Guest post by Christina Mingle Keller, J.D., M.Ed., Founder & CEO of SafeTable Solutions
Christina is the first external expert to contribute to our blog, and it’s been wonderful collaborating with her. We’re thrilled to share her valuable insights with you!
“Mom, how will I ever be able to go to college if I can’t even eat safely in my school cafeteria?” This is what one of my two teenage sons with multiple severe food allergies asked me when he was in 4th grade. I promised him, and I promise you, that eating safely at college is possible with some research and preparation.
It's hard enough searching for the right college without the added complexity of food allergies. I am a college consultant focused on helping students with medically necessary diets with their college search. As a food allergy mom with a background in higher education, I understand what a huge step it is for students with food allergies to navigate college dining on their own.
When you start your first year of college, you will likely be an 18-year-old legal adult responsible for having conversations with dietitians, dining staff, disability or accessibility services staff, housing, and professors about accommodations. You will have to self-identify, self-advocate, and know your ADA rights.
College is not just about your food allergies. So many factors play into whether or not a college is a good “fit” for you – e.g., academic programs, cost, location, size, etc. Develop your college list first, then research how each accommodates your special dietary needs. The goal is for you to feel safe and included.
Once you have a target list of schools, here is your six-step gameplan to consider dietary needs during your search BEFORE committing to a college.
Step 1: Define Expectations
Food allergies are not one-size-fits-all. Just like that “nut-free” table in the elementary school cafeteria doesn’t help students with dairy or wheat allergies, everyone with severe food allergies has different needs for accommodations in college. Similarly, schools have various approaches to accommodating special diets, which may or may not align with your expectations.
First, consider your unique situation and what is critical to you for your college experience. Your goals for your first year may differ from your needs as a third or fourth-year student. For instance, when adjusting to college, think about how you might balance eating with new friends wherever they are heading versus the safety of eating separately in the most allergy-friendly dining hall or an apartment with a kitchen. Much depends on your allergies, comfort, and stress level (and planning abilities!). Some allergens are easier to avoid than others. Consider the severity of the allergies, whether it is an airborne or ingested food allergy, your risk tolerance in terms of cross-contact, and your anxiety level. Meal plans are expensive, and if you cannot sufficiently eat in the dining halls every day, consider how you would supplement those meals financially and logistically.
For example, one student may seek to handle their non-Top 9 allergens by being exempt from the meal plan and preparing meals in an apartment kitchen on campus. Another student would like to have a single room to avoid the anxiety that comes from not being able to control the allergens brought into the room by roommates and their guests. Yet another student with Top 9 allergies values flexibility to eat in any dining hall anytime with a roommate and new friends, socialize, grab “thirds,” and not have to cook nor plan where to eat their next meal.
What would make you feel comfortable, safe, and healthy in your dorm and dining halls? What are non-negotiables, and what are you – not your parents – willing to compromise on? Defining what is important to you will help focus your research on food allergy accommodations at the colleges on your list.
Colleges have different ways of accommodating food allergies. Since the stakes can be so high, I developed an “Access, Quality & Culture” (AQC) metric to help you evaluate and compare schools. For schools under serious consideration, you will likely go around this AQC wheel multiple times to inform your decision.
The Access, Quality, & Culture (AQC) Wheel
Food allergy considerations to circle through as you follow your gameplan
ACCESS
Can you eat safely, for 21 meals per week, in convenient locations across campus?
QUALITY
Is the “safe” food appealing to you, healthy and varied?
CULTURE
Do you feel included, safe, and supported in dining halls, in dorms, by disability support, through emergency response, and more?
Step 2: Research Dining Access
You may not want to waste time visiting or applying to a school without suitable dietary accommodations. If you choose to apply anyway, you should do so with an understanding of the situation.
To start researching “Access,” visit the Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE) College Search Tool for an overview of accommodations and look on the school’s dining website. Check out menus, brochures, ingredient labels, allergen filters, availability of dining dietitians, and locations of accessible meals.
Have phone, Zoom, or email conversations with dietitians or dining managers and assess their willingness to meet your needs. Dietitians are usually excited when you speak up so they can help you.
Ask lots of questions and give scenarios. For example:
How do you recommend I eat safely here? Are all dining halls equally accommodating?
Is there a Top 9 station (free of the nine most common allergens)? Where is it located and when is it open?
Who can answer my food allergy questions during meal times?
How are the dining staff trained regarding cross-contact and ingredient substitutions? Are there ingredient audits?
Are there “to-go” options?
Can I order custom meals if existing stations don't meet my needs? How much planning is needed?
What do I do if my dorm room or classes are far from the dining hall with the safest options?
What happens if I start to have a reaction in the dining hall?
Also, see what other students with food allergies are saying about your schools of interest in GFree Friends College Reviews, online student newspapers, Reddit threads, social media, or via your own network. When reading student feedback, remember that everyone’s situation is different.
If your research indicates the school may be able to meet your needs, then plan a campus visit to see for yourself.
Step 3: Visit & See For Yourself
Campus visits may be expensive, and your initial research can be done remotely. However, I caution you that in all of my dining hall visits, not once has my experience of dining aligned with my expectations – sometimes for better and mostly for worse! I highly encourage you to try to eat on campus before you commit, especially if you have severe allergies, to ensure the college can deliver as promised. Remember, you may be eating there three times a day for four years, and you will be grateful for getting this right before you attend.
