One document matched: draft-barnes-healthy-food-01.txt

Differences from draft-barnes-healthy-food-00.txt



Network Working Group                                          M. Barnes
Internet-Draft                                                    Nortel
Intended status: Standards Track                           March 8, 2009
Expires: September 9, 2009


    Healthy Food and Special Dietary Requirements for IETF meetings
                      draft-barnes-healthy-food-01

Status of this Memo

   This Internet-Draft is submitted to IETF in full conformance with the
   provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
   Task Force (IETF), its areas, and its working groups.  Note that
   other groups may also distribute working documents as Internet-
   Drafts.

   Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
   and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
   time.  It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
   material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."

   The list of current Internet-Drafts can be accessed at
   http://www.ietf.org/ietf/1id-abstracts.txt.

   The list of Internet-Draft Shadow Directories can be accessed at
   http://www.ietf.org/shadow.html.

   This Internet-Draft will expire on September 9, 2009.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2009 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents in effect on the date of
   publication of this document (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info).
   Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights
   and restrictions with respect to this document.

Abstract

   This document describes the basic requirements for food for folks
   that attend IETF meetings require special diets, as well as those
   that prefer to eat healthy.  While, the variety of special diets is



Barnes                  Expires September 9, 2009               [Page 1]

Internet-Draft                    Food                        March 2009


   quite broad, the most general categories are described.  There can be
   controversy as to what constitutes healthy eating, but there are some
   common, generally available foods that comprise the basis for healthy
   eating and special diets.  This document provides some
   recommendations to meeting planners, as well as participants, in
   handling these requirements.


Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction and Overview  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
   2.  Conventions and Terminology  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
   3.  Requirements for Special Diets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
   4.  Meeting Planner Recommendations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
   5.  Venue and Food Service Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
   6.  Participant Recommendations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
   7.  Specific Food Recommendations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
   8.  Security Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
   9.  IANA Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
   10. Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
   11. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
   Author's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14





























Barnes                  Expires September 9, 2009               [Page 2]

Internet-Draft                    Food                        March 2009


1.  Introduction and Overview

   While much of the success of IETF protocols can be attributed to the
   availability of large cookies and readily available beer, there are
   some IETF participants for whom such items aren't compatible with
   dietary restrictions or the choice to eat a healthy diet.  The
   dietary restrictions are quite varied, but fall into general
   catgories based typically on medical, religious, health and ethical
   reasons.

   Most folks are generally understanding of dietary restrictions for
   medical conditions such as diabetes, celiac disease and folks with
   severe allergies to foods such as peanuts that cause immediate
   anaphylactic and often life threatening reactions.  In general, folks
   respect the special diets required for religious reasons and for
   folks who have chosen to follow a healthy and vegan/vegetarian diet,
   which for some folks also has a religious basis.

   More subtle food allergies and sensitivies can sometimes be more
   difficult to handle, both in terms of the understanding by the
   general public and food service staff.  Folks with these food
   reactions typically are proficient at managing these situations
   provided they have access to information or are able to talk directly
   with food service staff, in particular the head cook.

   In general, most folks on restricted diets are very resourceful in
   terms of researching the meeting venue and determining availability
   of "safe foods".  However, in some cases, this can be more difficult
   in terms of access to the "safe food" when folks are in foreign
   countries where their native language (or a language in which they
   are very fluent) is not widely understood or when the meeting venue
   is in a more remote geograhic location.  Indeed, many of the folks
   with diet restrictions arrive at the meetings early enough to scout
   out locations for finding "safe food".  However, at times, the hotels
   modify their typical food service offerings such as ordering from
   menus to provide a more restricted subset to optimize the handling of
   the large crowds and limited time during the lunch period in
   particular.

