UHWI's US$1 million Hospital Management System from AIS and Suvarna proves Paperless Workplace is possible

“It will be an end-to-end computerisation of the hospital, from registration to doctors' desk, bed management, lab requests to pharmacy......We bought in because we realise that hospital systems, especially patient records, were a high priority and requirement”

Chairman and CEO of Advanced Integrated Systems, Douglas Halsall, on their US$1 million deployment of Suvarna platform at UHWI

UHWI (University Hospital of the West Indies) is finally stepping into the 21st Century as they'd promised in May 2016 in the article “UHWI going fully digital by year end”, published Tuesday, May 31, 2016 by Balford Henry, The Jamaica Observer.

They've decided to digitize their medical records with a new Digital hospital management system.

The project is being handled by AIS (Advanced Integrated Systems) and India-based Suvarna to the tune of US$1 million as reported in the article “University Hospital Of The West Indies Goes Digital”, published Wednesday April 27, 2016 by Tameka Gordon, The Jamaica Gleaner.

UHWI's US$1 million will give them a license to use Suvarna platform while AIS will implement the system, apply upgrades when necessary as well as deal with the conversion of the paper based records into Digital records.

This is possible thanks to AIS buying an equity stake in Suvarna back in 2011. Suvarna, whose software is deployed in over 600 hospitals and 700 laboratories globally, specializes in hospital systems that are fully computerised and paperless.

AIS has already pitched their hospital management software to the GOJ (Government of Jamaica) to digitize the records of their 25 hospitals and 300 clinics as reported in the article “AIS Mulls National Roll Out Of Hospital Records Project”, Published Wednesday June 22, 2016 by Tameka Gordon, The Jamaica Gleaner.

AIS has also begun marketing it to other Caribbean and Central America countries. This would potentially make patient transfers a breeze, as currently such records would have to be written out by hand and digitized into the new hospital management system.

This Caribbean and Central America push is being backed by Financial Transaction Processors Limited, based in St Lucia. So how is to be done by the end of 2016?

UHWI's Digital hospital management system from AIS and Suvarna - GOJ can benefit from Paperless with GOVNet

UHWI seems to have gotten quite a deal with this hospital management system; rather than purchase and own a software platform, they've allowed AIS and Suvarna to do all the heavy lifting for them.

Newer information is being digitized and updated, with the older paper based information being digitized over time to quote Chairman and CEO of Advanced Integrated Systems, Douglas Halsall: “The idea is not to take all their millions of records and data enter all those before we start. We will have a cut-off date and we will take all the records as of that date, and those will be paperless going forward”.

The hospital management system, which will be installed in clinics on UWI's campus, will be accessible by doctors on smartphones and tablets and may go islandwide. It'll also facilitate inventory control in the pharmacy and facilitate patient transfers to quote UWI Principal and Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Archibald McDonald: “A big problem in pharmacies is that drugs expire on us. So the system will be able to track that and send an alert when medications are about to expire. So that is a lot of savings, again”.

Professor Archibald McDonald gave an example of how this fully mobile hospital management system would make a difference, quote: “Let us take X-ray, for example. When a patient goes to the X-ray department, there will be no more need for films, as a digital image will be transferred to the ward so a doctor can just turn on his computer and look at the image. There is a lot of savings from that because X-ray films are very expensive. The doctor has a smartphone. He will punch in the patient's number and get the results on his smartphone”.

So will this end the long waits due to hospital records being lost due to their careless storage as revealed in an investigation back in 2012 in the article “Careless!” published Sunday April 15, 2012, by Tyrone Reid, The Jamaica Gleaner?

Undercover Investigators from the Gleaner posing as visitors were able to expose the lax level of security at the UHWI and KPH (Kingston Public Hospital). However, this may no longer be possible, as with this new hospital management system, there will be no more paper dockets to handle, to quote Professor Archibald McDonald: “There will be no more long waits as clerks search for dockets, and there will be no more lost dockets”.

Going paperless thanks to GOVNet is in the works as Barbados has already beaten us with their Government Wide Area Network built by Digicel as noted in my blog article entitled “Digicel to build Barbados Government Wide Area Network while rolling out Digicel Play”.

