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Okay. I will freely admit that I can be a completely insensitive bitch, but I really, really think that the hypersensitivity over peanut allergies is completely overblown hysteria and it's really starting to piss me off.
For the confused child-free (and I'm guessing non-Americans as well) on my f-list, most schools in the states have enacted a "peanut-free" policy. We're not supposed to pack anything in their lunches that might have peanuts in them.
Yes, I realize that it can be really dangerous for some kids to eat foods with peanuts. Yes, I feel sorry for the kids who have to eat special food. Still, I think that most of this is a complete overreaction. Out of 365 million Americans, only 100-150 people die each year from all food allergies combined. The kids have a far greater chance of getting hit in the parking lot by a car or hell, getting struck by lightening, than dying from a peanut allergy.
Which brings me to the latest bullshit over my kid's spring music program where the parents have all been asked to bring in cookies as refreshments. The school sent out a reminder telling us to bring the cookies and reminding us that they're a peanut-free school. I still think it's overreactionary bullshit, but whatever. But then, one hysterical parent whose daughter is allergic to peanuts sends out a reply to all the parents in the school just in case we don't understand the gravitas of the situation. Some excerpts:
While shopping, I've found that several cookies have labels that say that either they contain nuts, MAY contain a trace of nuts, or processed with equipment that processes nuts.
Yes, that's right. Not only are we not allowed to bring anything with nuts, but we're also supposed to divine if such treats might have trace amounts of peanuts in them or have touched a mixer that once held a peanut.
Her attitude is not unusual. A lot of schools (although not ours... yet) require that treats brought into class be prepackaged with an ingredient label. Which means if you want to bake some brownies or cookies or cupcakes for your kid's birthday - hey you're shit out of luck. You want to be a lazy ass like me and go to a bakery and buy a batch of cookies or, hell, by a package of Oreos - well you'd better make sure that there's an ingredient list, quiz the baker/do internet research on the company about whether or not they make other products with peanuts in them.
Is there actually any evidence at all anywhere that equipment that have processed nuts and then processed food without nuts has gotten anyone sick? I've never seen any.
I even had the idea to make my own cookies and surprisingly found out that many of the separate ingredients may contain nuts. Ingredients you would never believe could possibly contain nuts, actually do.
Like what? Last I checked what you need to make chocolate chip cookies goes something like this: flour, eggs, milk, sugar, chocolate chips, butter, vanilla, baking soda and salt. Where exactly would the rogue peanut sneak in?
When you make your cookie selection for the fundraiser, please check all labels and make sure to bring the labels to the fundraiser. Whoever is in charge of setting up the cookie table should check all labels and place them next to their respective cookie and anything without a label should be placed in a separate area of the table and labeled as such.
Yes, that's right. Because her daughter (who is one out of 75+ kids at this school) has a mild peanut allergy, she wants everyone else to accommodate her to the point of placing all of the labels out for general inspection and putting the rogue cookies that the bad mommies brought into exile on the table of shame.
Or, you know, since she's going to be attending the event to watch her precious snowflake sing, she could bring cookies she deems acceptable and make sure her daughter eats only those. No way... that's just crazy talk!
She then goes on in boring detail about her daughter's mild nut allergy, that's now become the problem of every parent at that school, until she gets to her point which is:
"For those of you looking for suggestions, the ‘Good Life’ company makes cookies that are sensitive to nut and many other allergies common to children these days, and may be enjoyed by many families at the school. They can be purchased at Whole Foods and Plum Market."
Of course expensive and fancy cookies bought from Whole Foods (the only place in the yuppie universe that sells nutritious stuff) is the answer! How could I not see that before?
She then thanks us for our "understanding" and then attaches a picture below of her kid smiling with the caption "Sydney thanks you too!!!" for extra guilt.
When I got this e-mail I had to physically walk away from the computer to keep from typing a nasty response and sending it to everyone.
What truly irritates me is her assumption that because her daughter has a problem, we should all modify our behavior to accommodate her, instead of her stepping up and being a responsible parent and taking care of it herself.
Plus if it's really that big of a problem for your kid, why the hell would you count on other people to take care of it instead of making sure it's done right yourself?
Gah. I know I'm overreacting, but better to rant here than to shoot off a bitchy email.
For the confused child-free (and I'm guessing non-Americans as well) on my f-list, most schools in the states have enacted a "peanut-free" policy. We're not supposed to pack anything in their lunches that might have peanuts in them.
