Everyone's Gone Nuts About Food Allergies

Okay, first there was Meredith Broussard's "exaggerated threat of food allergies" article in Harper's magazine and now the segment on New York Public Radio. Listen to it here:



I've been totally avoiding this story because... well, it's disturbing. And I've seriously considered whether addressing it is just adding fuel to its fire. My readers certainly don't need to be convinced of the reality or seriousness of food allergies so this is hardly the forum for launching a dissertation citing the statistics to counter Broussard's article. I think that Gina at Allergy Moms is doing an excellent job voicing the reaction of the food allergy community.

What I find interesting is that the pervasiveness of food allergies is an issue at all. In my opinion, we have already decided as a country and as a culture that the special needs of a few warrant the consideration of all. I was actually thinking about this today as I used the bathroom at a coffee shop with my daughter. We had just read Aunt Katie's Visit, a kids book in which a woman with a disability shared with an elementary school classroom what it was like to be paralyzed from the chest down. So my 6-year old noted how the handicap restroom was extra big to fit a wheelchair. I pointed out that the toilet was higher and that there was a handlebar to make it safer and easier for someone to use the potty. The added thought and expense of this chain restaurant's bathroom was not shouldered by choice. It is mandated by law!

Why are all public buildings handicap accessible? Why do parking lots have handicap spaces? You know, the ones that come with a hefty fine lest some inconsiderate citizen decide to inconvenience a truly disabled person by taking their legally designated spot. These are all accommodations for the relatively small group of people who have special ambulatory needs. And how did this come to be? Without details, I'm going to guess that there was some issue regarding rights to access. At least, Aunt Katie says, "... it makes me sad when I can't go to a store or a restaurant because they don't have a ramp."

Well, the same is true for people with severe food allergies. Just like chef Ming Na has said, "If you own a restaurant, you can't turn away someone with a food allergy. It's unconstitutional." People with severe food allergies still have a right to go to school and to eat in restaurants and be in public places (like public playgrounds!) without risking their life. I guess if I were to expand on this parallel, not only would peanut products be banned from schools but there would be a hefty fine, especially considering that peanuts aren't just an inconvenience but are actually life-threatening to children who have a constitutional right to attend that school.

Since no one can deny that food allergy is an issue (take a gander at over 100 responses to the radio program on the WNYC page if you are in doubt!), the exact extent of its pervasiveness is really irrelevant. I think the issue is how we, as a society, respond to the needs of people who live with food allergies. If we are being consistent, then even this question has already been addressed.