Comments on: Food Allergies and Modern Life http://savageminds.org/2010/02/09/food-allergies-and-modern-life/ Notes and Queries in Anthropology — A Group Blog Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:06:13 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Natalie Hanson http://savageminds.org/2010/02/09/food-allergies-and-modern-life/comment-page-1/#comment-628792 Natalie Hanson Thu, 25 Feb 2010 02:12:41 +0000 http://savageminds.org/?p=3195#comment-628792 This was a thought-provoking post, Dustin, thanks for the good read. My son has been diagnosed with food-protein induced enterocolitis. In short, it's a short of auto-immune response that his digestive system has to certain foods, in his case oats and barley. We were very lucky that we caught it quickly and found a great allergist who helped us uncover other allergens, and to recognize the symptoms so that other 'contaminated' or mislabelled foods could be avoided. We have a treatment plan (two years of avoidance, then gradual re-introduction). Happy to share more stories (and a link to our family blog with ALL the gorey details) if you're interested, just contact me via email. Given that he was young (less than six months) when we started seeing symptoms, I'm hard-pressed to accept some of the social hysteria theories around his allergies. However, that doesn't mean that it's not true in other cases. In my comments here I just wanted to note two things: (1) My son is two and a half now, but six months ago, two thirds of the students in his class had allergies. Two thirds. The cubbies at the daycare were all labelled with the allergens, it was incredible - everything from eggs and milk to blueberries to butternut squash. Really?! Many of the kids had epi-pens on hand for emergencies, and so on. It made me wonder what other factors are at work. In Austria and many other countries in Europe, bio-engineering of food is not permitted. You buy bread, if you don't eat it the next day, you need to go buy bread again. It doesn't have a 2+ week shelf life, you just can't buy products like that. And I would be willing to bet that they don't have the instances of and the hysteria around food allergies that we have in the US. So it led me to wonder if there is some relationship between the allergies and the US propensity to 'improve' our food through bio-engineering. Coming back to Celiac's Disease, for example, our wheat has been altered to increase the gluten content. So are we then surprised that more and more people 'contract' Celiac's? Interestingly enough, some of the grains that are completely safe for my son include quinoa, which is a grain that comes from Latin America and hasn't been subject to modification up until now. And I wonder whether peanut allergies are somehow related to our obsession with using peanuts or peanut oil in everything. You know Nutella, that fabulous hazelnut spread from Europe? In the US it's made largely with peanuts. (2) Have you read the book Connected? I wrote a brief overview of it on my blog here - http://nataliehanson.wordpress.com/2009/10/22/connected-major-concepts/. My intention is to summarize a few of the most compelling case studies in an upcoming post. The authors do talk about the growing hysteria around allergies, and address allergies it as a social phenomena. I found the book very accessible, you might enjoy it, and it could certainly add a powerful quantitative element to your storyline. Best, Natalie This was a thought-provoking post, Dustin, thanks for the good read.

My son has been diagnosed with food-protein induced enterocolitis. In short, it’s a short of auto-immune response that his digestive system has to certain foods, in his case oats and barley. We were very lucky that we caught it quickly and found a great allergist who helped us uncover other allergens, and to recognize the symptoms so that other ‘contaminated’ or mislabelled foods could be avoided. We have a treatment plan (two years of avoidance, then gradual re-introduction). Happy to share more stories (and a link to our family blog with ALL the gorey details) if you’re interested, just contact me via email. Given that he was young (less than six months) when we started seeing symptoms, I’m hard-pressed to accept some of the social hysteria theories around his allergies.

