Friday, February 21, 2020

COMPETITIVE FORCES AND SWOT ANALYSIS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

COMPETITIVE FORCES AND SWOT ANALYSIS - Essay Example strengths of offering wonderful services to the clients as well as its opportunities where it can harness the use of the Internet to market its products. Specially designed websites are very important in marketing the organic foods since information disseminated using the internet can reach a wide area of geographical space instantly. 1. Whole Food Market is the world’s best retail store that specializes in retailing purely organic foods and has stores in America, Canada and the United Kingdom. Thus according to Whole Foods Market, Inc. (n.d), â€Å"the organisation owns and operates a chain of natural and organic foods supermarkets and its product categories include, but are not limited to, produce, seafood, grocery, meat and poultry, bakery, prepared foods and catering, specialty (beer, wine and cheese).† It can be noted that the trends in organic foods mainly depend on consumer spending. The demand of organic foods is a matter of personal choice and it wholly depends with the needs and interests of the individual. It can be noted that no one is compelled to buy organic foods since the other traditional foods are readily available in the conventional supermarkets. People with special health related issues comprise the bulk of consumers of organic foods and these are fewer compared to those without special health cases who can consume any kind of food of their choice regardless of it being organic. Most of the organic foods are regarded as specialty foods and in most cases, these are often regarded as luxury items that have comparatively higher prices than other conventional grocery items. The fact that organic foods have a premium price can deter the customers from purchasing the products where they can resort to the other traditional, less expensive items when they have limited disposable money to spend. It can be noted from this argument that the market for organic foods is not very stable which can negatively impact on Whole Foods Market. Another

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Medical marijuana and its impact on the mind, body and society Term Paper

Medical marijuana and its impact on the mind, body and society - Term Paper Example Batalla et al. (2013) and Greenwell (2012), however, asserted the negative effects of cannabis on both adolescent and adult brains. This paper is not concerned of marijuana legalization, as it assumes that the main context is that it is used in states where medical marijuana consumption is allowed. The emphasis is on cannabis’ potential effects on users and society. Medical marijuana can help some people deal with chronic pain, but it should not be widely used because it can have negative effects on the brain, which can lead to mental, academic, and social problems. Technical Overview Marijuana, also called cannabis, pertains to preparing plants that are members of the family Cannabaceae, the genus Cannabis, and the species Cannabis sativa that produce psychoactive effects (Greenwell, 2012, p.68). Marijuana has around 70 psychoactive compounds or â€Å"cannabinoids,† which include tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) that creates many of marijuana’s psychological and physi cal effects, and its content is usually connected to the potency of marijuana (Batalla et al., 2013, p.2). The part of the plants used are the flowering tops, leaves, and stalks of mature female plans, although the resinous extracts (hash) of marijuana are also used as medicine (Greenwell, 2012, p.68). ... At present, medical marijuana is used to treat chronic pain for patients with cancer, multiple sclerosis, and nerve pain, as well as depression, nausea, and vomiting (Greenwell, 2012, p.68; Martin-Sanchez, Furukawa, Taylor, & Martin, 2009, p.1353). Impacts of Medical Marijuana on Mind, Body, and Society Though some patients attested the importance of marijuana to treating symptoms or their illnesses, most studies agreed that the impact of marijuana on the human brain is under-researched enough for doctors and patients to be cautious of its widespread applications (Batalla et al., 2013; Blakemore, 2013; Block, 1996). Batalla et al. (2013) and Blakemore (2013) are highly concerned of how marijuana affects adolescent brains, especially when they are in their development stages, while Batalla et al. (2013), Block (1996), and Rapp (2013) are alarmed of the effects of long-term cannabis use on adult brains and behaviors. Batalla et al. (2013) conducted a systematic review on 43 structural and functional imaging studies on adolescent and adult chronic cannabis users, wherein these studies have matched control groups included. They defined chronic marijuana users as those who use cannabis a number of times a week and have done so for at a minimum of two years (p.2). Their findings showed that for the few studies that focused on adolescents, imaging showed structural and functional changes in their brains, where gender may have a role in these changes (Batalla et al., 2013, p.13). They stressed that adolescent female cannabis users may be at higher risk for cannabis-stimulated morphological impacts (Batalla et al., 2013, p.13). Blakemore (2013) also reviewed a study on cannabis use for adolescent brains