With the potential cost savings from going paperless as well as added security, it's hoped that the GOJ will follow suit with their other Public Hospitals. UHWI's Digital hospital management system from AIS and Suvarna, by year end, will demonstrate that it is indeed possible to go paperless in a large organization.

How 196 Primary Schools Vegetable Gardens will boost Jamaica's Agricultural Future

“But on top of that, everything from that school garden, we want to know that it goes to the school to provide a breakfast programme. A breakfast programme, because 30 per cent of our children go to school without a breakfast”

Minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture, JC Hutchinson speaking about plans for School Gardens in 196 schools

Agriculture should be taught to student in all schools in Jamaica if we're to become independent from imported foods.

To this end, the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries is assisting 196 primary schools to set up vegetable gardens as reported in the article “Government to assist 196 primary schools with vegetable gardens”, published Tuesday, August 16, 2016, The Jamaica Observer.

Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries plans to install the following at these schools during the 2016/17 academic school year:

1.      Security fencing

2.      Fertilisers

3.      Seeds

4.      Seedlings

5.      Pesticides

6.      Water fixtures

The aim is to teach agriculture to students, possibly Primary Students, at an early age as pointed out by JC Hutchinson during a tour of the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) offices in Catherine Hall, St James, on Thursday August 11th 2016, quote: “This school garden (programme) is to train young children. We want to train them from an early age, so that they recognize that agriculture is something that you can make money from.”

This move is something I've long argued in my blog article entitled “Why Ministry of Education must support School Gardens as Sugar in Bag Juice linked to Lifestyle Diseases”, as Primary School children should not be eating Junk food such as cheese tricks and bag juice for lunch.

These foods contain added sugars and should be avoided, as they impair cognition and brain developement in growing children as pointed out in my MICO Wars blog article entitled “How to Spot Hidden Sugar and How to Avoid Eating Too Much”.

So how will this be funded?

Ministry of Agriculture and School Gardens - Feeding boosting Cognition and Agriculture

The school gardens will be supported by the RADA extension services and will get Fertilizer supplies from Newport Fersan Jamaica Limited as explained in my blog article entitled “How Fersan's School Gardens prepares Jamaican Children for Modern Agricultural Towers and Robots”.

It'll also help with the Breakfast feeding program at most school by allowing student to be able to grow their own food reduce the cost of feeding students. It also gets them involved in the process of making their own food.

Also, by switching to growing their own food, it would help to cut out fast foods and foods with added sugars that may be linked to ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder) in children as noted in my MICO Wars blog article entitled “How to Spot Hidden Sugar and How to Avoid Eating Too Much”. 

This will improve their health and boost academic performance and along with learning Spanish and French as noted in my MICO Wars blog article “Why French for Jamaicans at Primary Schools as Africa and Europe go Francophone” will make them more marketeable when they go on to High School and College.

Hopefully too, they’ll introduce the kids to Organic Farming methods as well as the use of Robotic automation in Farming and even the concept of Greenhouses and Agricultural Towers as described in “Why US$80 Billion Organic Farming Industry needs focus on Agricultural Towers, Robotics and School Farms”.

It’ll starts with the Primary Schools to secure our future Agricultural Independence.

How FireChat, 5G and Li-Fi means Free Voice or Data Services Network by 2020

“Off-the-grid messaging allows any community to create their own network for instant public and private communications, regardless of available infrastructure and traditional centralized networks. This innovation paves the way for the next evolution of the Internet: networks created by the people, for the people”

Co-founder and CEO of Open Garden Micha Benoliel commenting on FireChat

FireChat, the P2P (Peer-to-Peer) Networking is growing from strength to strength. Now they’re going towards the trend towards E2EE (End to End Encryption).

Open Garden's latest version of FireChat has introduced private group chats as reported in the article “FireChat brings private group chat to its off-grid messaging service”, published Aug 8, 2016 by Frederic Lardinois, Techcrunch.

This allows up to 50 people to communicate an works like regular messages in FireChat and add to existing private one-on-one chats and public chatrooms as reported in the article “FireChat’s Off-Grid Messenger Gets Smart Private Messaging Feature”, published Jul 29, 2015 by Frederic Lardinois, Techcrunch.

