Hillary Sterling, a chef at Vic’s in New York’s NoHo, prides herself on expressing the finest principles of the Italian cooking tradition: making delicious meals, while minimizing food waste. “I think Italian cooking is really a perfect example of simple, elegant, delicious food without any excess,” says Sterling. “They grow what they make and that’s it. And they use what they have.”

About 30 percent of food is wasted in the US, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Nearly all of that food — 95 percent — is simply thrown away, leading to an average loss of 38 million tons of food per year. But hunger in America isn’t a supply problem — there’s more than enough food to meet demand. And that doesn’t sit well with a community-minded chef like Sterling.

“I’m here to feed people but I’m also here to educate,” Sterling said. “There’s no reason we should not be helping people — especially children.” That passion inspired Sterling to join other chefs who volunteer with No Kid Hungry, a national campaign focusing on ending childhood hunger in the U.S. through programs like school breakfast and summer meals.

Of course, no one should ever grow up hungry and yet more than 11 million children in the United States live in food insecure families. Children who regularly miss meals can face an increased risk of a range of medical conditions, including chronic illnesses. They’re also more likely to struggle at school — and problems can last for a long time even after their food insecurity problems are solved. But hunger is a solvable problem and today, according to the organization No Kid Hungry, one-third fewer kids live with hunger in America than when it began nine years ago.

With the support of its long-time partner Citi, No Kid Hungry has provided more than 150 million meals for kids in need. And this year Citi is once again matching all donations up to $100,000 — enough to provide one million additional meals.

Chinese students are increasingly looking to the United Kingdom as their favorite study destination, despite lockdown caused by the pandemic over the past two and a half years. Education experts believe that this trend will only continue to grow in the coming years.

By the end of June, 31, 400 students from China had submitted applications to undertake higher education in the UK this autumn, a surge of 29 percent from 2020, according to data from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service.

Roger Sinnett, a Sino-UK education expert, said to China Daily, “The UK has always been a safe place for study, with its rich multicultural environment providing good preparation for an international future.”

Out of safety concerns, Sinnett said, the United States is losing ground as the great desired country for Chinese students.

“After two-and-a-half years down the line, as more Chinese students got a taste of the time-saving one-year master and three-year bachelor degrees, the UK has finally become irreplaceable in some Chinese students’ minds,” Susan Fang, founder of educational consultancy OxBridge, said to China Daily.

Fang said UK universities have been fortunate in a way because the increase in Chinese students made up for the losses from the falling demand from European students following Brexit (脱欧).

William Vanbergen, founder of BE Education in Shanghai, an international education services provider, told China Daily that he thinks building bridges with China and creating a better understanding between the two countries can only be a good thing. “The friendships formed by students studying and living together over several years help to increase mutual understanding across cultures,” he said.

Sinnett added, “China achieved much across the centuries by absorbing various cultures into Chinese society. In a similar way, one of the strengths of the UK university system is that they are well aware of external influences and pressures, from whichever direction they come.”

In 2019, Costa Rica was named “Champion of the Earth”by the United Nations for its direct role in protecting nature and fighting climate change.

Over 98% of Costa Rica’s energy has come from renewable sources since 2014 and 70% of all public transport is expected to turn electric by 2035. Through a combination of protected areas, ecosystem services programs, and ecotourism, Costa Rica has successfully restored its forest cover from 26% in 1983 to over 52% in 2021—proving to the rest of the world that reversing forest destruction is possible with the right approach.

“Our sustainable tourism model has allowed us to seek and attract groups of travelers that recognize our differences and the quality of experiences in the country,” Costa Rica’s Tourism Minister Gustavo Segura Sancho said.

The country contains more than 6% of the world’s biodiversity despite covering only about 0.03% of the surface of the globe. Housing so much biological variety doesn’t just make Costa Riea a dream location for nature lovers, it also makes the country especially vulnerable (易受伤害的) to climate change.

“Despite being a small developing country, Costa Rica has decades of sustainable tourism efforts underway,” says Segura Sancho.“Our work involves the efforts of individuals and organizations throughout Costa Rica.”

The country’s tourism model was developed with three primary factors in mind: sustainability, innovation, and inclusiveness. Costa Rica’s tourist attractions focus on activities that respect the environment and offer travelers opportunities to reduce their carbon footprint and contribute to conservation and cultural heritage (遗产).

Focusing on long-term sustainability within the tourism industry involved a few risks, for example by making the country a bit more expensive to visit. Luckily, there is a growing tendency among international tourists to choose to consider destinations making an effort to conserve and protect natural resources. The country’s decades-long investment in sustainable tourism was a good one.