When I was two, I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease which is an auto-immune disorder where my body cannot digest wheat or wheat related products. I am allergic to wheat, rye, barley, oats and malt. This is also a diet called The Gluten Free Diet that some people go on for a variety of reasons. But to me, this is not a diet, this is a lifestyle.
I have been pretty lucky when it comes to finding food for my disease over the years. I figured out what grocery stores and local restaraunts carry gluten free food. I never had to worry about eating the wrong thing or advocating for my diet the way I learned to at college.
In high school, I always brought my own lunch because the cafeteria did not provide gluten free foods. Whenever I would go to a restaurant, I would check the menu before hand to see if there was something I could eat. The only issue I ran into at restaurants was when I asked for no bun on my burgers. Some servers understood and some gave me weird looks and asked me to repeat myself. But other than this, I never worried about my diet until college.
Moving to college was a huge change for me in terms of managing my food allergies. On my first day of freshman year, I made sure to talk with the chefs in the dining hall about my food allergy. Now, my food allergy is not the one where if I eat something I can’t have, I take an epi-pen and I am fine.
My food allergy is that if I eat something, I am allergic to I will be sick for a whole day. My allergy does not respond to epi-pens because it is an auto-immune disorder as opposed to an actual allergy. In addition to telling the chefs about my diet, I wrote my college essay on Celiac
Disease which I think was a smart move on my part because when they read mt essay, the school now knew I had a food allergy.
The past four years I have been at this school, the dining services have been kind of great about accommodating for me. On third floor in The Denaples Center, there is a fridge with gluten free muffins bagels, wraps and sometimes brownies.
Now, the reason I say “kind of great” is because half of the time this fridge on third floor is empty. But it is the thought that counts right? Also, third floor has a designated toaster and microwave only for gluten free foods. Additionally, this past year, the left side of third floor, (the stations behind the salad and produce stations) have changed their menu to serve food that has none of the major allergies at all including, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, and lactose. So, I would say third floor is doing a good job with keeping up with food allergies. However, the major change I would like to see on third is more variety in the fridge. The only every offer blueberry muffins and plain bagels. The common misconception about gluten free food is that it is bland- that it has to be bland. This could not be further from the truth.
First floor however is an entirely different story. They are the worst when it comes to accommodating my allergy. First the pasta station, now I understand the reasoning behind not adding gluten free pasta as an option, but if the pizza station can do it, they pasta station can do it too.
The pizza station is the only station that somewhat understands my allergy. They have gluten free crust and to avoid cross-contamination with other foods containing wheat, they use different utensils. However, there was a time when I clearly wrote “gluten free crust” on the ticket and they gave me a wheat pizza. I had them remake it.
Next, Zoca. I wish they had gluten free wraps like third floor has, but I understand the risk of contamination. Which Which is okay but sometimes when I order in person and circle “bowl”
they have no idea what I am talking about and take forever to make my order. I mean what is so hard? I circled “bowl”, that means I do not want bread so do not ask me what bread I want.
Chick fil a and Burger and Fries are by far the worst. Twice, not once but twice, Burger and Fries gave me a burger with a bun on it when I clearly said and wrote on the ticket in all caps “NO BUN”. Not to mention, at Burger and Fries I get attitude from the cooks when they ask me to clarify my order. I do not know if it is just me, but I am not understanding the issue of getting a burger with no bun. Put the burger in a bowl with lettuce and call it a day. Why is that so difficult? Someone please tell me.
Finally, we have Chick fil a. Now I am going to give them credit where credit is due. They have gluten free buns that are actually good. But there have been plenty of times, like a few days ago for example, they gave me attitude and passed the task of taking my order to another server.
A few days ago, I wanted Chick fil a for dinner. I went in person and order a “grilled chicken club with a gluten free bun”. Sometimes they take my order right away and give me the gluten free bun. This day however, three different serves asked for my order, just to not give me what I asked for. One of the servers that took my order was scrambling around the back looking for the gluten free buns. She wasted my time for 15 minutes looking for the buns. I appreciate her looking but the next server took my order again and asked me if I wanted a regular bun, when I told her I need a gluten free bun. She then proceeded to rush my order, using the wrong utensils to take the grilled chicken, exposing me to cross-contamination, and did not change her gloves when dealing with wheat food previously. I finally got my food which was just the grilled chicken with cheese ad bacon in a lettuce wrap and the cheese was melted onto the container, so in reality, I had no cheese and no bun.
This is what it is like living with food allergies. As much as I advocate for myself, I somehow get something I can’t have. I have learned throughout my college experience, that no one cares about my food allergy besides myself. I am not deathly allergic to wheat, but if if I was? The fact
that the first floor works constantly use the wrong utensils to pick up my food or barely change their gloves could have sent me to the hospital.
I understand that the Gluten Free Diet is a trend. That it is popular to eat gluten free foods, but to me this diet is not a trend. I am stuck with this disease for my entire life. It is not a trend to me—it is a lifestyle that should be taken seriously and not thought of that I am following this diet for fun or to follow a trend. This is my real life that I am living every day and it should be taken more seriously by the school and society.