out that I was allergic to tree nuts and had I eaten anymore cashews that day I could have died. Ever since that moment I have never had another tree nut again. I never took allergies seriously until it directly affected my life.
It makes me feel mad at myself for not caring about it before. It took me almost dyeing to realize how serious food allergies are. My life has changed a lot since I discovered my allergy. I now have to ask restaurants every time I go to eat if they cook with any nut cooking oils and all the things that I used to eat with nuts are not an option for me. It is very disadvantageous for me because if I want to travel anywhere in the world my allergy holds me back from eating certain foods. If I moved away from home to a place where they speak another language I would be held back by that. I have to make sure I bring and epinephrine pen every where I go. I now try my hardest to educate anyone around me about my allergy and how serious all food allergies are. When I hear someone, I know has an allergy has an allergy I make sure to tell anyone around that is eating that they have an allergy. I feel that now is the best time to have an allergy. The school system is very helpful to people with any type of allergy and it makes it safer for the students and …show more content…
staff.
When the Sweet Caroline Foundation started, I could notice how cautious people started being about nut allergies.
Now I feel that all allergies need to be noticed in our district. Foodallergy.com says that “eight foods account for 90% of all food-allergic reactions: milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts (e.g., walnuts, almonds, cashews, pistachios, pecans), wheat, soy, fish, and shellfish.” In that list, there is much more than just peanuts and tree nuts that have allergic reactions. Our community has come a long way with allergy awareness but I feel that we need to take it a step further. We need to make the rest of the 90 percent of allergic reactions aware to everyone in the community. Not just the schools, we need our restaurants and supermarkets to be aware of these allergies. I love what the Sweet Caroline Foundation has done to impact my world and the lives of many. I feel safer in my community, I kept the purple ribbon in my room since the day I got it a school. What a great idea it as to hand out the bracelets and ribbons to everyone it really gave food allergies the awareness that is
deserves. In my life, I find that my community and all the places I’ve been in the world that most places are very accommodating for people with allergies. I think that if the Sweet Caroline Foundation had a commercial on local television it would make the community even more aware. Eventually the foundation could possibly try to get it on national or maybe international TV. If the foundation could get to talk to some one on cooking show channels like Food Network; food allergies would be that much more aware not just to the community but to the whole world. The schools in the greater Saint John area could have fundraisers to help pay for the commercial. There is potential for my idea but I am small person when it comes to the rest of the world. I feel that the Sweet Caroline foundation already has great credibility and is well known to the Maritimes and If the foundation could get a commercial to happen it would be extremely beneficial to the food allergy community. Food allergies are a huge deal and it need s to be addressed all around the world. Hopefully someday we can have a cure for food allergies but for now making the people around us more aware is the next best thing. Thank you for reading my essay and I hope you consider me for the Sweet Caroline Foundation Scholarship.