Whether a college dining program provides the “Quality” you seek is personal. Even when there is a Top 9 allergy-free station, it may often only offer vegetarian options, which is appealing to some and not others. Or maybe you have only one allergen, and eliminating all Top 9 allergens feels too limiting, but it's your only option as nothing else is labeled with ingredients and/or allergens. On the other hand, the school may have a Top 9 station popular with food allergy and non-food allergy students alike, with tasty choices at each meal, or it may have a custom meal app to pre-order safe food made in a special kitchen just for you.
My son and I toured a college with a wonderful overall reputation for handling food allergies - nuts and gluten in particular - but without a Top 9 station. We visited and met with a dietitian, but only realized when we toured the dining hall that one of my son’s Top 9 allergies (dairy) would require getting food specially prepared at each meal due to cross-contact risk at the stations. Based on that experience, my son moved the school farther down on his list since the “Access” and “Quality” did not align with his expectations for convenient, safe options.
Step 4: Assess Culture
It’s a bonus if the college has community awareness of food allergies outside the dining halls and further fosters safety and inclusion through its “Culture”. Food exists outside the dining halls, so it’s important to think through housing, food in the classroom (i.e. if you have an airborne allergy), extracurricular activities, and whether you plan to be on campus before dining halls are open - e.g., during fraternity or sorority “rush,” for athletics, or leadership training, etc.
You can first get a sense of “Culture” from the housing website, and you may need to follow up with a phone call with Residence Life. On one such phone call, I spoke with a knowledgeable student. I was pleasantly surprised to learn the school offered “food allergy friendly" floors in a residence hall with Resident Advisors (RAs) who had additional training, and that is located above the best dining hall for students with special diets! It is worth reaching out and having these conversations.
The housing inventory and policies vary dramatically from school to school. Here are some questions to weigh:
Do they mention food allergy accommodations and clearly describe the process?
Is there a way to be matched with a roommate who also has food allergies?
How long are you required to live on campus?
Which dorms are closer to safe dining options or provide a kitchen?
Is having a single room important to you, and if so, are many available?
Do you need extra food storage or cooking equipment in your room or access to a kitchen?
Do RAs receive first aid/emergency response training and consider special diets when organizing events with food in the dorm?
The dining, housing, and academic support offered by Disability or Accessibility Services is unique to each school. Sometimes, the Disability Services office handles all forms of accommodations, and sometimes it outsources some of those responsibilities to dining and/or housing. Before or after a campus visit (either in person or virtually), reach out directly to the director of Disability Services to set up a call to gauge the level of support offered and to understand how they are organized to manage accommodations. This may help you decide who else you should meet.
While schools cannot guarantee specific accommodations until you are a committed student and submit your required paperwork for review, Disability Services should be able to share the accommodations they have offered other food allergy students or connect you to a current student with food allergies.
If these departments are not helpful from the beginning, I would warn you that this may be a “red flag,” and I would not expect interactions to improve later. You are simply learning more about what to expect or whether to cross certain colleges off your list.
Step 5: Choose to Apply
You now have a final list of schools to apply to where you believe you can thrive academically, socially, and physically. Along the way, you likely eliminated schools that weren’t a good fit, including those that do not provide the support you consider essential for a safe and inclusive dining and college experience. You also developed a clearer idea of what accommodations to request based on each school’s level of support and on what you are willing to compromise. Good luck!
Step 6: Confirm After Acceptance
The jitters associated with the stressful application process are now over, and you can now examine and critically compare schools that offered you a spot on campus. Don’t forget to revisit the “AQC” again after you are accepted and before committing to a college. Months likely passed since your visit and conversations, or you may not have visited before applying. Staff may have turned over, or policies may have changed.
Find out the timeline for the accommodations process, which usually involves your doctor completing some forms, since those housing accommodation deadlines can come quickly! Remember that every school differs in how they make accommodation decisions, and all accommodations are considered on a case-by-case basis.
After You Commit
The spring and summer months are times to prepare – from submitting paperwork for housing, dining, and classroom accommodations on time to having conversations about “room rules” with your future roommate and beginning to build a supportive network on campus. It’s important to get comfortable with letting others know about your food allergies and practice self-advocating. And, most importantly, figure out an easy way to remember to carry your medications wherever you go (tip: some people put an AirTag with their medication to send them reminders if they leave it behind).
Summary
I have toured and eaten in dozens of campus dining halls, spoken with many college dietitians, student affairs professionals, and disability services staff, and worked with clients with various serious food allergies. This has given me a nuanced understanding of how different programs compare. I feel comfortable saying that with the right preparation - which includes learning how to self-advocate, always carrying your medications, and understanding what you value in terms of support and accommodations - you can identify a college that meets your key needs and enjoy just being at college without the added anxiety of finding a safe meal every day. You’ve got this, and many people are there to help you along the way!
Christina Mingle Keller, J.D., M.Ed., in Counseling/Student Affairs in Higher Education
Founder & CEO of SafeTable Solutions, Christina helps families navigate the college search process, assess the food allergy accommodations at the schools on their college list, and prepare for college. In addition to working with families, Christina consults for FARE on their college resources, including updating its College Search Tool. She has practiced law and worked in various roles at colleges and universities of all sizes - including reading applications for the University of Virginia - for over two decades.
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