other opportunities to do so. Frankly, this protocol is easier on
restaurant staff and much safer for customers.As part of my fascination with the rise of food allergies in
America, I wrote an article for the Washington Post in which
I aimed to uncover the ways in which the afflictions of the
minority were shaping the food choices available to the major-
ity. I did this in the interest of raising awareness. However, the
reader reactions I received made sound points and persuaded
me to change my tune. This only continued once I visited an
allergy research clinic and started talking to researchers,
subscribing to newsletters, watching webinars from allergy
awareness advocates, and interviewing parents.
My conversion was part ethical, part empathetic: For one,
it was reframed to me as a hidden disability, and wouldn’t
I support menus made to accommodate food-allergic din-
ers the same way I would support ramps and wide doors for
people with wheelchairs? Obviously, yes. Second, parents
shared gut-wrenching stories about their families’ experi-
ences: watching their toddlers go into anaphylactic shock
from a single peanut butter pretzel or lick of cake batter; the
burden of constantly remembering to bring their own food
to birthday parties and potlucks; the pain of injecting a child
with an EpiPen amid the panic of a reaction; the anxiety that
the tiniest oversight could mean a trip to the ER; vacations
avoided because the destination’s nearest hospital didn’t have
an allergy department; time missed at school by kids, time
off required by parents, and far too much time endured in
traffic—all to participate in immune therapy treatments and
clinical trials; and, on the bright side, for some of those whose
treatments were successful, of the enormous weight lifted by
moments like the first Halloween they let their children eat
regular candy bars without fear of cross-contamination.242 how to be a Conscious EaterConscious Eater_04 PT_4th patches.indd 242 10/23/19 1:38 PM