The Mesh Network has been quietly growing of late and is poised to challenge some of the more traditional mobile social Networks as noted in  “Messaging app FireChat that works without data connection, gains ground”, published Feb 25, 2016 by Deepali Gupta, Economic Times.

But what is FireChat?

Open Garden's FireChat - Managing a disaster when Telecom services fail

FireChat is basically a Mesh Network that sends messages. Initially, it used Apple’s Multi-peer Connectivity Network to basically create peer-to-peer Networks of persons chatting in real time to each other.

However, it’s expanded to Android smartphones and uses Bluetooth to mesh smartphones within 64.08m (70 yards) via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi that has the FireChat app installed as explained in my blog article entitled “How Open Garden's FireChat Viral Hit means Mesh Networking for Millennials”.

This effectively making each smartphone a Base station, repeating this process by hopping on Wi-Fi or cellular internet if no Smartphone or if the recipient is online is detected nearby until the message reaches its destination.

This makes it excellent for managing a disaster where telecom services are down as noted in the article “FireChat’s off-the-grid messaging app fosters communication during emergencies”, published Friday, August 5, 2016 by Tracy Rozens, Homeland Preparedness News.

But can FireChat replace a Telecom Network?

FireChat, 5G and Li-Fi - Free Network that doesn’t charge for Voice or Data Services

But it’s the potential to shake up the Telecom world that has many interested in this P2P Network.

In October 2015, Tahiti, a small island in the French Polynesian chain of islands, opted to use FireChat as their Telecom Network as noted in the article “Open Garden uses FireChat in Tahiti to create cell phone network that eliminates need for carriers”, published OCTOBER 20, 2015 by Chris O'brien, VentureBeat.

This hints at a future where Cellular network may be base on devices that communicate with each other instead of over a network. This heralds the possibility of a Free Network that doesn’t charge for Voice or Data Services as pointed out by Open Garden's founder Micha Benoliel in the article “FireChat will become a totally free mobile carrier”, published Wednesday 5 August 2015 by David Rowan, Wired.

With 5G Networks set to look more like Wi-Fi Hotspots and possibly use Li-Fi, come 2020 as noted in my Geezam blog article entitled “5G Networks with Renewable Energy, Fiber Optic Waveguides and AI”, this is looking very possible.

If FireChat upgrades to communicate via optical frequencies and Wi-Fi become ubiquitous in every Bar as is happening in Jamaica as noted in my blog article entitled “How Red Stripe Beer-Fi gives Bar Patrons Free Wi-Fi Internet”, they can achieve this dream of a Free Networks that doesn’t charge for Voice or Data Services by 2020.....once you're within 64.08m (70 yards)

Here’s the link:

FireChat for Apple iTunes Store

FireChat for Google Play Store

How to find work in Jamaica at Call Centers - 1500 Amazon Call Center Agents for Xerox Jamaica for Christmas Holidays

My fellow job seekers in the Call Center world, especially at Startek, Xerox as well as Advantage Call Center, I’ve got new more interesting than whatever you ate for breakfast in bed, and I mean whatever.......

I’m of course referring to yet another run of Call Center vacancies, this time at Xerox Jamaica as reported in the article “More Than 1,000 Jobs Now Available”, published Monday September 5, 2016 by Jodi-Ann Gilpin, The Jamaica Gleaner.

They're seeing an incredible 1,500 persons at their Kingston and Montego Bay locations as spoken by HR Manager Helen Broomfield, quote:  “We do have about 1,500 (spaces) that we will be filling between Kingston and Montego Bay, and we have been out in the communities”.

This was following her presentation at the JAMPRO (Jamaica Promotion Corporation) and the Avasant Foundation's graduation ceremony which was held at the University of Technology.

Xerox Jamaica desperate for Workers – 500 Call Center Agents per month till Christmas 2016

This comes only after a year since they're move to New Kingston, taking residence in the RKA Building where Digicel used to be a noted in my blog article entitled “How to find work in Jamaica at Call Centers - Xerox's Call Centers in Kingston for 860 employees”.

