Health Risks of Genetically-Modified Foods Essay Example for Free

Health Risks of Genetically-Modified Foods Essay Genetically modified (GM) foods, introduced to the American Public in 1996, involves taking the genes of the DNA of one plant or animal and transferring them to another species creating a new organism. Justification for this scientific manipulation revealed promises to eliminate world hunger, make plants resistant to pests and disease, and produce healthier foods. Agribusiness giants, like Monsanto, Bayer, and Syngenta include some of the companies first to bring products to the market. The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) took the stance, that it is the food producer responsible for assuring food safety. Companies producing GM foods ultimately regulate themselves. These companies kept their research secret and not available for public scrutiny. Insufficient data illustrate the need for ongoing exploration by independent scientists to deem the products safe for human consumption. Jeffrey M. Smith discussed these issues in his book, Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Geneically Engineered Foods. GM of certain crops cause them to produce their own insecticide. A research study not performed by the manufacturer, involved GM potatoes fed to rats. They developed potentially precancerous cell growth in the digestive tract, inhibited development of their brains, livers, and testicles, partial atrophy of the liver, enlarged pancreases and intestines, and immune system damage (Smith 22). Additional information is warranted clarifying the exact cause. Another study revealed Monsantos MON 863 Bt corn fed to rats produced significant changes in their blood cells, livers, and kidneys which might indicate disease (Smith 26). Monsanto defends their GM corn as safe and deems it unnecessary to pursue further testing. No research conducted to date and the corn gained approval. Government and big industries continue with the development, endorsement and marketing of GM foods despite the potential health warnings. Study after study cited in Genetic Roulette by Jeffrey M. Smith , reveal health problems from every body system and even death. One investigations proved given a choice, animals would not eat GM foods. Rats that would not eat the GM tomatoes were force fed the tomato through a gastric tube. Several developed stomach lesions and seven of the forty died. The GM of the DNA of species results in widespread mutations. Soy allergies skyrocketed after the introduction of GM soy. Over half of the processed foods in the supermarket contain something made from soy. GM peas generated an allergic-inflammatory response. With some of the GM crops that produce their own insecticide, the fear of creating super weeds exists. The United States and Canada do not have GM labeling requirements (Smith 257). Exposing millions of people to unpredictable dangers of GM foods represents playing roulette. â€Å"The connections between the FDA and large agribusiness corporations are disturbing† (Teitel, Wilson 69). Large contributors to the Democratic and Republican parties include Monsanto and others. These companies employ trade and environmental administrators and government appointees in lucrative positions.

