Food Intolerance

Today, as most days, I go into the school's cafeteri for lunch. I browse through all the food available as it is buffet style and pick some of everything that I am capable of eating. When I sit down and look at my tray to see just what I ended up with, I find that I only have some honeydew melon and clam chowder soup.

 A meal of this side is lately becoming my norm, not because I want to eat less, but because I cannot eat most of the food in the cafeteria. I was diagnosed a year and a half ago with citric acid reflux, and there were enough complications with my case (reacting to the strong medicine, source of stress never went away) that I developed a stress-related intolerance to citric acid. They suspect that there may be more to my case than originally found as I am sensitive to almost every form of citric acid including that which my own body creates as a by-product.

The school is aware of my problem, but I still must be on the meal plan as I live in the dorms, and the steps to get off would include getting re-diagnosed by their clinic as the doctor who originally diagnosed me cannot send a note due to insurance problems. The only way to prove that I have an intolerance would be to keep a journal and note the foods that appear to make me sick. However, I habitually such foods as if I eat them, the acid eats through my stomache lining and too much would cause me to develop a real allergy when the food gets into my bloodstream. 

Even if I did prove I had it, there just is not enough information about citric acid for the cafeteria to cater to me without having to come to me everyday to ask me about food.The risk is too great for me to have processed meat and cheese, but the school cannot afford to always have organic meat or traditionally made cheese; most common fruits I cannot have, but school can only afford fruit bought in bulk; and anything tomato-based must be avoided, but tomatoes are one of the most common ingredients in today's cheap food. Likewise, I cannot even have lettuce, which together with tomatoes, takes out almost all of the vegetarian alternatives.

I am not the only person who is having trouble with the school's food. Many of the students cannot eat the meat because of their religion or they are vegetarian for other reasons, and as a result are often having to pay a lot of money trying to stay healthy by buying food outside the meal plan, but just like me, have to stay on the meal plan. In addition, religion and classes often force some people to only be able to eat at certain times, and once again the cafeteria fails us by not being open on these times. It closes really early at 6:30, when most people need food at 7, and there are few alternatives for people who cannot eat meat.