ICA - ROAP - BRIEF NOTES

International Co-operative Alliance - Asia & Pacific

An international organization committed for the promotion and development of co-operatives in the spirit of ICA’s Co-operative Identity Statement (ICIS).

Vision

To be prized as the organization of reference which provides an effective and efficient global voice and forum for knowledge, expertise and coordinated action for and about co-operatives.

What do we do

ICA, a global networking organization organized at the global, regional, sectoral and thematic levels, is a world-wide representative of co-operative organizations of all kinds.

ICA is the custodian of co-operative values and principles enshrined in the ICIS and its principal role is to provide forum for the exchange of ideas, experiences, concerns and trade among co-operatives.

ICA over the years has been lobbying with the governments for the creation of favorable policy environment for the development of cooperatives and advising necessary improvements in the cooperative legislation for better regulation of the cooperatives.

ICA is also seen as the organization capable of catalyzing & mobilizing thought churning process on relevant contextual issues affecting co-operatives at global and national levels.

ICA promotes sustainable human development and further the economic and social progress of people duly ensuring equality between men and women in all decision making and activities within co-operative movement.

History

The International Co-operative Alliance - Asia & Pacific is one of the operating regional offices of the ICA, the world confederation of co-operatives in existence since 1895 and presently head quartered in Geneva.

ICA has 225 member organizations worldwide from 87 countries of which 59 member organizations come from 23 countries in the Asia Pacific region.

Most of the members of ICA are national level co-operative organizations that serve all types of co-operatives operating in all sectors of national economies including those engaged in agricultural production and marketing, wholesale and retail, small and medium scale industries, financial services, insurance, housing, transport, health and other services.

Over 530 million individual members get benefited from the services of these co-operatives in the Asia Pacific region.

The Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific was opened in 1960 and is presently located at 9, Aradhana Enclave, Sector 13, R.K.Puram, Ring Road, New Delhi 110066, India.

ICA also has a sub-office in Singapore since 1999 to promote ICA’s business interests.

Objects of ICA AP

Promote the regional cooperative movement and facilitate global integration of cooperative movement;

Promote and protect co-operative values and principles;

Facilitate the development of economic and other mutually beneficial relations between / among its member organizations;

Promote sustainable human development and further the economic and social progress of people thereby contributing to international peace and security;

Promote equality between men and women in all decision-making and activities within the co-operative movement.

Operations

ICA AP seeks to obtain its objects by:

Serving as a forum for exchange of experience and as a source of information on co-operative development, research and statistics;

Coordinating actions for the promotion of co-operative development;

Collaborating with the global and regional institutions and with governmental and non-governmental international and national organizations, which pursue aims and importance to co-operatives.

APPLES SHOULD BE GROWN IN ALL CO-OP HOUSING PROJECTS

Putting the Apple-a-Day Adage to the Test

July 9, 2008

By Robert H. Shmerling, M.D.

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

A Look at the Evidence

Okay, so maybe you've heard this one before: An apple a day keeps the doctor away. I wouldn't have considered this a myth because everyone knows it's not true, right? Well, not so fast. A number of recent studies have actually put this adage to the test, at least indirectly.

A Look at the Evidence

Consider the following studies published over the last few years:

In 2007, researchers from Pennsylvania State University found that study subjects who ate an apple before lunch — about 125 calories — consumed 187 fewer calories overall than subjects who didn't eat an apple. Applesauce and apple juice, on the other hand, had no such effect. The researchers suggested that the work of eating the apple or the time it took to eat it somehow made study subjects think they'd eaten more than they had.

Researchers from Cornell University published a study in 2004 in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry showing that a the flavonoid, quercetin (found primarily in apples, berries and onions) protected the nerve tissue of rats from hydrogen peroxide, a standard oxidative stressor in laboratory preparations. Based on these findings, they theorized that apple consumption might reduce the risk of brain-damaging illnesses, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.

In a 2007 study, researchers in the United Kingdom found that people who ate five apples a week had better lung function and a lower risk of asthma than people who did not eat apples. A prior study suggested the same thing and also linked the beneficial effects of apples to their high concentration of quercetin. Two additional studies have linked apple intake with a lower risk of lung cancer.

A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition last year linked the high intake of flavonoids (a plant-based nutrient) with lower death rates from cardiovascular disease among postmenopausal women. Of course, apples weren't the only source of flavonoids associated with dodging cardiovascular death. Bran, pears, wine, grapefruit, strawberries and chocolate are also high-flavonoid foods whose intakes were associated with lower cardiovascular disease and/or death rates in this study.

According to a 2006 study, apple juice appeared to "rescue" brain function in mice with Alzheimer's-like disease or with nutritionally deficient diets. In addition to performing better in a maze after the addition of apple juice to their diets, a brain chemical called acetylcholine rose to normal.

Low levels of acetylcholine are associated with Alzheimer's disease in humans. The amount of apple juice these animals consumed was equivalent to two 8-ounce glasses or two to three apples a day for humans. By the way, this study was sponsored by the U.S. Apple Association and the Apple Products Research & Education Council

Is It Time To Get on the Apple Bandwagon?

Considering the findings of these studies, is it time to make apples a bigger part of your diet? Sure, if you like apples. But I don't think we have enough hard evidence to completely buy into the "apple cure" just yet. Some of this research is based on animals, which we know does not always apply directly to humans.

And it's notoriously difficult to perform studies of dietary intake and link them to specific health outcomes when there are so many variables to consider.

For example, when compared with people who don't like apples, maybe apple-eaters have other healthy behaviors, such as exercise, that lower their risk of heart or lung disease.

The Bottom Line

Apples may be even better for you than previously appreciated. They are a healthy food choice, especially if eaten instead of less nutritious snacks. But even if apples can't keep the doctor away, eating more apples are unlikely to cause you harm.

Regardless of how you feel about apples, this is a good example of how some "myths" are just waiting to be transformed into fact. Good research and an open mind is all that lies between the apple-a-day myth and "the next big thing" in healthy diets. Robert H. Shmerling, M.D. is associate physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and associate professor at Harvard Medical School.

He has been a practicing rheumatologist for over 20 years at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He is an active teacher in the Internal Medicine Residency Program, serving as the Robinson Firm Chief. He is also a teacher in the Rheumatology Fellowship Program.