Genetically Modified Organisms, wonderful to some and a nightmare to others. No matter your position there is one common need, labels. With the dramatic and constant rise of GMO use, people have become very opinionated around this topic, and if I told you to eat them or not to eat them you would more than likely ignore this, so I won’t. I will however raise a very pertinent issue around them that is more for personal safety than anything else. In some countries such as the U.S and Canada, grocery stores do not require labeled GMO products. Some people shrug saying that they eat them anyway so labeled or not they are unaffected, but there are two things everyone should know about them. One, allergic reactions. Imagine you are allergic to nuts and you eat an apple, suddenly your off to the hospital with no idea as to why. The reason for this is that someone decided that there was something about peanuts they liked, and so they put it into an apple. Even though you are not allergic to apples the small peanut gene in it could still cause your body to react as if it were a peanut. This situation could have been easily prevented by a simple label saying that ‘this apple contains peanut genes and could kill you if you are allergic to peanuts’. You would probably want to reword it but this is the point that needs to be reached and told to people. Secondly GMOs will often be changed to increase nutritional value, which is a great thing and will help everyone get a proper diet, but because we can overindulge in nutrients with severe consequences, people must be made aware of the fact that it has been altered. Although seemingly simple, improper labeling and use of GMOs can lead to illness and quite possible death. For the two reasons previously stated: persistence of allergic reactions, and extra nutrition. I believe that GMOs must always be labeled, and yes I like the idea of GMOs and will support them in the future, but only if people are made aware of the possible dangers through easy to read and easy to see labels. If you are still curious about this topic I suggest watching the video on this site and looking over the article. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/consumer-reports-gmo-food-label-study-on-american-products/ And if you are in for a longer read try this site. http://www.iflscience.com/environment/myths-and-controversies-gmos-0 Also if you are wondering about countries laws around labeling check out the map on this site. http://www.iflscience.com/environment/myths-and-controversies-gmos-0 Finally if you or someone you know has allergies I would recommend taking a peak at this site https://www.organicconsumers.org/old_articles/ge/allergies111603.php 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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