Yes, I realize that it can be really dangerous for some kids to eat foods with peanuts. Yes, I feel sorry for the kids who have to eat special food. Still, I think that most of this is a complete overreaction. Out of 365 million Americans, only 100-150 people die each year from all food allergies combined. The kids have a far greater chance of getting hit in the parking lot by a car or hell, getting struck by lightening, than dying from a peanut allergy.
Which brings me to the latest bullshit over my kid's spring music program where the parents have all been asked to bring in cookies as refreshments. The school sent out a reminder telling us to bring the cookies and reminding us that they're a peanut-free school. I still think it's overreactionary bullshit, but whatever. But then, one hysterical parent whose daughter is allergic to peanuts sends out a reply to all the parents in the school just in case we don't understand the gravitas of the situation. Some excerpts:
While shopping, I've found that several cookies have labels that say that either they contain nuts, MAY contain a trace of nuts, or processed with equipment that processes nuts.
Yes, that's right. Not only are we not allowed to bring anything with nuts, but we're also supposed to divine if such treats might have trace amounts of peanuts in them or have touched a mixer that once held a peanut.
Her attitude is not unusual. A lot of schools (although not ours... yet) require that treats brought into class be prepackaged with an ingredient label. Which means if you want to bake some brownies or cookies or cupcakes for your kid's birthday - hey you're shit out of luck. You want to be a lazy ass like me and go to a bakery and buy a batch of cookies or, hell, by a package of Oreos - well you'd better make sure that there's an ingredient list, quiz the baker/do internet research on the company about whether or not they make other products with peanuts in them.
Is there actually any evidence at all anywhere that equipment that have processed nuts and then processed food without nuts has gotten anyone sick? I've never seen any.
I even had the idea to make my own cookies and surprisingly found out that many of the separate ingredients may contain nuts. Ingredients you would never believe could possibly contain nuts, actually do.
Like what? Last I checked what you need to make chocolate chip cookies goes something like this: flour, eggs, milk, sugar, chocolate chips, butter, vanilla, baking soda and salt. Where exactly would the rogue peanut sneak in?
When you make your cookie selection for the fundraiser, please check all labels and make sure to bring the labels to the fundraiser. Whoever is in charge of setting up the cookie table should check all labels and place them next to their respective cookie and anything without a label should be placed in a separate area of the table and labeled as such.
Yes, that's right. Because her daughter (who is one out of 75+ kids at this school) has a mild peanut allergy, she wants everyone else to accommodate her to the point of placing all of the labels out for general inspection and putting the rogue cookies that the bad mommies brought into exile on the table of shame.
Or, you know, since she's going to be attending the event to watch her precious snowflake sing, she could bring cookies she deems acceptable and make sure her daughter eats only those. No way... that's just crazy talk!
She then goes on in boring detail about her daughter's mild nut allergy, that's now become the problem of every parent at that school, until she gets to her point which is:
"For those of you looking for suggestions, the ‘Good Life’ company makes cookies that are sensitive to nut and many other allergies common to children these days, and may be enjoyed by many families at the school. They can be purchased at Whole Foods and Plum Market."
Of course expensive and fancy cookies bought from Whole Foods (the only place in the yuppie universe that sells nutritious stuff) is the answer! How could I not see that before?
She then thanks us for our "understanding" and then attaches a picture below of her kid smiling with the caption "Sydney thanks you too!!!" for extra guilt.
When I got this e-mail I had to physically walk away from the computer to keep from typing a nasty response and sending it to everyone.
What truly irritates me is her assumption that because her daughter has a problem, we should all modify our behavior to accommodate her, instead of her stepping up and being a responsible parent and taking care of it herself.
Plus if it's really that big of a problem for your kid, why the hell would you count on other people to take care of it instead of making sure it's done right yourself?
Gah. I know I'm overreacting, but better to rant here than to shoot off a bitchy email.
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And it worked! No one died. In fact, the kids knew what they were allergic to and simple didn't eat the stuff. Or, they brought food from home! That's what I don't get. Why don't the kids with allergies bring their own food, rather than making everyone conform to their dietary needs?
Anyhow, I feel for you. I kind of wish you had sent that email, if just so that that lady would be set straight.
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It makes me wonder if people are just really hypersensitive now, or if there's some kind of increase in food allergies since I was a kid.
I kind of wish I'd sent that e-mail too, but then I just know that the parent outrage and bickering that would erupt, while entertaining, would totally not be worth it in the end.