Apparently the shortage of Call Center employees is REALLY bad, as to require 1,500 employees by Christmas means they’ll have to employ some 500 persons each month up till November 2016!

Interestingly, it’s not just Call Center agents; over the next six months, supervisory and quality staff will be needed, suggesting that they have a new account on their hands, to quote Helen Broomfield: “We had a number of persons who stayed on as agents, but then we have a number of persons who have progressed. Typically, we promote persons within six months to 12 months, dependent on their performance. As accounts grow for the number of agents you hire, you have to have a number of supervisory staff, a number of quality staff, and so you have opportunities that are constantly available at these higher levels”.

JAMPRO, as you may know, has a long term strategy to have 30,000 persons working in the BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) Industry by 2020.

But why does Xerox need so many people?

Xerox 1500 Jobs – Amazon Ramp Up Thanksgiving, Black Friday sales and Christmas  

Well, as the title suggests, they're ramping up for the Holidays. And based on the holidays, as well as my sources in New Kingston with who I regularly chart with on Facebook and Twitter, its Amazon!

Amazon mainly has American customers and this massive demand is typical of their yearly ramp up for the Holiday period, as slyly hinted by quote HR Manager Helen Broomfield: “We serve a large number of our clients who come from the retail, and travel industries”.

This fall in line with my prediction of more Call Center jobs on the horizon in their very unforgiving job sector as noted in my blog article entitled “How to find work in Jamaica at Call Centers - A Brief Listing of Call Center Job Openings in New Kingston”.

But what even more exciting is that these jobs are really low hanging fruit for Jamaicans; you only need passes in three (3) CSEC Subjects, namely:

1.      English

2.      Math

3.      Science, Business or other CSEC subject

Aside from these subjects, you’ll also need fairly good communication skills on call, as this sound like mostly outbound work (Customer Service) and not inbound (Sales).

Multi-tasking is a must, albeit it's highly unlikely that most Millennials (ages 18 to 28) have this problem, being as they already juggle their smartphones and watching Cable TV and their siblings while making sure their house doesn’t burn down by accident.

So drop off an application at the Following address and you will not be disappointed.

Xerox Jamaica

7 Haining Road

Kingston 5

Why MycoTechnology's ClearTaste made from powdered mycelia to block bitterness will kill you

“Others say there’s not enough data to predict what would happen down there. It’s very complex and difficult to say what the effect of an antagonist will be. But we do know that blocking won’t have the same effect in different tissues. And if the efficacy of the blocker is high it will shut down multiple pathways.”

Director of the Manitoba Chemosensory Biology Research Group, Dr Prashen Chelikani, commenting on biotechnology startup MycoTechnology and their product ClearTaste

Most food processors focus on increasing the amount of sugar in foods to make them more palatable.

This is causing certain health concerns, such as the possible link to an increase in lifestyle diseases as well as condition in children such as ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder) as argue in my MICO Wars blog article entitled “Why French approach to ADHD points to Sugars and Food Additives”. 

However, what if the solution was not to make things sweeter, but to mask the bitterness?

This seems to be the aim of the biotechnology startup MycoTechnology and their product ClearTaste which block bitterness as reported in the article “Magical Mushroom Powder Blocks Bitterness in Food”, published 19 august 2016 by Megan Molteni, Wired.

The product is made from cultured mycelia, a fungus that grows underground, somewhat like truffles, but grows in threadlike strands. MycoTechnology cultures the mycelia fungus in Erlenmeyer flasks, dehydrates and blast freezes them and then processes the fungi into a powder.

A small dash of the mycelia fungus is enough to block the twenty five (25) T2Rs bitter receptors that are triggered by everything from Asparagus, coffee and yes certain types of bitter roots.  MycoTechnology claims that the mycelia fungus works universally for all twenty five (25) T2Rs bitter receptors for all molecules that cause the taste of bitterness, blocking these bitter receptors at a molecular level.

MycoTechnology has sold ClearTaste to alternative sweetener producer GLG Life Tech Corp who can potentially sell it to food processors such as Archers Daniel Midland. This use of their product via third-party sellers means that the powdered mycelia fungus may be an additive in your food already and you may not know it is there.

