By Mattie Stinson, Stentorian Staff Writer
It would be an understatement to say that I was nervous to be living away from home junior year. I was moving into a school I had only been to once, never toured, got a random roommate, and only knew two other people there. But my nerves were raised the most when it came to my eating situation.
I have Celiac Disease, a chronic illness that restricts me to a gluten-free diet for life. It’s more similar to an allergy than lactose-intolerance (one crumb and BOOM! I’m gone!) Not really, but one crumb does mean I’m in for a month of stomach issues, brain fog, emotional spirals, neuropathy, and migraines (among many other symptoms).
Upon moving in, I was relieved to find that there were a surprisingly large number of fellow gluten-free eaters, with around half having Celiac Disease themselves. However, I was disappointed to find that despite the large population of gluten-free eaters, there is still a problem with accessibility.
For the first few months of junior year, I jumped around from bulk meal-prepping at home, meal prepping weekly in Hunt kitchen, eating out almost every day, and braving PFM. With almost all of these systems, there was some big issue that made eating safe food difficult for me. Bulk meal prepping relied on freezer space and frequent visits home, at school meal prep meant surviving the horrors of Hunt kitchen and giving up half of my Sunday to cook, eating out was very costly, and PFM meant playing a game of roulette with my health.
Other students had a similar rocky transition to eating “safely” at NCSSM. Gluten-Free-er Manny Price commented that, “Adjusting to NCSSM and living Gluten Free has been a big transition. Living day to day unknown of what I would be able to eat the next day especially during sports season was hard initially. Having to rely on DoorDash the first months was something that was reliable but very expensive!”
Fellow Celiac Marden Harvey found that food was less accessible during the weekends, saying that “. . . most weekends I tend to avoid the PFM because the chefs they put on during Saturdays and Sundays seem to have less knowledge of Celiac/being gluten-free and many times have cross contaminated my food or not made an effort to get gluten-free food out quickly which has made me avoid eating there on weekends almost entirely.”
Access to food in a quick manner has been a concern for many in the gluten-free community. Another Celiac adds on that, “. . . it’s really hard to eat gluten free and study on hard weeks at school. When I have a heavier workload and don’t have much time it’s not realistic to wait 20-40 minutes for food in PFM. It’s also very isolating to go to eat with friends and them be finished before I even have my food.”
Despite the many concerns, the system in the PFM for gluten-free eaters has come a long way. There is now access to pre-made boxed lunches on most days that decreases wait times during the busy lunch-rush. Manny Price says it best with the statement, “Thankfully, after reaching out and bridging into communication with chefs at the cafeteria, the meals became more convenient and the service was easier for all that had gluten allergies, trusting that one chef would keep the food contamination free was a lot more reliable, speaking for most of us that used this alleyway of eating food during the second semester. I am thankful for the society that we formed due to allergies and the steps that we took to be able to get boxed foods, and I know that next year it will improve and develop as more people become diagnosed with the allergies and are more vocal about their needs.”
With continuing advocacy for safe eating for all diets, hopefully the systems for dietary restrictions at NCSSM will greatly improve for classes to come.
Leave a Reply