Stanford Residential and Dining Enterprises made the bold decision this year to convert Branner Dining, what used to be lovingly known as “food” to hundreds of frosh, into an allergen-free dining. According to a September update on the R&DE website, “Every meal is prepared without the top 9 allergens — milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soy, and sesame — and our chefs receive specialized training to prevent cross-contact.”
While many weakling students with allergies applauded Stanford for their bold new step towards inclusivity, others were immediately concerned with the message it sent to other allergy-ravaged members of the Stanford community. Jackson B. (’27) a student with alternative allergies—including watermelon and avocados—described feelings of anguish about the new dining options on its opening day: “It’s like R&DE want us to feel less than… I’ve never been less than top 9 at anything in my life.” Students like Jackson are reeling from Stanford’s hierarchies of “valid” allergies, and reports of allergy inferiority complexes are rising faster than ever before.
Just a week after the Branner Dining launch, when Jackson tragically experienced an allergic reaction to his gluten-free-milk-deprived-egg-substituted-nut-averse-wheat-light blended kale mush (suffering from texture-related anaphylaxis), R&DE knew that they had to act, and fast.
This morning, Branner Dining has announced a second attempt at total inclusivity towards those plagued by gastronomic intolerances, aiming to eliminate the next 100 most common allergens by switching to a “Calorie Pellet” rather than traditional food. This new change marks an embrace of a new era where all students have equal access to nutritious meals. And, of course, you cannot spell “God this shit tastes like cardboard” without “GO CARD!!!!”
(Lipman)
