Evidence from Finland The Authors Timo Rintamki, School of Business Administration, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland Hannu Kuusela, School of Business Administration, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland Mark T. Spence, Bond University, Bond, Australia Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank the referees for insightful comments that we believe have significantly improved the positioning, value and clarity of this manuscript. Abstract Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to decompose total customer value as perceived by department store shoppers into utilitarian, hedonic and social dimensions, and empirically test this conceptualization in a Finnish department store shopping context. Design/methodology/approach -- Data were collected by a questionnaire administered over three days at a department store that generates the second largest turnover in Finland. A total of 364 shoppers completed the questionnaire. Findings -- Empirical evidence supports our tripartite conceptualization of total customer value. In particular, social value is an independent construct. Further, social value varies by day-of-week, with a significant increase on Saturday (versus weekdays) when the store is more crowded, whereas no such differences in utilitarian and hedonic values were detected. Originality/value -- The principal contribution is a tripartite conceptualization of total customer value that incorporates utilitarian, social and hedonic value dimensions in a department store shopping context. Individually these dimensions are all well rooted in streams of consumer behavior literature, albeit mostly at the product or brand, not the store, level. Increasing our understanding of these softer aspects of shopping, particularly the social dimension, is important because they represent possible differentiating factors in the highly competitive and often commoditized retail markets. Journal: Volume: Number: Year: pp: ISSN: 0959-0552 Introduction Customer value is a key concept in retail strategy and differentiation because it addresses "what they [customers] want and believe they get from buying and using a seller's product" ( Woodruff, 1997, p. 140 ). Creating and delivering customer value is a precondition for retailers to survive in today's competitive marketplace. Many shoppers are looking for more than simply fair prices and convenience, the cornerstones of utilitarian value. Retailers who understand the multiplicity of motives for shopping have the best possibilities to create value for their customers. Instead of defining motivation to shop only as a function of buying, the role of hedonic and social shopping motives should also be recognized ( Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982 ; Sheth, 1983 ; Tauber, 1972 ; Westbrook and Black, 1985 ). In response to these various motivations, we decompose total customer value as perceived by department store shoppers with respect to their shopping experience into utilitarian, hedonic and social dimensions. While the experiential aspects of consumption -- central to the study at hand -- have been dubbed "hot topics" of the millennium (for a review, see Holbrook, 2000, 2001a, b ), the phenomena itself is hardly new ( Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982 ; Woods, 1981 ). Two decades ago Sheth (1983) proposed two kinds of shopping motivations: customer's functional needs and non-functional wants. Retailers strive to deliver what customers need, but the most successful retail store concepts are often based on what customers want. More recently Solomon (2002, p. 299) noted: Shopping malls have tried to gain the loyalty of shoppers by appealing to their social motives as well as providing access to desired goods. The mall is often a focal point in community ... Malls are becoming giant entertainment centers, almost to the point that their traditional retail occupants seem like an afterthought. Even mass retailers like Wal-Mart who compete on low prices have started to pay more attention to connecting with the social and emotional sides of their customers. However, creating value is not costless, hence the need to understand the drivers of total customer value. This research effort is in response to the need for an expanded, yet still parsimonious, definition of total customer value that encompasses hedonic and social aspects of consumption. Its principal contribution is a tripartite conceptualization of total customer value that incorporates utilitarian, social and hedonic value dimensions in a department store shopping context. Individually these dimensions are all well rooted in streams of consumer behavior literature, albeit mostly at the product or brand, not the store, level ( Arnold and Reynolds, 2003 ; Parsons, 2002 ). We measure and test if these three constructs capture customer value in a department store shopping context. Hedonic and social dimensions of customer value are seen as meaningful and important aspects that complement the traditional utilitarian perspective. Increasing our understanding of these softer aspects of shopping is important because they represent possible differentiating factors in the highly competitive and often commoditized retail markets. In the words of Tauber (1972, p. 49) : "Many retailers would benefit by defining their business as being part of the social-recreational industry." Conceptual overview A hierarchical structure of customer value may be represented by using a means-end chain ( Woodruff, 1997 ; Zeithaml, 1988 ). Product attributes represent the lowest level in the customer value hierarchy. These attributes may be concrete or abstract, positive or negative. The extent to which these bundles of attributes are meaningful, i.e. perceived as benefits or sacrifices, depends on the customer's subjective goals and purposes. Goals and purposes represent the highest level of the customer value hierarchy. Although the highest level of the customer value hierarchy could cover a wide range of life values, those that relate to motivations to engage in department store shopping are the foci here. It is assumed that customer value stems from attributes and consequences that contribute to customer's instrumental goals and purposes (e.g. monetary savings and convenience) as well as those that are meaningful ends in themselves (e.g. to some, shopping is an adventure and/or social outing). The shopping experience, therefore, generates a variety of concrete and abstract benefits and sacrifices that contribute to total customer value that goes beyond the mere acquisition of physical products or core services. In order to understand shopping motives, one has to consider the satisfaction provided by both shopping activities and the utility derived from the merchandise. Tauber (1972) asked a convenience sample of 30 people (half men, half women) to recall their most recent shopping trip (of any type), discuss their activities while shopping, and tell what they enjoyed about the trip. As a result, from a list of shopping activities and satisfactions, a number of hypothesized motives for shopping were classified ex post as either personal or social. He concluded: If the shopping motive is a function of only the buying motive, the decision to shop will occur when a person's need for particular goods becomes sufficiently strong for him to allocate time, money, and effort to visit a store. However, the multiplicity of hypothesized shopping motives suggest that a person may also go shopping when he needs attention, wants to be with peers, desires to meet people with similar interests, feels a need to exercise, or has leisure time ( Tauber, 1972, p. 48 ). Consistent with Tauber's conclusion, Sheth (1983) proposes, but did not test, an integrative theory of patronage preference and patronage behavior theories, resulting in two separate models. The former model addresses shopping motivations and values, which he believed related to the choice of outlets to which one could shop. He proposed two shopping motives, one relating to functional needs and the other to nonfunctional wants. To quote:  Functional needs are related to what have traditionally been referred to as time, place, and possession needs. Specific examples include such things as one-stop shopping, cost and availability of needed products, convenience in parking and shopping, and accessibility to the outlets.  Nonfunctional wants are related to various shopping outlets as a result of their associations with certain social, emotional, and epistemic values. For example, many retail outlets acquire positive or negative images because of patronage by desirable or undesirable demographic, socioeconomic, and ethnic groups, or they arouse positive or negative responses such as masculine, feminine, garish, loud, or crude, because of store atmospherics, personnel, or business practices in general. Finally, customers do shop for novelty, to satisfy their curiosity, to reduce boredom, to keep up with new trends and events. These are all reflections of the epistemic, nonfunctional wants. It is important to recognize that functional needs are clearly anchored to the outlet attributes, whereas nonfunctional wants are anchored to the outlet association. In this sense, functional needs are intrinsic to outlets, whereas nonfunctional wants are extrinsic to the outlets ( Sheth, 1983, p. 15-16 ). Parsons (2002) applied Tauber's (1972) personal and social motives as representative of Sheth's (1983) non-functional motives for shopping on the internet. He found that non-functional motives can be adapted to the twenty-first century mode of shopping, namely internet shopping. Because "softer" non-functional sources of motivations apply to the internet, to gain market share internet sellers should not focus solely on functional aspects. Arnold and Reynolds (2003) focused on the hedonic motivations of shopping. They recognized six dimensions of hedonic shopping motivations: adventure, gratification, role, value, social, and idea shopping. By using these dimensions and additional background variables, five shopper types were profiled. But these authors are not alone advancing motivation-based shopper typologies -- see, e.g. Westbrook and Black (1985) for a nice review and alternative perspective. Regardless of motivation typology, all of which acknowledge non-utilitarian aspects, being able to segment customers based on underlying motives lends support for the need to broaden our understanding of how customers derive value from the department store shopping experience per se . Given the importance of customer value to marketers, it is not surprising that there is an abundance of definitions and conceptualizations of value that depend both on the context of the study and the methodology and measurement techniques used. Conceptualizing value as a simple ratio of quality and price ( Gale, 1994 ) has been turned into a rich description of intrinsic and extrinsic benefits. Among these are instrumental (functional and cognitive) and non-instrumental (experiential and affective) benefits and sacrifices ( Aylott and Mitchell, 1998 ; Babin et al. , 1994 ; Chandon et al. , 2000 ; Reid and Brown, 1996 ; Csikszentmihalyi, 2000 ). Store atmospherics, e.g. music, lighting and layout, can enhance the shopping experience, hence shopping value ( Babin and Attaway, 2000 ; Bitner, 1992 ). Holbrook (1994, 1999) defines customer value as interactive between a subject (customer) and an object (product). In addition, customer value is relativistic because it involves preferences among objects, it varies among people, and it is specific to the context. Value is, therefore, comparative, personal and situational. Further, value is the outcome of an evaluative judgment and thus preferential. Holbrook notes that value (singular) as an outcome differs from values (plural) that are used as standards, rules, criteria, norms, goals or ideals for the evaluative judgment. Table I provides a flavor for the various conceptualizations provided by some of the aforementioned authors as well as others. What is striking is the lack of agreement. For our purposes customer value goes beyond product purchase (i.e. the outcome) to cover the whole shopping