When you walk down the aisles of a grocery store, you notice that allergy friendly foods often cost three to four times the “regular” products.
For any family, that can be a challenge, but what about those who have ongoing financial concerns?
That’s where SAFE comes in!
SAFE stands for Sustainable Allergy Friendly Edibles and, starting Tuesday, the place for families in need to find them is the Community Assistance Council at 109th and Blue Ridge Boulevard.
Emily Brown, of the Food Equality Initiative, knows about this problem first hand.
Both of her young children have multiple life-changing, life-threatening allergies.
While going through some rocky economic times, Emily discovered that finding foods her kids could safely eat was nearly impossible.
She helped create an allergy friendly pantry on the Kansas side that continues to serve the community.
Meanwhile, travel issues were making it hard for people in need on the Missouri side to access the pantry.
In partnership with the 20 year old pantry at the CAC, Emily and CAC Director Pam Meek have created an allergy friendly oasis that is easily reached by bus and right off I-470.
According to Pam, it was only after getting the word out, that they realized how big the need for this type of nutrition is they field dozens of calls each week, now, asking about SAFE.
After the ribbon-cutting Tuesday morning, they will get back to work: feeding the neighborhood while remembering those with food-related allergies.
Making mealtime, in a word, SAFE.
