Road Trip: The Vignale Family

Road Trip: Arlington, TX to Ellicott City, MD to Boston, MA

Two weeks ago I asked my followers to share their stories about their road trips to ODC for a chance to win a $25.00 gift certificate…here is a great one for all of you!

This is a trip that began in Arlington, Texas. Our oldest child, Lydia, really wanted to attend college in the northeast.  She is very bright and has a delightful personality. High School was not easy for Lydia. She was sick A Lot- missed the first 50 days of her junior year. She returned to high school with a diagnosis of Celiac and no gall bladder.

  Amazingly she made up all the work and kept her 4.0. Colleges are very competitive, much more than in the “good old days”. Of course the one she really felt was “the one” was Tufts University in Boston. Now Tufts only has a 7% acceptance rate and Lydia got accepted! (Okay we are a bit proud.) I just assumed we would fly to Boston, gather all her needed college items and she would be all set. Then Steve, my husband, had an idea (eek) – why not drive? I have made the drive before and it takes a good 3 days. I was not a fan of the idea. Then he talked about how driving would give us an opportunity to prepare us for this big life change.

    So we rented a van and the four of us started the long drive. Of course we had Steve (husband) Lydia (smarty pants daughter with Celiac), Paul (our 13 year old son who asks for extra gluten with his meals) and me ( Andi- wife, mom and with celiac).

    As I am sure you know, long road trips end up being lots of games, bathroom breaks and food. It was not long before all of us realized this was our ” Drive across America Gluten-Free tour” We used the “find me Gluten Free” app. And we were very picky. It was great fun to compare and contrast all these places. When we made it to Maryland, we were ready with our pick-  One Dish Cuisine .  As we walked in the door cheering, I think they realized we were enthusiastic eaters. I liked the color coding system. It made picking so much easier.

    I think an indicator of really good gluten-free food is when the non- celiacs love it too. Such was the case here. We all had our fill of great GF food and treats for the road. To top it all off the staff was great. So when I  do write my Gluten free eating across America book – please be assured you will be at the top of the list.

Thanks, Andi Vignale and family.

 

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Food Allergy Programs in 26 Colleges!

So much progress is being made in the areas of public awareness/meal accommodations for those with food allergies and celiac disease. I am amazed when I meet people in our Cafe, Deli and Bakery who have gotten a food allergy diagnosis for their child and just assumed it would never get any easier when it comes to feeding their child.  They just get the diagnosis, eat at home and look no further for support or information.  They often assume that their child will never be able to go away to college. I always try to share with them how to safely advocate for themselves/child and bring them up to date on what is happening in food allergy advocacy.

When dining out I recommend having only one person advocating/talking to the servers or staff. In the case of a child, I suggest that only the child and 1 parent/primary caregiver do the talking because the child has to learn to advocate for themselves and the parent is there to be sure the child is communicating their allergies correctly.  However, well meaning family and friends often chime in and it becomes very confusing. Quite often misinformation is given by friends or other family members who don’t really understand it all.  This creates confusion and is dangerous when trying to deal with life threatening food allergies in a restaurant. I always encourage those with food allergies to carry their epi-pen and a food allergy card. Lastly, I give them information that will help them moving forward. The best place for that information is FARE (Food Allergy Research and Education).

If your child has Celiac or Food Allergies and is heading off to college in the next few years this information is for you because it shows you which colleges are taking Food Allergies seriously enough to put a program in place.  You need this information because there is not a One Dish Cuisine Cafe, Deli and Bakery on every street corner.

Now there are 26 Colleges with Food Allergy Programs in place!

Last year I posted about this. In 2015; FARE (Food Allergy Research and Education) started a pilot program with 12 colleges in order to train them about the severity of food allergies, how to safely accommodate the dietary needs of these students. Also they helped with support groups for the students as well as in housing, dining, health, disability and emergency services too. The good news is that in 2016 they added 14 more colleges.  The complete list is below:

• College of the Holy Cross (Worcester, Mass.)
• George Mason University (Fairfax, Va.)
• King’s College (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.)
• North Carolina State University
• Texas A&M University
• University of Arizona
• University of Chicago
• University of Michigan
• University of Northern Colorado
• University of Southern California
• Valparaiso University (Valparaiso, Ind.)
• Wesleyan University (Middletown, Conn.)

New in 2016:

• Brown University (Providence, Rhode Island)
• Colgate University (Hamilton, New York)
• Michigan State University (East Lansing, Michigan)
• North Dakota State College of Science (Wahpeton, North Dakota)
• Purdue University (West Lafayette, Indiana)
• Skidmore College (Saratoga Springs, New York)
• Stanford University (Stanford, California)
• The University of Iowa (Iowa City, Iowa)
• University of Colorado Colorado Springs (Colorado Springs, Colorado)
• University of Dayton (Dayton, Ohio)
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Champaign, Illinois)
• University of New Hampshire (Durham, New Hampshire)
• University of St. Thomas (St. Paul, Minnesota)
• Worcester Polytechnic University (Worcester, Massachusetts)

PS: There are quite a few who have put in programs on their own.

I hope this information is helpful and you stay safe out there! For More Information visit FARE’s Website: Click Here

Website for Colleges and Celiac or Food Allergies

This is a huge problem that our children face when they try to go away to college with Celiac or Food Allergies. I am constantly being asked about this information. Below is a link to the best resource for dining in colleges in the US.

Karen Broussard has this information on her website and the students actually get to go on the site and rate how their school is really doing when it comes to their Celiac Disease or Food Allergies. This is a great place to start when trying to decide where to go.

https://glutenfreetravelsite.com/glutenfreecollegereviews.php

Food Allergy “Pilot” Program to Start in 12 Colleges!

4/6/15

We have so many customers that share the struggles that they or their child are going through trying to safely eat while living on campus.  FARE (Food Allergy Research and Education) announced the launch of a pilot program that will provide colleges and university with their “gold standard” resources and recommendations to manage food allergies which can be a life threatening disease. 

I am so glad to see that FARE has undertaken this task.  The following were selected for their pilot program:

• College of the Holy Cross (Worcester, Mass.)
• George Mason University (Fairfax, Va.)
• King’s College (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.)
• North Carolina State University
• Texas A&M University
• University of Arizona
• University of Chicago
• University of Michigan
• University of Northern Colorado
• University of Southern California
• Valparaiso University (Valparaiso, Ind.)
• Wesleyan University (Middletown, Conn.)

Click on link below for more information from FARE!

http://www.foodallergy.org/2015/040615?tr=y&auid=15365141