experience. Our objective is to demonstrate that total customer value within a department store shopping context consists of three dimensions: utilitarian and hedonic dimensions -- which have attracted attention ( Babin et al. , 1994 ; Arnold and Reynolds, 2003 ) -- and a third, lesser understood dimension, social value. The proposed tripartite perspective of total customer value Earlier research ( Table I ) has treated social value either as a lower level construct contributing to utilitarian and hedonic value ( Chandon et al. , 2000 ), or modeled it as one of several dimensions comprising value realized from a consumer good ( Sweeney and Soutar, 2001 ). Thus, for example, to capture the perceived social value inherent in a consumer durable good Sweeney and Soutar (2001) included measures such as: "If I bought or used this item, it would create a favorable impression of me." Our focus is the shopping experience provided by the retailer, not the brand. One of the many purchase related decisions is where to purchase; a brand may be available at multiple outlets. Our insights are, therefore, directed toward retailers. We conceptualize the total value of department store shopping as having three dimensions. Briefly, utilitarian value stems from monetary savings and convenience; hedonic value stems from exploration and entertainment; and social value is realized through status and self-esteem enhancement. These dimensions need not be orthogonal: a successful purchase of a product at a discount at the first store visited -- perhaps with assistance from a friend one met while shopping -- could yield multiple values ( Babin et al. , 1994 ). We propose that in the department store shopping domain social value merits treatment as a separate, third construct because: modeling social value as a separate construct will test its relevance in the shopping domain. If supporting evidence is realized, it would add conceptual clarity to what comprises the global construct, total customer value. Figure 1 shows the proposed model. A more detailed account of the three dimensions is summarized in Table II . Utilitarian value The utilitarian perspective is based on the assumption that consumers are rational problem-solvers ( Bettman, 1979 ). As a result, the utilitarian perspective stresses functional, product-centric thinking, and research has focused on consumer decision processes. Consumption is understood as a means to accomplish some predefined end. Therefore, the consumer is seen as a utility calculator, Homo Economicus . Shoppers experience utilitarian value when their task-related needs are fulfilled. Therefore, utilitarian value is characterized as instrumental and extrinsic ( Babin et al. , 1994 ; Holbrook, 1999 ; Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982 ). Monetary savings and convenience contribute to utilitarian value. Monetary savings reduce the pain of paying ( Chandon et al. , 2000 ); therefore, utilitarian value can be increased when a customer is able to find discounted products or when prices are perceived to be less than those at competing stores. Convenience can be defined as a ratio of inputs to outputs, time and effort being the relevant inputs ( Holbrook, 1999 ; Seiders et al. , 2000 ). As Seiders et al. (2000) point out, in order to provide customers convenience one must understand the "retail experience from drive in to check out" and find ways to "maximize the speed and ease of shopping." They define four different kinds of convenience which stem from the speed and ease with which consumers can: reach a retailer (access convenience); identify and select the essential products (search convenience); obtain desired products (possession convenience); and effect or amend transactions (transaction convenience). Our analysis involves a store within a shopping mall, hence the convenience aspects focused on are search and possession. Hedonic value Consumption experience as an end valued for its own sake became a topic of interest among consumer researchers in the early-1980s. The experiential view highlighted three F's -- fantasies, feelings and fun -- that represented the hedonic aspects of consumption ( Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982 ). Hedonic consumption designates those facets of consumer behavior that relate to the multisensory, fantasy and emotive aspects of one's experience with products ( Hirschman and Holbrook, 1982, p. 92 ). The experiential consumer may be called Homo Ludens , a man guided by his senses and wants. In the late-1990s the experiential view attracted interest through the experience economy, a term coined to describe "a new economic offering" ( Pine and Gilmore, 1999 ) that customers wanted to "sense, feel, think, act and relate" ( Schmitt, 1999 ). Social value The social dimension of consumption can be understood through a symbolic interactionism perspective which emphasizes the importance of products in setting the stage for the multitude of social roles that people play ( Belk, 1988 ; Solomon, 1983 ). From the symbolic interactionism perspective the consumer is seen as Homo Faber . Shopping represents a social act where symbolic meanings, social codes, relationships, and the consumer's identity and self may be produced and reproduced ( Firat and Venkatesh, 1993 ). Patronizing a department store that has certain store attributes/atmospherics (or buying and using certain products) depends on how a customer wants to be seen and/or how she wants to see herself ( Erdem et al. , 1999 ; Sheth et al. , 1991 ; Sirgy et al. , 2000 ; Sweeney and Soutar, 2001 ). In other words, the act of shopping can provide a symbolic benefit, as customers are able to express their personal values through the consumption experience ( Chandon et al. , 2000 ). According to the symbolic interactionism perspective, the "cues" present in a retail shopping experience are used by individuals in assigning meaning to others as well as in assigning social identity to themselves ( Belk, 1988 ; Solomon, 1983 ). Thus, we view social value as an independent dimension of total customer value (albeit one that can covary with the other two proposed dimensions). Many of us may have perused products at stores that clearly push our financial capabilities, perhaps with little intention of purchasing, but the process of doing so enhances our status and/or self-esteem, which contribute to social value. Status enhancement is a benefit attained by using symbolic features in communicating signs of position or membership to others. It has been suggested that status seeking has its origin in materialism and that it is connected to conspicuous consumption ( Babin et al. , 1994 ; Richins and Dawson, 1992 ; Veblen, 1967 ). Status is actively pursued, cognitive, intentional and instrumental ( Holbrook, 1999 ; Chandon et al. , 2000 ). Individuals that engage in status enhancement are characterized as high self-monitors, who are mainly concerned with how they play their role, i.e. what kind of impression they give to others ( Browne and Kaldenberg, 1997 ). Self-esteem enhancement is a benefit experienced when symbolic features derived from the company, store, products, personnel and other customers are attached to self in order to define and maintain one's concept of self. Shopping is an environment where customers stroll, gaze and are gazed upon. In addition, symbolic properties may be used in emphasizing unique traits. Shopping experiences may sometimes carry personal meanings so important that they are characterized as "sacred or magical" ( Belk, 1988 ; Csikszentmihalyi, 2000 ; Holbrook, 1999, 2001b ; Solomon, 1983 ). In the next section we provide empirical evidence that supports our tripartite perspective of total customer value. Empirical analysis Data were collected by a questionnaire administered over three days at a department store that generates the second largest turnover in Finland. In our case, the department store is an anchor store in a large mall that has become a destination shopping location, attracting customers from long distances. Wakefield and Baker (1998) found the "tenant variety" as an important construct explaining the attractiveness of a mall. Because the data include customers from many parts of Finland, we see this as strength in our study[1]. Theory on customer motivations and values reviewed earlier in conjunction with results from qualitative research were used in questionnaire design. Qualitative research was conducted in order to illuminate the salient shopping benefits, customer value dimensions and their relation to the customer value formation process. Six shoppers were theme-interviewed using a laddering technique recommended by Woodruff (1997) and Vriens and Hofstede (2000) . The interviewees were first asked to describe the purpose of their shopping trip, main purchases made, and an evaluation whether or not the shopping experience matched their needs and expectations. Based on their descriptions the interviewer asked more about the positive and negative aspects of the shopping experience. Themes -- in our case value dimensions -- were not given to the interviewees during the interviews, but more specific questions concerning the perceived benefits and sacrifices were asked in the order that the interviewee mentioned them. The results provided support for both the proposed model and questionnaire. Our study uses statements that reflect the perceived benefits in order to capture utilitarian, social, and hedonic value dimensions. A five-point Likert scale response format was used in the data gathering. Using only benefit constructs (and not measuring sacrifices) may be a limitation, but a common way to proceed when value dimensions are investigated ( Mathwick et al. , 2001 ; Chandon et al. , 2000 )[2]. In order to increase reliability several aspects of data collection were carefully considered. The first objective was to minimize memory-based bias. This was done by focusing on the shopping experience that had just taken place in the department store the data were collected. A shopping experience that took place minutes ago is easy for respondents to recall; this would not have been the case if data gathering had been by telephone or mail survey. Moreover, using a specific shopping excursion at one store as an object of inquiry makes more salient the strategic implications that creating social value can have when differentiating retail stores than would be the case had we investigated shopping in general. Customers were asked to take part in a survey "investigating general aspects of the in-store shopping experience." Customers who agreed to participate were taken to a lounge where the questionnaire was explained and administered. Those customers who completed the questionnaire were given a voucher for a meal at any of the restaurants located in the mall. Our primary purpose was to decompose total customer value into three dimensions: utilitarian, hedonic and social. Thus, first the existence of these three dimensions needs to be established. However, to show that these dimensions have clear managerial relevance, a second goal was to show that these dimensions can be influenced. We choose an exogenous moderating variable to test, namely day-of-week. It seems reasonable to assume that these dimensions would be affected by the day-of-the-week that shopping takes place; afterall, the number of shoppers is affected by holidays, day-of-week and weather variables ( Parsons, 2001 ). Store patronage is greater Saturday than during the week, which would suggest that if the social value dimension can be established, we might find that its effect is moderated (increased) on the weekend because the greater number of customers would increase the likelihood of status enhancement. Data collection was, therefore, executed during three days: Thursday, Friday and Saturday. It was anticipated that all three dimensions would be supported ( Figure 1 ); and that the relative contribution of the three second-order constructs comprising total customer value would vary by day-of-week, with social value in particular exhibiting its strongest effect on weekends when the store is most crowded. Sample characteristics The sample consisted of 364 questionnaires, 54.1 percent of which were from female respondents. The number of non-participants was 96 (21 percent of the total). Non-participants were customers who were asked to answer the survey, but declined to do so. For non-participants, gender and an estimate of age were recorded. Comparison of age and gender among participants and non-participants does not reveal any significant differences, indicating that the sample is free of bias in this respect. Sample characteristics are presented in Table III . Measurement models The first step was to estimate three measurement models, one for each of the three value dimensions, to establish construct validity. Because the scale of each first and second order factor is indeterminate, the scale was fixed by setting one loading equal to one, as seen in the lower two-thirds of Figure 2 . The estimated loadings for all three models were significant: t -values varied between 5.33 and 13.64. The R 2 -values of basic variables varied between 0.23 (COA) and 0.90 (ENC). These results provide support that the individual constructs are valid. The next step was to run the complete model shown in Figure 2 . Complete model In the complete model the second order factors were allowed to correlate -- as noted earlier, a shopping excursion can yield multiple benefits. We hypothesized that the total customer value provided by the shopping experience is hierarchically organized with utilitarian, social and hedonic value operating as second order factors. The t -values for first-order factors vary between 6.96 and 14.59 ( Table IV ), and for second-order factors between 5.76 and 11.13 ( Table V ). The overall ? 