A New Kind of Food Insecurity

It seemingly came on overnight. Suddenly, one day in March, the food shelves went from fully stocked to mostly barren. The COVID-19 pandemic had hit my city, and so had the panic. Schools were shut, stay-at-home orders were issued, businesses, parks, et.al. were all closed.

Most families made do. They were able to adapt easily enough. I read news articles of people buying out all of the flour and baking for days on end. I searched frantically for gluten free flour so that I could do the same. No luck.

I was hit with a new kind of food insecurity. We had money. I still had a job that I could do from home. That wasn’t the problem, for once. The problem was that my son was newly on a very strict, 6 allergen elimination diet. In the middle of a pandemic.

For those of you who do not know, a six allergen elimination diet avoids foods that contain wheat, soy, nuts, eggs, fish, and milk. In other words, it avoids most foods, especially processed foods.

Well f***. This is totally new territory. Food banks are of no use, they give you bread, peanut butter, and beans. Those are all on the list of DO NOT EAT. Hmm.

It took some real creativity to get through the initial panic, and a LOT of reading food labels.

I am not proud of the first couple of months, and what my son ended up eating. The stores truly did not have much in the way of choices in our area, and we had to make do with what they did have. We found Vienna sausages (hey, those are safe, YAY!) frozen vegetables, and applesauce all in abundant supply. Whenever we found any meat of any kind, we bought it. Pork, chicken, beef, turkey, it didn’t matter. Fresh vegetables never were in stock. Apples were always available, so we kept those in the house too. Instant oatmeal, and Lucky Charms cereal. Jell-O in multiple flavors.

It left me really thinking though… especially as I walked past aisle after aisle of foods that contained soy or were processed in a facility that processed peanuts or tree nuts… why? Why is our food so processed? Why are we shoving so much stuff into our food that doesn’t belong there? Is the modern food industrial complex causing the issues with digestion, with food allergies, the issues like my son has that is now causing me to go insane trying to find him safe meals day in and day out?

Is cheaper always better? Is bulk always better? My son has always had issues with food and digestion. I was not truly surprised by his diagnosis of eosinophilic esophagitis at the age of eight, at least after I learned more about the disease. He was diagnosed with food allergies at three, had severe constipation at the same age… but nobody could really ever tell me why.

I foolishly thought that things would calm down after a month or two back in March. We would lock down, people would wear masks, and the pandemic would be gotten under control.

Instead, I learned how to shop better. I have learned how to find the foods my son needs to be healthy and eat a varied diet. I would say be happy, but he still misses eating pizza and macaroni and cheese. I still have not found a good cheese substitute that does not contain nuts or soy for him. I keep looking though. While I wish that I could have learned how to adapt to the elimination diet during a normal time, the universe had different plans for me. I still make mistakes, but I am taking it one day at a time.