[Sca-cooks] OT Food Allergies

[Nick Sasso]

-----Original Message-----
As someone with severe food issues (at least in the modern world... citric
acid) and an educator, I can see both sides of the coin.

I work in a "nut free building."? however, I see granola bars with nut
flour?all day long, I see lip glosses and hand lotions that?I know contain
nut oils, yet these are not being policed.? I also had my head handed to me,
when as a World Language teacher,?I tried to work with a parent and student
to find?cultural foods that?I could bring to the classroom that would not
endanger the student.? On this same token, my school has no problem serving
citrus-based punch at all funtions, ordering Pizza for late meetings etc...
So, as I see it it is often the establishment making blanket and unenforced
rules for logical reasons, without grasping the scope of the rule/reality
and without creating a framework to guarantee that the safety factors are
upheld.

My .02

-Ardenia > > > > > > >>

But, everyone FEELS BETTER, right?  Zero tolerance and absolute ban policies
on things like food are by nature unenforceable in com[pleteness.  They are
all too often politically motivated to appease a faction of the public, and
make them "feel" safe and powerful.  The resulting impact on the actual
majority and the lack of enforcement structure aren't so much the issue as
having the policy to show everyone and to trot out when someone brings
lawsuit because a vendor working on the A/C unit last night ate satay and
threw one kid into an allergic reaction that was successfully treated with
an epi-pen.  The tax money simply does not exist anywhere to set up
effective enfrocement and monitoring structures and safeguards for every
"blanket policies" every time there is a tempest of political proportions,
so the priorities are set up.  I am an elected official in a small town and
know the realities of public demands versus public willingness to fund (I am
talking about police and fire protection, but it carries through to school
policies).

Reasoned policies are historically effective management tools rather than
attempts at absolute control.

niccolo