Off to College with FA's

[GoingNuts]

I've been meaning to start this thread for awhile, but was waiting until I had some real information to share.  I still don't have a lot, but here's what we've found so far:

To be honest we didn't do that much research on our regular tours - we saved it for the schools we knew were in serious contention.  DS reeeeaaaallllly doesn't like talking about it or calling attention to it - which made my sleuthing a little challenging. 

William and Mary and one of the SUNY schools did make special mention of it on their general tours.  I knew from a friend's son's experience that University of Maryland excels in dealing with special needs wrt to food; from what I remember reading they were one of the first schools to jump on it years ago, and many other colleges looked to their expertise when coming up with their own food service plans.

Northeastern was amazing.  Simply amazing.  When we were there we went to the dining hall and DH asked one of the food servers if the desserts were safe for DS.  I rolled my eyes and said, "Why are you even bothering to ask?"  Not one minute later the food service director approached our table and asked us what concerns we had.  He then went on to tell us that not only were the desserts totally safe for DS, but apart from chick peas on the salad bar, the occasional sesame bagel, and single serve peanut butter containers, everything in the dining hall was OK for DS's allergens.  I wanted to ask how they handle things like eggs, dairy, etc., but was literally crying too hard to speak to him.  (Embarrassing X 100!)  He did explain that there are all sorts of great tools out now for food service, like color coded tongs, forks, etc., to make preparing special meals easier.  And he displayed tremendous knowledge of X-contam, may contains, etc.  I wanted to put down the deposit right then and there, but DS had other criteria he wanted to consider...

I'm nagging him about getting hold of the food service director at the school he chose, so we can meet with her during orientation at the end of June.  BTW, he went with one of our state universities.  Food did not enter into his decision at all.  He made the decision solely on academic merits of the school.

One thing that was interesting - while we were at Northeastern I spoke briefly with the Disabilities Coordinator, and he said that they don't deal with FA's unless it impacts the academic experience.  Issues regarding dorms, dining halls, etc. are handled by their separate departments such as Housing, Food Service, etc.

We'll see how things go at DS's school of choice.  All the dorms do have cooking facilities should he need them, but knowing how he feels about cooking I imagine he'd rather resort to pizza 3 meals a day. 

And so the journey begins.  I may have to start coloring my hair again. 

BTW, FAI's website has a nice questionnaire for college students to answer about their experiences on campus, how they handle things, how they feel about it.  Maybe by the time the younger kids here are off to college, there will be a decent database of information to draw upon.

So, anyone else have anything to add?

[Carefulmom]

Four out of the five schools that we have spoken with/toured were absolutely clueless about cross contamination and do serve nut items.  Very scary, IMO.  I can`t imagine how dd would eat there and I don`t think she`ll have time or interest in preparing three meals a day.  Eating in the dorm dining hall with your friends is a big part of the college experience.  One school was great with allergies and ingredients and they do not prepare nut items.  Unfortunately that school is not very academically compatible with dd`s interests.  I think unless we see a big change in the coming year, dd has pretty much resigned herself to living at home for college.  She`s not into isolating herself by cooking her own meals.

[PurpleCat]

GoingNuts, that is great to hear!  We are a few years away from that decision and I've not idea what kind of school DD will want to attend, but is sounds like some schools are headed in a good direction, similar to the difference we see in restaurants.

OT but the boys and i stopped at a hot dog trailer this past week, neither of them have allergies, and I'd never think to let DD eat at one, but there, right in the very front window was a certificate stating that all the staff had completed allergy training and a sign below asking people to identify their allergies so the staff could serve them safely!

[GoingNuts]

PC, that is encouraging!

[GoingNuts]

We're going up for college orientation in 2 weeks, and DS has been emailing w/ the food service director to set up a time to meet.  They spoke in person today, and she told him she'd love to meet with us; to just let her know what his orientation schedule is and she's fit us in.   

She assured him that they are emphatic about cleaning all utensils, cooking implements, etc., but especially those exposed to allergens (hmmm, believe it when I see it).  She also told him that the entire menu is visible on their website daily (no more waiting to get down to the cafeteria to see what the surprise of the day is!), and that by October they will have all the items containing allergens flagged, with a description of what they contain.

I'm eager to talk to her to find out what they consider a "contain", a "may contain", etc., and how varied his diet will be.  When we were there for the accepted students' bash, I wasn't impressed with their mini food court in campus center (an alternative for folks on the go who don't want to go back to the cafeterias to eat).  They had some ethnic offerings that were totally off-limits, and almost everything in their convenience store was as well (lots of Asian noodle dishes and Samosas, which looked heavenly but which are definitely a no-go for DS).

