No-peanut zone makes Fifth Third Ballpark safe haven (Peanut Fascists strike again)

Grand Rapids Press ^ | June 3rd, 2004 | Shannon Vesper

[Sabertooth]

Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack ...

This familiar line from the baseball anthem "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" doesn't have the same happy meaning for Timothy Haverkamp that it does for most fans.

Timothy, a first-grader from Ada Elementary, is allergic to peanuts.

"He was allergic to everything when he was little. His brother is allergic to peanuts, too," Jane Haverkamp, Timothy's mother, said. "He never had a life-threatening emergency with peanuts, but we don't keep any at home."

Timothy attended Wednesday's West Michigan Whitecaps game without fear of an attack. The team hosted its second "Peanut Free" day during an 11 a.m. game at Fifth Third Ballpark against the Fort Wayne Wizards.

The game was also the Whitecaps' third School Days promotion of the year, with groups of schoolchildren in attendance.

All peanut products -- from Reese's Peanut Butter Cups to chopped peanuts for ice cream -- were pulled from concession stands, and the stands received a special cleaning Tuesday night.

" We remove any peanuts from the stand or any product with peanut or peanut oil and take it off site. We pressure wash where the peanut roaster was and was," concessions manager Matt Timon said. "We get rid of everything contaminated by peanuts and take get rid of it for the day.

"The vendors are real supportive of it and help us out with it. They were fine with pulling their product for the entire day. They weren't concerned with the lost sales. Pulling candy bars on kids day is a tough thing to do. There is some loss, but it's worth it to get the kids with allergies in the game."

According to the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, more than three million Americans suffer from a peanut allergy. Even the smallest particle of peanut can trigger a reaction. Some reactions include hives or slow breathing, but some can be life threatening.

"It is nice to know that we don't even have to worry about it today," Jane Haverkamp said.

The "Peanut Free" day was started last year when Rebecca Andrusiak, a parent from Ada Elementary, contacted the Whitecaps. She told the team that because of her son's allergy, he would not be able to attend the School Days game with his classmates unless peanuts were removed from the stadium.

Whitecaps officials consulted the most knowledgeable sources they could find about how to make the stadium a no-peanut zone.

"We talked to parents of kids that already have the allergies," Timon said. "They're all really familiar since they have been dealing with it their whole lives, and told us what we needed."

[Sabertooth]

How did folks with peanut allergies survive before their recent efforts to make the world peanut-safe?

Do peanut-free zones discriminate against folks with other allergies?

Is there a list of rare allergies about which the entire world must bend over to accomodate?

The problem is, we can find people with bad allergies to just about everything. We can't make the world allergy-free.

[DannyTN]

If the ball park wants to do this for a handful of allergic kids, it is their right.

In this case, it's the Pro-Peanut FACISTS who want to deny the ball park the right to have a peanut free day.

[wbill]

This question is out of curiosity, not callousness.....

Is this some newly discovered allergy? I never remember anyone making much of it until the past few years, and certainly never when I was a kid.

[1rudeboy]

I don't see where facism comes into play. [pun intended]
Was this organization coerced into having a peanut-free day?

[G.Mason]

"Or, the parents could be responsible and keep the kid out of harm's way -- like we do our daughter, without making the world conform to them.

"Although it is a scary thing to run to the ER everytime the kid has an exposure, we have been proactive and have not had to make that run for 2 years. It's all a matter of looking out for your own."

I admit I was a bit trite. I have been blessed, genetics wise, as have my five children.

Nothing worse than hayfever, and the normal childhood illnesses.

I have several friends that are allergic to bee stings, and several others who can't eat chicken or eggs.

Still, this special "no peanut" section is enough to make one flip out. ;)

[olde north church]

From what I understand, the peanut allergy is growing so quickly is related to the use of peanuts as a filler ingredient in many foods. The protein related to the allergy is a "large" and difficult for children to digest. The human body's defense mechanism acts on it as if it were an illness and the allergy cascade is initiated.
As someone who has had an extreme allergic reaction, it's no day at the beach. It's like anything else in life, when no one in your circle of family and friends isn't affected, it's not a big deal, if the opposite it's true, can be a very distressing situation.

