When Homemade Food is Bad
The Evil Peanut
I received a letter from our grade school today that officially bans parents from bringing homemade food to school. The reason for this ban is that “this year there are many students who are highly allergic to peanuts and tree nuts.” The letter explains all about anaphylactic reactions from allergies which can be potentially fatal. In this lengthy letter, we are commanded “When supplying birthday treats, please avoid homemade items. It is important that we have store bought products that have all ingredients listed.”
In previous years the children with allergies were kept with one teacher so that this ban could be confined to one class per grade. I can’t believe that so many kids have this problem, that it had to be expanded to the entire school. I know that those children with allergies have now been mixed into other classrooms. I have to wonder if the underlying reason for this ban is because the parents of these kids didn’t like having a “peanut free” class. There certainly was no academic issues involved in this segregation because all of the classrooms were a diverse representation of intellectual abilities. Or maybe some attorney told the school that this would cover them in case of an allergy lawsuit.
Whatever the reason, it doesn’t make the school any safer. Unless the school is going to ban peanut butter at lunch, there will still be the risk of exposure in the lunchroom, no matter how much the kids are instructed not to share their food and to wash their hands. Kids will be kids. Further, there are other allergies besides nut allergies which can be equally serious, such as egg allergies. I know this because my niece has that allergy. And because of that dangerous allergy, I know my sister would never let my niece eat products at school without checking it herself. There are ingredients on labels that can lull you into a false sense of security. For example, natural flavors may have an egg derivative in them. And store bought products can be manufactured in factories that have nut products produced on the same line. If my child had these allergies, I wouldn’t count on other parents reading the labels to see if they had that warning.
Because of my niece, I take these food allergies as seriously as the next parent. But this rule accomplishes nothing but teach our kids that processed food is the way to be “safe” and homemade food presents a death threat for some of their peers. Score another one for our industrial food companies. Way to go school!
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2 Responses to “When Homemade Food is Bad”
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When I was a kid, there were kids with food allergies but they protected themselves by being careful about what they ate. If there was doubt about a food they didn’t eat it. When did people stop taking responsibility for themselves? Also, what was that note sent home say about parents? Are they assuming parents are too lazy, too stupid, too careless or too malicious to follow simple food preparation instructions for cooking safe birthday treats for children?
Exactly. These children, like my niece, learn early to be wary of food. While younger, they need parental intervention, but this isn’t the only way to go about it. And neither is it the safest.