Alas, albeit this is a naturally sourced food additive, it’s STILL a food additive, like sugar as noted in my MICO Wars blog article entitled “How to Spot Hidden Sugar and How to Avoid Eating Too Much”.

So albeit it might be able to block bitterness in foods universally, is this safe for human consumption?

MycoTechnology and ClearTaste - Powdered mycelia fungus to block bitter receptors will get you killed

Mycelium is the vegetative part of a fungus. It grows in colonies looks a lot like a fibrous network of thread-like strands or hyphae.

Fungi usually grow mycelium in colonies and use this network of Mycelia to extract nutrients from the soil via diffusion and active transport. The mycelia secretes enzymes that break down food into monomer molecules, effectively making them dentritovores, as fungi mainly feed on dead organisms.

My main concerns is if this fungus can grow inside of you once consume it in food. After all its subterranean in origin; putting it into the body, which is moist, dark and airtight may be what it needs to grow rapidly and aggressively take over your body.

Then there is the whole matter of blocking bitterness.

Yes, it will make foods tastes less bitter but not necessarily sweeter by default, as humans are addicted to added sugars. Bitterness also serves a purpose; it was our body about food that may be poisonous, since most poisons do have a bitter taste.

In fact these T2Rs bitter receptors are located in other parts of the body aside from the tongue:

1.      Stomach

2.      Lungs

3.      Brain

Scientists are not sure why, but I'm willing to bet they act as poison or toxin detectors, being as our bodies have evolved over billions of years to be able to detect poisons based on their bitter reaction to these T2Rs bitter receptors. Mounting evidence is suggesting blocking bitterness may not be such a good idea.

In the lungs, relaxing and constricting of the airways, the possible means by which Garlic and Eucalyptus might work to relieve the symptoms of asthma as pointed out in my MICO Wars blog article entitled “How to use Alternative Treatments for Asthma and Bronchitis”. 

They are also responsible for digesting proteins, absorb nutrients and sense when we are full as Belgian Researcher discovered in 2015 while doing research on mice as published in the Journal PLOS in December 21^st 2015 under the heading The Gustatory Signaling Pathway and Bitter Taste Receptors Affect the Development of Obesity and Adipocyte Metabolism in Mice.

This suggests, quite simply, that powdered mycelia fungus can get you killed as it not only block bitter poisons, but it might possible make it difficult for the body to digest food properly, leading to malnutrition.

Why US$80 Billion Organic Farming Industry needs focus on Agricultural Towers, Robotics and School Farms

“So the United States has a bigger demand than they can actually produce, and where are we when we can relate to the US? They (are) bringing stuff all the way from Europe and we are right next door. We need to recognise that if we can actually create a true organic market in Jamaica, it can be very profitable”

                  

Kimone Gooden of the Diaspora Task Force spreading the gospel of Organic Farming at 64th staging of the Denbigh Agricultural show in Clarendon

The 64^th staging of the Denbigh Agricultural show in Clarendon has ended, where patrons attended to see the same displays they’d seen the year before. The conversation on Agriculture hasn't changed much either, as it still focused on making money rather than sustainable agriculture beyond 2020.

The latest thing now seems to be organic farming as reported in the article “Government Pursuing Organic Agriculture”, published August 1, 2016, By Chad Bryan, The Jamaica Information Service.

The three-day Denbigh Agricultural, Industrial and Food Show, which ran from July 30 to August 2^nd 2016 under the theme ‘Grow What We Eat...Eat What We Grow through Climate Smart Agriculture’ saw some 100,000 people in attendance as noted in the article “100,000 Patrons Expected for Three-day Denbigh Show”, published July 8, 2016 by Judith A. Hunter, The Jamaica Information Service.

According to Kimone Gooden of the Diaspora Task Force, the Organic Farming market is booming:

1.      US$80 billion industry globally

2.      90% of the organic market is in the USA

This isn’t surprising, as American are becoming more conscious of what they eat, especially the presence of artificial flavorings and sugars as argued in my MICO Wars Blog article entitled “How to Spot Hidden Sugar and How to Avoid Eating Too Much”.

