Helping to provide

healthier foods to

stores, those in need

Several times each week I work with my local food pantry to help distribute food to those who can't afford to put dinner on the table. I see single mothers, working families and the elderly struggling and I can't help but question how we can make sure that everyone has access to affordable, nutritious food.

That's why I'm working with the American Heart Association on the NJ Healthy Corner Stores initiative, which helps provide resources and education to bring better food choices to local stores — especially in areas where there aren't many other shopping options like supermarkets.

Local stores serve as a main food source for our neighbors across the state—many of which are not equipped to provide healthy options like fruits and vegetables. Unfortunately, the boxed, processed foods which do fill the shelves are loaded with unhealthy ingredients that can lead to major health issues like high blood pressure, obesity and high cholesterol. These issues can directly lead to cardiovascular disease—our nation's No. 1 leading cause of death.

With nearly one million New Jerseyans facing uncertainty over their next meal, it's vital that we work together to make sure that everyone in the Garden State has access to healthy options, including fruits and vegetables. After all, everyone deserves the opportunity to live healthy.

William Duncan


William Duncan is a heart disease survivor and volunteer with the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association.

Too much CO2

in atmosphere will

unbalance nature

As a kid, did you ever have a red balloon get away from you and rise silently into the air until it was a tiny dot that eventually disappeared from sight, making you wonder what's up there? How far up does our atmosphere extend? Is there a boundary surrounding the Earth somewhere up there?

There is no boundary. As you go up, Earth's atmosphere gets thinner and thinner (less and less molecules) eventually merging with the outer space 400 miles up. Surprisingly, the composition of the atmosphere does not change appreciably with height, remaining at nearly the same percentage near the earth's surface — 78 percent nitrogen and 21 percent oxygen. These percentages hold fairly constant up to an elevation of about 50 miles.

At the surface, there is a balance between the destruction (output) and production (input) of these gasses. Nitrogen is removed from the atmosphere by biological processes that involve soil bacteria. It is returned to the atmosphere through decaying of plant and animal matter. Oxygen is removed from the atmosphere when organic matter decays and when oxides combines with other substances producing oxides as when iron rusts producing iron oxide. Oxygen is returned to the atmosphere during photosynthesis, as plants, in the presence of sunlight, combine carbon dioxide and water to produce sugar and oxygen.

It is the balance of physical, chemical and biological processes on earth that keep the wonder of life going. We all should be aware of the possibility of fatally upsetting this balance. If destructive anthropological changes are not recognized and prohibited, there will be points of no-return, which will mean doom for our future. The continuing rise of CO2 (carbon dioxide) is a danger, which some believe is close to a runaway stage, close enough so that this is now a serious problem recognized by nations of the world.

F. Blake Rivas


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