Conventional foods grown with fertilizers and pesticides can be much cheaper than organic foods, which prohibit the use of those things. But is spending the extra cash actually worth it? When you find out how organic food changes your body, you may be inclined to dish out the extra money.

Coop, a wholesale distributor in Switzerland, commissioned the Swedish Environmental Research Institute IVL to learn more about what happens to the body when people switch from eating non-organic to organic food. To test this out, they chose a family with three children who rarely eat organic food.

For one week, the whole family had to eat conventional, non-organically grown foods for all of their meals. Urine samples were taken from each member of the family throughout the course of the study.

Researchers analyzed the pesticides that were present in the urine and found that the family was consuming insecticides, fungicides and plant growth regulators.

“We know very little about the long-term effects of eating food treated with pesticides, especially if you consider the chemicals can be much more harmful when combined together than they are on their own,” the study’s co-author Jorgen Magner said in Coop’s video on the findings.

For the next two weeks, all of the family’s food was swapped with organic products.

Their personal hygiene products and detergents were also swapped with organic ones, and the family was asked to not purchase new clothing or bedding.

After testing urine samples a second time, nearly all pesticides had disappeared.

“The results of the survey clearly show that some pesticides are absorbed into the body through diet,” according to the full report. “By choosing organic products, it is possible by and large to avoid the consumption of these chemicals through food. Compared with the period when the family consumed conventionally grown food, the concentrations of pesticide residues decreased on average by a factor of 6.7 when the family ate organic food.” 

“When you hear this, you think about your children,” the mother involved in the study said in the video. “There were a whole number of chemicals removed from my kids’ bodies and I don’t want them back.”

The Duggars, famous for their large family and the TLC program about it, announced that they are still hoping to have a 20th child.

To see how feasible that’s going to be now that Michelle Duggar is 47, she and husband Jim Bob have enlisted the help of a doctor who specializes in high-risk pregnancies. 

The Duggar family started growing quickly years ago when they decided to forego birth control and leave their eventual family size, they said, up to God. 

The early years were clearly highly successful, as the family ranks grew steadily to its current size of 19 children — 10 boys and 9 girls.

In more recent years, they’ve been having a bit of trouble.

Their youngest, Josie, was born quite prematurely after Michelle experienced a serious case of preeclampsia. 

The next pregnancy did not have the same happy ending. Michelle miscarried what would have been the 20th Duggar child. 

They’re still trying, but Michelle is aware of the slim chances that she will again be able to have a successful pregnancy.

source: GeoBeats News, 20th May, 2014

Find the words in the text to fill in the gaps in the sentences.

1. He didn’t know why his friends were laughing, he wasn’t … of the fact that he was wearing his pyjama trousers.

2. They tried to rescue the dog although their chances were very …

3. Everybody cheered as they … their plan to get married.

4. She wasn’t as strong as the other babies as she was born …

5. His plans are really original but unfortunately not …

6. She was very happy to have her first baby after she … twice.

7. His parents were happy as her grades were improving … month by month.

8. When he lost his first match no one thought he would be the … winner.

9. She didn’t want to take pills and looked for some other means of …

10. They paid a lot of money for the participants because it was a … experiment.

Key:

1. aware

2. slim

3. announced

4. prematurely

5. feasible

6. miscarried

7. steadily

8. eventual

9. birth control

10. high-risk

Fashion can change wildly from generation to generation, where grandparents, children and their grandchildren looking totally opposed in their style. Asian artist Qozop decided to exploit this difference by asking people to switch their outfits with their grandparents and parents.

The artist has explored the role of clothes in society by getting different generations of relatives to swap their styles. In his ‘Spring-Autumn’ project, he persuaded people from different Asian nations – from China and India to Malaysia – to try on the clothes of their elders. It not only highlights the age gap but also the difference of identity.

He explains: "Basically, this idea for Spring-Autumn came about from a notion that though Asia has become westernised to a large degree, it is still possible to witness its traditions and cultures. And as an Asian society, our cultural beliefs are often reflected in our dressing. Fashion (other than wrinkles) is one of the best tell tales of how old a person is, or what generation they hail from. Skinny jeans just aren’t a thing for old people. But! Imagine a world where people of a certain age need not necessarily dress a certain way. People should be able to wear what they want and have fun with clothes regardless of their age. To explore the issues of age and identity, I decided to do a mirror portrait series of youths swapping clothes with their elder relatives, literally placing them in the others’ shoes. My process is simple – first I capture photos of the subjects in their regular clothes. Then, I get the subjects to swap their outfits, and original poses are reproduced. It was easy to get the kids to agree to be photographed; the older folks required a little coaxing. But once they have been photographed, they were often curious and amused to see themselves in their child’s or grandchild’s attire – some were so comfortable in their new getup that they joked that they wanted to remain in that attire for the rest of the day!"

What the photos highlight isn’t a lesson in fashion, but rather one in the understanding of self. None of the participants look odd or ridiculous in the other’s clothing, just that they are highlighting a different part of their personalities. After all, even those in the autumn of their life are young at heart.

wildly – széles körben
generation – generáció
opposed – ellentétes, valamivel szembeni
to exploit – kiaknázni, kihasználni
to switch – váltani, átváltani
outfit – öltözet
to explore – felfedezni, kutatni
role – szerep
society – társadalom
to swap – elcserélni, cserélni, váltani
to persuade – meggyőzni
elder – idősebb
to highlight – kiemelni, kihangsúlyozni
gap – űr, rés
identity – identitás, azonosság
notion – elképzelés, vélemény, eszme
though – bár, habár
westernised – nyugatiasított
to a large degree – nagy mértékben
to witness – tanúja lenni valaminek
belief – hit, hiedelem
to be reflected – visszatükröződve lenni
wrinkle – ránc
to hail  – valahova valósinak lenni
skinny jeans – szűk farmernadrág
certain – bizonyos
necessary – szükség, szükségesség
regardless of – tekintet nélkül valamire
issue – ügy, kutatás
literally – szó szerint
to capture a photo – elkapni egy fotót
subject – alanya valaminek
regular – szokásos, megszokott
to be reproduced – reprodukálva lenni
to require – igényelni, szükséges valami
coaxing – hízelgés
curious – kíváncsi
attire – ruha, öltözet
to remain – megmaradni
rather – inkább
understanding of – valaminek a megértése
odd – különc, fura
ridiculous – nevetséges

Megoldások:
1. Do you have an uncle or an aunt?
2. Yes, I have an uncle called Peter, and an aunt whose name is Olga.
3. Do you have a brother-in-law or a sister-in-law?
4. Yes, I have a brother-in-law.
5. Do you have a great-grandmother or a great-grandfather?
6. Yes, I have a great-grandmother. Her name is Judith.
7. Any nieces or nephews?
8. I have a niece called Dori.

Megoldások:
1. Vannak nagyszüleid?
2. Igen, de csak egy nagypapám és egy nagymamám van.
3. Hogy hívják őket?
4. Paul és Clarice.
5. Hány unokatestvéred van?
6. Három unokatestvérem van.