So...  I'll keep y'all posted.

[booandbrimom]

What we've found is that they all talk an excellent game, but the devil is in the details.

I just spent two weeks preparing for the one week my son is currently away. He's staying at a major state university and the food service is regular college food service.

We started with their "milk free" menu. I use the quotes because it wasn't milk-free. They had popsicles on the menu that were done on a dairy line. More concerning, they had Special K cereal - something that outright contains whey.

From there, we whittled things down for the other allergies. They did have to check with food service providers on several of the meats. These turned out to be a surprising source of danger! The hamburger patties they use contained whey, so my son needs to verify that his hamburger was made from fresh ground beef, in a clean pan. The hot dogs they use have a safe label from their food service vendor but contain soy protein when purchased retail. (We went with them...but it makes me nervous.) The turkeys were declared "allergen free", yet almost all process turkey I've ever seen contains milk, soy, or both in flavorings.

The moral of this lengthy post is that it all needs to be check. And, even when you check it all, there are 14 people in the kitchen who may not know the deal, or may not know enough about food allergies to prepare food safely. I agonize over that glop of butter on the vegetables or in the sauce.

We tried to find one safe protein and one safe vegetable per meal. I sent all bread and desserts. It would be a LONG college year if this were truly the only food he could eat.

One tip I did get - postpone the meetings with food service until after applications have been filed and acceptances received. It's not a good thing to look too crazy, right at the outset, and there's so much work that goes into vetting a kitchen/food service team that there's no point in doing it until you know your child has actually been accepted.

I would be curious to know if anyone has had good experiences with big vs. little schools. I used to think a small school would be more responsive, but I'm beginning to think large schools might be as good, with more options.

The bottom line, though, is nothing is safe. We'll be asking a staff of people to understand the nuances of his allergies and not make a mistake, not miss a change in labeling, not cross-contaminate the food.

God, I hope the FAHF-2 works! 

[GoingNuts]

I hear ya, Boo.  That's what I'm afraid of.

When DS started college 4years ago, his cafeteria was all talk too.  Then he got a job there, and started pointing out all the holes in their "system".  Oy.

_{I wish  I was dealing with preschool again.}

[GoingNuts]

Back from orientation, and while I love the school in general, let's just say I'm not terribly happy with the food service.

We met with the Food Service Director, and I came away with the impression that she doesn't have a clue.  She had never heard of a sesame allergy.    And here's the kicker - I met two other families while we were there who were dealing with FA's too, and I found out just by overhearing conversations.  Neither of them had contacted her, and seemed genuinely shocked that meeting with her was an option.  So I have to believe that the FA community in that school is much bigger than they believe it to be.

Her suggestion was that DS meet with the head chef in whatever dining hall he eats in most often, most likely the one closest to his dorm.  They will develop a relationship that DS will depend on to guide him, until their new system is in place (they originally thought by October, now they are aiming for January  .  They are also in the process of hiring a nutritionist to assist with overseeing their new system, which will include having all ingredients available for review online. 

Because this is a state school, they have less purchasing discretion than a private college would have (like Northeastern, for example!), and I do not expect any changes to be made for DS.  What I would love to see happen is for all the FA kids to band together, and lobby for special meals, etc.  Not likely to happen on a college campus.  None of them want to stand out, and they have more other priorities.

One positive thing is that they do have allergen "kits" that are in purple boxes, with special utensils and pans that they use for specific allergens, which are then washed and re-packaged for the next use.  They do seem to understand X-contam.  And once he develops a relationship with this chef, he can email him/her ahead to let him know what he'd like from the menu, and the chef will make it with these segregated cooking implements.

I think that what will happen is that DS will have an extremely limited, unhealthy diet, heavy on grilled meats and heavily supplemented by pizza from the pizza joint up the street from campus (which at least has great pizza, LOL).  I wish he had some interest in cooking, because all the dorms have decent kitchens, and for next year he could apply for a townhouse where he could have his own kitchen.   Maybe after a semester of a boring diet, he'll develop an interest in cooking for himself.  One can only hope.

Or maybe we should just send him off with his own personal chef?

[twinturbo]

Get him a $25 rice cooker from a major warehouse chain that has a steamer tray. An amazing amount of healthy meals can come from it although you'll have to do some sleuthing with a search string like dorm+room+rice+cooker+recipe. Depending how into the rice cooker cooking he gets you could scale up to a more multi-function rice cooker. Given time I could factor in budget and meal planning to illustrate.