2 =371.28, df=129, p <0.001 ( Figure 2 ). All estimated parameters are significant ( p <0.001). The proposed model provides a good fit to the data and can, therefore, be considered nomologically valid. The overall goodness of fit is 0.89 and the root mean square residual is 0.074. Independence AIC results in 6250.11 and model AIC in 455.28. The correlation between second order factors is positive, as expected. The estimated loadings together with their t -values and R 2 -values for first-, second- and third-order constructs are given in Tables IV-VI . In three cases the estimated R 2 -values were above unity, noted as HC in the right-hand column of Tables V and VI . This corresponds to the "Heywood case", which is common in studies similar this ( Rindskopf, 1984 ). This does not have a significant effect on the results[3]. The effect of day-of-the-week The next step was to determine the benefit, if any, of isolating the social value construct. We hypothesized that social value would increase from weekdays to Saturday because of the greater number of customers on the weekend. As noted previously, enhancing one's status -- which requires the presence of others -- contributes to social value. Data were collected on Thursday (27.7 percent), Friday (35.4 percent), and Saturday (36.9 percent). The purpose was to examine whether model parameters differed between weekdays (Thursday and Friday were combined) and Saturday. As before, measurement models were allowed to vary freely in each case. Three tests were performed using a ? 2 test, results of which appear in Table VII . These tests indicate that there is a significant difference between weekdays and Saturday by the second order constructs on the third level, total customer value. Specifically, the significant difference lies in test 1: social value parameters are not equal between weekdays and Saturday. The social value parameter estimate was 0.90 on weekdays and 1.86 on Saturdays, a twofold increase ( Table VIII ). Thus, on Saturday the social value is significantly greater, as hypothesized. Hence, the relative contribution of social value varies by day-of-week. This is particularly interesting since social value is introduced here as an independent shopping value dimension that complements utilitarian and hedonic value. There was no significant difference between weekdays and Saturday for the latter two dimensions. Discussion To create and deliver customer value retailers are pursuing differentiation strategies, adding hedonic and social value in an effort to increase customer patronage. Unfortunately doing so is not costless, hence the need to better understand the drivers of total customer value. Successful retailers understand that customer value encompasses concrete and abstract aspects of the shopping experience, from entrance to check-out, and from choice (buying) to using (consuming) and experiencing. This research responded to the need for an expanded definition of customer value that emphasizes experiential and social aspects of consumption. The principal contribution is the tripartite conceptualization of total customer value that incorporates utilitarian, social and hedonic value dimensions in a department store shopping context. The results suggest several managerial implications. On the basis of the results of this study, we can repeat the proposition that was originally presented three decades ago: "Many retailers would benefit by defining their business as being part of the social-recreational industry" ( Tauber, 1972, p. 49 ). We have provided empirical support for this proposition. Orchestrating a value providing shopping experience calls for an understanding of the relationships between benefit and value dimensions. As is true with brand management, at best only a small number of retailers can pursue a cost leadership strategy, i.e. emphasize value and convenience, for example, through an everyday-low-price strategy -- a strategy fundamentally at odds with increasing hedonic and social value. Others must, therefore, differentiate by creating hedonic and social value, the costs of which must be recovered via higher product prices or a greater quantity of sales per customer. Creating hedonic value is common. Upscale stores, for example, have maze like floor layouts, put-up extensive seasonal adornments, and let consumers use/play with product offerings. Our insights suggest expending effort that boosts one's status or self-esteem could be a viable differentiation strategy as it would create social value. Using narrowcast media directed toward specific segments and incorporating messages that appeal to esteem needs are means of doing so. Another is to train and retain "expert" salespersons that dress and act like the store's desired clientele. Thus, by becoming aware of the utilitarian, social and hedonic dimensions that comprise total customer value, and the benefits that customers associate with these dimensions, the concept of customer value can be used as a managerial tool in planning advertising and promotions, segmentation strategies, managing store atmospherics, and in staging integrated and memorable shopping experiences. Utilitarian value can be seen as the bedrock that is a precondition for business, but is in itself often unable to differentiate the company and its products from the competition. Complementing utilitarian value with hedonic and social dimensions of customer value is where the real edge is. Limitations and suggestions for future research Although this study was carried out in an authentic retail setting consisting of actual shoppers, the results should be interpreted with a several caveats in mind. One, the results have been accomplished in a shopping goods environment. Hence, caution should be exercised in generalizing the results to other areas of retailing, such as grocery shopping. Two, the use of questionnaires and statistical methods of analysis is often criticized when studying experiential and symbolic aspects of consumption. The conceptualization of some constructs might benefit from more thorough use of qualitative methods, such as in-depth interviews and narrative analyses in future research. And finally, sacrifices were not conceptualized nor measured in this study. Overall, there is a lack of empirical validation and modeling of sacrifices in general and of psychosocial sacrifices in particular. Both theory and practice would benefit from a causal model addressing the role and importance of sacrifices, since in some areas of retailing it is easier -- and cheaper -- to increase value by cutting down psychosocial sacrifices than by adding more benefits. Figure 1 The structural model: utilitarian, social and hedonic value contribute to total customer value in a department store shopping context


I have just completed my GCSE's about a month ago and awaiting for the results in August. During the 4 weeks between me completing my exams and the Summer Holidays I have volunteered at my local primary school, (which I went to for my Year 11 work experience) and I thought it was absolutely fantastic! I really enjoyed working with all of the children (3-11), with their work and holding football club during lunchtimes (which I do every Thursday night). I also did the 'boring' jobs, such as laminating , photocopying etc, so I know teaching is not all that glamorous but it is so rewarding, even of I was only there 4 weeks! So much so I nearly cried at their Year 6 leavers assembly! ( I NEVER cry!). I feel so passionate about it and I think it is what I would like to do, so I have been looking into different Universities and have found a few such as Swansea Met, Winchester, Birmingham and others. I think I do want to go to Swansea as it is closer to home but I will need to stay on an extra year for the PGCE so I can have the QTS. Is it worth doing the extra year? Or should I find somewhere with the QTS being involved with the degree? If you have any advice to help me I would be very appreciated! Also for my GCSE's, I am very much a 'C' student with some B's, so I know that some Universities are definitely out of the question. I do know that A Levels will be tough work and I will need to work VERY hard. Thank You for listen to me! If you really want to be a Primary school teacher then you can do a normal degree and then a PGCE Primary or just do a Bachelor of Education (BEd) degree which is a specific education degree which will qualify you to be a Primary school teacher. If you are absolutely sure that you want to be a teacher than do the BEd, but i personally would advise you to do a different degree in a subject that interests you and then a PGCE after just in case you change your mind in the future. Don't worry about your GCSEs, as long as you have 5 A*-C grades in English, Maths and Science then you will be fine as that is the general entry requirment for all PGCE/BEd courses Also unless you want to work in a really posh/private school then the university you go to will not matter, employers will be more concerned with your passion for teaching and how you can prove this (i.e you coaching football for children and doing work expereince) Thanks for replying Pixie! I am going to be taking Drama, Media and Welsh, I also have to take Welsh Baccalaureate. I feel quite embarrassed when teachers/students wanting to work with children ask what I am going to take as I haven't picked the core subjects. Swansea Met, doesn't specify which A Levels you do but I have to have 5 C-A* GCSE's (as you stated), but will this effect overall employment availability? ( Originally Posted by Mr.DL ) Thanks for replying Pixie! I am going to be taking Drama, Media and Welsh, I also have to take Welsh Baccalaureate. I feel quite embarrassed when teachers/students wanting to work with children ask what I am going to take as I haven't picked the core subjects. Swansea Met, doesn't specify which A Levels you do but I have to have 5 C-A* GCSE's (as you stated), but will this effect overall employment availability? This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App I'm not really sure about this as i personally thought that you had to have one A-level in a core subject if your degree is not, all the BEd courses that i have looked at have asked for this. If you are really worried about this then you can change one of your Alevel options on your enrollment day. If you choose to do a normal degree and then a PGCE Primary, then you may be asked to show how your A levels/degree was relevant to the national curriculum/core subjects, where you could explain the elements of English Literature and Language which was included