After watching the FDA approval for the nasal spray epinephrine get denied, I decided I needed to get more involved in how things work in Washington and to support change, so I joined FARE. FARE is an acronym for Food Allergy Research & Education.  “FARE’s mission is to improve the quality of life and health of those with food allergies through transformative research, education, and advocacy. Since 2012, FARE has committed almost $190MM to support food allergy research, education, and advocacy, and has provided a voice for the community, advocating on behalf of the 33 million Americans living with life-threatening food allergies.”

On December 20, I was invited to apply to attend the “Courage at Congress” conference for March 4-6. I had no idea what to expect, but I applied and was accepted.  As time drew nearer, I began to panic. While I’m accustomed to bringing my own food to events, I was entering a world out of my comfort zone and that always initially brings anxiety. What do I bring that could feed me for 3 days, be easily transported and re-heated? FARE had arranged for us all to have refrigerators and microwaves in our rooms and encouraged those with food allergies outside the recognized top 9, to bring their own food. That would be me, allergic to anything in the allium family (garlic, onions, leeks, shallots, scallions, chives and asparagus) and a gluten intolerance.   After weeks of consideration, I chose to bring my gluten-free chicken vegetable quiche which could be used for breakfast lunch or dinner, chicken salad and my power of three bites. A girl must have dessert!

Upon arrival, I was pleasantly surprised that food selections were very carefully chosen to include as many allergens free options as possible within the top 9 recognized food allergens of milk, eggs, tree nuts, peanuts, fish, crustacean shellfish, wheat, sesame, and soy. All meals and snacks were gluten free as well. FARE staff also provided detailed ingredient lists for the food they provided. Surprising to me, I was able to find something to eat at every meal.

The conference was action packed and full of food allergy information about current statistics, research and advocacy efforts for the current bills being presented to our legislators. The conference went from being light and welcoming to quickly focusing on the serious nature of food allergens and the work we need to do to protect ourselves and loved ones. I was one of 240 attendees that ranged from age 6 years old to senior citizen with every age in between. We were just everyday people with ourselves or a loved one with food allergies. We gathered to learn how to advocate and speak to legislators so that they could hear us and understand what we need them to support.