[olde north church]

please excuse grammar and spelling, breaking in a new laptop

[FrankR]

"Is there anyplace we don't have to shut down and deny the masses their right to pacify the needs of a few?

You don't have a "right" to go to a ballpark. It's private property and the owner is choosing not to sell a certain product at a certain time.

Sure, I have a "right" to go to the ballpark, this is America. Other than me breaking some law, what "right" does the ballpark have for keeping me out? The "I refust the right..." syndrome went out the door with the advent of civil rights.
And, it is quite obvious from the story that the "owner" is not "choosing" anything, but is being coerced into having a "Peanut Free Day". Otherwise, "Peanut Free Days" would have already been a "feature" of the park before the mother complained. Wear a mask...or stay home.
Actually, if you don't like the ballpark's rules, you're the one who should stay home."
Oh, now YOU have the "right" to tell me to "stay home". You're saying the same thing I said, except pointing it at me rather than "bubble boy".

Sometimes "modern" is just another word for "picky".

[KarlInOhio]

Where's Jimmy Carter when we need him?

I don't have a peanut allergy, but I do feel a little sick whenever Carter shows up. Can I have a Dem free zone whenever I go out in public?

[vabeachrepub]

I don't know what parents did before - information about the allergy is only recently becoming more and more available as it is only recently becoming more and more common. The peanut allergy in particular has grown dramatically in the last ten years - nd continues to grow.

I believe the main responsibility falls on the parents for looking after the welfare of their children. That is why we are careful about what we eat and where we go.

However, your post was about "Peanut Fascism" and as an example of this so-called fascism you cited a PRIVATE ENTERPRISE that had a peanut free day of their own accord. I am still trying to figure where there is fascism in that. How is having one peanut free day at a ballpark forcing one's views on others.

Approximately 1% of today's children have the peanut allergy. While certainly not a majority it is hardly what I would consider rare - especially when the consequences can be so severe.

No we cannot make the world allergy free. But we can do things that make sense. Take airlines for instance - if airlines continued to serve peanuts they would effectively be barring up to 1% of their potential customers right off the bat - and that is really dumb from a business standpoint. Most people don't make their flying choices based on what crappy snack is served.

The only thing that I fully agree with that can be construed as "forcing one's views down another's throat" is when it comes to labeling food packages. It is imperative that we know what we are eating - it is quite literally in our case a matter of life and death.

[Your Nightmare]

First the airlines, and now the ballparks. Is there anyplace we don't have to shut down and deny the masses their right to pacify the needs of a few?

Where was I when the airlines and ballparks shut down? Did I miss that?


It's a ballpark...ballparks have peanuts. Wear a mask...or stay home.

This ball park chose not to have peanuts. If you want to have peanuts and watch a baseball game...stay at home.

[G.Mason]

"These people need a plastic bubble."

No doubt they need something.

I would suggest while they are looking for it, they stay out of everyone elses life.

This has become the "in thing to do" now.

If you don't like something, make a law, or policy to stop all others from that freedom to enjoy.

[Modernman]

Sure, I have a "right" to go to the ballpark, this is America.The "I refust the right..." syndrome went out the door with the advent of civil rights.

Please find that right in the Constitution. The ballpark is private property. They can impose pretty much any rules they want (there are exceptions, of course), unless they're keeping you out based on race or whatever. If you refuse to follow the rules of a private business, that business has every right to kick you out or prevent you from entering their property. If the ballpark says "no peanuts," you can't bring peanuts in. Period.

And, it is quite obvious from the story that the "owner" is not "choosing" anything, but is being coerced into having a "Peanut Free Day". Otherwise, "Peanut Free Days" would have already been a "feature" of the park before the mother complained.

Certain customers requested that this business accomodate them. The business decided that doing so would be a good thing. Maybe they thought it would give good PR, maybe they just wanted to be nice to kids with allergies. It doesn't matter. Nobody sued them, nobody held a gun to their heads.

