Written by Ben Evans
When I was in third grade, I switched over to a gluten-free diet after testing positive for a gluten allergy. My mom was already researching the positive effects of this diet and decided she and my brother would quit gluten as well.
I should say I am one of the lucky ones. There are various degrees to which someone’s body can react to an allergen. If I eat gluten, I usually get a runny nose. My throat clenches up some, but I can still breathe. I can get a stomachache at the worst, but I can live through that. Some of you may have or may know someone who has Celiac disease, to whom eating gluten could be dangerous or even deadly.
My first semester of college, a friend of mine had a serious allergy to gluten and other foods. He spent his first semester going to the cafeteria, trying to steer clear of obvious wheat products, but he still struggled to digest anything he found there. He couldn’t gain any weight and always looked sickly. By the second semester, I barely saw him any more. He could only eat food pre-prepared for him in his room. He was hardly ever on campus. It was a sad thing to see. Third semester, he was gone.
Harding is home to many gluten free and gluten intolerant students, and I think it’s important for our school to realize the struggle their allergy places on them. I know of students who have to cook all of their own meals and can’t eat outside of their dorms. I have seen students have to let their meal exchanges go as Panda Express has zero Gluten-Free options and Chick-Fil-A can be a risk for those with peanut allergies. I myself and many others have had to fast Late Night where sometimes Gluten is unavoidable, and same for the weekend cafeteria menu options. I realize there are some people on campus who don’t even know what gluten is. If you’re still in the dark, it’s basically just an ingredient in wheat or other grains.
Harding does have gluten-free options. If you’re gluten free or thinking about trying it, there is an allergen friendly section in the cafeteria close to the drink fountains. Chick-Fil-A does offer a gluten-free meal exchange in the form of a grilled chicken meal. My favorite spot on campus, Shake Shack, occasionally has gluten-free buns and has multiple other gluten-friendly options. But even these can be dangerous for our allergic students, as many of them are subject to cross-contamination or other circumstances.
I am thankful for the effort Harding has made to keep those with allergies fed, and I do understand that this problem on campus is in many ways out of the university’s control. Someone’s personal allergy or the menu of a partnering restaurant is not technically a university problem. But I do think we can do better. People with allergens, whether moderate or severe, are everywhere, and they’re paying to eat and live here. An allergy to bread shouldn’t keep anyone from having a seat at the Harding table.
