Articles

Global Partner for Change

IM Magazine is an international online magazine that was born in May 2008 to plant an alternative seed in the land of mass media with a special focus: to cover the best things in the world... for a better world. With original and exclusive articles from journalists and collaborators from different parts of the world, and a platform of videos for a better world, IM Magazine creates a land where anyone can discover visionaries, philanthropists, voluntaries, solution creators, responsible investors, researchers, social entrepreneurs and organizations that are shaping the future. IM Magazine’s “seed of change” stands for the idea that adults like children need good stories and good examples to be inspired with. And this seed is already giving fruits. IM Magazine has already enchanted readers in more than 130 countries. Some even say that IM magazine is writing the beginning of a (r)evolutionary road, where journalists are also change makers, bridge builders, inspiration givers, and solution spreaders to a sustainable future.

Web-site of Interest - Buddhist Recovery Network

The Buddhist Recovery Network supports the use of Buddhist teachings, traditions and practices to help people recover from the suffering caused by addictive behaviors. Open to people of all backgrounds, and respectful of all recovery paths, the organization promotes mindfulness and meditation, and is grounded in Buddhist principles of non-harming, compassion and interdependence. It seeks to serve an international audience through teaching, training, treatment, research, publication, advocacy and community-building initiatives.

Six Sources of Influence

by K. Patterson, J. Grenny, D. Maxfield, R. McMillan, A. Switzler

Personal Motivation (Source 1) - Food preferences are strongly connected to past experiences. If you eat healthy food during enjoyable experiences, you can rewire the idea of comfort foods. Personal Ability (Source 2) - According to Dr. Wansink, we make approximately two hundred food decisions a day. Harness the knowledge and skills that help identify how your environment affects your food decisions. This knowledge allows you to restructure your environment—so you “mindlessly” eat healthier. Social Motivation (Source 3) - Eating behavior is unconsciously affected by those eating around us. Studies show that “pacesetters” eating around us influence the rate and amount we eat. If they eat only one cookie, you’re more likely to eat only one. If they eat six, you’re more likely to eat six. So when eating in a group, sit next to people who tend to set a slower pace Social Ability (Source 4) - Dr. Wansink found that 72 percent of food choices are made by the nutritional gatekeeper of the house—the person who most often purchases and prepares the food. Get the nutritional gatekeeper to make healthy food choices and more than half of your decisions are made for you. Structural Motivation (Source 5) - The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy reports that the cost of fruits and vegetables has increased 40 percent since 1985, while the cost of fats and sugars has declined. Such monetary incentives drive people towards eating unhealthily. Rearrange your food budget with this in mind. Structural Ability (Source 6) - If your bowl of chocolates is six feet away, you are 50 percent less likely to eat candy than if it’s in arm’s reach. If it’s not in the house, you probably won’t want it badly enough to go out and get it. If you set up your environment to work for you instead of against you, you don’t have to rely on willpower.

Studies in selfish altruism

More than twenty years ago, psychology professor Mark Snyder began pondering questions that still shape his research. The AIDS crisis was just beginning, and instances of noble volunteerism, including hospice workers caring for the dying, abounded. What makes people do it? he wondered. Why do they volunteer? And why do they keep coming back to help? Snyder's findings turned out to be more complex and surprising than anyone could have predicted. Volunteers come to their work for both humanitarian and self-centered reasons. "But our most striking finding was that if you look down the line at who's going to continue with the work, it is those volunteers who derive personal benefits from what they're doing," says Snyder. "That's what keeps them coming back. True altruism can be a selfish thing." Snyder's groundbreaking research remains the longest-running study of its kind in the country. And it has spawned new studies through the psychology department's Center for the Study of the Individual and Society (CSIS), involving Snyder's colleagues in psychology, political science, and sociology. Most recently, faculty members have joined together across disciplines to create what Snyder calls "a joint inventory," which will delineate and measure the various forms of community participation being studied by CSIS members. Plans are to publish the results as guides for organizations who work with volunteers. "We study volunteers of all kinds," says Snyder. "We look at people who form community organizations; we look at people in leadership positions in community organizations; we look at people who participate in the political process.

World Hunger Facts 2008

World Hunger Education Service Hunger is a term which has three meanings (Oxford English Dictionary 1971) * the uneasy or painful sensation caused by want of food; craving appetite. Also the exhausted condition caused by want of food * the want or scarcity of food in a country * a strong desire or craving World hunger refers to the second definition, aggregated to the world level. The related technical term (in this case operationalized in medicine) is malnutrition.1 Malnutrition is a general term that indicates a lack of some or all nutritional elements necessary for human health (Medline Plus Medical Encyclopedia). There are two basic types of malnutrition. The first and most important is protein-energy malnutrition--the lack of enough protein (from meat and other sources) and food that provides energy (measured in calories) which all of the basic food groups provide. This is the type of malnutrition that is referred to when world hunger is discussed. The second type of malnutrition, also very important, is micronutrient (vitamin and mineral) deficiency. This is not the type of malnutrition that is referred to when world hunger is discussed, though it is certainly very important.

Mindful Eating

by Thich Nhat Hanh

Mindful eating is very pleasant. We sit beautifully. We are aware of the people that are sitting around us. We are aware of the food on our plates. This is a deep practice. Each morsel of food is an ambassador from the cosmos. When we pick up a piece of a vegetable, we look at it for half a second. We look mindfully to really recognize the piece of food, the piece of carrot or string bean. We should know that this is a piece of carrot or a string bean. We identify it with our mindfulness: "I know this is a piece of carrot. This is a piece of string bean." It only takes a fraction of a second.