Orono schools: would it be so difficult to provide lunches for people with dietary restrictions? I have celiac disease, and going to school without being provided lunch is demoralizing. It is disappointing that the school does not adequately support students with dietary needs.

Many people who attend schools across America depend on easy or efficient access to food. Under these circumstances, a dietary restriction furthers the issue of inefficient food access and delegates further and more incomplete meals, which struggle to conform to what a meal is and is not. Without proper nutrition, focus and education become issues as costly side products of this unfair injustice.

According to The National Institutes of Health, approximately 67% of children in the U.S. have poor diets due to diet restrictions and poor access to food. Considering that children from 12-19 years of age tend to have lesser diets, having healthy foods in high school and food that fits certain diet restrictions could greatly benefit the huge number of kids with food issues.

With growing numbers of cases of conditions such as celiac disease, more and more children are facing dietary challenges yearly. Many families have to resort to complete changes in their households and also may have to adapt lifestyles to what their dietary needs require. Transitioning at home to dietary restrictions is already tiresome and dispiriting. However, trying to adjust to school lunches is even more of a trouble that families and students shouldn’t have to endure.

For many students who face issues such as celiac disease, having a healthy lunch at school is very difficult. While some gluten-free options exist, they are insufficient to provide a balanced meal, leaving many students without proper nourishment. By giving more gluten-free options, lunches would be more accessible for many, and everyone can enjoy the simplest of necessities: food.