Our Story

Thankfully, I don’t have the same story I hear from many moms with children who have food allergies.  We didn’t have to rush to the hospital because of an allergic reaction and my daughter didn’t have her face or tongue swell up.  She was 2 and she had eczema from the time she was 9 months old, accompanied by frequent high fevers.  Nothing would help her eczema.  I think we tried about 15 different creams and allergy medicines.  So, her pediatrician sent us to the pediatric allergist.  It was 7 years ago, when that innocent trip to the pediatric allergist for Brooklyn’s eczema issue, changed life as I know it.  We left that doctors office with a diagnosis of food allergies and a list of food to avoid.  The list included peanuts, tree nuts, coconut, eggs, fish, watermelon, raspberry, tomatoes, and sesame seeds.  Oh My!  How could the very thing that gives us life (food) be possibly fatal for my child?  I didn’t even know who to look to for help.

Then I had the chance to take Food and Culture class for my undergraduate degree in Anthropology.  In that class we watched the movie “King Corn”.  We read The Omnivores’ Dilemma by Michael Pollan.  We learned about Genetically Modified Food, and food processing systems.  I felt betrayed by the world.  And overwhelmed.  But I also felt mad at myself.  How could I be such an un-informed consumer?  How could I just eat anything or put anything on my body that someone said is supposedly safe.  Very scary. But full circle around, I later had the opportunity to help teach that same Food and Culture class, which felt good to pass on the information that had helped change my life.

I went into full Type A personality mission mode to change our lives.  We started eating organic food.  We started paying attention to the products that we were putting on our bodies and in our bodies.  Everything from laundry detergent, to coating on cookware, to cleaning products, to makeup, to EVERYTHING had to pass my new non-toxic test.  But after 2 years of changing everything and figuring out what was best for us, I felt very accomplished.  Brooklyn was no longer sick and didn’t require any medicine.  And I felt better than I had ever felt. 

In 2010 I took Brooklyn to a Registered Dietician.  She was supposed to have all the answers to help me form a diet to ensure Brooklyn’s health wasn’t suffering from nutrients she was lacking due to the long list of foods she couldn’t eat.  Long story short, I ended up teaching the registered dietician things.  Her advice sounded good, but it wasn’t practical.  To give an example, she said Brooklyn should eat sunflower seeds; well it’s very hard to find sunflower seeds that aren’t processed in a nut factory.  So good suggestion, but not practical. 

I had driven 7 hours away to take her to this “special” dietician, so on the long way home I had a light bulb in my head. Ding!  I am going to go back to school and get my Masters degree in Health.  I am going to help kids, men, women, and anyone who wants to listen.  I am going to teach people about food and how important it is to personal health.  So, here I am.  I am living my mission.  I will make a difference in this world and it feels good! Yay!

As Hippocrates said “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”