As Whitehorse students pluck water bottles and food containers from their lunch bags, something unfamiliar to most Canadian schools emerges: a small tin of mixed nuts.
This month, École Émilie Tremblay unveiled a new policy to allow peanuts and tree nuts, which came after consultations with both staff and families — including those with food allergies, noted principal Marie-Héléne Gagné. While nuts remain a no-go in kindergarten, as well as in Grade 1 and Grade 2 if there are students with allergies in those classrooms, no restrictions remain for Grade 3 and up.
For years, peanuts and tree nuts have been considered off-limits or strongly discouraged in school