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He did a study that showed if you owned a dog, the odds of your kid having food allergies dropped significantly. His theory was that the dogs brought relatively harmless germs and bacteria from outdoors, which exposed the kids and gave their immune systems something do to.
I don't know if he was full of bs or what, but I own two dogs and we've never had allergies. I also feed my kids all kinds of foods we're not supposed to way earlier than recommended. But I also wonder if this is a genetic thing. There really aren't any people in either my family or Tom's with food allergies.
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"Or, you know, since she's going to be attending the event to watch her precious snowflake sing, she could bring cookies she deems acceptable and make sure her daughter eats only those. No way... that's just crazy talk!"
THIS
EXACTLY. That woman is being so irrational! Her kid has a problem with peanuts. While it is a good idea to inform people to be careful, it's very disrespectful to make one's problem a problem for everyone. Her kid should be careful, know not to accept food from other kids, have an epipen with her all the time and that should be it! If the smell bothers her then she should probably eat someplace where no smell of peanut butter would kill her. It's bad enough that one kid has to be penalized (hers) she doesn't have to impose it to all the other kids as well.
Asklsdkghlka batshit XP
Good luck finding some appropriate cookies... If it were me, either I'd sneak in a box of Pirates peanut butter cookies, or I wouldn't bring anything.
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I finally just said "screw it" and picked something that obviously didn't have nuts in it. I guess if they're super concerned they can check the label themselves.
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what.
Is it so hard to bring her own cookies or just tell her kid to ask if there's peanuts before she samples another person's cookies? I mean, really. WTF.
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Parental hysteria is the only thing I hate about allergies of any kind. My sister has a really bad Penicillin allergy, but Mom never shut her in a bubble. Sure, she was always alert to make sure my sis didn't get a Penicillin prescription by mistake (which almost happened once, luckily the doctor caught his error while writing it and prescribed something different), but she never turned into a screeching helicopter parent like this woman.
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I guess it would be different if I invited a kid I knew had allergies to my house or something. But to expect every parent to care and conform at a large school event where everyone has been asked to bring a treat including themselves - that's just rude.
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The whole "peanut-free" thing sort of cracks me up. Because then people will turn around and be like, "So here's some peanut-free cookies chock full of eggs! And a carton of milk! Drink up, kids!"
Not that I'm bitter.
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L eats baked goods with egg whites in them now without breaking out in weird hives, so I am optimistic that this does happen...
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In the beginning I could kind of see their point at least when it comes to packing lunches. I mean we are talking about kindergartners and preschoolers here, which don't have the best judgment. I could totally see kids swapping parts of their lunch with each other at school when no one is looking.
But on the other hand, I know that there are at least as many, if not more kids in that school with egg and milk allergies, but there's no "egg-free" policy or a demand from those parents for vegan only cookies/lunches. Clearly they're not worried about kids clandestinely swapping food when the adults aren't looking.
I find it completely bizarre that my son can bring in an egg salad sandwich for lunch but not a peanut butter and jelly one. Our school even tried to get a milk program running this year, and the reason it failed wasn't because of objections about allergies, but because people (like me) didn't want to spend the extra money. Why the freakout over peanuts but not over other food allergies? I really don't get it.
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As I said earlier...
Yes, obviously some children are allergic to peanuts and obviously they shouldn't eat them. But some kids are allergic to milk or lactose intolerant (two different conditions, both more widespread). I don't suppose these schools are forbidding dairy products, hm?
Like others have said I really don't see what the problem is with having kids with allergies bring their own food. More options are better than fewer ones. Why not make two batches of cookies, one with peanuts and one without? Always worked for my school where we had a disproportionately large number of vegetarians. Some food with meat... and some without.
Honestly, I've never encountered this but I also haven't been in elementary school for a good... hm... six years? So I guess I shouldn't be that surprised. Still, it does seem excessive.
That said, are they objecting solely to peanuts or every kind of thing that sort of looks like a peanut? Something that a lot of people don't understand is that peanuts =/= nuts. Nut allergies are completely different. If its just the former, than almond and hazelnuts work as nice peanut-substitutes in my experience. If not, though...
Well, your irritation is somewhat well-deserved.
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Re: As I said earlier...
I think that one reason I find this so baffling is that I've been out of elementary school for 20+ years. Back in the day, there wasn't anything even remotely like these policies, so it was a complete shock to send my own kid to school and discover this new hysteria and the extreme lengths people will demand others go to in order to "protect" their kids.
Like others have said I really don't see what the problem is with having kids with allergies bring their own food.
