This article was written by Angela Lin, class of 2019.
Students may not even notice how often they consume gluten products whether it’s pizza from the cafeteria or a sandwich from home. However, senior Aaron Kredi must pay close attention to his diet, making sure not to ingest gluten. At the age of seven, he was diagnosed with Celiac disease, which prevents him from eating gluten,.
Kredi established his project Gluten Free Shelves for a variety of reasons: to inform the community about food insecurities, combat the costly price of gluten free food, raise awareness for celiac disease, and assist those who have Celiac disease and can’t afford gluten free food.
“I was inspired [to start Gluten Free Shelves] as a young boy when shopping at the grocery store with my mother. I had realized how the prices of gluten-free foods were exponentially higher than those of ‘normal’ food. I also remember that gluten-free kosher food was even more expensive and wondered about people who had fallen on hard times and were unable to afford gluten-free kosher food,” Kredi said.
Gluten free shelves is an ongoing project; however, Kredi’s gluten free food drive, in partnership with Key Club, was designed especially to collect food for people to cook for the upcoming Passover holiday. Students donated different foods such as gluten free pasta and snacks to the food drive in the upper school office Jan. 22-26.
The food has not been delivered yet, and if students still want to donate, they can contact Kredi at [email protected] to arrange a pickup or drop off.