in your Media and Drama A-Level. Although your A-levels are not in core subjects, they do show that you are very creative; which is a needed skill if you want to work with small children Whenever I have looked on the Uni's I think I could get into it only asks for a certain number of points and 5 GCSE's C or above including Maths, Science and English Language- I have looked on the UCAS website as well as the Uni website. I don't think picking a different degree then a PGCE is an option, because I am so sure I want to be a primary a school teacher. Would you recommend changing one subject at A-Level? I have picked the ones I enjoy the most and I am good at. Surely having passes at these is better than failing Maths, English and Science? Would doing one year of AS level in one of these then picking a core AS for the 2013-14 school year make a difference? I think you should try to take one national curriculum subject to at least As if you can; maths, english, science, art, music, geography,history,R.E,P.E. But you don't have to but it might narrow down the unis that you can apply to. Also are you planning to specialise in the younger or older children because if you are doing 3-7 then Psychology is a good subject to take. Do a different degree and then a PGCE if you want plenty of people who definately want to be primary school teachers still go this route just because they want to do the other degree just beacsue you do a pgce doesn't mean that you dont want to teach as much as someone who did a primary ed degree. Thanks for replying xxlissaxx, I know it would be better but, I passed Maths GCSE in November at Foundation level, I barely scrape through GCSE Science, English Lit I think is alright but I have stronger areas. I could do English Language as I am good at it, but it was on the same line as Welsh, which I enjoy a lot, and if I wanted to teach in Wales it would help a lot. I could see what the option lines are like for next years AS level and do English Language? During my volunteer work, surprisingly I really enjoyed working with the Year 3 and 4 children, surprised as I thought I would only like to teach the Year 6's, so ages 8+ I would like to teach. The only other thing I really like and could do at University is Drama. I am quite good and have been in numerous plays and musicals, but after a recent re-think, I have decided I am going to kid myself if I am going to have a successful career in acting and teaching would be a better idea for long term jobs, unlike just working for 2 months a year as an actor. To be honest, I only see myself being a teacher, and although I am still quite young and could change my mind at any point. I have always thought "I'd like to be a _____ or a Primary School teacher". I am prepared to work very hard to get to my goal! yeah english language would be good to take, i think you just just take which ever A-levels you want for now and then you can decide wether you want to do a drama degree or a primary ed degree nearer the time. Worth bearing in mind if you dont consider yourself academically very strong that no bursaries are available to primary pgce students if they get under a 2:1 classification in their degree. Definitely try and do a curriculum subject for your A levels too. ( Originally Posted by Mr.DL ) Thanks for replying xxlissaxx, I know it would be better but, I passed Maths GCSE in November at Foundation level, I barely scrape through GCSE Science, English Lit I think is alright but I have stronger areas. I could do English Language as I am good at it, but it was on the same line as Welsh, which I enjoy a lot, and if I wanted to teach in Wales it would help a lot. I could see what the option lines are like for next years AS level and do English Language? During my volunteer work, surprisingly I really enjoyed working with the Year 3 and 4 children, surprised as I thought I would only like to teach the Year 6's, so ages 8+ I would like to teach. The only other thing I really like and could do at University is Drama. I am quite good and have been in numerous plays and musicals, but after a recent re-think, I have decided I am going to kid myself if I am going to have a successful career in acting and teaching would be a better idea for long term jobs, unlike just working for 2 months a year as an actor. To be honest, I only see myself being a teacher, and although I am still quite young and could change my mind at any point. I have always thought "I'd like to be a _____ or a Primary School teacher". I am prepared to work very hard to get to my goal! This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App Though degree +PGCE keeps options open, if you don't want to do a degree in something else anyway it's probably not right for you. And BEd doesn't completely shut every other area off... Teaching gives you plenty of skills that can transfer to tonnes of other careers if you were ever to change your mind. Also, it's quite an uncertain time. If you did a BEd you'd be on it and sorted, whereas if you did a degree by the time you finished it the way teacher training is done may have completely changed, making it harder for you. Regarding a-levels it's always best to phone unis you may be interested in and ask their advice. They will be able to tell you what you need, what will help you etc Also, you're doing great to get experience now, keep doing that as much as you can! Hello (: I'm (hopefully) starting a primary ed degree in September and I took almost only core subjects at a level (maths, lit, politics) but you definitely don't need to. I wanted to specialise in lit but a lot of unis let you specialise in almost any core subject. Languages are a new requirement in primary teaching so having any language at a level is definitely an advantage. Also, my friend took drama and the interviewers were very interested in that 'teaching is all about acting', etc. Drama's also a large part of language and literacy. So yeah, you can take almost anything as long as you can justify it. Go to open days and ask if you're worried. October isn't too late to change a levels in most places (: Sorry I don't make much sense. Thank you everyone who replied, I have learned quite a lot from your posts! I will get in touch with Uni's to see what they would prefer. And will also keep in mind about doing a drama degree then a PGCE. In the meantime I will keep doing as much experience as possible. I will keep to my A Level options for now, and see how it pans out, I can always change it too if I don't like it. English Language I will have as a standby subject if I need to change. Thank you again everybody! ( Originally Posted by Mr.DL ) Thank you everyone who replied, I have learned quite a lot from your posts! I will get in touch with Uni's to see what they would prefer. And will also keep in mind about doing a drama degree then a PGCE. In the meantime I will keep doing as much experience as possible. I will keep to my A Level options for now, and see how it pans out, I can always change it too if I don't like it. English Language I will have as a standby subject if I need to change. Thank you again everybody! This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App Hi! I'm going to be doing an education related degree in September but I've also had a few primary education interviews and been given offers - I just decided that I would have more options doing an education joint honours - as you get a PGCE interview at the end anyway (and I think quite a few uni's are the same). After attending about a gazillion primary ed open days, every one said that you needed to have at least one a level in English, maths or science. They do say about languages, but i didn't even take a GCSE in a language and still got in. A lot said that they won't consider applicants if you have two art-type degrees (e.g. art/drama/photography/media). personally, I took English, biology and art which seemed to impress them because the creativity of art is extremely useful in the job I also think a great thing to have is plenty of experience - I've had 10 months experience of volunteering in a range of years in a infant and junior school and then I volunteered at a kids club which ended up in gaining a job - which is obviously an amazing thing to have on your personal statement as it's valid proof that you're suitable with children - personally, I had a gap year to gain more experience with kids, which might also be another option. If you're certain you want to be a teacher, then primary education is an awesome course - it's really full on and it's 5 days a week of lectures etc. but you do have a lot of fun and gain loads of experience. Otherwise, you could always take an education studies degree which is less demanding (like myself) and can give you more options. You could even consider doing a joint honours degree and combine education with something else you're interested in such as psychology - giving you even more options, not only if you decide to go into something else but if you want to get a temporary job while searching for a teaching job, as they obviously are quite a lot of people wanting to do the job and so many applicants can be at an interview. You could even go into something like counselling etc. I am taking the Primary ed with QTS it is great. As a mature student I didn't have any A-levels. I took and access to higher education diploma and got in that way. I think if these are your best subjects you should look at doing a QTS course and possibly doing your second year specialism in creative arts. In this scenario your A level choices are more than appropriate and would not impact on your employability. I've just started at Winchester Uni doing Primary Education, so if you have any questions about the uni then let me know. It's such a lovely place and the course here is great. You don't need to have an A-Level in the subject that you want to specialise in either. The experience that you are getting is great, and the interviewers will definitely notice how much you have done Let me know if you need any help


Diary Of A Busker Day 290 Diary Of A Busker Day 290 Saturday September 29th Greenwich Market, London (outside The Coach And Horses public house, Time: 1:35-3:03pm, 4:35-6:03pm). I'm back outside the same pub I was outside in January last year, just after I started this whole busking thing -- again at the invitation of Gary, who's asked me to play for a bit at the nearby Ben Oakley Gallery before the screening (world premier, actually) of his and Loren Scott's Total Thrive Production of 'Ringo And The Idol Of Justice' a proper length feature film. Preceeding the film, they're showing some shorts they've made over the last few years, one of which -- Attack Of The Mutant Potatoids -- I'm actually IN, as a presidential aide! Once again, Gary's got permission from the relevent sources for me to occupy the same spot as before. Having arrived via a series of trains, I walk to the small gallery -- about a twenty second walk from the pub. Gary's there -- he says he'll go out and get me something to eat before I set up...he returns with a rather splendid, super-hot spicy sausage-in-a-roll, which makes me hiccup! -- "That'll set you up for the day, King, then I'll take you over to the pub and introduce you to the guy behind the bar." Having done all that, I set up and start tuning up -- I keep forgetting I've brought TWO guitars up -- my psychedelic double-neck and trusty Epiphone. Up until the last minute, I was just going to bring the double-neck but then I got paranoid and thought "What if it sounds rubbish?! -- I'll be stuck with it!" -- sixty miles from home, so I decided to cram the Epiphone in the same gigbag as the double-neck. It weighs a ton!To add to the weight, I also brought along my bigger busking amp and a microphone and stand, thinking I might do some original songs -- an idea I dispensed with pretty sharpish. It just wasn't the place for an eight minute song about a balloon. I opened with Albatross, after which a man contributed and told me about when he saw Peter Green back in the Sixties -- "...and he used to swear onstage! Well, we'd never heard anyone swear onstage -- we were only young, we couldn't believe it! Then, a few years ago my son went to see him and