{"id":490,"date":"2013-12-09T21:16:34","date_gmt":"2013-12-10T02:16:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.allergyhome.org\/blogger\/?p=490"},"modified":"2014-04-14T17:18:22","modified_gmt":"2014-04-14T21:18:22","slug":"food-allergy-advocacy-no-voice-is-too-small","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.allergyhome.org\/blogger\/food-allergy-advocacy-no-voice-is-too-small\/","title":{"rendered":"Food Allergy Advocacy: No Voice is Too Small"},"content":{"rendered":"

AllergyHome proudly introduces our guest contributor, Lauren Maunus. \u00a0 Lauren is currently a junior in high school and a powerful voice in the food allergy community. She is an advocate for school food allergy and nutrition management and has worked extensively to effect a change in national school lunch policy.\u00a0\u00a0 Thank you Lauren, for joining us.<\/em><\/p>\n

Written by Lauren Maunus<\/p>\n

“I\u2019ve learned from first-hand experience that everyone\u2019s story matters; no voice is too small.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"me<\/a>I share a common bond with you.\u00a0 I love someone with a food allergy.\u00a0\u00a0 Just shy of her 2nd birthday, my younger sister Rachel ate a small bite of a cashew and experienced a life-threatening anaphylactic reaction.<\/p>\n

Our family dynamic changed instantly.\u00a0 Rachel\u2019s safety became our first priority.\u00a0 We had to read every label of every bite of food that passed her lips and manage her food allergies in all situations, including school. At the beginning of each school year, my mother traveled to the food service department and read the labels for all the items Rachel selected for lunch, until one day, she joined Rachel for lunch, and the pizza had been replaced by another pizza product.\u00a0 That innocent substitution was the last time Rachel purchased school lunch.\u00a0\u00a0 Our family lives by a very simple rule:\u00a0 if there is no label Rachel does not eat it\u2026no exceptions!<\/p>\n

The Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA) mandates that the labels of foods that contain major food allergens declare the allergen in plain language; however, many public school cafeterias do not have food ingredients readily available for students or their families.<\/p>\n

I have always been a big sister advocate at birthday parties, restaurants, and school, and as I matured, so did my voice.\u00a0 \u00a0As a Freshman I joined Youth in Government Club and was tasked to write a piece of legislation for a youth assembly; there was no doubt in my mind that the bill would serve as a vehicle to express my passion for students with food allergy.\u00a0 I drafted legislation that required the identification of the top eight allergens and nutrition information on all food offered in public school cafeterias.\u00a0 After being awarded best bill in the House, I realized that I had the potential to make a change.\u00a0 This critical information empowers students, families and nutritional services to make educated choices in selecting meals.<\/p>\n

I spent countless nights working at the computer, leading conference calls from my school\u2019s guidance office during my lunch, and traveling to meetings before, during, and after school.\u00a0 I began a grassroots campaign, working with my school district\u2019s nutritional director and addressing the local chamber of commerce and school board.<\/p>\n

\"business<\/a>Next, I convinced my school board to launch a pilot in my home school district comprised of 18,000 students.\u00a0 After one month the movement gained incredible support and energy.\u00a0\u00a0 State legislators came on board and invited me to address our tri-county legislative delegation.\u00a0\u00a0 With the hundreds of business cards I gathered, I formed a coalition of state-wide and national organizations with similar missions, members of the medical and education communities, and legislators.<\/p>\n

I served as a Senate Page in Tallahassee, where I lobbied the President of the Senate, the Commissioner of Agriculture, and the Governor.\u00a0\u00a0 I literally ran across the capitol complex barefoot; heels are a definite obstacle to lobbying. \u00a0 I had to demonstrate how my idea was operationally feasible in a state with 67 school districts with a wide range of budgets and resources.<\/p>\n

The Florida Senate issued a Proclamation in support of National Food Allergy Awareness Week and the Department of Agriculture introduced guidelines that emphasize food allergy education and provide allergen and nutrition information, benefiting Florida\u2019s 3 million students.\u00a0 Florida is scheduled to launch a robust training program for all sponsors beginning January 1, 2014.\u00a0 The state will have a training coordinator, in-person hands-on training, and on-line job specific training modules addressing safe food handling and storage.\u00a0 The state plans to provide in-depth food allergy educational materials and webinars for the entire school community and families.<\/p>\n