However, that doesn’t mean that it’s not true in other cases. In my comments here I just wanted to note two things:

(1) My son is two and a half now, but six months ago, two thirds of the students in his class had allergies. Two thirds. The cubbies at the daycare were all labelled with the allergens, it was incredible – everything from eggs and milk to blueberries to butternut squash. Really?! Many of the kids had epi-pens on hand for emergencies, and so on. It made me wonder what other factors are at work. In Austria and many other countries in Europe, bio-engineering of food is not permitted. You buy bread, if you don’t eat it the next day, you need to go buy bread again. It doesn’t have a 2+ week shelf life, you just can’t buy products like that. And I would be willing to bet that they don’t have the instances of and the hysteria around food allergies that we have in the US. So it led me to wonder if there is some relationship between the allergies and the US propensity to ‘improve’ our food through bio-engineering. Coming back to Celiac’s Disease, for example, our wheat has been altered to increase the gluten content. So are we then surprised that more and more people ‘contract’ Celiac’s? Interestingly enough, some of the grains that are completely safe for my son include quinoa, which is a grain that comes from Latin America and hasn’t been subject to modification up until now. And I wonder whether peanut allergies are somehow related to our obsession with using peanuts or peanut oil in everything. You know Nutella, that fabulous hazelnut spread from Europe? In the US it’s made largely with peanuts.

(2) Have you read the book Connected? I wrote a brief overview of it on my blog here – http://nataliehanson.wordpress.com/2009/10/22/connected-major-concepts/. My intention is to summarize a few of the most compelling case studies in an upcoming post. The authors do talk about the growing hysteria around allergies, and address allergies it as a social phenomena. I found the book very accessible, you might enjoy it, and it could certainly add a powerful quantitative element to your storyline.

Best,
Natalie

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]]> By: New uses for classic theories – Mary Douglas in 2010 « Fourcultures http://savageminds.org/2010/02/09/food-allergies-and-modern-life/comment-page-1/#comment-628753 New uses for classic theories – Mary Douglas in 2010 « Fourcultures Mon, 22 Feb 2010 22:03:08 +0000 http://savageminds.org/?p=3195#comment-628753 [...] that food intolerance might be seen as socially constructed. There was a discussion of this at the Savage Minds anthropology blog. My contribution: This seems to be a near perfect example of a quite different [...] [...] that food intolerance might be seen as socially constructed. There was a discussion of this at the Savage Minds anthropology blog. My contribution: This seems to be a near perfect example of a quite different [...]

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]]> By: tioedong http://savageminds.org/2010/02/09/food-allergies-and-modern-life/comment-page-1/#comment-628673 tioedong Mon, 15 Feb 2010 22:08:12 +0000 http://savageminds.org/?p=3195#comment-628673 I develop mild hives from McDonalds and salad bar. Big deal? Nah. But the "food hysteria" is a fad. In the past, the same sort of personality who nowadays follow the "green" and "natural" rules were the ones who followed religious rules to the max. Flannery O'Connor quipped that unlike the Fundamentalists, Catholics isolated their religious nuts in convents and monasteries so the rest of us could live in peace...alas, now the secular fundamentalists are driving us nuts with rules for this or that with food or saving the planet. I develop mild hives from McDonalds and salad bar. Big deal? Nah.

But the “food hysteria” is a fad. In the past, the same sort of personality who nowadays follow the “green” and “natural” rules were the ones who followed religious rules to the max.

Flannery O’Connor quipped that unlike the Fundamentalists, Catholics isolated their religious nuts in convents and monasteries so the rest of us could live in peace…alas, now the secular fundamentalists are driving us nuts with rules for this or that with food or saving the planet.

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]]> By: Julia http://savageminds.org/2010/02/09/food-allergies-and-modern-life/comment-page-1/#comment-628620 Julia Thu, 11 Feb 2010 12:55:01 +0000 http://savageminds.org/?p=3195#comment-628620 Great article and a great beginning for a complex topic/discussion. Having had an eating disorder earlier in my life, I have developed a keen interest in the psychological &cultural role of food and eating. Another angle on food allergies and intolerance is the "Hygiene Hypothesis." The theory is that the human immune system requires "tuning" to its environment through exposure to bacteria and parasites early in life. Allergy being the result of one's immune system going into overdrive. Our super-hygenic lifestyle, especially in the high level of vigilance around babies and young children, has limited this exposure and spawned an epidemic of malfunctioning immune systems. I first heard of this in a NY Times article last year: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/27/health/27brod.html There are lots of links online, but here's a good overview: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070905174501.htm Thanks and will look forward to the ongoing discussion, Julia Great article and a great beginning for a complex topic/discussion. Having had an eating disorder earlier in my life, I have developed a keen interest in the psychological &cultural role of food and eating. Another angle on food allergies and intolerance is the “Hygiene Hypothesis.” The theory is that the human immune system requires “tuning” to its environment through exposure to bacteria and parasites early in life. Allergy being the result of one’s immune system going into overdrive. Our super-hygenic lifestyle, especially in the high level of vigilance around babies and young children, has limited this exposure and spawned an epidemic of malfunctioning immune systems. I first heard of this in a NY Times article last year: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/27/health/27brod.html