Why I Live at the P.O. Essay -- Literary Analysis, Eudora Welty

Why I live at the P.O. was written by Eudora Welty in 1941. Sister, the first person narrator, who is a flat character in the story, causes external conflicts within her family as a result of her inner-conflicts. Such as lack of self-confidence and a demanding need to be the center of attention. Due to the conflicts she deals with inside herself, she is driven to move out of her family’s home and into the post office. In the beginning of the story the reader has sympathy for Sister due to the conflicts that are going on, but later on in the story we start to see that these conflicts were perpetuated by Sister herself. As this occurs the story takes on a comedic aspect from the view of the reader, and we lose our sympathy for Sister. Sister lives in China Grove, Mississippi presumably a very small town with only a few occupants. She lives with her mother, grandfather and uncle in their home, being the center of attention for the duration of the time until her younger sister, Stella-Rondo returns home. The return of Stella-Rondo sparks a conflict with Sister immediately because Sister is obviously envious of her and has been even before she came back to China Grove. The reader gets clear evidence of Sister’s jealousy toward Stella-Rondo when Sister says â€Å"She’s always had anything in the world she wanted and then she’d throw it away.†(594). Clearly Sister has a predisposition toward Stella-Rondo returning for many reasons, and this is the beginning of the conflict that she begins to have with herself. Stella-Rondo returns to the house with a child during the middle of dinner, and Sister is feeling greatly offended by this and shows us her arrogance and dismay that she’s losing the center of attention when she says â€Å"There I was o... ...ly marking the time, in hopes that a member of her family will come to the post office and beg for her return as she states in, â€Å"And if Stella-Rondo should come to me this minute, on bended knees, and attempt to explain the incidents of her life†¦I’d simply put my fingers in both my ears and refuse to listen.†(602). It is clear to the reader that Sister is hoping that Stella-Rondo will come for her in hopes giving her the attention she is longing for. Throughout the story, it has been Sister who has tried to persuade the reader to take her side in the debacle with her family. The truth is that it was Sister who caused the entire dispute that is going on with her obsession to compete with her sister that goes back to her childhood where she feels that Stella-Rondo is spoiled and continues to be spoiled up to the end following Sister’s desperate need for attention. Why I Live at the P.O. Essay -- Literary Analysis, Eudora Welty Why I live at the P.O. was written by Eudora Welty in 1941. Sister, the first person narrator, who is a flat character in the story, causes external conflicts within her family as a result of her inner-conflicts. Such as lack of self-confidence and a demanding need to be the center of attention. Due to the conflicts she deals with inside herself, she is driven to move out of her family’s home and into the post office. In the beginning of the story the reader has sympathy for Sister due to the conflicts that are going on, but later on in the story we start to see that these conflicts were perpetuated by Sister herself. As this occurs the story takes on a comedic aspect from the view of the reader, and we lose our sympathy for Sister. Sister lives in China Grove, Mississippi presumably a very small town with only a few occupants. She lives with her mother, grandfather and uncle in their home, being the center of attention for the duration of the time until her younger sister, Stella-Rondo returns home. The return of Stella-Rondo sparks a conflict with Sister immediately because Sister is obviously envious of her and has been even before she came back to China Grove. The reader gets clear evidence of Sister’s jealousy toward Stella-Rondo when Sister says â€Å"She’s always had anything in the world she wanted and then she’d throw it away.†(594). Clearly Sister has a predisposition toward Stella-Rondo returning for many reasons, and this is the beginning of the conflict that she begins to have with herself. Stella-Rondo returns to the house with a child during the middle of dinner, and Sister is feeling greatly offended by this and shows us her arrogance and dismay that she’s losing the center of attention when she says â€Å"There I was o... ...ly marking the time, in hopes that a member of her family will come to the post office and beg for her return as she states in, â€Å"And if Stella-Rondo should come to me this minute, on bended knees, and attempt to explain the incidents of her life†¦I’d simply put my fingers in both my ears and refuse to listen.†(602). It is clear to the reader that Sister is hoping that Stella-Rondo will come for her in hopes giving her the attention she is longing for. Throughout the story, it has been Sister who has tried to persuade the reader to take her side in the debacle with her family. The truth is that it was Sister who caused the entire dispute that is going on with her obsession to compete with her sister that goes back to her childhood where she feels that Stella-Rondo is spoiled and continues to be spoiled up to the end following Sister’s desperate need for attention. Why I Live at the P.O. Essay -- Literary Analysis, Eudora Welty Why I live at the P.O. was written by Eudora Welty in 1941. Sister, the first person narrator, who is a flat character in the story, causes external conflicts within her family as a result of her inner-conflicts. Such as lack of self-confidence and a demanding need to be the center of attention. Due to the conflicts she deals with inside herself, she is driven to move out of her family’s home and into the post office. In the beginning of the story the reader has sympathy for Sister due to the conflicts that are going on, but later on in the story we start to see that these conflicts were perpetuated by Sister herself. As this occurs the story takes on a comedic aspect from the view of the reader, and we lose our sympathy for Sister. Sister lives in China Grove, Mississippi presumably a very small town with only a few occupants. She lives with her mother, grandfather and uncle in their home, being the center of attention for the duration of the time until her younger sister, Stella-Rondo returns home. The return of Stella-Rondo sparks a conflict with Sister immediately because Sister is obviously envious of her and has been even before she came back to China Grove. The reader gets clear evidence of Sister’s jealousy toward Stella-Rondo when Sister says â€Å"She’s always had anything in the world she wanted and then she’d throw it away.†(594). Clearly Sister has a predisposition toward Stella-Rondo returning for many reasons, and this is the beginning of the conflict that she begins to have with herself. Stella-Rondo returns to the house with a child during the middle of dinner, and Sister is feeling greatly offended by this and shows us her arrogance and dismay that she’s losing the center of attention when she says â€Å"There I was o... ...ly marking the time, in hopes that a member of her family will come to the post office and beg for her return as she states in, â€Å"And if Stella-Rondo should come to me this minute, on bended knees, and attempt to explain the incidents of her life†¦I’d simply put my fingers in both my ears and refuse to listen.†(602). It is clear to the reader that Sister is hoping that Stella-Rondo will come for her in hopes giving her the attention she is longing for. Throughout the story, it has been Sister who has tried to persuade the reader to take her side in the debacle with her family. The truth is that it was Sister who caused the entire dispute that is going on with her obsession to compete with her sister that goes back to her childhood where she feels that Stella-Rondo is spoiled and continues to be spoiled up to the end following Sister’s desperate need for attention.

