Earlier in the semester I was attending a banquet for a group I am involved in on campus. I was excited to eat and spend time with friends after a very long week. Normally, I’ll try to eat before I go to an event where food will be served unless I know that they will be something that I can eat there. I provided my dietary restrictions on a Google Forms prior to the banquet, so I figured it would be covered. When I got to the banquet I quickly scanned over the menu-- hotdogs, hamburgers, popcorn and nachos. Thinking I was missing something, I asked one of the servers about any gluten-free dairy-free options. He handed me a bag of tortilla rounds.
Needless to say, I was disappointed. I had a lot of thoughts going through my mind— did they not care about me? How could they be so careless? Why did they even ask for my info if they weren’t going to use it? I had so many frustrated thoughts it was really hard to enjoy the rest of the banquet, which was supposed to be a fun celebration of a weeks of hard work. I was about to leave the banquet when I had a thought-- maybe it wasn't that they were being careless, it was just that they didn't know. After all, wasn't that the reason I started this blog-- to raise awareness of the experience of those living with chronic illnesses?
So, thinking about what I could do to raise awareness, I sent an email to head of the group and explained my experience. Eating together as a group should unite us, but if the meal does not meet the needs of all of the members of the group, it can do the opposite. So, I compiled a list of tips and tricks for what to do when creating food for people with dietary restrictions.
Asking about dietary restrictions
When you are making food for people always ask the company if they have any dietary restrictions that you should be aware of.
Be specific
When asking about dietary restrictions, be as specific as possible. For example, I can’t eat white onion but green onion is perfectly fine on my stomach (weird, I know). This might mean asking a lot of questions that may seem obvious or repetitive but with dietary restrictions, it’s always better to be safe than sorry.
Don’t assume
I really like it when people consult me when preparing food for me. For one, it shows that they care. Also, there is a lot they can learn about me and my needs that they may not have known if they didn’t ask. For example, when people ask “what snack would you like me to get you?” I always respond with Cheerios. Nine times out of ten they will say that, they say they didn't know Cheerios were gluten free.
Ask about what they CAN eat
If you ask about what we can eat in addition to asking what we can’t, you will find that there are actually a lot more options than you’d think. Now I know not everybody is a chef, but you don't actually need to be a master chef to find some dietary-restriction-friendly options. You can take to Google or Pinterest to find options that you may not have thought of. There are even websites where you can put in ingredients and they will find recipes for you! I like to make a “can and cannot eat” ingredient list when going over to someone’s place for a meal. And when in doubt just ask “what's your favorite meal?”
Preparing the food
Substitute
I learned this rule the hard way at a pizza party I went to last year. Since I can't eat gluten or dairy they promised me a salad. Well, when you take out my trigger foods (onions, cheese, croutons, breaded chicken) all that was left was ice burg lettuce.
2. Prepare dietary restriction friendly food first
This helps avoid cross-contamination. For people with conditions like celiac, even like a speck of gluten left on the pan can lead to an allergic reaction.
Serving the food
Have those with restrictions serve themselves first
This way they don't run out of food that they can eat at the end.
Hopefully this helped. Here's to creating a more inclusive environment.
With love,
Sabrina
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