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Do you live/work in a school district that offers gluten free alternatives for the students?

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Andrea's picture
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Joined: 04/15/2013

I am a second grade teacher at a school district in New Jersey. There are MANY students (and myself) that suffer from many other food allergies and there aren't too many safety precautions taken in school for these kids. The teachers and nurses do talk to their students about food safety, and how other children cannot eat certain foods "because it may make them sick." There are also sections of the cafeteria tables that are "set aside" for the "food allergic" students to sit at, but a foot to the student's right or left could be another child who brought a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to school... We are not a "peanut free" school, so I wouldn't expect my school or district to be "gluten free" or have alternatives for students with intolerances or Celiac Disease. If a student doesn't bring their own lunch to school, their options of lunches to purchase are limited. As I'm sitting here thinking about the options for my students that would be gluten free.... it's salad. The salad offered, however, is a small bowl of leaves with some shaved carrots. Not enough for a growing child. I'm an elementary teacher, so maybe it's different for the upper grade levels.

I know that schools are just recently trying to make school lunches healthier, so their focus is on the food groups and portion sizes. I suspect that if my school/district did have a large percentage of the student population with Celiac Disease or gluten intolerances I would see some other changes in the menu. Are there other schools out there where this has been done, or thought about? If so, where?