he said 'My dad saw you way back' and Peter Green said 'Yeah, I remember your dad, how is he?' and, you know, he couldn't have remembered me -- we never met!" My man reckons this was because of all the drugs he took (P. Green, not my man!) years before. After an hour and a quarter a young guy comes up and compliments me on the fingerstyle playing...in fact, over some two minutes, he sort of over-compliments me to the extent I think 'I wonder if he's a musician and he wants to busk here'...and I was right! There's two others stading nearby with their instrument cases. Actually, I don't mind -- I need a break and Fran and young Michael have turned up, along with Des who used to run one of my old haunts, The East Dulwich Tavern. Fran wants to buy me some lunch at the pie and mash place opposite the gallery. So I say to the guys wth the cases that they might as well do a set here for an hour or so, then I can finish with another hour and a half -- that'll take me to six o'clock -- the time I'm booked up til. So after a visit to the gallery and a great lunch of pie, mash and green liquor sauce -- just like the old days, we walk back...and the guys who took over are really good -- a fiddle, guitar and mandolin -- no amps, sounds just right for this sort of setting: lots of people, drinking, etc... The people at the tables outside really like it. I think they should keep playing! At 4:15, they keep their word and announce their last song...at the end they say goodbye but people want them to play on. The guy I spoke to earlier looks at me -- I say "Yeah, go on -- play another one." They may as well -- they're really popular! At the end, we have a chat and I get their names -- Jay Northen(?) on six-string acoustic guitar -- a painted one, sponsered by Coca-Cola he said. I took a photo of it -- nice, although not quite as impressive as mine, I have to say. Then there was Roy Hobbs -- mandolin and James Gavin -- fiddle, who'd clearly had a rigourous work-out -- the ground was covered with broken bow-hairs. Collectively, they are The Badlands Orchestra. Actually, that wasn't all of them -- in the middle of their set, while I was 'lunching', they were joined by two more -- an accordionist and another one, whose instrument I can't remember. By the look of all the money in the guitar case, it looks like they've done well -- there was a 10 note along with some serious coinage. Even spliting it between them, they've each made more than me, easily! I'm not surprised -- they're more fun! Good luck to them, I say. As they're going off -- I think they were going to play at someone's house later -- they say they've left me a little present in my bucket. Great! -- must be some 'rental' money...I don't see any notes in there, though. I think they might have put a couple of pound coins in. I start the second session with my Epiphone then, feeling somewhat more brave than when I started, move on to the double-neck. Gary comes to see how I'm getting on. I think it's OK -- there was about 18 from the first spot -- the usual rate. I don't think Gary thinks alot of my very clever mid-song-switching-in-between-necks -- "It's not necessary, King! Totally unecessary! Only YOU would tell the difference!" Yep, he's probably right. I pack up just after six o'clock...and get the first of three pints of Guinness couple of people have ordered for me -- one from a man who was sitting at the table right next to me when I started and the other two from some weird, posh woman who also bought not one, but two cds during the second set. She was about 60, said she was -- like me, from Winchester (I don't know how she knew that -- I never told her!) and kept coming up to me. The first time, she said she wanted to book me for a party she was giving in a few weeks time and also for something else about a year from now. But half an hour later, she comes up again and says "Maybe just the one next year -- I think we should put a bit of a distance between us"(!) Whatever that's supposed to mean! What a bizarre thing to say! And when Gary came over again and played a bit on my guitar, she started writing something in a notebook, looking at us, writing in the book, looking, writing... Weird people. The only other weird person was at the start -- a man at a table in front who was scowling and muttering at me. I was fearing he was going to be there the whole time but he left after a few minutes. He returned a few times, walking past me, still scowling and muttering rubbish. Par for the course, as they say. I took my Guinness over to the gallery and at Gary's request, set up near the door to do a few numbers to get some passers-by attention -- they might hear the music and maybe like to come in to see the film. Why not -- it's free! I also remembered I'd brought my Prisoner TV series style white-jacket-with-black-piping, so I dug that out of my case. It looked quite good, especially when worn with a striped T-shirt -- very Prisoner-esque, very authentic. In fact there was only one thing needed to complete the picture -- namely, to play my newly worked out Prisoner theme on my double-neck...while Gary filmed me...turning the guitar around to reveal my hand-painted Prisoner 'penny-farthing' bicycle. By the next morning, Gary had edited it and put it up on youtube, which is pretty clever, in my book. That done, the screening with the shorts (Shatner's Pants, Hats For Cats, The Gypsy's Hand and the one with me -'Potatoids') -- all of it brilliant. In The Gypsy's Hand, there was an old Romanian peasant woman speaking but instead of having her speaking Romanian with English subtitles, they'd got her speaking English with Romanian subtitles. Ha! Kwaff -- who did alot of the voices in the main feature -- turned up later, sporting a beard -- never seen him with one before. After the film, there was some serious 'relaxation' back outside the pub...I chatted to fellow Jacques Brel admirer and fellow fingerstyle player (who ISN'T bothered by Focal Dystonia), Joe Wilkes, about Jacques Brel for a bit...then came home -- a somewhat lengthy affair involving a Docklands Light Railway train to Canary Wharf, underground train to Waterloo, train (last one) to Basingstoke and finally a rather cold bus to Winchester, arriving at 3:10am...in the morning. But a good day. I didn't make loads but it's always good to get out of town, see Gary, see Loren...see Fran, Michael, folks from the old days...have a pint of Guinness, or three...and a short, or two. And I didn't pay any train fare -- due to some vouchers a train company sent me as compensation for a botched journey a couple of months ago.


New Zealand's Minister of Justice comes out in support of marriage equality and other LGBT rights Judith Collins is now in favour of marriage equality (pic: Emergency111) The New Zealand Minister of Justice, who previously voted against the country's civil union legislation, has now come out in favour of marriage equality, same-sex couples adopting and legal recognition of gender identity for trans people. As reported by GayNZ.com, this is a big volt-face for the Honourable Judith Collins, who once raised the question of whether same-sex unions were a human rights issue at all. Nearly a decade ago when the Care of Children Act was being debated, Ms Collins stated: "Accepting the diversity of New Zealand families does not mean advocacy for same-sex parenting situations. And it certainly does not mean a same-sex partner should have the same rights as a father." On the subject of gender identity, she once said: "there is no need to make any person a protected species." However, speaking to GayNZ.com Daily News this week, Ms Collins said that she had "no problem" with marriage equality, "no particular problem" with same-sex couples legally adopting children and in the recognition of respecting gender identities said: "It doesn't hurt for us to acknowledge people's diversity -- it actually helps us." She added: "Frankly it would be really nice if we could look at people as human beings rather than be always saying 'you can't do that because you're gay' or whatever." A private members' bill on the subject of marriage equality -- introduced by openly gay MP Louisa Wall --  is looking to be introduced to the Parliament next week. Policy around gender identity is still muddied and in need of clarification, and New Zealand's adoption laws -- made in the 1950s -- will, it's generally agreed, be the hardest to bring into the 21st century. Pink News covers religion, politics, entertainment, finance, and community news for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community in the UK and worldwide. Founded to produce broadsheet quality journalism for the LGBT community, we cover politics to theology in an intelligent manner.


For most of us, setting the alarm clock for 7 a.m. seems ridiculous and out of the question. But the men and women’s basketball teams don’t think twice about it during preseason workouts. Even though preseason has ended for both teams, the aches, pains and ice baths have only just begun. This season, the women’s team will fight for a repeat of last season’s Old Dominion Athletic Conference championship, while the men’s team works hard to achieve their highest level of potential. The women’s basketball team has welcomed a new assistant coach this year, Mercedes Van Wagner, as well as junior Ryan Phillips, who is the new student assistant coach. Also joining the team is Assistant Women’s Basketball Coach Reggie Hines, who helps the team out by working with the guards. “It’s been an easy and smooth transition here to Guilford so far,” said Van Wagner. “The girls have been working hard so far, and we are all excited for the season.” “When I decided to stop playing basketball, I got an opportunity to help assist the women’s team,” said Phillips. “My role is helping out with player development, bringing energy to practice, and completing some behind-the-scenes tasks.” Former basketball player Will Cloyd’12 has joined the coaching staff as head coach of the B team — also known as the junior varsity team — and assisting in duties for Head Basketball Coach Tom Palombo and Assistant Basketball Coach Caleb Kimbrough. “My role consists of ordering food for games and referees, recording stats, film exchange and making things easier for everybody else,” said Cloyd. “You can’t have a good team that’s not well-fed or organized.” Winning last season’s ODAC championship has put the women’s team in the spotlight. (Last year’s) Top scorer Jazlyn Gibbs graduated so the team leans on their 11 returners to make up for the loss. “I want to continue to put them in a situation where they have the opportunity to win,” said Head Women’s Basketball Coach Stephanie Flamini. “Gibbs took a lot of shots last year. This year will open up the opportunity for players to take more shots and shine.” An ODAC championship is always in mind for any coach here at Guilford, but the men’s team has other goals they wish to meet first. “We want to try to achieve our highest level of potential that we are capable of playing,” said Palombo. “Of course we want to win the ODAC, but that’s something that happens after you have achieved your goals.” With excitement brewing and only a few weeks into practices, both teams are ready to storm the court and make this season the best one yet. “I’m really excited to see how all the things we’ve been working on in practice all come together,” said junior guard Kayla Adams. “I love spending time with this team because we always have such a great time when we’re together.” “We didn’t end the season the way we wanted to last year,” said sophomore forward Will Freeman. “We are all excited and looking forward to redeeming ourselves.” With anxiousness consuming the coaches and players, you could only imagine how the fans must be feeling. “I am very excited for the basketball games to start,” said senior Kyle Ennis. “I love watching the women’s team because they have great communication between one another. They go out onto that hardwood court floor and take falls that people don’t expect them to take.” “I am beyond excited and pumped for basketball season to start up,” said sophomore Eddie Praley. “I thank Dr. James Naismith every day for inventing the sport of basketball.”


