Pound for pound, healthy food is cheaper than junk food, according to a new research from the U. K.

    The Institute of Economic Affairs found that the average cost for a “wide range” of healthy foods was about £ 2 per kilogram, compared with £ 3 a kilogram for less-healthy products such as processed and ready-made foods.

Still, study after study finds that cost is often a barrier when it comes to healthy eating. Convenience drives consumers to care about habits more than prices, the U. K. study concluded. Taste and convenience often play a larger role in people's food choices than price or nutritional quality.

    “Processed foods are extremely expensive, especially when it comes to the nutrient value. Some of the healthiest, most inexpensive foods aren't so attractive. Beans cost next to nothing, especially when bought dry and in great amounts. They take time and some skills to prepare. ” said Ciara Foy, a nutritionist.

    Instead, busy parents reach for the chicken. “You might be getting something that has enough calories to fill you up but you're actually not getting any nutrients, so your body's going to keep wanting more and more food,” said Foy. “And that's why in North America we, re overfed and undernourished (营养不良的).”

    Makers tend to try to promote their product based on perceived health benefits, which makes consumers confused at times with what is a healthy product and how much you should pay for those benefits. The most expensive items, healthy or not, are the ones that end up in the trash. “A lot of people waste a lot of food,” Foy said. It's estimated that more than $ 30 billion of food is wasted in Canada every year. Foy recommends taking a look in your fridge to see what needs to be used up when planning for the next night's meals. “If you actually cut down on the waste you'll find that you can afford healthy food,” Foy said.

    For students at The Farm School in Hamilton, Virginia, the classroom is outside-every day.

Jaclyn Jenkins is a founder of the school. "The number one question immediately we get from parents is 'what happens if it rains?' And we say, 'Bring an extra pair of clothes!'" Jenkins adds, "We still educate them. They also get energy. Their brains are working when they're moving. So, our goal is to always be outside."

    The Farm School is a preschool-a place for three-and four-year-olds to learn and play. Teacher Alison Huff has taught at other schools. She says The Farm School gives its students more of a hands-on learning experience. For example, children use pumpkins to learn about colors and counting. They learn about measurements by planting seeds 30 centimeters apart. Huff says "We can use everything a regular preschool uses, but out in the garden."

Apart from planting vegetables and fruits, students help prepare food and clean up afterward. The school teaches the children to cook using the food they have grown. "They can see the advantages of what they have in the garden and taste it then instead of going to the grocery store and buying it," Huff says.

    The preschoolers also lean words in languages other than English. Huff speaks in both English and Spanish. Her assistant speaks French and Arabic. She adds that a 3-year-old in her class speaks four different languages.

    Farm animals are also an important part of the education program. Jaclyn Jenkins says the children learn about a different animal every month. Two months ago, she says, that animal was a cow. The children spent another month with a large bird-a turkey.

    The children come home with new experiences, new knowledge and sometimes a few vegetables.

    The UK's largest coffee seller, Costa Coffee, has promised to recycle half a billion coffee cups a year by 2020 to deal with plastic waste. The move, which means recycling the same number of cups it puts onto the market, would account for a big percentage out of the 2.5 billion takeaway cups thrown away across the country every year.

    Though marked as recyclable, most of paper coffee cups end up on landfill(垃圾场) or being burned due to the plastic lining(涂层) used to make them waterproof. By paying waste collectors to take coffee cups to certain places, Costa hopes to increase the rate at which cups are recycled. Finally, all a customer will need to do to make sure their cup avoids landfill is throw it into a standard recycling bin.

    Started following the Environmental Audit Committee's report recommending ministers take action to deal with coffee cup waste, the campaign has pushed for action from governments and businesses and promoted possible solutions. Starbucks has promised ￡7m to develop a "fully recyclable cup" following pressure from campaigners, while Waitrose, a supermarket, has planned to stop using disposable(一次性的) coffee cups from its stores by autumn.

    The company has entered into a partnership with five national waste collectors – Veolia, Biffa, Suez, Grundon and First Mile – that between them cover public spaces across the UK including hospitals, universities and transport hubs. The coffee company is also working with paper factories to make sure their products are recycled effectively. James Cropper, for example, has plans to upgrade 500 million cups a year to create plastic-free packaging. By building more partnerships with waste contractors in every area, Costa means to hit its half a billion mark within two years.

    With one report showing the number of takeaway drink cups thrown away in the UK is set to rise by a third by 2030, and the government recently failing to tax some coffee to discourage cup use, it falls to businesses to act on the huge amount of waste from their products.