There are lots of links online, but here’s a good overview: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070905174501.htm

Thanks and will look forward to the ongoing discussion, Julia

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]]> By: MTBradley http://savageminds.org/2010/02/09/food-allergies-and-modern-life/comment-page-1/#comment-628615 MTBradley Thu, 11 Feb 2010 04:23:28 +0000 http://savageminds.org/?p=3195#comment-628615 bq. I guess we could say it’s laypersons borrowing the language and discursive strategies of the expert, while profoundly distrusting them. David Schneider claimed that a group’s notion of kinship was always related to their folk model of biology. My impressionistic take is that the American folk model of biology has a relation to scientific biology and that embedded within the folk model is the notion that it is not a folk model at all but in fact a scientific model. I think that gives American kinship a special quirk. If that makes any sense to you at all maybe it has some relation to what you are getting at. bq. I guess we could say it’s laypersons borrowing the language and discursive strategies of the expert, while profoundly distrusting them.

David Schneider claimed that a group’s notion of kinship was always related to their folk model of biology. My impressionistic take is that the American folk model of biology has a relation to scientific biology and that embedded within the folk model is the notion that it is not a folk model at all but in fact a scientific model. I think that gives American kinship a special quirk. If that makes any sense to you at all maybe it has some relation to what you are getting at.

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]]> By: attilathenun http://savageminds.org/2010/02/09/food-allergies-and-modern-life/comment-page-1/#comment-628613 attilathenun Thu, 11 Feb 2010 03:50:31 +0000 http://savageminds.org/?p=3195#comment-628613 Thanks very much for the article, Dustin. I think it would be interesting to see some data on the class background of people self-declaring (I want to stress that, I’m not bagging on medical diagnoses) food allergies. While you mentioned supermarket sections, I’ve noticed in my area that gluten-free labels are increasingly emerging in café culture, I’ve seen a gluten-free artisan bakery open up, and at the farmer’s market gluten-free cookie sellers stand shoulder to shoulder with the organic growers and the indie cupcakers. Wandering into complete speculation, I’ve been wondering if gluten-free has now got a foothold in the premium food market that organic used to largely monopolise. The Telegraph article suggests a certain amount of attention-seeking: I’m tempted to suggest that we’re rather seeing a form of conspicuous consumption. Thanks very much for the article, Dustin.

I think it would be interesting to see some data on the class background of people self-declaring (I want to stress that, I’m not bagging on medical diagnoses) food allergies. While you mentioned supermarket sections, I’ve noticed in my area that gluten-free labels are increasingly emerging in café culture, I’ve seen a gluten-free artisan bakery open up, and at the farmer’s market gluten-free cookie sellers stand shoulder to shoulder with the organic growers and the indie cupcakers. Wandering into complete speculation, I’ve been wondering if gluten-free has now got a foothold in the premium food market that organic used to largely monopolise. The Telegraph article suggests a certain amount of attention-seeking: I’m tempted to suggest that we’re rather seeing a form of conspicuous consumption.

