Food Allergies in Schools

It's the middle of summer and most parents are probably not thinking about getting ready for schools quite yet. But food allergy parents are... because gearing up takes a lot of effort, whether it's developing a 504 Plan or finding an accommodating school... we have to plan well in advance of the school year.

I am pleased to see that in the few years since food allergies has changed my life, there has been a lot of progress in advocacy and awareness about food allergies. I'm sure that this is simply to to the rising incidences of food allergies (unfortunately). Is there safety in numbers? As far as this issue is concerned, this seems to be the case. More kids with food allergies mean more awareness and more advocacy.

Amazingly, I stumbled on this video of my friend Andy! He addresses his concerns for his son as he enters the New York public school system. I think that this news report was posted in January, and it details that New York public schools do not have a uniform food allergy management plan. Peanut policies are implemented at the discretion of the school principal.



But according to this article from two weeks ago in the Greenwich Time from "only Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island and Tennessee have statewide plans, according to the National Association of State Boards of Education."

There is push to change this. Most recently, country music celebrity Trace Adkins has gotten involved. Adkins is working with his state Senators, Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker who are sponsoring federal food allergy guidelines for schools.

As a food allergy mom, I'm hopeful that by the time T is in Kindergarten, food allergy management in schools is just common and accepted practice.