Having a food allergy at school . . . ah yes, I remember those days. I can remember teachers celebrating my friends’ in-class birthday parties with ice cream and homemade brownies galore. Everyone would have fun, enjoying one delicacy after another . . . everyone except me, that is. Because I am lactose intolerant, my mom would send my teacher a hand-written note explaining that I “needed to avoid milk products” during class activities. Thanks, Mom. So, while my friends would munch on the tastiest of treats, I would be left with something less appealing.

Thankfully, students with food allergies at Brown are not left with the Ratty equivalent of a Fruit Roll-Up. As cited in a recent USA Today article, Brown is one of a number of colleges and universities in the country that are catering to the various dietary needs of today’s students. With “allergy-free kitchens” and meals made by “specially-trained cooks,” these schools are responding to the growing presence of students with food allergies on college campuses. In a 2007 study, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 4 percent of children aged 18 and under have food allergies. While some of these children outgrow their allergies, many do not, which leaves college administrators to prepare for the influx of students with varied dietary needs.

Brown is certainly up to the challenge. In a 2008 interview, Ann Hoffman, director of administration at Brown Dining Services, discussed what BDS does for students with specialized dietary needs, such as celiac disease, or intolerance to gluten. “We offer special meal preparation if our menu doesn’t provide an adequate selection of safe and appealing options,” Hoffman said. Once again, Brown is doing what it can to cater to student needs, and my first grade self smiles to see that there’s not a Fruit Roll-Up in sight.

I’m not about to call the recent BDS demonstrations by concerned undergraduates sanctimonious; it is my heartfelt belief that those protesting genuinely care about the many individuals who tirelessly serve us. Begrudgingly, I even stood through one of their jejune man-puppet displays on my way to a Ratty dinner.

But I also understand the difficult decision of the folks holding the purse strings, the ever-lambasted Brown Corporation. Every financial determination they must make is a tradeoff – some must lose so that others may subsist. In this case, the Corporation has proposed a “sliding scale” to determine BDS workers’ health care premiums. (Interestingly, this scheme is similar to the US progressive tax system, something many SDS and SLA members, I imagine, would support.) The university also plans on refashioning the retirement benefits for new hires and is considering a wage freeze.

I would like here to offer a solution to this current predicament. I mean this without a drop of Swiftian satire: Brown should simply institute a tuition hike.

Why can’t undergraduates, quite literally, put their money where their mouth is? If they so ardently care about the plight of BDS workers, they will have no hesitation in coughing up a few extra grand a semester to offset the cost of lower healthcare premiums and increased wages. But if you feel the same moral confusion that I do when considering this dilemma, perhaps you can begin to sympathize with the tough, inevitably unpopular decision the Corporation must make. The protests so far have been useful, but keep in mind the underlying tension of the Corporation’s decision as you march your man-puppet across the Main Green. In the end, you may get more than you bargained for.

Anthony Badami ’11

Opinions Columnist

Nearly 200 students, Brown Dining Services workers and members of various civic groups from Providence gathered in front of University Hall Thursday to rally for health care reform.

Concerns about negotiations on the renewal of the BDS workers’ contract, which expires Oct. 12, brought the groups together on the Main Green in support of the workers. Representatives for the workers and the University have met to bargain over health care and pension benefits. Cuts to workers’ benefits have been discussed during negotiations.

The ralliers also called for health care reform on the state and national levels and marched to Whole Foods after speeches on the Main Green.

See more photos after the jump. [Read more →]