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]]> By: Dustin (Oneman) http://savageminds.org/2010/02/09/food-allergies-and-modern-life/comment-page-1/#comment-628609 Dustin (Oneman) Thu, 11 Feb 2010 00:43:23 +0000 http://savageminds.org/?p=3195#comment-628609 Jason: I think there's another interesting opposition to look at here between scientific thinking and scientistic thinking. These concerns over foods are often framed in scientific language, even as they express an underlying distrust of scientific knowledge. My mother, for instance, won't eat canola oil, artificial sweeteners, or high-fructose corn syrup but will eat colloidal silver (it's good enough for the Nav'i!). Not all those are bad choices, but what interests me is that there's a huge scientific-sounding literature about these things that routinely demonizes scientists for a) being stooges of the food chemistry industry (the concerns about the flour board-sponsored research above being a "Lite" form of this) and b) advancing a worldview of disconnection from nature and our bodies. I guess we could say it's laypersons borrowing the language and discursive strategies of the expert, while profoundly distrusting them. I don't know where to go with that, but it seems intriguing to think. Jason: I think there’s another interesting opposition to look at here between scientific thinking and scientistic thinking. These concerns over foods are often framed in scientific language, even as they express an underlying distrust of scientific knowledge. My mother, for instance, won’t eat canola oil, artificial sweeteners, or high-fructose corn syrup but will eat colloidal silver (it’s good enough for the Nav’i!). Not all those are bad choices, but what interests me is that there’s a huge scientific-sounding literature about these things that routinely demonizes scientists for a) being stooges of the food chemistry industry (the concerns about the flour board-sponsored research above being a “Lite” form of this) and b) advancing a worldview of disconnection from nature and our bodies. I guess we could say it’s laypersons borrowing the language and discursive strategies of the expert, while profoundly distrusting them.

I don’t know where to go with that, but it seems intriguing to think.

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]]> By: Jason Jackson http://savageminds.org/2010/02/09/food-allergies-and-modern-life/comment-page-1/#comment-628600 Jason Jackson Wed, 10 Feb 2010 17:27:00 +0000 http://savageminds.org/?p=3195#comment-628600 Fourcultures offers a valuable addition to the (very interesting to me) discussion by highlighting the question of *lay and expert knowledge in a complex society.* This last phrase is the focus for a working group of folklorists that I am collaborating with to develop innovations in undergraduate teaching in folklore studies. The issues raised by fourcultures ramify in all directions and provide a significant link between old and new work, old and new problems. A neighboring contemporary case to Dustin's (one of many) would be differential understandings of vaccine risk. (Chris' work on nanotechnology is another.) The Pro-Am dynamic joins the know-your-source media/scientific literacy one that fourcultures mentions. This post is good to think with. Thanks! Fourcultures offers a valuable addition to the (very interesting to me) discussion by highlighting the question of *lay and expert knowledge in a complex society.* This last phrase is the focus for a working group of folklorists that I am collaborating with to develop innovations in undergraduate teaching in folklore studies. The issues raised by fourcultures ramify in all directions and provide a significant link between old and new work, old and new problems. A neighboring contemporary case to Dustin’s (one of many) would be differential understandings of vaccine risk. (Chris’ work on nanotechnology is another.) The Pro-Am dynamic joins the know-your-source media/scientific literacy one that fourcultures mentions. This post is good to think with. Thanks!

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]]> By: fourcultures http://savageminds.org/2010/02/09/food-allergies-and-modern-life/comment-page-1/#comment-628596 fourcultures Wed, 10 Feb 2010 13:23:55 +0000 http://savageminds.org/?p=3195#comment-628596 This seems to be a near perfect example of a quite different kind of Mary Douglas's 'boundary maintenance' - that between expert and non-expert. The claim there are too many self-diagnosed food intolerances derives credibility by coming from university-based academics, but is then questioned by connections with the flour industry. Are these experts or not? Is this science or not? Mary Douglas took Durkheim's ideas of sacred and profane and re-interpreted them in terms of purity and pollution. Is the science here flowing from the 'pure' source of academia, or is it 'polluted' by association with the Flour Advisory Bureau? Note that the Telegraph reported this as coming from Portsmouth University only, whereas the Portsmouth University media release noted who actually commisioned the research. The report itself, not peer-reviewed (therefore not scientific???), is clearly labeled as a flour Advisory Bureau report. It mixes medical information from the Lancet journal (pure?) with consumer survey data (polluted?). Is it scientific enough? Not for publication in a science journal, perhaps. But certainly scientific enough to be 'distributed to health professionals' and reported in a leading English newspaper just in time for national allergy week. Mission accomplished? For more on boundary work among scientists see Brendan Swedlow 2007. http://www.niu.edu/polisci/faculty/swedlow/Pollution&Purity.pdf This seems to be a near perfect example of a quite different kind of Mary Douglas’s ‘boundary maintenance’ – that between expert and non-expert. The claim there are too many self-diagnosed food intolerances derives credibility by coming from university-based academics, but is then questioned by connections with the flour industry. Are these experts or not? Is this science or not? Mary Douglas took Durkheim’s ideas of sacred and profane and re-interpreted them in terms of purity and pollution. Is the science here flowing from the ‘pure’ source of academia, or is it ‘polluted’ by association with the Flour Advisory Bureau? Note that the Telegraph reported this as coming from Portsmouth University only, whereas the Portsmouth University media release noted who actually commisioned the research.
The report itself, not peer-reviewed (therefore not scientific???), is clearly labeled as a flour Advisory Bureau report. It mixes medical information from the Lancet journal (pure?) with consumer survey data (polluted?).
Is it scientific enough? Not for publication in a science journal, perhaps. But certainly scientific enough to be ‘distributed to health professionals’ and reported in a leading English newspaper just in time for national allergy week. Mission accomplished?