My goal is to expand upon Florida\u2019s success as a model for the nation. \u00a0\u00a0I am currently working with members of Congress and Senators to improve best practices for the management of students suffering from food allergy.\u00a0 We are collaborating with federal agencies such as the USDA, FDA, and the CDC.\u00a0 I recently had the privilege to lobby on Capitol Hill and discuss national school nutrition policy.\u00a0 I met with numerous politicians who envisioned identification of allergens and nutrition as an opportunity to help all students, including those with food allergy, obesity, and other diet related illnesses.<\/p>\n

\"IMG959300\"<\/a>Last month I had the opportunity to share my advocacy initiative in a TEDx Talk \u201cThe Persuasive Power of Passion: From Love to Legislation\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 http:\/\/new.livestream.com\/tedx\/youthmiami2013\/videos\/35799483<\/a>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Advocating on behalf of Rachel has been a formative part of my life. \u00a0Throughout the past three years, I\u2019ve learned from first-hand experience that everyone\u2019s story matters; no voice is too small.\u00a0 We can use our skills, motivation, and persistence to effect a change.\u00a0 What started as a labor of love developed into a federal initiative, fueled by my steadfast determination to keep all students like Rachel safe at school.<\/p>\n

\"Steny<\/a>Lauren Maunus is a junior in the International Baccalaureate program at South Fork High School in Martin County, Florida.\u00a0 She is an advocate for school food allergy and nutrition management and has worked extensively to effect a change in national school lunch policy.\u00a0 Lauren is passionate about human rights and is interested in pursuing study in International Relations.\u00a0 She coordinates volunteers at a soup kitchen and loves to cook, travel, and play tennis.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AllergyHome proudly introduces our guest contributor, Lauren Maunus. \u00a0 Lauren is currently a junior in high school and a powerful voice in the food allergy community. She is an advocate for school food allergy and nutrition management and has worked extensively to effect a change in national […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":493,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65,56],"tags":[67,11,5,66,60],"class_list":["post-490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-contributor","category-family","tag-advocacy","tag-allergyhome","tag-food-allergy","tag-lauren-maunus","tag-school-nutrition"],"yoast_head":"\nFood Allergy Advocacy: No Voice is Too Small - Blog @ AllergyHome.org<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What started as a labor of love developed into a federal initiative, fueled by my determination to keep students with a food allergy safe at school.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.allergyhome.org\/blogger\/food-allergy-advocacy-no-voice-is-too-small\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"pistiner\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.allergyhome.org\\\/blogger\\\/food-allergy-advocacy-no-voice-is-too-small\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.allergyhome.org\\\/blogger\\\/food-allergy-advocacy-no-voice-is-too-small\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"pistiner\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.allergyhome.org\\\/blogger\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6b502a14ccabe0f6da06c1ff6f75e562\"},\"headline\":\"Food Allergy Advocacy: No Voice is Too Small\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-12-10T02:16:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-04-14T21:18:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.allergyhome.org\\\/blogger\\\/food-allergy-advocacy-no-voice-is-too-small\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":953,\"commentCount\":1,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.allergyhome.org\\\/blogger\\\/food-allergy-advocacy-no-voice-is-too-small\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.allergyhome.org\\\/blogger\\\/files\\\/2013\\\/12\\\/USDA-Secretary-Office-2.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"advocacy\",\"allergyhome\",\"food allergy\",\"Lauren Maunus\",\"school nutrition\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Contributor\",\"Family\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.allergyhome.org\\\/blogger\\\/food-allergy-advocacy-no-voice-is-too-small\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.allergyhome.org\\\/blogger\\\/food-allergy-advocacy-no-voice-is-too-small\\\/\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.allergyhome.org\\\/blogger\\\/food-allergy-advocacy-no-voice-is-too-small\\\/\",\"name\":\"Food Allergy Advocacy: No Voice is Too Small - 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