If I were a parent of a kid with severe allergies, there's no freaking way I'd trust other people, even well meaning ones, to be responsible for making sure my kid doesn't eat the wrong stuff. Not only should it not be their problem, but really, are they going to be as vigilant as they would be with their own kid.
I have a hard enough time herding four people into getting fed, appropriately dressed and into the car so we can show up on time. Usually, I totally forget to bring the snack until the very last minute, and dash into the store on the way to the concert to pick up the treat as we're running late. Would you want someone as distracted as me being in charge of keeping your kid from getting sick?
Something that a lot of people don't understand is that peanuts =/= nuts. Nut allergies are completely different. If its just the former, than almond and hazelnuts work as nice peanut-substitutes in my experience.
I forgot to mention, those are banned as well. They've expanded the policy this year from "peanut-free" to "peanut-free and no tree nuts" school - so it's actually harder to find stuff.
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A part of me wants to stand up and loudly ask wtf, but I also know if I do that, I instantly become the "bad mommy" of the school, which doesn't bother me really except for the fact that my kid will end up having to deal with it.
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But honestly, if an allergy is so serious that it will kill the kid and they don't know what to look out for by the time they're 6ish... it's kind of Darwinism.
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Of course, none of this mattered, because after the concert the kids and parents descended on the table like a locust swarm. It took about two minutes for all of the cookies to be demolished, and I didn't see even one person check labels.
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"No soup for you!"
What that meant for me, was that I had to load up on my morning allergy meds, bring my own lunch to school, and have an eppy pen in the office for emergencies. AND, I knew what I was allergic to, so I knew what to avoid.
What's so wrong with educating her daughter on her allergy so that she can learn to do whatever she needs to in order to take care of herself? I was six when I was diagnosed with my allergies.
Ridiculous, hysterical parents.
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Re: "No soup for you!"
I think that's why this really bothers me. I just don't feel comfortable being responsible for their kid's health, because I really don't know what the hell I'm doing. Plus usually I'm busy as hell and distracted by the minutia of my own life and kids, and half the time, I forget about stuff like this because it's just not an issue for us.
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I remember bringing spring rolls for those 'bring your own food to share' events, and that's what I always brought. If it were me, I'd be mighty tempted to buy some crispy fried pork feet to school (places here sell them a buck for a pair). How about that! Just to see the look on that woman's face.
"I know your kid is allergic to peanuts, how about some nice juicy fat pig feet? It'll put hair on her chest! I like the way the grease runs off my chin."
Diversity is a wonderful thing.
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Anyways, pris, bring hy-drox, or if you want to splurge, oreos. I am fairly sure they don't contain eggs or dairy, in addition to being nut-free.
Also, I confess, L hasn't officially tried peanuts yet because I am that paranoid after the egg white hives incidents. Well, except for eating her father's snickers bars, but I am not supposed to know about that.
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I'm really, really lax about introducing stuff to my kids in ways that I'm not supposed to. Ivy's been eating hard boiled eggs for months, and I'm pretty sure she's had peanut butter already. I think it's because that allergies just don't run in my family. It generally doesn't occur to me that I should worry about this stuff until after I've done it.
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Remember -- pictures, or it didn't happen.
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The public school is a little more reasonable--they have a "peanut free" table in the lunchroom, but peanut problems are addressed according to classroom. We do have a couple of kids at my son's school who are peanut-allergic to the point of showing a reaction to airborne elements. But the whole school doesn't revolve around the peanut kids. And the peanut kids' lives don't revolve around the terrible dread of knowing somebody, somewhere, is opening a bag of peanuts. Their lives revolve around their schoolwork. And Nintendo DS and Bakugan balls.
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I kind of wonder if it's a class thing. It really wouldn't surprise me that the more affluent the parents are in the district, the stricter they get about stuff like this. Working class folk tend to not have the time to worry about problems like this the way that the Whole Foods set do. It would be interesting to know.
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I'm not sure if it would totally be a class thing or not--my town is mixed between fairly upper middle class folks and very blue collar-slash-farming folk. Down south in Mason, there's a much larger subset of the wealthier end of the scale, and their peanut policies aren't significantly different, and neither is Lakota to the west of us. Of course, Lakota's got half a billion kids in each grade, so it's a wonder they get through morning roll call before the afternoon buses come to take the kids home.
Of course, Ohio also has a pretty hefty homeschooling/unschooling population that's mostly middle class, so the truly hand-wrung may just be keeping their kids home.