[booandbrimom]

Or maybe we should just send him off with his own personal chef?

LOL!!! My mom has suggested this now several times. We're looking at everything from Peapod to cooking and hard-freezing things to ship.

Don't you want to interview those other parents to see what the h*** is going on? Are there kids in the "not that allergic" category? Do they just GUESS when they get to the food line? I suppose if the allergen is just peanut, the odds are better...

I'm focusing this summer on getting my son to understand some basic techniques. The biggest one is stir fry. I'm figuring that he can probably get fresh vegetables through food services and fry them in his dorm. A hot pot for noodles, a salad dressing and tomato sauce + a protein and he has a full dinner.

P.S. My son came back from camp with a whole new appreciation for what we do for him. A semester eating just a few things is a very potent force for change.

[maeve]

What we've found is that they all talk an excellent game, but the devil is in the details.

I just spent two weeks preparing for the one week my son is currently away. He's staying at a major state university and the food service is regular college food service.

We started with their "milk free" menu. I use the quotes because it wasn't milk-free. They had popsicles on the menu that were done on a dairy line. More concerning, they had Special K cereal - something that outright contains whey.

From there, we whittled things down for the other allergies. They did have to check with food service providers on several of the meats. These turned out to be a surprising source of danger! The hamburger patties they use contained whey, so my son needs to verify that his hamburger was made from fresh ground beef, in a clean pan. The hot dogs they use have a safe label from their food service vendor but contain soy protein when purchased retail. (We went with them...but it makes me nervous.) The turkeys were declared "allergen free", yet almost all process turkey I've ever seen contains milk, soy, or both in flavorings.

The moral of this lengthy post is that it all needs to be check. And, even when you check it all, there are 14 people in the kitchen who may not know the deal, or may not know enough about food allergies to prepare food safely. I agonize over that glop of butter on the vegetables or in the sauce.

We tried to find one safe protein and one safe vegetable per meal. I sent all bread and desserts. It would be a LONG college year if this were truly the only food he could eat.

One tip I did get - postpone the meetings with food service until after applications have been filed and acceptances received. It's not a good thing to look too crazy, right at the outset, and there's so much work that goes into vetting a kitchen/food service team that there's no point in doing it until you know your child has actually been accepted.

I would be curious to know if anyone has had good experiences with big vs. little schools. I used to think a small school would be more responsive, but I'm beginning to think large schools might be as good, with more options.

The bottom line, though, is nothing is safe. We'll be asking a staff of people to understand the nuances of his allergies and not make a mistake, not miss a change in labeling, not cross-contaminate the food.

God, I hope the FAHF-2 works! 

Boo,
I went to a small school and there was only one option for dining.  Personally, I think there are better options at larger schools.

Also, I remember a friend who was an incredibly picky eater, who basically ate bagels and cereal the entire 4 years we were in school.  It might surprise many parents that their children's diets can almost resemble a toddler's at college.   Also, I skipped breakfast almost every day because I was never up in time and almost never ate on campus on the weekends (I usually spent the weekends with my BF at his parents house).  Unfortunately being at a small school, my parents still paid for those meals because there was only one dining plan.

[GoingNuts]

Twinturbo, no rice cookers allowed.  No hot plates, hot pots or toaster ovens either.  (Frankly, I think hair straightening irons are more dangerous than those forbidden items, but can you imagine the uproar if those were banned?    This is one of those schools with a 60/40 girl/boy ratio.  )

But they can have micro-fridges (fridge on the bottom, microwave on the top) so he can microwave things in his room.   And we will definitely be exploring some "healthier" frozen food items with that in mind. 

[my3guys]

Ack, I get goosebumps reading these posts!  I hope things work out well for your ds, Going Nuts!  And, Boo, not such a bad thing for your ds to see all you do for him right?  Oh how I hope college campuses catch up FAST with food allergies for all our sakes!

[twinturbo]

Those are the rules, yes, and obviously I couldn't say something like do it until/unless caught.

[GoingNuts]

my3guys, I do think many colleges are catching on, and that is bound to accelerate as this generation of allergic kids hit college in the next few years.

While I realize the world (sort of) looks at them as adults by the time they hit college, I don't think the onus to eat safely should totally be on them at this point.  They need some cooperation from their schools.  What I am very fearful of right now is that the burden will really be mostly on DS at a time when he's also concentrating on so many other transitions, KWIM?

Boo, if we were talking about a milk allergy, he would absolutely not be going to this particular school.  And I don't say that lightly.  A kid shouldn't have to pass up an education at a public ivy because of a d@med food allergy.