Understanding Food Systems: Agriculture, Food Science, and Nutrition in the United States explores the complex and evolving system from which the United States gets its food. From farm, to home, and everything in-between, the authors use a scientific perspective that explains the fundamentals of agricultural production, food science, and human nutrition that will guide readers through the issues that shape our food system, including political, societal, environmental, economic, and ethical concerns. Presenting the role and impact of technology, from production to processing and safety, to cultural and consumer behavior perspectives, the book also explores the link between food systems and the history of nutrients and diet patterns, and how these influence disease occurrence. Current topics of concern and debate, including the correlations between food systems and diet-related diseases, such as obesity and diabetes are explored, as are the history and current status of food insecurity and accessibility. Throughout the text, readers are exposed to current topics that play important roles in personal food choices and how they influence components of the food system.

Have you ever felt that the storms of life are just too much to contend with? Have you ever felt as though God has abandoned you? Take heart. God says to hold on, and put your trust in Him. For He cares just for you. A yearly devotion, Reflections offers words of encouragement and hope for the weary soul. There are times when we just need words of hope and encouragement. Words to help us hold on, and not give up. We need a moment to reflect upon the Word of God; helping us to regain sure footing. May these words encourage and inspire you. Invite the Heavenly Father into all your cirmcumstances; allowing Him to stregthen you in the face of all adversity. Be Blessed.

Using Health Economics in Health Services examines the impact of attempts to use 'rational' health economic analyses on local decision-making in the National Health Service. The book presents findings from an ethnographic study of one Health Authority and one Primary Care Group to present a rich picture of the processes and contexts of healthcare resource allocation at local level. The conclusion of the book is that it is extremely difficult to use 'rational' solutions to resource allocation dilemmas at local level in the modern state. The adoption by local decision-makers of what appear to be non-rational coping strategies is essential to the maintenance of service delivery in the context of resource scarcity. Paradoxically, attempts to impose 'rational' decision-making threaten to undermine the precarious stability of the very systems they seek to improve. In this sense, the pursuit of rationality may itself be an irrational act. Written in an engaging and lively style, the book will be accessible to general readers as well as specialists in the field. It has been designed for use by students of health economics, health policy, public administration and health services management and will be of interest to practitioners and researchers in these fields.

Apache Mothers and Daughters, an illustrated family history of four generations of Chiricahua Apache women from 1848 to the present, is an eloquent testimonial to the strength and the stamina of Apache women. Over the course of thirty-five years, anthropologist Ruth McDonald Boyer collected the remembrances of Narcissus Duffy Gayton, great-great-granddaughter of the Apache chief Victorio. This intimate record of Apache life, told from an Apache perspective, highlights the key roles women play in tribal life. The story begins with Dilth-cheyhen, Victorio's daughter, whose life encompassed much of the traditional cultures of the Tchi-hene band of the Chiricahua Apaches. Her daughter, Beshad-e, was just sixteen in 1886 when the twenty-seven-year incarceration of the Chiricahuas began. Beshad-e and her family were forced to move to Florida, Alabama, Oklahoma, and then New Mexico, where the Mescalero Apaches remain today. When Beshad-e's daughter Christine died of tuberculosis in her twenties, she left her daughter Narcissus in Beshad-e's care. After struggling to complete her education, Narcissus returned to serve her tribe as a registered nurse and an advocate for health care. This account documents rituals such as the puberty rite and the cradle-making ceremony, the importance of religion (traditional as well as Anglo) in Apache life, and the intense bond between Apache mothers and daughters.

'This is an excellent textbook for which there is currently a niche in the market. The chapters on rationing, professionalism, politics of clinical knowledge and the politics of democracy and participation are particularly strong and will be invaluable to students of health policy, health studies and health service research' - Professor Michael Calnan, University of Bristol Written by leading academics in their field, this book provides a clear and considered overview of the politics of health care in Britain. Bringing together a wide range of material on both past events and recent developments, the chapters cover issues such as the politics of health professionalism, clinical knowledge and organisation and management. Each chapter offers a a unique combination of theory, historical detail and analysis of contemporary events. It features case studies to illustrate how policy has evolved and developed in recent years, and the implications these changes have for practice. Written in an accessible style the chapters also include comprehensive introductions, summaries and further reading sections. The final chapter is based on three detailed case studies that illuminate the tensions and debates discussed throughout the book. The Politics of Healthcare in Britain is a timely and authoritative textbook that covers a key topic of the curriculum whilst also contributing to topical debates. The book will be essential reading for students of social policy, health policy, public policy and nursing. It will also be of interest to policy makers and practitioners in the field of health care.