   The objective of this document is to summarize some common
   requirements for all special diets.  These requirements are followed
   by some publically available references for standard practices to
   meet these requirements, including practices that might be specific
   for a particular dietary restriction (e.g., kosher meat for certain
   religious reasons, no wheat for celiacs, etc.).  The focus of this
   document is to provide information to both meeting planners,
   participants, as well as the meeting venue staff in working to meet
   some basic requirements for these dietary restrictions.  This



Barnes                  Expires September 9, 2009               [Page 3]

Internet-Draft                    Food                        March 2009


   document is no way intended to provide comprehensive information
   about any of these dietary restrictions, but rather the restrictions
   are described in a very general sense, with a few examples, to
   provide the context for the recommendations in this document.
   [Editor's note: this initial version of the document does not include
   references for much of the information, as most of it is considered
   common knowledge within the specific dietary community of interest.
   However, if folks are concerned, specific example references can be
   added.  And, there are oodles of websites with tons of more
   information on this topic and specific dietary restrictions.  At
   minimum, however, we should add references that provide further
   details on Kosher/Halal diets, as well as further info on vegan
   diets.]

   Discussion of this document is targeted for the
   ietf-food@employees.org mailing list.  Comments may also be sent
   directly to the author.


2.  Conventions and Terminology

   This document uses the following terms:

   Celiac disease:  A medical condition which requires a diet entirely
      free of wheat, rye, barley and most oats.  The reaction, as in
      food allergies, is to the protein in these grains, which is
      gliaden or most often referred to as gluten.
   Food additives:  Anything added to food which is typically not
      natural in origin, such as artificial flavors, artificial colors/
      dyes, nitrates/nitrites, sufites/sulfates, mono-sodium glutamate
      (MSG).  This list is not comprehensive and some of these additives
      (i.e., the latter three) are naturally occurring in foods,
      however, the levels/volume of the substance is a fraction of what
      is typically added to foods.
   Food allergies:  Typically refers to a food to which one has a fairly
      immediate and sometimes anaphylactic reaction.  These allergies
      are typically recognized in that folks produced IgE antibodies to
      a specific food.  There are also foods in which the reaction is
      delayed and one typically produces IgG antibodies.  There are also
      acute mucousal reactions such as to gluten, in which case IgA
      antibodies are produced.  It is not uncommon for folks with food
      allergies to also have food intolerances.
   Food intolerances:  Food intolerances can be less severe than food
      allergies in that the reaction is often delayed and isn't
      typically life threatening.  The reactions cover a very broad
      range of symptoms such as gastrointestinal reactions (e.g., from
      dairy or gluten), oral reactions (swelling, mouth ulcers, etc.)
      flu-like symptoms such as overall muscle aches, headaches,



Barnes                  Expires September 9, 2009               [Page 4]

Internet-Draft                    Food                        March 2009


      fatigue, sinus congestion, etc.  In a small subset of folks, there
      can be fairly severe neurological impacts producing ADD/ADHD
      symptoms, severe anger, seizures, etc.
   Halal:  Halal is commonly used to refer to food that is permissible
      according to Islamic law and is special diet followed by most
      Muslims.  One of the areas of most concern for this diet is the
      source and processing of meat.  In one sense, the Halal
      requirements are extremely close to Kashrut standards followed by
      those who consume a Kosher Diet.  As with a Kosher diet, pork is
      never acceptable.
   Healthy:  In the most general sense, healthy refers to a diet that is
      typically void of processed foods, highly processed sweeteners,
      food additives, food preservatives, hydrogenated oils, etc.  In
      some cases folks such as those on Vegetarian and Vegan diets would
      add animal fats to this list.  And, obviously, foods with wheat
      are not considered healthy for celiacs, even foods with natural
      sweeteners are often unhealthy and of course, any food to which
      one is allergic is not healthy.  So, in this document, the terms
      is used to refer to a diet based on vegetables and some fruits,
      along with appropriate proteins, grains, and healthy fats, all of
      which are suitable for a variety of special diets.
   Special Diet:  Special Diet: Refers to any diet for which the source,
      method of preparation, handling and serving of the food must all
      be known.  In this document, this term is used to refer to any of
      the dietary restrictions discussed.
   Kosher:  A Kosher diet is based on specific rules for food source,
      preparation and handling that are typically followed by many Jews.
      The strictest rules are around the source and preparation of
      meats.  In particular meat and dairy must not be mixed and in most
      cases utensils that have been used to prepare non-Kosher foods
      cannot be used.  Pork is considered non-kosher.
   Vegan:  A Vegan diet entirely excludes the use of animals for food
      (including animal by-products such as cow's milk).  Many folks
      adopt a completely vegan lifestyle and eschew the use of animals
      or animal by-products for any purpose (e.g., no leather shoes).
      In terms of dietary restrictions, one can view a vegan diet to be
      a subset of a vegetarian diet.
   Vegetarian:  A vegetarian diet is one which excludes the consumption
      of meat products, usually including fish.  Some vegetarian diets
      also exclude animal by-products such as egg and dairy.
      Vegetarians that do consume egg and dairy products are sometimes
      referred to as lactoOvo-vegetarians and those that consume dairy
      products, but no eggs, are referred to as lacto-vegetarians.