For more on boundary work among scientists see Brendan Swedlow 2007.
http://www.niu.edu/polisci/faculty/swedlow/Pollution&Purity.pdf

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]]> By: Dustin (Oneman) http://savageminds.org/2010/02/09/food-allergies-and-modern-life/comment-page-1/#comment-628595 Dustin (Oneman) Wed, 10 Feb 2010 13:19:14 +0000 http://savageminds.org/?p=3195#comment-628595 et: Nothing in this post or the article it draws from suggest that people are "faking" food allergies. There's a huge difference between perceiving one's diet as a source of ill-health and suffering and intentionally deceiving others about your health. I have no doubt that the 98% of people the study asserts have no medical allergies really feel lousy, nor that said lousiness is triggered by varous kinds of food consumption. The question here isn't "what kind of scam are these people pulling?" but "what kind of social pressures are these people responding to?" et: Nothing in this post or the article it draws from suggest that people are “faking” food allergies. There’s a huge difference between perceiving one’s diet as a source of ill-health and suffering and intentionally deceiving others about your health. I have no doubt that the 98% of people the study asserts have no medical allergies really feel lousy, nor that said lousiness is triggered by varous kinds of food consumption. The question here isn’t “what kind of scam are these people pulling?” but “what kind of social pressures are these people responding to?”

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]]> By: MTBradley http://savageminds.org/2010/02/09/food-allergies-and-modern-life/comment-page-1/#comment-628590 MTBradley Wed, 10 Feb 2010 06:08:23 +0000 http://savageminds.org/?p=3195#comment-628590 Apart from cultivating a sense of control it occurred to me that there’s another possible reason why a self-diagnosed wheat allergy would improve a person’s sense of well being. Cutting white flour our of one’s diet would cut a lot of not so good things out of your overall diet. It’s something a lot of readers of this blog might consider self-evident but in my experience it is difficult to underestimate the man in the street’s knowledge of basic human health. Apart from cultivating a sense of control it occurred to me that there’s another possible reason why a self-diagnosed wheat allergy would improve a person’s sense of well being. Cutting white flour our of one’s diet would cut a lot of not so good things out of your overall diet. It’s something a lot of readers of this blog might consider self-evident but in my experience it is difficult to underestimate the man in the street’s knowledge of basic human health.

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]]> By: et http://savageminds.org/2010/02/09/food-allergies-and-modern-life/comment-page-1/#comment-628587 et Wed, 10 Feb 2010 04:12:42 +0000 http://savageminds.org/?p=3195#comment-628587 What about kids? Are they "faking" allergies before they can read? What about kids? Are they “faking” allergies before they can read?

