School Lunches

I have 5 grown kids who deal with their diet and disease on their own. My two married daughters are amazingly resourceful. My son is in pre-med and I know he struggles with a horrendous school/work schedule and trying to find food-on-the-run that is gluten free.
This is my family.

My fourth child, Nicole, is also in college and has even blogged about her frustration with finding anything within her reach, that is gluten-free. See her blog entry here.

All my children have determined that they would sometimes rather live with the symptoms than deal with the diet, especially socially. Sometimes, the Celiac has to just simply choose not to eat at parties, picnics or restaurants. That is difficult. The food looks and smells so good! The Celiac has to prepare ahead, by eating BEFORE the social gathering, so that hunger doesn't overtake the moment and they don't do a face-plant into the nearest German chocolate cake.

Thus the challenge. At home, we provide GF meals for everyone and it is relatively easy. It's the school lunches that are frustrating. Megan takes a lunch everyday, usually leftovers from the dinner the night before.

There are only so many choices for hauling lunches from home for her. The best option is to send her with leftovers from our supper the night before. The problem is that most of her food has to be reheated, once at school.

At first the elementary school told me that they couldn't provide a microwave for her lunches. I then, reluctantly, reminded them that the public school system was bound by law to provide for special needs. Not only is their food NOT gluten-free, but it's sometimes not really nutritious. The kids at school describe their school lunches, humorously, as "greasy sodium"!

After reminding the school of the law, it was stunning how a microwave was immediately scrounged up. Megan now takes a lunch from home, like last night's GF Lasagne, and then she can choose fresh fruit or vegetables from the school lunch menu. This is great because she feels more like her classmates. The school lunch lady charges her a preportionate cost for only the items she chooses.

The moral is that parents should press-on for the needs of their children. I have found that the schools really DO care but they don't understand the disease or diet and just need to be educated.