Discuss factors and attitudes influencing eating behaviour Essay

There are many factors and attitudes, which can have a major influence over an individual’s eating behaviour, such as mood, cultural factors or even their parents. Mood can have a major influence over an individual’s eating behaviour. It has been suggested that someone who over eats or under eats, may be suffering from Depression, and they use their eating behaviour as a way of masking their negative mood. It has also been shown that being in a low mood state can result in the desire to eat sweet or starchy foods. This is said to be because carbohydrates help the manufacture of serotonin (neurotransmitter associated with mood). Consuming high carb foods can also be used as a way of self-medicating an individual’s low mood. Verplanken et al (2005) conducted a correlational analysis on mood, impulse buying and the consumption of snacks. In this study, it was found that those with low self-esteem were more likely to impulse buy and consume snacks. It could be said that this is their way of coping with the emotional distress caused by low-self esteem. Therefore supporting the idea that an individual’s mood can influence their eating behaviour. However, as this was a correlational study, cause and effect can not be established. It may be that impulse buying causes a lowered mood. Social Learning Theory places emphasis on the impact that observing other people (i. e. our peers) has on our personal attitudes and behaviour. Our eating behaviours and attitudes to food, can be down to observing the behaviour of our parents. Parental attitudes towards food inevitably affect children because they control the food bought and served in the household. However, research has also shown an association between parents’ and children’s attitudes towards food generally. For example, Brown and Ogden (2004), reported consistent correlations between parents and their children, in terms of snack food intake, eating motivations and also body dissatisfaction. Our attitudes and eating behaviour can also be effected by influences from our peers. A study supporting this theory was conducted by Meyer and Gast (2008) who surveyed 10-12 year old girls and boys, and found a significant positive correlation between peer influence an disordered eating. The ‘likeability’ of peers was considered the most important factor in this relationship. One criticism of the Social Learning Theory is that it focuses solely on learning eating behaviours through observation of others. It fails to take into account biological and evolutionary factors which can also have a major influence over our attitudes towards food and our eating behaviours. Another factor which can have an influence over an individuals eating behaviour, is cultural influences. Research carried out by Bally and Kenardy, examined the eating habits of women in Australia, they specifically focussed on a group aged between 18 to 23. From this study, they found that the longer the women spent in Australia, the more likely they were to alter their attitudes towards eating in a similar way to women born in Australia. This is known as ‘acculturation’. This research strongly suggests that eating behaviour is learnt and is therefore linked to the behavioural model. However, similar to the Social Learning Theory, this fails to take into account biological reasons for eating habits or why some disorders such as Anorexia, can be heredity. As well as this, the research can also be said to be reductionist as it was only set in Australia therefore, the results can not be generalised to the wider population. Also, another criticism of this study, is that it is gender biased, as it only looked at women, rather than looking at the eating behaviours of both sexes. Further studies linked to this imply that, body dissatisfaction is a characteristic of white women rather than black/asian women. However, evidence from Mumford et al goes against this. Mumford et al found that bulimia was more common amongst Asian school girls than their white counterparts. This therefore questions whether the ethnicity of an individual plays a role in our eating behaviour.

