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<p>I am sure if anyone had asked for an accommodation they could have set aside a loaf of bread and some vegetables and beverages. There are micro solutions that would accomplish the same goal and have less impact on fewer people. Also, what’s to stop the PA person from keeping his or her food of choice in a dorm-room fridge?</p>
<p>So substitute other protein sources for peanuts. I don’t have anyone with an allergy and I do have a kid who spent 2 years as a vegetarian. Most colleges now have entire vegetarian meals and/or vegetarian stations. If they can make that change, why do we imagine it would be so difficult to create healthful, good tasting peanut-free options?</p>
<p>Why do they have to eat at the dining hall at the expense of excluding a common food staple for the majority of students? It has been suggested several times in this thread that this student would be better off in an apartment and not on the meal plan.</p>
<p>Thousands of students every year are deprived of dorm life, and the ability to eat in dining halls because their parents don’t have the financial to pay for either. Those students have to slum it in apartments, cook their own food, and generally try to scrape by on earnings from part-time jobs and student loans. Where is the outrage for the loss of their college experience?</p>
<p>Yes, they have vegetarian OPTIONS but they don’t ban meat. Apples to oranges.</p>
<p>FinanceGrad, I got nowhere with this line of reasoning some pages back. Apparently it’s OK for everyone BUT nut-allergy-sufferers to have their options circumscribed. Of course, since food allergies (and the majority of CC members, it seems) are concentrated in more affluent groups, it’s no surprise that no one is standing up for the kids of modest means who have to spend two years at a community college to save money before transferring to a four-year institution.</p>
<p>I brought that point up because there seems to be an assumption by many posters that all PA sufferers at a school would have financial ability to live in a dorm and be on a meal plan. The biggest problem that I see with this line of thinking is even if the school starts providing a peanut free environment it will only benefit the PA sufferers who are already fortunate enough to afford a meal plan and a dorm room. It doesn’t improve the college experience for PA sufferer who never had the financial means to get on a meal plan or in a dorm, but those PA sufferers are not ackonwledged here…</p>
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<p>Seriously? We’re talking about college students in the US. If anything we should be avoiding peanuts and peanut butter because they’re so calorie dense and we want people to not get the freshman 15.</p>
<p>Also, I really hope no one actually eats peanut butter that doesn’t require refrigeration. There is no way that stuff is healthy for you.</p>
<p>According to the CDC, allergies are increasing. Between 1997 and 2011, the incidence of food allergies increased from 3.4% to 5.1%. That’s an increase of 50% in a little over a decade. For children from families with incomes of 200% of the federal poverty level, the incidence of food allergy was 5.4%. [Products</a> - Data Briefs - Number 121 - May 2013](<a href=“http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db121.htm]Products”>NCHS - 404 Error - Resource Not Available)</p>
<p>The American Academy of Asthma, Allergy and Immunology, however, cites a study which showed 8% of children have food allergies. 38.7% of those food allergic children have a history of severe reactions. Peanut is the most common food allergen, followed by milk and shellfish. [Allergy</a> Statistics | AAAAI](<a href=“http://www.aaaai.org/about-the-aaaai/newsroom/allergy-statistics.aspx]Allergy”>http://www.aaaai.org/about-the-aaaai/newsroom/allergy-statistics.aspx)</p>
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<p>As the thread began with the complaint about a college dining hall going nut-free, PA students who do not eat in dining halls are not covered by the topic.</p>
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<p>The topic of this thread is about possible peanut bans in college dining halls. Hence the discussion on that and related topics.</p>
<p>Thanks for setting me straight cobrat I totally missed that.</p>
<p>Actually, over and over again posters have argued that college is all about Community, and how could it be a Community with a capital C if it doesn’t accomodate even the smallest minority on campus?!?</p>
<p>Well I am pointing out that this so called all inclusive community is limited to students of certain financial means. And the rest of the PAs? Well, let them eat cake.</p>
<p>I just wanted to edit my post (since baked goods have been cited as a culprit in so many cases) that cake is just a historical reference, and when I say cake I mean that its totally nut free cake.</p>
<p>A few months ago I posted about a co-op preschool/day care that operates in a room out of a Jewish Modern Orthodox synagogue. It does not have the use of the facility’s kitchen. Because of the kosher requirements of the location, the children bring their own dairy/vegetarian/vegan lunch and snack daily. There is one certified teacher; it is otherwise staffed by parent volunteers on a rotating basis, and different children attend on different schedules.</p>
<p>A family had applied for their 18 month old daughter…who has severe allergies to peanuts/all nuts, legumes,wheat, eggs and dairy. It caused quite a bit of debate as to whether the child should be accepted or not. Other children routinely brought pb&j, bagels with cream cheese, hummus with chips, granola bars, cookies etc. and the co-op worried both about the child’s safety and the liability, especially given the young ages of the children.</p>
<p>The co-op asked the family to let the child have a trial day before making a decision on the application. On the trial day, the other children’s families were instructed on what not to bring–but there was still some confusion, and the other families were not happy with the limitations, and although willing to go along for one day, indicated that they would not be happy to go along with it on a permanent basis. The day of the trial, the allergic child was given her lunch and her snack at a separate table, with a volunteer assigned to keep her away from the main table, just in case…</p>