5 Reason Why Franchisees Need to Talk to Wall Street Franchisees who invest in publicly held companies should have a line of communications with the investors in their system that is uninterrupted by corporate management. After forty years of successful growth the McDonald's restaurant system hit some potholes in the 1990s. Coincidentally we had just launched Franchise Equity Group and were in a position to monitor the trauma that the second generation of McDonald's managers were inflicting on the system. After our efforts in the interests of McDonald's franchisees were mentioned in the major media we were contacted by Wall Street analysts and institutional investors. Working with these people was an extraordinary learning experience. At that time McDonald's had been an NYSE listed company for over thirty years, had a market cap of over $30 Billion, and yet there was an stunning lack of knowledge among investors. Our discussions covered franchisee profitability, the results of an unrealistic growth program intended to impress investors, management's history, franchisee morale, and other basic topics. Over these past fifteen years I've had the pleasure of assisting many investors in learning about not only McDonald's but the franchised industry in general. Franchisees in publicly held brands should develop the philosophy that the corporate people (who are temporary employees) don't own the company. The only significant investors in the brand are franchisees and shareholders - two entities that should be in constant communication. FAQs About Franchisees Communicating With Investors. 1. Should franchisees attempt to influence the value of the corporate stock? Absolutely not - If your brand is to be a good opportunity for franchisees it must be healthy at all levels. However, problems develop when management uses short term strategies that might help the share price but damage franchisees. Think about this activity as the education of investors for the long term health of the entire system 2. know my business intimately but don't know much about high finance and Wall Street? They won't like it but won't say much. This activity is most effective in those franchise systems where management controls 100% of the information about thefranchised side of the business. In those cases they've told investors franchiseesare supportive of management's initiatives and there is complete "alignment"between management and franchisees. Of course they want franchisees voiceless. 4. Will I be divulging proprietary information? If you think you are walking around with a lot of proprietary information you should consider canceling that speech to the local Kiwanis Club. Discerning franchisees would never divulge information that would benefit their competitors. Not so much - But they want to know if the corporate initiatives will be successful and if resistance to management's direction might retard corporate growth. As analysts they understand the franchise model must be a good investment but they won't fuss over every franchisee's survival. Especially if all they hear is corporate's side of the story. In summary, most publicly held franchised systems operate with a few corporate people strutting around like they own the brand while the real investors are franchisees and shareholders. In most cases management has been successful in building a towering wall between the true owners of the brand.


Pumpkin and Feta Burgers with my new pals, Gourmet Garden Like those times when fresh lemongrass requires me to take out a mortgage in order to buy it. When bugs have eaten all my basil. And when I want some garlic that hasn't sprouted that weird little green horn because I've forgotten it's in the back of the cupboard. Gourmet Garden have always been my friends, coming to my rescue with their reliable little tubes of herby goodness. You may have seen them in your supermarket produce section. They may already be your pals too. They live down the road from me, in pretty Palmwoods. Where, after the herbs are picked when antioxidants and essential oils are at their peak, they are packaged fresh and under refrigeration to get the best flavour, aroma and the highest value of nutrients. They're only washed, chopped, blended and packed. That's it! I've been to their factory and by gum, it smells GOOD! It makes me hungry every time I even visit the offices, let alone where the actual magic happens. Their facilities are so clean and fancy, and although it is freezing in there, everybody looks cheerful and probably goes home smelling like an Italian neighbourhood. This is a Good Thing. The tubes were originally created because they know that fresh herbs and spices can't be beat in cooking. But not all of us can or want to grow them, or they get sad and withered before we can use them. Plus we're all busy and if you're anything like me, you forgot the chillies at the supermarket, and now none of us have to miss out. They have tons of flavours like chives, dill, ginger, rosemary, oregano, and cool mixtures like Thai and Mediterannean seasoning. No waste, always ready to go. Win! You'll be seeing them pop up in recipes from time to time here on Veggie Mama, and I'll be creating some recipes for their site and blog, as well as the very cool Dominique Rizzo and the chicks from 4 Ingredients . I might even make a cameo in their very popular Herb eCooking School videos, which you can like on Facebook here and be kept up-to-date with their goings-on. You can enrol in the classes, which are FREE! And yes, they were the very kind BlogHer/BlogHer food sponsors, so if you're a blogger, you know how awesome that is. For a company to value the worth of what we do, and be excited to partner with us in this way is incredibly generous and SMART of them. They could teach some brands a thing or two! I loved the garlic in this recipe because it mixed much more smoothly and evenly in the burgers than chopped garlic would. They've just got that little something extra that boosted the flavour. 1. Mix all ingredients together. You can mash the pumpkin beforehand if you like, but I don't bother. 2. Cook on medium-high heat in a large frying pan 5-8 mins on each side, until browned and cooked through. You might want to keep flipping if yours is an excellent frypan and keeps the heat, not like mine, who takes forever to brown anything... Share this: i love tomato paste and herbs in a tube! i don't use them enough to warrant keeping fresh ones in the house!  these burgers look incredible! i'm freaking out about them as i eat frozen mac and cheese. ugh. Our fridge is literally packed with these babies. I love the mixed mini tubes and the chunky garlic the most. My brother told me a little while ago that they were based on the Sunshine Coast which made me love them even more. Great choice Gourmet Garden, Veggie Mama ROCKS. And about these patties!! Yum. Printing to PDF as we speak to add to my cooking file. ttp://www.theveggiemama.com Veggie Mama The Sunshine Coast has the best! Elizabeth I have worked a few trade shows for Gormet Garden and couldn't agree more- a great company with great products. A little trick I learnt courtesy of lots and lots of free samples is to keep them in the freezer. Many can be squeezed out of the tube even when frozen or take just a few minutes to defrost enough to squeeze them out. Keeps them a lot longer! ttp://www.theveggiemama.com Veggie Mama Yes! That's such a good idea! Especially for the ones I don't use as often, like dill. They really are a fab company, or I wouldn't be working with them. Just love their whole style. Jenni T Thx for your blog veggie mama! I only recently discovered your blog after reading about it in Peppermint magazine. Looking forward to checking out previous blogs for more great recipes like this one! I agree with previous post, freezing your Gourmet Garden tubes is definitely the way to go! ttp://theshylion.com/ Raynor Yes, hello, I would like to please put these burgers in my face. Kind regards, Raynie. ttp://theshylion.com/ Raynor You guys! I want mac and cheese tooooooo! Also, I would like to dunk these burgers -into- the mac 'n' cheese. HOMG! This needs to happen. ttp://www.theveggiemama.com Veggie Mama Best idea everrrrrrr! ttp://www.theveggiemama.com Veggie Mama Done. Tash Hi ! Made these ones for tea tonight..had to do a little test patty before school pick up .... YUM ! They are great thanks. My husband is  a FUSSY vegetarian so always on the look out for veggie recipes ttp://www.theveggiemama.com Veggie Mama Oh I hope he likes them! I love any way of sneaking brown rice into my diet


Why, oh why would a woman choose to grow a moustache? This was the question that passed through my m... Iraq is rending itself apart. The signs of collapse are everywhere. In Baghdad, the police often pick up more than 100 tortured and mutilated bodies in a single day. Government ministries make war on each other. A new and ominous stage in the disintegration of the Iraqi state came earlier this month when police commandos from the Shia-controlled Interior Ministry kidnapped 150 people from the Sunni-run Higher Education Ministry in the heart of Baghdad. Iraq may be getting close to what Americans call "the Saigon moment", the time when it becomes evident to all that the government is expiring. "They say that the killings and kidnappings are being carried out by men in police uniforms and with police vehicles," the Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said to me with a despairing laugh this summer. "But everybody in Baghdad knows that the killers and kidnappers are real policemen." It is getting worse. The Iraqi army and police are not loyal to the state. If the US army decides to confront the Shia militias it could well find Shia military units from the Iraqi army cutting the main American supply route between Kuwait and Baghdad. One convoy was recently stopped at a supposedly fake police checkpoint near the Kuwait border and four American security men and an Austrian taken away. The US and British position in Iraq is far more of a house built on sand than is realised in Washington or London, despite the disasters of the past three-and-a-half years. George Bush and Tony Blair show a unique inability to learn from their mistakes, largely because they do not want to admit having committed any errors in the first place. Civil war is raging across central Iraq, home to a third of the country's 27 million people. As Shia and Sunni flee each other's neighbourhoods, Iraq is turning into a country of refugees. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees says that 1.6 million are displaced within the country and a further 1.8 million have fled abroad. In Baghdad, neighbouring Sunni and Shia districts have started to fire mortars at each other. On the day Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death, I phoned a friend in a Sunni area of the capital to ask what he thought of the verdict. He answered impatiently that "I was woken up this morning by the explosion of a mortar bomb on the roof of my next-door neighbour's house. I am more worried about staying alive myself than what happens to Saddam." Iraqi friends used to reassure me that there would be no civil war because so many Shia and Sunni were married to each other. These mixed couples are now being compelled to divorce by their families. "I love my husband but my family has forced me to divorce him because we are Shia and he is Sunni," said Hiba Sami, a mother, to a UN official. "My family say they [the husband's family] are insurgents ... and that living with him is an offence to God." Members of mixed marriages had set up an association to protect each other called the Union for Peace in Iraq but they were soon compelled to dissolve it when several founding members were murdered. Everything in Iraq is dominated by what in Belfast we used to call "the politics of the last atrocity". All three Iraqi communities - Shia, Sunni and Kurds - see themselves as victims and seldom sympathise with the tragedies of others. Every day brings its gruesome discoveries. Earlier this month, I visited Mosul, the capital of northern Iraq that has a population of 1.7 million people, of whom about two thirds are Sunni Arabs and one third Kurds. It is not the most dangerous city in Iraq but it is still a place drenched in violence. A local tribal leader called Sayid Tewfiq from the nearby city of Tal Afar told me of a man from there who went to recover the tortured body of his 16-year-old son. The corpse was wired to explosives that blew up, killing the father so their two bodies were buried together. Khasro Goran, the efficient and highly effective deputy governor of Mosul, said there was no civil war yet in Mosul but it could easily happen. He added that 70,000 Kurds had already fled the city because of assassinations. It is extraordinary how, in Iraq, slaughter that would be front-page news anywhere else in the world soon seems to be part of normal life. On the day I arrived in Mosul, the police had found 11 bodies in the city which would have been on the low side in Baghdad. I spoke to Duraid Mohammed Kashmula, the governor of Mosul, whose office is decorated with pictures of smiling fresh-faced young men who turned out to be his son and four nephews, all of them killed by insurgents. His own house, together with his furniture, was burned to the ground two years ago. He added in passing that Mr Goran and he himself were the prime targets for assassination in Mosul, a point that was dramatically proved true the day after we spoke when insurgents exploded a bomb beside his convoy - fortunately he was not in it at the time - killing one and wounding several of his bodyguards. For the moment Mosul is more strongly controlled by pro-government forces than most Iraqi cities. That is because the US has powerful local allies in the shape of the Kurds. The two army divisions in the province are primarily Kurdish, but the 17,000 police in Nineveh, the province of which Mosul is the capital, are almost entirely Sunni and their loyalty is dubious. One was dismissed on the day of Saddam's trial for putting a picture of the former leader in the window of his car. In November 2004, the entire Mosul police force abandoned their police stations to the insurgents who captured 20m worth of arms. "The terrorists do not control a single district in Mosul," is the proud claim of Major General Wathiq Mohammed Abdul Qadir al-Hamdani, the bullet-headed police chief of Nineveh. "I challenge them to fight me face to face." But the situation is still very fragile. We went to see the police operations room where an officer was bellowing into a microphone: "There is a suicide bomber in a car in the city. Do not let him get near you or any of our buildings." There was a reason to be frightened. On my way into Mosul, I had seen the broken concrete walls of the party headquarters of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, one of the two big Kurdish political parties. In August, two men in a car packed with explosives shot their way past the outer guard post and then blew themselves up, killing 17 soldiers. The balance of forces in Nineveh between American, Arab, Kurd, Turkoman, Sunni and Shia is complicated even by Iraqi standards. Power is fragmented. Sayid Tewfiq, the Shia tribal leader from Tal Afar, resplendent in his flowing robes, admitted: "I would not last 24 hours in Tal Afar without Coalition [US] support." "That's probably about right," confirmed Mr Goran, explaining that Sayid Tewfiq's Shia Turkoman tribe was surrounded by Sunni tribes. Earlier I had heard him confidently invite all of Nineveh provincial council to visit him in Tal Afar. Nobody looked enthusiastic about taking him up on the offer. "He may have 3,000 fighters from his tribe but he can't visit most of Tal Afar himself," said another member of the council, Mohammed Suleiman, as he declined the invitation. A few hours before somebody tried to assassinate him, Governor Kashmula claimed to me that "security in Mosul is the best in Iraq outside the Kurdish provinces". It is a measure of the violence in Iraq that it is an arguable point. Khasro Goran said: "The situation is not perfect but it is better than Anbar, Baquba and Diyala." I could vouch for this. In Iraq however bad things are there is always somewhere worse. It is obviously very difficult for reporters to discover what is happening in Iraq's most violent provinces without being killed themselves. But, at the end of September, I travelled south along the Iraqi side of the border with Iran, sticking to Kurdish villages to try to reach Diyala, a mixed Sunni-Shia province north-east of Baghdad where there had been savage fighting. It is a road on which a wrong turning could be fatal. We drove from Sulaimaniyah through the mountains, passed through the Derbandikhan tunnel and then took the road that runs beside the Diyala river, its valley a vivid streak of lush green in the dun-coloured semi desert. The area is a smuggler's paradise. At night, trucks drive through without lights, their drivers using night-vision goggles. It is not clear what cargoes they are carrying - presumably weapons or drugs - and nobody has the temerity to ask. We had been warned it was essential to turn left after the tumbledown Kurdish town of Kalar before reaching the mixed Arab-Kurdish village of Jalula. We crossed the river by a long and rickety bridge, parts of which had fallen into the swirling waters below, and soon arrived in the Kurdish stronghold of Khanaqin in Diyala province. If I had any thoughts about driving further towards Baghdad they were put to rest by the sight, in one corner of the yard of the local police headquarters, of the wreckage of a blue-and-white police vehicle torn apart by a bomb. "Five policemen were killed in it when it was blown up at an intersection in As-Sadiyah two months ago," a policeman told me. "Only their commander survived but his legs were amputated." Officials in Khanaqin had no doubt about what is happening in their province. Lt Col Ahmed Nuri Hassan, the exhausted-looking commander of the federal police, said: "There is a sectarian civil war here and it is getting worse every day." The head of the local council estimated 100 people were being killed a week. In Baquba, the provincial capital, Sunni Arabs were driving out Shia and Kurds. The army and police were divided along sectarian lines. The one Iraqi army division in Diyala was predominantly Shia and only arrested Sunni. On the day after I left, Sunni and Kurdish police officers fought a gun battle in Jalula, the village I had been warned not to enter. The fighting started when Kurdish police refused to accept a new Sunni Arab police chief and his followers. Here, in miniature, in Diyala it was possible to see Iraq breaking up. The province is ruled by its death squads. The police say at least 9,000 people had been murdered. It is difficult to see how Sunni and Shia in the province can ever live together again. In much of Iraq, we long ago slipped down the rapids leading from crisis to catastrophe though it is only in the past six months that these dire facts have begun to be accepted abroad. For the first three years of the war, Republicans in the US regularly claimed the liberal media was ignoring signs of peace and progress. Some right-wingers even set up websites devoted to spreading the news of American achievements in this ruined land. I remember a team from a US network news channel staying in my hotel in Baghdad complaining to me, as they buckled on their body armour and helmets, that they had been once again told by their bosses in New York, themselves under pressure from the White House, to "go and find some good news and report it." Times have changed in Washington. The extent of the disaster in Iraq is admitted by almost all, aside from President Bush. Even before the Democrats' victory in the Congressional elections on 7 November the magazine Vanity Fair commented acidly that "the only group in the Bush camp at this point are the people who wait patiently for news of the WMD and continue to believe that Saddam and Osama were once lovers." Previous supporters of the war are showing embarrassing haste in recanting past convictions. These days, it is in Britain alone, or more specifically in Downing Street, that policies bloodily discredited in Iraq in the years since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein still get a hearing. I returned from Mosul to London just in time to hear Tony Blair speaking at the Lord Mayor's banquet. It was a far more extraordinary performance that his audience appreciated. As the Prime Minister spoke with his usual Hugh Grant charm, it became clear he had learned nothing and forgotten nothing in three-and-a-half years of war. Misconception after misconception poured from his lips. Contrary to views of his own generals and every opinion poll assessing Iraqi opinion, he discounted the idea that armed resistance in Iraq is fueled by hostility to foreign occupation. Instead he sees dark forces rising in the east, dedicated, like Sauron in Lord of the Rings, to principles of pure evil. The enemy, in this case, is "based on a thoroughly warped misinterpretation of Islam, which is fanatical and deadly." An expert on the politics of Iraq and Lebanon recently said to me: "The most dangerous error in the Middle East today is to believe the Shia communities in Iraq and Lebanon are pawns of Iran." But that is exactly what the Prime Minister does believe. The fact that the largest Shia militia in Iraq - the Mehdi Army of Muqtada al-Sadr - is anti-Iranian and Iraqi nationalist is conveniently ignored. Those misconceptions are important in terms of practical policy because they give support to the dangerous myth that if the US and Britain could only frighten or square the Iranians and Syrians then all would come right as their Shia cats-paws in Iraq and Lebanon would inevitably fall into line. In a very British way, opponents of the war in Iraq have focused not on current events but on the past sins of the government in getting us into the war. No doubt it was all very wrong for Downing Street to pretend that Saddam Hussein had WMD and was a threat to the world when they knew he was not. But this emphasis on the origins of the war in Iraq has diverted attention from the fact that, going by official statements, the British government knows no more about what was going on in Iraq in 2006 than it did in 2003. The picture Mr Blair paints of Iraq seldom touches reality at any point. For instance, he says Iraqis "voted for an explicitly non-sectarian government," but every Iraqi knows the vote in two parliamentary elections in 2005 went wholly along sectarian and ethnic lines. The polls were the starting pistol for the start of the civil war. Mr Blair steadfastly refuses to accept the fact that opposition to the American and British occupation of Iraq has been the main cause of the insurgency. The commander of the British army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, was almost fired for his trouble when he made the obvious point that "we should get ourselves out some time soon because our presence exacerbates the security problem." A series of opinion polls carried out by the US-based group WorldPublicOpinion.org at the end of September show why Gen. Dannatt is right and Mr Blair is wrong. The poll shows that 92 per cent of the Sunni and 62 per cent of the Shia - up from 41 per cent at the start of the year - approve of attacks on US-led forces. Only the Kurds support the occupation. Some 78 per cent of all Iraqis think the US military presence provokes more conflict than it prevents and 71 per cent want US-led forces out of Iraq within a year. The biggest and most menacing change this year is the growing hostility of Iraq's Shia to the American and British presence. It used to be said that at least the foreign occupation prevented a civil war but, with 1,000 Iraqis being killed every week, it is now very clearly failing. It was always true that in post-Saddam Iraq there was going to be friction between the Shia, Sunni and Kurds. But Iraqis were also forced to decide if they were for or against a foreign invader. The Sunnis were always going to fight the occupation, the Kurds to welcome it and the Shia to co-operate for just so long as it served their interests. Patriotism and communal self-interest combined. Before 2003, a Sunni might see a Shia as the member of a different sect but once the war had started he started to see him as a traitor to his country. Of course Messrs Bush and Blair argue