Sex Education A Part Of American Culture - 1566 Words

Introduction For decades, sex education in US public schools has been a debatable issue for a minority of people (Shindel Parish, 2013). Healthcare workers insist that with a rise in sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancies among teenagers, sex education is desperately needed in school. On the other hand, there are some parents and other citizens who strongly believe that sex education is something that parents should be teaching to their children. These individuals feel that sex education courses in schools do not place adequate emphasis on abstinence. In addition, introducing children to sex education may also encourage them to experiment with sex at an early age. However, what these opposing parents and individuals forget is that in the last 2 decades, there has been a renaissance in sex. With the advent of the internet, almost anyone can easily access pornography and almost any type of sexual activity on cyberspace. Sex is now a part of American culture. The advent of cybersp ace has made sex prominent at all levels of society. Today, there is no way to avoid sex as it permeates every facet of our lives, even at work and in schools. No matter what the parent or the school attempts to do, these teenagers will make their own decisions about sexual experimentation and when to start such activity. Over the past few decades, it has become obvious that teenagers have started to having sex much earlier than their peers several decades ago. In the past, manyShow MoreRelatedThe Importance Of Sex Education1340 Words   |  6 PagesSex education is one of the most debated problems in education, which has been floating on educational agendas for ages. There has been a constant dialogue about the role that sex education should play in curriculum of K-12 education. As breathing human beings, we all know that sex is a large part of our lives, however, how young is too young to know and talk about sex? With the increase of sexually transmitted diseases, commonly known as â€Å"STD’s†, among young people, many schools have added sex educationRead MoreArticle Review : When Sex Goes School1458 Words   |  6 PagesAugust 12, 2015 Book Review: When Sex Goes to School In a busy and complicated landscape of sexuality and gender, it is generally recognized that children need instruction in how to behave. Unfortunately, the way that adults wish young people to be introduced to sexuality is governed by diverse worldviews and values, and the subject is seen as so important that this disparity leaves little room for neutrality, much less reasoned compromise. In many cases, the education of children in sexuality is regardedRead MoreArticle Review : When Sex Goes School1457 Words   |  6 PagesAugust 12, 2015 Book Review: When Sex Goes to School In a busy and complicated landscape of sexuality and gender, it is generally recognized that children need instruction in how to behave. Unfortunately, the way that adults wish young people to be introduced to sexuality is governed by diverse worldviews and values, and the subject is seen as so important that this disparity leaves little room for neutrality, much less reasoned compromise. In many cases, the education of children in sexuality is regardedRead MoreEssay Differences Between Indian and American Culture1472 Words   |  6 Pages AMERICAN CULTURE VS INDIAN CULTURE Cultural comparison (West vs East) â€Æ' Everybody has their own definition of Culture – and when this word is used generally, most audiences have a rough idea of its meaning. Culture usually refers to the beliefs, ideas, languages, rituals and traditions by certain communities, that are passed from generation to generations continuously over the past many centuries. In society, two cultures cannot be same if one is located on the west coast and the other one isRead MoreSex Education : Comprehensive Sexual Education972 Words   |  4 PagesSex Education Comprehensive sexual education has long been a contentious issue within the United States of America. Owing largely to America’s history and culture, sexual education has long been stigmatized as unnecessary involvement in the private life, or even misattributed to rising rates of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. A U.S. review article, however, poses the opposite argument – â€Å"The overwhelming weight of evidence reveals that sex education which discusses contraceptionRead MoreThe Rape Of Sexual Violence1642 Words   |  7 Pagesmean yes,† â€Å"If she had sex with me before, she has consented to have sex with me again,† â€Å"It’s not a rape if it happens after drinking or taking drugs†: these quotes about rape are few to the numerous myths that circulate society today. 1 out of every 6 American women has been sexually assaulted, yet this statistic is only from victims who come forward (Victims of Sexual Violence: Statistics†). The problem in America today is the â€Å"Rape Culture† in which we live. A Rape Culture is defined as a â€Å"rapeRead MoreSex Education And The Early 19th Century1204 Words   |  5 PagesSex education is instruction on issues relating to human sexuality, including emotional relations and responsibilities, human sexual anatomy, sexual activity, sexual reproduction, age of consent, reproductive health, reproductive rights, safe sex, birth control, and abstinence. Sex education that covers all of these aspects is known as comprehensive sex education as opposed to the abstinence only education that only promotes abstinence. Common avenues for sex education are parents or caregivers,Read MoreGender, Sexual, And Sexual Behaviors Among Latino Youths877 Words   |  4 Pagess society, the way sexual values are passed on varies among many families, cultures and religious group. Some people say sexual activity is okay if you love the person, other people would say it’s only okay if it’s in a marriage. It all comes down to a person’s morals and values. Latino women are not expected to be highly active in sexual activites, yet studies show that Latina women don’t exactly follow their cultures values. According to â€Å"Sexual Values and Risky Sexual Behaviors among LatinoRead MoreThe Issue Of Marriage And Divorce1490 Words   |  6 Pagesheterosexuals or two individuals of the same sex. On May 17th, 2004 Massachusetts became the first state to allow all same-sex marriages (Dinno 2013). In Canada same-sex marriages became legalized in 2005 unlike the United States who is yet to make it nationwide (Pierceson, 2014). Now ‘Till death do us part’ does not seem to be the only way individuals have been detaching themselves from their marriage vows. Originally divorce was very frown upon in many religions and cultures. As it is often said that thereRead MoreCauses Of Teen Pregnancy1232 Words   |  5 Pagesthis. They are number one for many issues. Among these is the U.S . has the highest teen pregnancy rates. The causes of teen pregnancy in the United States today include substance abuse; broken homes; changes in society; and poor sexual education. For the most part, substance abuse is a leading cause of teen pregnancy. Those who abuse substances like drugs and alcohol do not have the sharpest minds. Their judgement is clouded which prevents them from making the best decisions. They also usually do