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]]> By: Melissa http://savageminds.org/2010/02/09/food-allergies-and-modern-life/comment-page-1/#comment-628586 Melissa Wed, 10 Feb 2010 01:43:40 +0000 http://savageminds.org/?p=3195#comment-628586 I think it's funny because the study even admits that wheat intolerance is difficult to diagnose. Celiac disease is too. My cousin was negative for the blood test, but she continued having problems and finally was diagnosed with the biopsy. There are some intolerances that can only be diagnosed with difficult elimination diets that very few patients can even follow. Until testing is better, I don't think we can say that most of these things are just made up. It's a total blame the victim mentality, because not eating wheat sucks and it's worse if people just think you are faking it. I think it’s funny because the study even admits that wheat intolerance is difficult to diagnose. Celiac disease is too. My cousin was negative for the blood test, but she continued having problems and finally was diagnosed with the biopsy. There are some intolerances that can only be diagnosed with difficult elimination diets that very few patients can even follow. Until testing is better, I don’t think we can say that most of these things are just made up. It’s a total blame the victim mentality, because not eating wheat sucks and it’s worse if people just think you are faking it.

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]]> By: Dustin (Oneman) http://savageminds.org/2010/02/09/food-allergies-and-modern-life/comment-page-1/#comment-628582 Dustin (Oneman) Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:53:41 +0000 http://savageminds.org/?p=3195#comment-628582 Metal-eating arachnid: OK, that does put the results under some suspicion, as does the article C quotes (although I can't help but notice the dig at "modern Western ways of life" there, too). I'm not sure that changes the main point, though, that we've latched onto food as a way of restoring order and control in our lives, and bodily illness as not so much a personal affliction but a social one. MTBradley: I'll agree with that. While I do know some seriously allergic people who receive ongoing medical treatment for their allergies, I know far more allergic/intolerant/whatever people who are self-diagnosed, and I'd say that the constant stream of diet/nutrition literature and "experts" on afternoon talk shows or midnight infomercials plays a big role in how people decide they're allergic. In one sense, we're just that suggestible; anyone who's taken Psych 101 knows how easy it is to realize that you suffer from paranoid schizophrenia, no, clinical depression, no wait, an oral fixation, no, actually, it's stress, no... as you move from chapter to chapter. On the other hand, though, fears about food, vaccination, environmental stress, and whatever else still express an underlying anxiety about modernity whoever they're expressed by, even Jenny McCarthy. The specifics propounded by one spokesperson or another are just a handle for people already vaguely uneasy about the world they live in. Metal-eating arachnid: OK, that does put the results under some suspicion, as does the article C quotes (although I can’t help but notice the dig at “modern Western ways of life” there, too). I’m not sure that changes the main point, though, that we’ve latched onto food as a way of restoring order and control in our lives, and bodily illness as not so much a personal affliction but a social one.

MTBradley: I’ll agree with that. While I do know some seriously allergic people who receive ongoing medical treatment for their allergies, I know far more allergic/intolerant/whatever people who are self-diagnosed, and I’d say that the constant stream of diet/nutrition literature and “experts” on afternoon talk shows or midnight infomercials plays a big role in how people decide they’re allergic. In one sense, we’re just that suggestible; anyone who’s taken Psych 101 knows how easy it is to realize that you suffer from paranoid schizophrenia, no, clinical depression, no wait, an oral fixation, no, actually, it’s stress, no… as you move from chapter to chapter. On the other hand, though, fears about food, vaccination, environmental stress, and whatever else still express an underlying anxiety about modernity whoever they’re expressed by, even Jenny McCarthy. The specifics propounded by one spokesperson or another are just a handle for people already vaguely uneasy about the world they live in.

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]]> By: MTBradley http://savageminds.org/2010/02/09/food-allergies-and-modern-life/comment-page-1/#comment-628580 MTBradley Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:26:49 +0000 http://savageminds.org/?p=3195#comment-628580 bq. when millions of people believe something that isn’t empirically verifiable (1 in 5 Britons, according to the article above), we’ve got some ‘splaining to do. At least part of the problem is that the vast majority of individuals do not understand what ‘failure to reject’ means. I mean, we live in a world in which parents take Jenny McCarthy seriously when she asserts that vaccines cause autism and that chelation therapy can cure it. bq. when millions of people believe something that isn’t empirically verifiable (1 in 5 Britons, according to the article above), we’ve got some ‘splaining to do.

At least part of the problem is that the vast majority of individuals do not understand what ‘failure to reject’ means. I mean, we live in a world in which parents take Jenny McCarthy seriously when she asserts that vaccines cause autism and that chelation therapy can cure it.

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