In fact, local companies that export products deemed natural by having less artificial flavorings and sugars such as Aloe Vera Juices and Tropical Rhythms sold by GraceKennedy are gaining a foothold in the American market as noted in my MICO Wars Blog article entitled “How Gracekennedy Aloe Vera Sinkle Bibles American Health Drinks in 2016”. 

So how does the Ministry of Agriculture plan to tap the Organic Farming market in the USA?

Kimone Gooden of the Diaspora Task Force - How to become an Organic Farmer in Jamaica

The Agricultural Task Force was formed in 2015 after the Diaspora Conference held in June 2016.

It was created for members and organizations within the diaspora who are passionate about agriculture such as FUJL (Farm Up Jamaica Limited) a Diaspora group trying to get Jamaicans militant about agriculture as noted in the article “Soldiers for Food Security”, published Friday, August 05, 2016, The Jamaica Observer.

Along with Kimone Gooden of the Diaspora Task Force, they're trying to educate Jamaican farmers through professional development and education programs to foster local and export­ market readiness, thereby making Organic Farming viable in Jamaica. Kimone Gooden and these interested parties claim that prices for organic produce in the USA are 2 to 3 times higher when compare to low-cost mass produced farming products that have been grow with the use of fertilizers and pesticides.

Americans have also taken an interest in Organic farming to the point of teaming up with FUJL to come to Jamaica to grow Ginger. This is in the form of Americans who are a part of doTERRA have been collaborating with FUJL to grow ginger in Jamaica for American consumption as noted in my blog article entitled “doTERRA, FarmupJamaica and Red Stripe Project Grow tackle Jamaican Ginger shortfall with Wine and Beer”.

To get into the market, Farms must do the following:

1.      Sign up with the Diaspora Task Force

2.      Express their interest in organic farming

3.      Go through the training with Source Farm Eco Village, located in Johns Town, St Thomas

4.      Implement the practices to see if they qualify to be organic

Once they can prove that their farm is organic, they can be so certified as pointed out by Kimone Gooden of the Diaspora Task Force, quote: “the Jamaica Organic Agricultural Movement will do the certification as a US certifying body and we will sponsor all of it”.

Already there are (5) certified organic farmers in Jamaica. More would be good to take advantage of this opportunity.

But how long will it last?

Organic Farming is a Trend - Agricultural towers, organic Fertilizer, Robotics and School Gardens Needed

Remember, the desire for Organic Grown food is really a trend, not a permanent market. Realistically, most Jamaican farms cannot grow crops without fertilizers and pesticides, as too many pests exist that can destroys plants and fertilizer is needed to make land grow.

This is despite the words of US agricultural attache to the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Jamaica, Morgan Perkins, who also claims that we are not tapping into the organic Market in the US of A as noted in my blog article entitled “How US$24 million in Jamaican Agricultural Exports Lost and Why Agricultural Towers are Necessary”.

What will really drive food prices up will be increased demand for food due to global warming and population rise as argued in my blog article entitled “United Nations Population Division says 11.2 billion people by 2100 - Why Africa and India Population exploding as Insect Meat is coming”.

Food prices, be it organically grown or on a large scale farm, will rise as demand for meat, protein and other basic foods increase. The is need to find more efficient ways to use landspace to grow food such as agricultural towers as argued in my blog article entitled “How IGES Canada Ltd Vertical Hydroponic Aquaponic Towers make low cost Organic foods”.

Agricultural towers would make it possible to have hundreds of acres growing produce but stacked vertically instead of spreading outward, wasting land space already being wasted on burying Jamaicans as noted in my blog article entitled  “Jamaica running out of Burial Space - How to recycle the Dead as land for Agriculture and Housing”.

 

There is also a need to develop plants that require less water or even seawater such as CARDI's Salt water loving Dasheen as explained in my blog article entitled “How CARDI's Salt Water loving Dasheen and Agricultural Towers can help Pacific islands and Jamaica during Drought”.

Fertilizers need to be organic as well, made from organic waste processed from humans waste as well as our organic waste thrown away in our garbage as noted in my blog article entitled “Why Knockalva Enterprises Limited can solve Jamaica's Organic Waste, Bio-Fuel and Water Problem”.

