Working with school district dietician to get a safe lunch

[cruelshoes]

In the process of updating my son's school care plan, I was referred to the school district dietician. She is extremely excited about having the opportunity to serve Sean a school lunch. She already had a celiac menu planned, complete with manufacturers labels. I got to help customize it with his likes and dislikes. Sean will be the first celiac child she has dealt with in this district, but she really seems to know what she is doing. This dietician did her clinical internship in a Jewish hospital. This means she got a crash course in Kosher food preparation. They had completely separate kitchens for the different foods. Kosher laws are very stringent to prevent foods from touching each other that shouldn't.

Here are the precautions they take to prevent CC. Food will be prepared first thing in the morning, and by dedicated, trained staff. They have complete written instructions that include fresh gloves, clean apron, and sanitizing the work space. Then they will put down butcher paper and prepare the food on that. Food will be bagged and labeled with Sean's name and frozen. On the day he wants to order, we will call ahead to have the food shipped to the school. She is already talking about the training she is going to do with the on-site staff.

I am so excited that Sean will have the opportunity to buy lunch. He really misses that part of school and wants to feel like a normal kid. There is still a lot of paperwork to complete, but I so hope this works out. Still a little nervous about it, but the dietician really seems to have a good handle on things.

I just had to share since I am so darn excited!
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-Colleen
Dx 8/05 via bloodwork/biopsy
9-YO son Dx 11/05 via bloodwork/biopsy
Daughters have negative bloodwork - so far!

A woman is like a tea bag-you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water. - Eleanor Roosevelt

[nancw]

Buying lunch at school IS a big deal for kids...even though sometimes it is not the best food. My son has tried lots of new (to him) things, stuff he will eat at school but not at home , and makes good choices (likes to get the Yogurt Basket, but not the yucky hamburgers).

Mabe they can clone this dietician and send them out to all the schools in the US?
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Nance

gluten, dairy, soy, rice, corn, yeast and 99% grain-free

[mrsppmrxky]

Congratulations! It's sounds as if this woman will be a great asset to your family!!

As a kid, I was the opposite. I would have given anything if my parents would have allowed me to take my lunch everyday!
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[aklap]

Very !

Way to go C and S!!

Please keep us updated on how this works. Maybe it could be used as a model for other school systems
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Al

“We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” Mother Teresa

[The Edifying Conscience]

This is great news Colleen. The others are right in that it is a big deal for kids to bond over lunch. When I taught the hot lunchers sat at one table and the cold lunchers sat at another. If your son's school does the same it's nice that he'll be able to interact at the different tables. I'm not sure how it started but I often had lunch with the kids on rectangular cheese pizza day. It's amazing at the interactions that take place at the different lunch tables!

I'll keep my fingers crossed that once the lunch is shipped to the school those workers understand the drill. Have your son's antibody levels been tested lately? If not, you might consider having them drawn to use as a baseline. For some reason, I think your son in not symptomatic. Is this correct?

[ostrich]

[cruelshoes]

[The Edifying Conscience]

[quote="cruelshoes"]The part where the lunch gets shiped out to the school and served to him is the part I am concerned with as well. I am planning to have some non-perishable spare lunch provisions in his backpack the first few times we try to order. Just in case. Call me anal, but I don't want him to miss lunch if something goes haywire.[quote]

I don't think your being anal because hungry kids don't learn. Better be safe than sorry! If he's symptomatic then the blood tests probably aren't necessary, but...

Let us know how things work out!

[Fidissimus]

Colleen, that's so great! It is really rare to find someone who cares that much - congratulations!
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Cheers!
Jenn

GF BD: Feb. 2001
Free of wheat, barley, rye, oats, rice, dairy, eggs, almonds, pineapple and brewers yeast.
http://graindamaged.blogspot.com/

[cruelshoes]

Got the menu signed off by the pediatrician yesterday. She was very impressed that the school was so willing to work with us. I scanned in the menu that the dietician worked up and have posted it below. I am posting these menus in the hope that it might help someone else that is interested in doing something like this for their child. We crossed a few things off because Sean did not like them. In the packet the dietician gave me, there was also pages of ingredients panels for each product, but I did not scan that part in. All in all, I think they are pretty balanced meals. OK - maybe fritos is not the healthiest thing to eat, but it is pre-packaged with very few ingredients.

The next step is to work out the details of delivering the food to the school.






_________________
-Colleen
Dx 8/05 via bloodwork/biopsy
9-YO son Dx 11/05 via bloodwork/biopsy
Daughters have negative bloodwork - so far!

A woman is like a tea bag-you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water. - Eleanor Roosevelt

[aklap]

Hey cool!! Thanks for sharing this!!

One thing the on chocolate milk - they gotta make sure it's not malted chocolate milk. Some companies have this... It'd be an easy thing to miss. I have to watch when I grab a bottle for Peg [I sneak some too ]

Wasn't Hunts the brand that would say their ketchup was not gf?? I don't remember..we use Heinz.
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Al

“We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” Mother Teresa

[cruelshoes]

[aklap]

There was a brand of ketchup that stated it was not GF - I just can't remember who's it was.

It was Hunts...by the google cache...I wasn't crazy!! This page does not exist anymore. It never did make any sense to me what it wasn't GF [knowing that we know distilled vinegar is gf]. They must've changed their views it.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&client=safari&rls=en&q=hunts+ketchup+gluten+free&btnG=Search
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Al

“We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” Mother Teresa

[cruelshoes]

Sean is ordering his first school lunch today. Here is how it is supposed to work:

-I call the central kitchen at 8:30 to order his meal.
-They prepare the meal and send it to the school.
-The lunch is wrapped and marked with his name.
-The lunch lady pulls the meal out and puts it in the bottom of her cart under the cash register.
-When he goes through the lunch line, he does not pick up any of the things along the way (normally they would pick up a tray, milk, spoon, etc).
-When he gets to the front of the line, he tells the lunch lady his name and that she has his lunch on her cart.
-The lunch lady gives him his lunch and charges his account.
-School lunch joy ensues!!!

The school district dietician is going to the school to walk him through it this first time. Everybody wish us luck that everyting goes well.


_________________
-Colleen
Dx 8/05 via bloodwork/biopsy
9-YO son Dx 11/05 via bloodwork/biopsy
Daughters have negative bloodwork - so far!

A woman is like a tea bag-you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water. - Eleanor Roosevelt

[aklap]

Cool!! Good luck guys!!
_________________
Al

“We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” Mother Teresa