    Commenting on the announcement, Environment Minister Therese Coffey said: "Congratulations to Costa on taking this significant step to help coffee lovers do the right thing and increase recycling. We all have a responsibility to our environment and this is a significant step by a British business which should increase the number of disposable coffee cups we recycle in this country." "We want to help companies become plastic free and through our 25 Year Environment Plan we are putting in place the aims to encourage all of us to play our part in ending the pollution of plastic waste in our natural environment."

    These days, it seems like everything is going digital. You can find almost everything on the Internet.

    Many people find this way of life more convenient, because they can complete their daily chores（琐事） from the comfort of their own home.

    Firstly, online shopping can be far less stressful than hitting the high street shops. There are no huge crowds of people or boring long queues. With online shopping, it's just you and your computer. It's like you have the whole shop to yourself! Secondly, online stores don't have opening and closing times. This is perfect for anyone with a busy schedule. If you want to, you can even place an online shopping order at three o'clock in the morning!

    In the busy modern world, there are clearly many advantages to online shopping. However, in my experience, there are also several cons… With online shopping, you can't try before you buy, and that's a definite disadvantage for me. Often, when my new clothes arrive, I find they don't fit very well. It's always annoying when a dress is a little too big, or when sleeves are too short… Sometimes, the clothes are not what I was expecting. A piece of clothing might look great in photos online, but quite different in real life.

    In these cases, you want to return the item, but here lies the biggest problem with online shopping. You have to pay for your order's delivery, and for an item to be returned to the warehouse! These charges are often very expensive, which suddenly make online shopping seem a little less convenient… That's why I don't choose to shop online very frequently. For now, I will continue to find the time for a trip to a real shop, where I know exactly what I'm buying!

    A lifetime of active exercise will let you keep the body of a 20-year-old well into your 70s, scientists have found.

    The physical decline (衰退) thought to be an unavoidable part of ageing is actually the result of not exercising enough, according to the research, which found that regular cyclists kept the muscles, lungs, and even the immune system (免疫系统) of people years younger. Besides, many serious health problems could be prevented if people became more active, researchers insist.

    Janet Lord, a leading researcher, said, “Our findings prove the false belief that ageing automatically makes us weaker. We now have strong evidence that encouraging people to do regular exercise throughout their lives can solve the problem that we are living longer but not healthier.”

    She looked at 125 cyclists aged 55 to 79 who had been exercising regularly for 25 years and compared them with 75 ordinary people of a similar age and 55 people aged 20 to 36. On a series of physical measures, the cyclists showed no difference from people much younger in their immune systems and making T cells.

    Now Professor Lord aims to discover how much exercise people need to do to stay young. “You needn't work out a lot. It may be intensity (强度) that helps—like going up and down the stairs ten times a day.”

    While there is no magic method of staying mentally and physically fit in later life, the benefits of keeping active can never be ignored, whatever your age or state of health.

    About a month after I joined Facebook, I got a call from Lori Goler, a highly regarded senior director of marketing at eBay. She made it clear this was a business call. "I want to apply to work with you at Facebook," she said. "Instead of recommending myself, I want to ask you: What is your biggest problem, and how can I solve it?"

    My jaw hit the floor. I had hired thousands of people over the previous decade and no one had ever said anything remotely like that. People usually focus on finding the right role for themselves, with the implication that their skills will help the company. Lori put Facebook's needs front and center. It was a killer approach. I responded, "Recruiting is my biggest problem. And, yes, you can solve it."

    Lori never dreamed she would work in recruiting, but she jumped in. She even agreed to trade earnings for acquiring new skills in a new field. Lori did a great job running recruiting and within months was promoted to her current job, leading People@Facebook.

    The most common metaphor for careers is a ladder, but this concept no longer applies to most workers. As of 2010, the average American had eleven jobs from the ages of eighteen to forty-six alone. Lori often quotes Pattie Sellers, who came up with a much better metaphor: "Careers are a jungle gym, not a ladder."

    As Lori describes it, there's only one way to get to the top of a ladder, but there are many ways to get to the top of a jungle gym. The jungle gym model benefits everyone, but especially women who might be starting careers, switching careers, getting blocked by external barriers, or reentering the workforce after taking time off. The ability to create a unique path with occasional dips, detours (弯路), and even dead ends presents great views of many people, not just those at the top. On a ladder, most climbers are stuck staring at the butt of the person above.