Oh, now YOU have the "right" to tell me to "stay home".

I'm not telling you to stay home. The ballpark is telling you to stay home if you won't abide by its rules. Why is that so hard to grasp?

[Your Nightmare]

If you don't like something, make a law, or policy to stop all others from that freedom to enjoy.

You obviously don't like "Peanut-Free Day at the Ballpark." Are you suggesting we pass a law that outlaws ballparks from hoving peanut-free days? Doesn't the ballpark have the right to have peanut-free days if it wants?

[Modernman]

If you don't like something, make a law, or policy to stop all others from that freedom to enjoy.

Nobody passed a law here. This is a business making a business decision. You talk about freedoms but you miss the fact that the ballpark has the freedom to sell or not sell whatever food it desires.

[dmz]

You know, I thought this might be the one thread today where nothing is blamed on Clinton. Oh well.

[FourtySeven]

With all due respect to those with children who suffer from this, or those with this condition themselves, but I don't understand this at all. It makes no sense that only in the last 10-15 years did this start to come about. I'm starting to wonder if this isn't misdiagnosis of some sort.

Granted, keeping people away from peanuts seems to keep the problem in check, but that doesn't necessarily mean that peanuts ARE the cause. Maybe there's some new form of mold or other microscopic organism that has started to grow with peanuts, perhaps on their outer shell or even inside the seed itself that causes the allergy. I would ask, "Has there been a study where PURIFIED peanut oil has been subjected to someone with this allergy?" That's the first question. There are slew of other questions that could be (and should have been) asked before this is definitively shown to be the cause of the allergy. (such as the questions asked later by Sabertooth in this thread) Additional questions also could be, "Are the parents, one or the other, always around when the "peanut allergy attacks" occur? Do they smoke? Do they work in industry?" It's possible that when TWO factors come together (like peanuts AND "X") that the allergy takes place. In other words, it's not just peanuts alone that cause this.

The reason I'm as doubtful as I am is because it simply makes no sense, from a biological standpoint, that only in the last 10-15 years this has become a problem. Allergies, for the most part, arise because early in life, when the child is first forming his/her immune system, they aren't exposed to a certain allergen in sufficient quantities as to form a proper immune response to them. Then later in life, when the immune system is "set in stone", and they are exposed to this allergen that they didn't properly deal with as a child, their immune system "overreacts" because it can't handle it properly.

THUS, since by all our understanding how allergies develop, we can't explain how a "new one" can form (unless new allergens are developed, BUT PEANUTS AREN'T NEW TO THE PLANET) ...since we can't explain how an "old allergen" can produce a "new allergy", it simply doesn't make any scientific sense.

For those who's family/loved ones suffer from this, my advice would be to take a serious look at your life, and determine EXACTLY what is going on when the allergy attack occurs. My guess is that for some it's merely psychosematic (sp?) and for others, while the biological response is real, it's an allergy to a combination of factors (the peanuts AND something else) or, to something as yet unidentified in peanuts that has only started to appear in peanuts in the last 10-15 years.

There's just no way that anyone can convince me that the same peanut that we've eaten for centuries is suddenly causing this. Something MUST be different.

[sionnsar]

Buy me some peanuts nonallergic soy protein nuggets and Cracker Jacks.

Oh no you don't! The wife is allergic to soy...

[G.Mason]

"Nobody passed a law here. This is a business making a business decision. You talk about freedoms but you miss the fact that the ballpark has the freedom to sell or not sell whatever food it desires"

I read and understood the article.

No law was passed here, simply a no peanut section was established.

One would have to be blind not to see the correlation between that and the erosion of freedoms that has become predominate in our society.

With the risk of sounding more rude, I felt like ranting. ;)

While were at it, how about a section reserved for people with dogs. After that we can get a cat lovers section, for those who want to bring their cats to the ball game.

I mean ... I mean ... we could go on forever.

[Valin]

I feel for those that have allergies, but GIVE ME A BREAK.