there is no occupation. In June 2004, sovereignty was supposedly handed back to Iraq. "Let Freedom Reign," wrote Mr Bush. But the reality of power remained firmly with the US and Britain. The Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki said this month that he could not move a company of soldiers without seeking permission of the Coalition (the US and Britain). Officials in Mosul confirmed to me that they could not carry out a military operation without the agreement of US forces. There is a hidden history to the occupation of Iraq which helps explain why has proved such a disaster. In 1991, after the previous Gulf War, a crucial reason why President George HW Bush did not push on to Baghdad was that he feared the overthrow of Saddam Hussein would be followed by elections that would be won by Shia parties sympathetic to Iran. No worse outcome of the war could be imagined in Washington. After the capture of Baghdad in 2003, the US faced the same dilemma. Many of the contortions of US policy in Iraq since then have been a covert attempt to avoid or dilute the domination of Iraq's Shia majority. For more than a year, the astute US envoy in Baghdad, Zalmay Khalilzad, tried to conciliate the Sunni. He failed. Attacks on US forces are on the increase. Dead and wounded US soldiers now total almost 1,000 a month.. An Iraqi government will only have real legitimacy and freedom to operate when US and British troops have withdrawn. Washington and London have to accept that if Iraq is to survive at all it will be as a loose federation run by a Shia-Kurdish alliance because together they are 80 per cent of the population. But, thanks to the miscalculations of Mr Bush and Mr Blair, the future of Iraq will be settled not by negotiations but on the battlefield. The Occupation: War and Resistance in Iraq by Patrick Cockburn is published by Verso. The toll of war * US troops killed since invasion - 2,880 * UK troops killed - 126 * Iraqis who have died as result of invasion - 655,000 * Journalists killed - 77 * Daily attacks on coalition forces - 180 * Average number of US troops killed every day in October - 3.5 * Strength of insurgency - 30,000 nationwide * Number of police - 180,000 * Trained judges - 740 * Percentage of Iraqi population that wants US forces to leave within 12 months - 71 per cent * Hours of electricity per day in Baghdad in November - 8.6 (pre-war estimate 16-24 hours) * Unemployment - 25-40 per cent * Internet subscribers - 197,310 (pre-war 4,500) * Population with access to clean drinking water - 9.7 million (12.9 million pre-war). Percentage of children suffering malnutrition - 33 per cent Game on: Oliver Thring joins a partridge shoot Everything but the turkey: Best Christmas trimmings What makes a cracking Christmas meal? It's all in the details, says Christopher Hirst, who has chomped his way through a mountain of supermarket and specialist food Bangkok reigns supreme for street food Every city in the world is now getting in on the street-food act, but Bangkok is still the best, says John Brunton Can you cook perfect fried chicken at home? The vogue for fried chicken has us all lusting after crispy wings, but is it achievable at home? Armed with a thermometer and some expert tips, Samuel Muston takes the plunge. Cabin fever: Cabane  Sucre There is a wooden house in the middle of Canada's snowy countryside where food of such sublime richness is served that getting a table there is more difficult than at a Michelin-starred city restaurant Christmas uncorked: The finest reds and whites Anthony Rose reveals his festive guide, from the best party red to wines to drink with stilton The 50 Best Christmas gifts for children From this year's most-fashionable fad to classics they'll want to keep forever, Kate Watson-Smyth fills the family stockings with this year's top toys Sole food: could chicken feet to China be Britain's next big export? Environment Secretary spots a gap in the market for 'phoenix claws' Who is the real Jill Kelley? She first hit the news as the apparently innocent victim of abusive emails from the lover of David Petraeus. But the more we've found out about the other, other woman, the greater the mystery Here comes the demon chef Is London ready for Alvin Leung's 'x-treme Chinese cuisine'? Up all night: 24-hour restaurants A new breed offers fine dining at any time of day, reports Samuel Muston The 10 Best mulled drinks A glass of something spicy -- whether it's boozy or soft -- will get you in the mood for winter. Just add a roaring fire...


Good idea, and thanks for the link. Some good videos there. I'm always up for hearing Doug Self (aka God) but other interesting speakers would be Alan Sircom and Martin Colloms. The former for his views on the industry, trends and where we might be heading, the latter as Martin has been around for donkeys years and worked as design consultant to many companies over the years. I guess it could have a DIY build theme. Based around a few rooms containing bits of home brew kit from various attendees. Good idea, and thanks for the link. Some good videos there. I'm always up for hearing Doug Self (aka God) but other interesting speakers would be Alan Sircom and Martin Colloms. The former for his views on the industry, trends and where we might be heading, the latter as Martin has been around for donkeys years and worked as design consultant to many companies over the years. I guess it could have a DIY build theme. Based around a few rooms containing bits of home brew kit from various attendees. I think it would be good to include as many 'forum personalities' as possible, whether pros.semi pros or knowledgeable enthusiasts. The more open the event the better, and the broader appeal it will have; even on this small forum we have some amazing knowledge and even better - the willingness and grace to share it freely. Good work Dave. Would be good to have Rob Holt and more industry bods of as many types as possible to make the event as appealing and credible as possible. Pleasing that TQ have already got behind it. Nice one fellas. I look forward to seeing this one grow. I would be happy to make the tea.


PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND OUR KIDS: HOW ARE WE DOING? When Betty Lee tells her boys to go outside and play, she knows they will likely be the only two kids out on her street. Unfortunately, this is true across the country. For the fifth year in a row, the Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth gave Canada a failing grade of D in 2009. The report card shows that children still spend twice as much time in front of the TV screen as they do being active. Less than 10 per cent of children and youth are getting the recommended 90 minutes of moderate to vigorous daily physical activity. "We are always kicking them outdoors in summer to be active. If given a choice, they would be inside playing video games," says Lee, a mother from Edmonton. "Kids today have more access to technology, computers, 24-hour TV and computer games. Their activity levels are a lot lower than they used to be." Dr. Mark Tremblay, director of healthy living and obesity research at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario and chair of Active Healthy Kids Canada, says that more kids in Canada are becoming obese. He adds that we've been seeing this trend for at least the last generation. "This is a new biological phenomenon. Having large numbers of kids who are obese is new to the species. I don't think any of us understand what the consequences of that are," says Dr. Tremblay. "Almost everyone seems to understand that more activity is better, but we don't seem able to get people to act on that. It's not just being informed. It's creating environments to help make the healthy choice the easy choice," said Dr. Tremblay. Betty Lee says that one thing that seems to work with her two older sons is signing them up for an activity with their friends. "My older son especially does much better in swimming when he takes it through school. I see a positive effect when he is with someone he knows well who is his own age." Being physically active with the whole family also seems to encourage physical activity, says Lee. "We go bike riding every other night in the summer as a family," she said. "Sure, it is nice if they do the spontaneous play thing, but to ensure that they are getting physical activity regularly, we have to schedule it." Dr. Tremblay says modern devices, such as remote controls that reduce work, are a big factor in reducing the daily physical activity of kids. The main cause of obesity can be boiled down to too much energy intake for the amount of energy output. But Dr. Tremblay says the factors that feed into obesity are incredibly complicated. "My guess is that it's not going to be a good news story when we finally get it figured out," says Dr. Tremblay. "We're already seeing a substantial number of cases of children with Type 2 diabetes, which is one repercussion of not getting enough physical activity." He added that the psychosocial, emotional and mental elements of obesity can often have tragic consequences. Dr. Tremblay said that many of these factors are worse in aboriginal children and youth. Less than half of aboriginal children are active for 30 minutes per day five days a week. "Sometimes a reasonable amount of that difference disappears if you control for socioeconomic status," said Dr. Tremblay. "Quite often those groups are in poor living conditions and have poor education and low incomes." However, he pointed to Amish and Mennonite kids who don't have access to electronic devices. "They are way more active even though they have no phys. ed. classes and sports teams. Many of them live in what we think of as poverty. But these groups are achieving much higher levels of fitness. They have almost a complete absence of obesity. They walk, they play, they hunt. It's boring sitting in the living room." The increase in overweight and obesity, combined with low levels of physical activity, represents a serious threat to the health of Canada's children and youth. In response to this crisis, the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology developed Canada's Physical Activity Guides for Children and Youth. HEALTHY U NEWS Healthy U Food Checker Compare the nutrition criteria from a Nutrition Facts Table to find out if your food or beverage choice is a Choose Most Often, Choose Sometimes or Choose Least Often according to the Alberta Nutrition Guidelines. more Healthy School Communities Award Ten awards celebrating people & programs addressing healthy eating, physical activity & mental wellbeing in school communities were presented to individuals & organizations from across Alberta. Award recipients were honoured by the Associate Minister of Wellness. more


Taking care of your silverware Smart and shiny silverware can be a lovely addition to any home, but all too often, people aren't aware of the best way to take care of it -- resulting in it become tarnished and dull. This guide to taking care of your silverware will tell you all you need to know to brighten up your bowls and keep your cutlery bright and beautiful -- you'll be amazed how easy it is! Cleaning To clean your silverware, follow these five simple steps: Rinse the item in hot water to remove dust Line a heat proof dish with aluminium foil Add 1tbsp baking soda, 1tbsp salt, and 4.5 litres of boiling water to the dish Submerge your jewellery into the solution, resting them directly on the foil Once the tarnish has been removed, gently dry the item with a soft cloth Polishing Now that your silverware is clean and tarnish free, it's time to enhance its shine! Invest in a good quality silver polish or cream and buff the item with a soft cotton cloth or cellulose sponge (these materials are recommended because they will not scratch the metal). When you are done, rinse the item under a gentle flow of water and dry it completely with a soft, clean cloth. Storage To keep your silverware in the best possible condition when it's not in use, store it in a clean space away from extreme temperatures. Above all else, ensure that it is dry, as moisture can affect the surface of silver. Keep each item separate to avoid any damage, and they should be ready to use whenever you need them next.