Aug 09 2009
Food preparation and food allergies
Food preparation is a fundamental part of the Montessori practical life curriculum. But in this day an age of increasing food allergies, how can we safely prepare the environment?
In my classroom, almost half of the practical life shelves are devoted to food preparation, with special cooking projects done on a regular basis. Thus far, we have been fortunate enough to not have terribly dreadful food allergies. A sibling of one of my students had such a serious allergy to peanut butter, that we had to prevent it from being in the classroom. Apparently he once had peanut butter (not at school) and simply breathed on his sister, sending her into anaphylactic shock. So, he couldn’t even risk having it in the classroom, in case it got on his clothing.
We sent out notes and mentioned it in the newsletters, to remind the parents in my classroom to not send in any peanut butter. If someone did, then the food item was sent home. If it was at lunch, that child simply moved to a different table.
I’ve had students in the past in my class who were actually the ones suffering from the food allergies. One child had such a severe peanut allergy that the entire wing of the school had to become a peanut-free zone, in case of cross-contamination. Another child was allergic to almost anything: wheat, soy, citrus, eggs, milk, etc. He was simply supposed to avoid those foods. We could tell if he snuck a cracker at snack time, because he would immediately break out into a rash and couldn’t sleep at nap time. (His parents felt sorry for him and would let him try “normal” food every once in a while, because they thought he was missing out.)
So, how do you handle food allergies in your classroom? We are informed prior to the child starting (most of the time) of any and all allergies, and plan accordingly. Some schools have given up the food preparation aspect of the practical life curriculum, which is sad because of all the skills it teaches.
Perhaps as a possible solution, I can offer up the following book, upon which I stumbled when researching online. Lisa Lundy, who suffers from food allergies herself, and has three children with serious food allergies, spent years researching food allergies and came up with a cookbook. All of her recipes are wheat-free, gluten-free, milk-free, casein-free, lactose-free, egg-free, peanut-free, tree nut-free, and coconut-free. They could provide for a unique variety of food preparation and food tasting activities int he classroom.
Her website is www.thesuperallergycookbook.com. The book is called The Super Allergy Girl Cookbook, ISBN 9780979754203. I’m interested to hear what you think. 