<p>The trial day did not go well for a lot of reasons. the parents did not appreciate their little girl being segregated, but the staff was worried about something being brought in that could have been a trigger. The staff felt the pinch of having a staff member assigned to just one child, leaving fewer people to help with the rest of the group. It is hard to keep children from “sampling” each others food, and keeping all hands of other children wiped before they contaminate something like a toy or the back of a chair, or the table top…it was just too much, and the co-op declined the application of the little girl.</p>
<p>Things might have worked better with older children, but these were all pre-schoolers.</p>
<p>However, I also understood the parents’ upset with their childrens’ lunches and snacks being so severely limited for the needs of the one child. Many parents from non-kosher homes already felt limited by the requirement that all food be dairy or vegetarian–and, given that many toddlers are picky eaters, felt that their children’s diets were going to be too circumscribed.</p>
<p>ON the other hand, there is also a lot of sympathy for the child’s family. It is certainly scary to have such an allergic child. And the co-op is wonderful, and relatively inexpensive for the quality of care it delivers. (and the girl’s family did not want to commit to having a parent there at any time the child was in the facility–of course, part of the reason for using day care is to have the child taken care of while you do something else!)</p>
<p>For a while there was talk of a lawsuit, but apparently that threat has gone away.</p>
<p>But the discussion in this thread shows that the issue does not go away with age.</p>
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<p>Not all of us have to worry about our weight in college, Warbrain. And plenty of students are legitimately poor or at least in challenging financial circumstances due to the high cost of college. Peanut butter, ramen, and other cheap, filling foods are a staple of many kids’ diets. I honestly can’t believe I have to say this on a college-related website.</p>
<p>warbrain, this is for you:</p>
<p>[Is</a> Peanut Butter Healthy? - Harvard Health Publications](<a href=“http://www.health.harvard.edu/press_releases/Is-peanut-butter-healthy]Is”>Is Peanut Butter Healthy? - Harvard Health Publications - Harvard Health)</p>
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<p>With a certain amount of amusement, I’m reading the stories of how HARD it is to eat healthfully and cheaply sans peanut butter. Before the current pox on carbs, it was not seen as essential for a vegetarian diet. Nuts now in, after being out for a number of years due when the style was low fat. </p>
<p>Personally, I love PB, and nuts in general. When allergic D is not home (adult), I take out the jar from the back of the fridge, and enjoy my few spoonfuls, and almonds are one of my favorite snacks. </p>
<p>However, we stopped eating nuts in general when D was a year old, and it wasn’t much of a hardship. We were vegetarian as well. Cheese and apples, hummus and carrots, crackers of all sorts, fruit, yogurt. We don’t eat much processed food, aside from a few types of crackers. No big deal. </p>
<p>Allergic D has spent quite a bit of time in France, and one thing she loves about it is a lack of worry about peanuts. Aside from a few imports, it is a mostly peanut free country, and usually not thought to be lacking in the food department. </p>
<p>boysx3, my heart goes out to these families dealing with so many restrictions.</p>
<p>I feel badly for the family of the little girl as well. It must be hard to feed her nutritious, balanced meals. But I also sympathized with the other members of the co-op not wanting to accommodate all the child’s needs because of the imposition on all the other families–I know I would have trouble thinking of what to send that could not include all of the exclusions the family was requesting (nothing with nuts or legumes, no bread, no eggs, no cheese or other dairy, no granola bars, no crackers, no hummus,no pasta …)</p>
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<p>I don’t think anyone here said that. What we said was that nuts and peanut butter are a significant part of many peoples’ healthy diets, so being forced to go without in the dining hall needs to be justified in their eyes. I don’t think that is unreasonable. Other than anecdotes, no evidence of serious consequences of nuts in the dining hall have been presented. People say it is a threat, and that makes sense, but haven’t students coped until today? Why did the policy suddenly change? More info is needed.</p>
<p>From what I have read, people who are egg-allergic can die from ingesting eggs. What about their needs?</p>
<p>Ban the eggs! And dairy products! And nuts! </p>
<p>Also, while we’re at it, bees, wasps, shellfish, yeast, grasses, ragweed, and cat dander.</p>
<p>Anything else that causes deadly reactions in some people?</p>
<p>Did I miss anything?</p>
<p>(For those of you who are humor impaired, I’m kidding.)</p>
<p>Perhaps the university wished to avoid tangling with the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. </p>
<p>[Questions</a> and Answers about the Lesley University Agreement and potential implications for individuals with Food Allergies](<a href=“http://www.ada.gov/q&a_lesley_university.htm]Questions”>Redirecting…)</p>
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On December 20, 2012, the Justice Department entered into an agreement with Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts to ensure that its students with celiac disease and other food allergies can fully and equally enjoy the university’s food services in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Lesley University previously required all students living on campus to participate in, and pay for, its meal service plan </p>
<p>My son has a severe peanut allergy. We were very careful in the elementary years, giving instruction to the classroom teacher and office personnel and making sure his epipens were current and all new how to use them. Same thing in junior high however he took on more responsibility. In high school we would tell the coaches and the office personnel and have fresh epipens stored around the school.</p>
<p>He is in college now and carries an epipen. He takes responsibility for what he eats and for his exposure to peanuts. We thought he may be losing some sensitivity so we had him rechecked last summer. He is still very allergic. </p>
<p>Banning peanuts seems overkill. The college should absolutely have foods clearly labeled for the things not obvious. Foods cooked in peanut oil. Foods where cross contamination is likely. Just show some professional responsibility and common sense.</p>
<p>Thanks for that Periwinkle. Too bad we didn’t have the benefit of your research earlier. It would have obviated the need for this entire thread.</p>