, The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob guide us, may He lead us and may He show us the way.

God is with us and to Him we shall all return.

______________

1.  "Global hunger declining, but still unacceptably high," Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Economic and Social Development Department (September 2010), http://www.fao.org/economic/es-policybriefs/briefs-detail/en/?no_cache=1&uid=45361

2.  "Cutting food waste to feed the world: Over a billion tonnes squandered each year," Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (May 11, 2011), http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/74192/icode/

Copyright © 2013, Carter Kagume. All Rights Reserved.

Genetically Modified Organisms Must End Immediately

The creation and use of all genetically modified organisms must end immediately.
The creation and use of all genetically modified food must end immediately.
The creation and use of all genetically modified animals must end immediately.
The creation and use of all genetically modified plants must end immediately.

The One True God, The Infinite God, The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is with us and to Him we shall all return.

Copyright © 2013, Carter Kagume. All Rights Reserved.

Agricultural Practices Need To Change

Many agricultural practices today are geared towards maximizing profit and minimizing costs. Sometimes, these practices are harmful to people and nature.

The agriculture industry needs to focus on benefiting others and nature instead of on maximizing profits.

All agricultural practices that are harmful to people and nature have to stop.

Copyright © 2013, Carter Kagume. All Rights Reserved.