Peanutbutter at school?

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Peanutbutter at school?
13
Sat, 08-26-2006 - 7:08pm

I just wondered how many of your schools allow peanutbutter. It is very rare for a school in Canada to not be peanutfree. There is a real paranoia about peanut allergies and even products that may contain peanuts are not allowed and I've even heard of teachers confiscating items that may not have nuts in them per se, but are not guaranteed peanutfree. Also forbidding homebaked goodies for birthday or class parties because there might have been contact with nuts. All of Kristen's summer camps were nut-free, no PB allowed, no nuts of anykind and in her one camp no grape juice either.


Our school goes with a class by class decision. (we do not have a large cafeteria, each kid eats at their desks) If there is someone allergic to something in the class (last year there was a girl allergic to kiwi and eggs at the school) then those items are banned from that classroom.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Sat, 08-26-2006 - 7:49pm

Most schools here have some sort of "policy" but it varies from town to town and sometimes within the schools in each town. For some administrators, I don't think they understand the full extent of the problem.

There are peanut free classrooms and peanut free tables within the cafeteria. Some schools completely peanut/nut free. I do know of a town nearby where several boys tried to force feed a peanut butter sandwich to a boy with life threatening peanut allergies. The parents of those boys brushed it off as "boys will be boys". I was apalled.

~~Pookiesmom

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-26-2005
Sat, 08-26-2006 - 8:05pm

WOW! I have never heard of this.


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Avatar for bradleyteach
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-29-2001
Sat, 08-26-2006 - 8:53pm

There are peanut free classrooms and food allergy tables in the cafeteria; I know that in one of the elementary schools, if kids eat peanut butter for lunch, they must wash their hands before returning to the classroom


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Avatar for bradleyteach
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-29-2001
Sat, 08-26-2006 - 8:55pm

Our school's new wellness policy limits the amount of parties, I think it is one a month so if there's a holiday month, the holiday party would need to be combined with the monthly birthday party in elementary school, and there could only be one treat from the non-healthy food list there, so for instance only cupcakes, not cupcakes and cookies and chips and ice cream cups.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Sat, 08-26-2006 - 10:00pm
When DD had a class party I always tried to take something besides a bag of chips or cookies. The most popular items we took were cheese and crackers and a fruit platter (two different parties). I think the kids enjoyed those more than the chips and sweet stuff. DD certainly didn't come home with any leftovers. Now that DD is older very few of the kids bring anything for their birthdays. Kristen hasn't taken anything for a few years now.

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Avatar for bradleyteach
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-29-2001
Sun, 08-27-2006 - 9:10am

Tam, my 7 year old is just the kid you are marketing to LOL!

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iVillage Member
Registered: 08-17-2005
Sun, 08-27-2006 - 10:12am

We don't have a school policy, but I think individual classrooms take it into consideration if there is a child who is allergic to peanuts. I've never heard of a problem since we've been at this school. My son is allergic to tree nuts and makes sure he asks if someone does bring in treats if it has nuts. If he's not sure, he doesn't eat it.

Karin

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iVillage Member
Registered: 04-14-2003
Sun, 08-27-2006 - 11:00am
Our school board (Waterloo board) is peanut and tree nut free (walnuts etc). At first i found it rather difficult since ODD does not like most sandwich meats or cheese but we have adapted pretty well. There are a number of companies that are now making snack foods peanut free so each year it gets easier.
Kelly
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-17-2004
Sun, 08-27-2006 - 5:35pm
The schools in my district are not peanut-free. In fact, they serve peanut butter sandwiches. Kids with food allergies can eat at specific tables that are kept free of their allergen (peanuts, nuts, seeds, milk, ect) They do try to keep some of the classrooms peanut or nut free if someone in the class has a severe allergy.
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-22-2004
Sun, 08-27-2006 - 6:56pm

Our school district serves pbj sandwiches for school lunch in the regular rotation. It's also the default lunch if someone forgot their lunch at home. Ours is a large school with about 400 students. We are going into our last year there, and I've never heard of a child with peanut allergies in our school. There was a girl in pre-school who had many allergies, and I assume that she's in another school in the district. I don't kow what they are doing. It seems excessive to ban a food when there is no one in the building that is allergic.

The district has also just adopted a new healthy eating plan which will affect what is served at parties and even sold at fundraisers. I was involved in other issues while this plan was being debated, so I'm not too clear on the details, but parents will have to check before bringing in those homemade cookies. It's aimed more at banning junk & sugar, than common allergy foods.

Diane

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