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easier- and more
profitable- to write a drug
prescription than to ten an
average patient to lose
excess weight, stop
smoking, quit worrying,
exercise more and
reduce intake of salt,
cholesterol and heavily
refined foods.
The point is this: The
health of your heart and
other vital organs is a key
to how long you will live
and how much you can
enjoy your lile. Eliminating
hypertension is vital.
For a thorough discussion
of stress and hypertension
-complete with concrete
solutions that can literally
save your life-read the
article entitled '!Best
Strategy for Beating Stress"
in this issue. •
The
Silent Disaster
A
t the very time large
.Mcrop 1ncreases are
needed to leed growing
populations, massive soil
losses over vast sections
of the globe are severely
undermining crop
productivity.
According to a report by
the Worldwatch lnstitute, in
many critica! areas of the
world humanity's most
precious physical
resource- fertile topsoil-is
being eroded, or blown
away and destroyed !aster
than it is being renewed. In
sorne areas the decline in
soil fertility is being
temporarily masked by
improved crop varieties
S
hopliftíng is driving consumer costs up
significantly, according to Brítish and American
studies. And the typical shoplifter, contrary to
popular perception, is employed and is as likely to
be a man as a woman. Nearly half of al/ consumers,
say the studies, would resent random spot checks
by store security, but most don 't mind being
watched by cameras or plain-clothes detectives.
Norwegians
and
the Bible
O
ne in 20 Norwegians
reads the Bible every
day, according to a survey
reported in the Norwegian
daily
Vaart Land.
The survey was
conducted by the lnstitute for
Marketing and Media.
Gunnar Staalsett,
Secretary-General of the
April 1985
Norwegian Bible Society, the
organization that
commissioned the study,
noted that the results were
not surprising.
Five percent of
Norwegians read the Bible
~
daily and 10 percent of those
>
ffi
surveyed said they read the
g
Bible at least once a
~
week .
Twenty-eight percent said
at least once a year and 62
percent reported that they
never read the Bible.
The results, according to
the newspaper, also showed
that !hose living on Norway's
west coast, women, the
elderly and those with lower
incomes and education read
the Bible most often. On the
other hand, those living in
Oslo, men, young people
and !hose with higher
incomes and education read
the Bible the least. •
and heavy use of chemical
fertilizers.
According to the report,
44 percent of U.S.
cropland is losing topsoil in
excess of its renewal rate.
In India, another critica!
food-producing area,
topsoil losses are even
worse- 60 percent of
cropland is eroding
excessively. And the Soviet
Union may be losing more
topsoil than either of these
countries.
In sorne areas of West
Africa, losses of severa!
inches of topsoil through
mismanagement have cut
corn yields more than 50
percent, and certain
leguminous crops by nearly
40 percent. Recen! satellite
photographs indicate large
quantities of soil dust
carried out of North Africa
over the Atlantic.
Under pressure to
produce more to leed
íí
One-third to
one-half of the
world's crop/ands are
being . . . c,onverted
from a renewable to
a nonrenewable
resource. ...
11
soaring populations or to
make financia! ends meef,
many farmers of the world
are abandoning terracing,
crop rotation and fallowing,
all of which conserve soil
Erosion dilemma is
making arable land a
nonrenewable resource
resources. Marginal lands
and steep hillsides are
being plowed up,
overgrazed or stripped of
timber and vegetation.
These fragile lands quickly
erode and lose fertility.
The Worldwatch lnstitute
report concludes: "Because
of the shortsighted way
one-third to one-half of the
world's croplands are being
managed, the soils on
these lands have been
converted from a
renewable to a
nonrenewable
resource.. . . Soil erosion
will eventually lead to
higher food prices, hunger
and, quite possibly,
persisten! pockets of
lamine."
Be sure to read the
full-length article "Famine
on Our Doorstep?" in this
issue. •
41