Food trucks. Are you really getting what you want? Are your foods really allergy-free? Are all the foods fresh and are they good quality? Is the food really clean and are the workers hands really washed? The answer to the questions are always unknown but for some reason people still love to eat from food trucks. The first known food truck was an army wagon which contained dried beans, coffee, cornmeal, bacon, salt pork, beef, and other easily-preserved foods. It was invented to feed cattlemen and people traveling. After this, the US Army mobile canteens were commonly used to feed the U.S. troops. This is one of the many reasons food trucks are so popular, because it was so easy to feed people when they were busy doing other things. I think the reason it is so popular in today’s time is because it is a very convenient way of buying food that is close to easily accessible places. The real question I have is, are we really getting the food that we are asking for? For example, the photo in the top right of this page was a food truck that sold tacos. There was a twist however, although the tacos were delicious people were getting a bad vibe because something was not right. After a bit of investigating, the food truck was shut down for selling tacos with a side of meth. Hundreds or even thousands of people could’ve eaten these tacos without even known that they were getting high, even children. Even though this certain food truck is not like every single food truck, you can not be guaranteed food that is safe for you if you have dietary restrictions. If you do not tell the people that are serving your food that you are vegan/vegetarian or have allergies they will never know and your food can be contaminated. The last problem I am going to talk about is sanitation. How do we know if the workers are constantly cleaning the surrounding around the foods or how often they are washing their hands. We also do not know if our food has been dropped on the floor because they can cover it up really easily. I have learned this from personal experience. I was working on a food truck at an outside concert. The co-worker I was working with dropped an ice cream cone. It didn’t break or look dirty and she was concerned with how many cones we had left so she used it. We both don’t know the last time someone washed the floor. My Question: If you heard all the stories from workers about how they actually prepared your food and the steps they take towards sanitation, would you eat the food? Links to history, videos and horror stories about food trucks: http://mobile-cuisine.com/business/history-of-american-food-trucks/ http://globalnews.ca/news/1578597/food-truck-busted-for-selling-tacos-with-a-side-of-meth/ http://www.smithsonianmag.com/ist/?next=/travel/how-america-became-a-food-truck-nation-99979799/
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Rosa’s Fresh Pizza | 25 South 11th Street | Philadelphia, PA 19107 What started out as a small pizza shop, has now transformed into a shop where less fortunate ones can go to, to feel full from pizza and kindness. Pay it forward pizza at Rosa’s all began with one customer, one dollar, and a post-it note. In an interview, owner Mason Wartman talks about how this all started. “The first day of the pay-it-forward program kinda started when a gentleman walked in and asked if a homeless person ever came in short, and he offered to pre-purchase a slice of pizza for the next homeless person. So, he gave me a dollar, I ran out, got post-it notes, put one up on a wall behind the register, told more people about it, eventually a couple days later a homeless person came in, he had like 65 cents on him, and we told him to just keep the change, it was already paid for. He redeemed one of the pre-purchased slices, so now we’ve given away almost 10,000 slices of pizza.” Philadelphia is the poorest largest city and the city with the worst deep poverty rate, with approximately 185,000 people surviving on incomes that are less than the federal poverty line. Owner Mason Wartman tells of a story where a regular homeless customer disappeared for a while. Wartman was wondering to himself if he was doing well and days later, the homeless customer showed up and turns out he had got himself a job and he wanted to pay-it-forward just like how others had done for him. Wartman also said, in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that customers who benefit from the pay-it-forward system had told him that the pizza helps them avoid committing small crimes in order to get money for food. “I knew it saved people money,” Mr. Wartman said. “I hadn't considered that it stopped people from committing crime.” According to Upworthy, Rosa’s is doing much more than just feeding customers.
This inspiring story just really shows how food is much more than just…food. It can connect people within communities together in so many different ways and also help others get back on their feet with just one little act of kindness.
Sources: http://www.post-gazette.com/news/portfolio/2015/01/17/Portfolio-Philadelphia-pizza-shop-clients-pay-it-forward-buy-slices-for-homeless/stories/201501170028 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, By Daniel Kelly, January 17, 2015 http://www.upworthy.com/a-customer-walked-into-his-pizza-shop-and-changed-philadelphia-with-1-and-a-single-post-it-note Upworthy, By Maz Ali, March 04, 2015 http://www.upworthy.com/remember-that-pizzeria-that-was-feeding-the-homeless-see-what-happened-when-you-shared-their-story Upworthy, By Maz Ali, July 12, 2015 |
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