Robotics in farming as the Australians already do will also be a feature of agriculture in Jamaica as noted in my blog article entitled “How Australia's University of Sydney Livestock Farmbot heralds Efficient Agricultural Towers”, as this would make agriculture more automated and efficient.

One such move is the use of drones to be used for spraying as well as crop inspection. This was also introduced at Denbigh as is currently being experimented with through a partnership between Agrocaelum and Hi-Pro as reported in my blog article entitled “Why Agrocaelum and Hi-Pro Herald for JCAA allowing Drone Racing in Jamaica”.

Finally, we need to start teaching children Coding, Robotics as well as Agriculture at the Primary and High School all across Jamaica. This can be done by have all Primary and High School set up School Gardens where this technology is demonstrated as pointed out in my blog article entitled “How Fersan's School Gardens prepares Jamaican Children for Modern Agricultural Towers and Robots”.

This is very important; a younger generation has to be taught to take an interest in modern agricultural, where food is grown in controlled environment instead of in open land. Combined, all these initiatives make Jamaican agriculture efficient enough to produce the quality and quantity for the entire island and for export.

Otherwise by 2020, we may be swamped with expensive food imports thanks to Global Warming and population rise.

How USDA Edible Casein Plastic can be Waterproof using Nanoparticles of Cellulose or Chitin

“Everything is in smaller and smaller packaging, which is great for grabbing for lunch, for school, but then it generates so much waste. Edible packaging can be great for that.”

USDA researcher Dr. Laetitia Bonnaillie commenting on their plastic wraps made from milk protein casein

Plastic wrap may soon be a thing of the past thanks to milk, of all things. This is a much needed upgrade may became a story you tell your grandchildren; how cows were saved thanks to their milk being used to make edible plastic.

The US Department of Agriculture researchers have developed a Plastic wrap made out milk as noted in the article “Edible milk­based film preserves food better than plastic”, published August 22 2016, by David Lumb, Engadget.

It also prevents food from spoiling much better than plastic wrap as noted in “A new biodegradable film made out of casein is being researched”, published August 23 2016 by Brittany Vincent, Popular Science.

Interestingly, because the main ingredient is casein, the researcher realized that they could add sugars, vitamins and flavorings to make it edible. This is lot like Saltwater Brewery's Edible Beer Packaging being used on their six-packs of beer as noted in my blog article entitled “How Saltwater Brewery's Edible Beer Packaging will reduce Plastic in the Sea”.

So how did they make plastic wrap from milk?

USDA Edible Plastic from Milk - Nanoparticles of cellulose or chitin naturally waterproof

The researchers, led by USDA researcher Dr. Laetitia Bonnaillie, found that casein, a protein found in milk, could be combined in powder form with water to make a new packaging material. To improve strength, they added glycerol to soften it and citrus pectin to resist humidity and high temperatures.

This leads to some interesting packaging options for products such as coffee or soup packets; just toss the packet into water instead of throwing it away to create an environmental nuisance.

Far better way to take care of plastic, instead of after the fact as noted in my blog article entitled “How JA$100 for recycling 500ml Plastic bottles and Styrofoam Ban will save Jamaica's Environment”.

Even the plastic wrapping for single-serve products like Chocolates ice creams and pizza slices could be made edible. This potential reduces another form of pollution that's as bad as microbeads, which will be banned from soaps, detergents and body scrubs in the USA by 2016 as noted in my blog article entitled “How US microbeads ban by 2017 means NEPA ban coming to protect Coral Reefs”.

This is also a drawback; its water soluble nature means that other edible emulsifiers that a hydrophobic will have to be added. Once such candidate is plant cellulose in plants or the protein chitin found in krill, which can be broken down into nanoparticles and woven into the fabric of such containers to make it less water soluble.

The might make the containers a little rigid and also crunchy. Still, we may have to wait years as noted in the article “Milk, Not Plastic, Will Protect Food in the Future”, published August 22nd 2016 by Amrith Ramkumar, Bloomberg, before we can eat these fibrous edible wrapping plastics, with nature as our guide!