Over the next month, the college class of 2015 will be leaving home to live on campus for the first time. This is a difficult transition period for all students – there’s laundry, roommates, financial matters, and living away from Mom and Dad for the first time. But for students with food allergies, these challenges may be dwarfed by the test of finding foods they can eat on campus.
As a Mom who has successfully sent my food-allergic child off to campus, I know how stressful this can be for both the parents and the student.
Here are my tips for parents of food-allergic students going off to college:
1. Understand the food plan and where the food comes from – Most colleges offer either an all-you-can-eat or cash (also called declining balance) plan. In the former you may have a choice of number of meals per week in the cafeteria. In the latter you will pay as you go, only for what you eat.
Large food operations that are outsourced (where the school has a contract with a mass food provider) will present more complexities than a food operation that cooks meals in-house. Food staff and nutritionists have less control over food that arrives packaged in large vats or prepared outside of their kitchens. An in-house operation generally makes it easier to both know what’s in the food, and to make adjustments to avoid food allergens.
Just like reading food labels, the more you understand about the food on campus, the safer your student will be.
2. Find alternatives to the cafeteria – Many campuses have smaller eating facilities – including some that cater to special dietary restrictions (e.g. kosher or vegan). While these are not usually focused on food allergies, the adjustments made in these locations could be positive for the food-allergic. Also look off-campus. While pizza joints, sandwich shops, and ice cream parlors tend to surround college campuses, you might also find some allergy-friendly restaurants in the area. If there is a grocery store within walking distance to the campus, check that out too – do they carry your favorite allergen-free packaged snacks and foods?
3. Check on emergency health facilities – Hopefully you won’t need to use the health facilities due to food allergies, but you will want to understand what is available. I suggest calling the health director for the college. Ask where the emergency facilities are located, how easy it is to contact them, and where the nearest hospital is. Ask if the college has emergency transportation services, should they be needed.
4. Meet with the Food Service Director and/or Nutritionist – If you want to meet in person, I recommend scheduling an appointment ahead of time. The single most important question to ask is, “How do you accommodate food allergies?” The goal of this open-ended question is to determine what procedures are in place for the staff, and what kind of support system is in place for the students. Other questions to ask include:
- Can special allergen-free meals be prepared? For example, if pasta is on the menu for tonight, can the student call ahead and ask for gluten-free pasta?
- Can special foods be ordered? During my son’s first year at college, the nutritionist ordered cases of vanilla hemp milk and gluten-free cereal for him; due to his food allergy we were allowed to use his meal plan to cover these costs. If your student has a favorite bread, cereal, or milk alternative, will the college purchase it in bulk? Will they designate this food for your student? Come to this meeting prepared with a list of specific products that you know you can eat safely.
- Are substitutions allowed? For example, can a salad be substituted for the bread when purchasing a burger?
5. Meet with the Accessibility Services Director. Food allergies are covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act. If your student’s allergies are so severe that eating in a cafeteria is simply not an option, special accommodations need to be made. Ask if there are dorm rooms with kitchens. Will they allow the student to opt out of the meal plan and cook in their room? Most campuses require on-site living for at least the first year – can an exception be made if there are no other choices to keep your child safe?
Food allergic students arriving on campus should also:
1. Make friends with the food service staff – The more the cafeteria staff understands your specific needs, the better they will be able to serve you. Once you’ve found the places you like to eat, make it a point to eat there on a regular schedule, and get to know the servers that assist you. Don’t forget to thank them regularly!
2. Consider a mini-fridge – while many college students like to have a small refrigerator in their rooms, for food-allergic students this may be more of a necessity than a luxury. A small fridge provides a safe (non-contaminated) place to keep allergen-free snacks, breakfast cereals, or your favorite allergen-free milk.
3. Ask for help – If you are having difficulty finding foods you can eat, or getting the substitutions you need for a balanced diet, make another appointment with the nutritionist or the food service director and ask for help. Know what you’d like to accomplish before going into the meeting. A specific request like, “I’d like you to stock hemp milk so I can have it for breakfast, and keep it stored in the kitchen so that I can be sure it hasn’t been contaminated,” will be more effective than, “There’s nothing I can eat.”
One last thing for families to keep in mind is that (just like eating allergen-free at home) eating allergen-free on campus may be more costly than for students without food restrictions. The student may need to supplement the cafeteria meals with foods kept in their room, or foods from the grocery store or their favorite allergen-free online retailer. It’s wise to plan for these extra costs in advance.