3.  Requirements for Special Diets

   In terms of the number of folks that require special diets, it is



Barnes                  Expires September 9, 2009               [Page 5]

Internet-Draft                    Food                        March 2009


   estimated that anywhere from 3% to 7% of the population has food
   allergies.  The top eight allergens are: milk (cow), eggs, peanuts,
   tree nuts (such as almonds, cashews, walnuts), fish (such as bass,
   cod, flounder), shellfish (such as crab, lobster, shrimp), soy and
   wheat.  A wide range of research has shown that about 10% of the
   population prefer to eat a healthy diet.  It is quite often the more
   educated of the population that have a preference for consuming a
   healthy diet.  Thus, it is estimated that at least 10 percent of the
   IETF participants would take advantage of healthy food offerings.  A
   subset of the folks in the healthy diet category may choose a
   vegetarian or vegan diet.  It's estimated that about 5 percent of the
   U.S. population is vegetarian and about 0.2 percent of the U.S.
   Population being vegan.  Twenty-five percent of the population has
   the genetic predisposition to develop celiac disease.  It is
   estimated that as little as 0.3 percent of the individuals with
   celiac disease have been diagnosed.  Both the U.S. and Europe are
   actively working to educate the medical community on the high
   prevalence of undiagnosed celiac.  In some countries, the rate of
   diagnosis has doubled in recent years.  Thus, this trend is expected
   to continue.  A conservative estimate is that within the next 5
   years, as many as 25% of the IETF attendees would need to follow a
   special diet of some sort.

   Dietary restrictions for religious reasons include those who follow
   Halal, Kosher and some folks that follow Vegan/Vegetarian diets.
   Halal is commonly used to refer to food that is permissible according
   to Islamic law and is special diet followed by most Muslims.  One of
   the areas of most concern for this diet is the source and processing
   of meat.  In one sense, the Halal requirements are extremely close to
   Kashrut standards followed by those who consume a Kosher Diet.  As
   with a Kosher diet, pork is never acceptable for a Halal diet.  Fish
   with scales are considered both Halal and Kosher.  Shell fish are
   controversial and are a common allergen, thus recommended to be
   avoided as part of planning for foods to accomodate a broad range of
   dietary restrictions.

   Dietary restrictions due to medical conditions impose very stringent
   requirements on the food, in particular for allergies and food
   intolerances.  Celiac disease a good example of a medical condition
   that requires extreme care in the preparation and handling of the
   food.  In many cases, this requires that the food is not processed or
   prepared anywhere near those grains.  For example, it would not be
   appropriate to use the utensils, bowls or pots/pans that have been
   used to prepare foods containing those grains without thoroughly
   cleaning and only metal or glass should be used since trace amounts
   of the grains can attach to plastics and wood.  For example, this
   means that neither plastic nor wood cutting boards that have been
   used for these grains can be used.  Nor, can the foods be prepared in



Barnes                  Expires September 9, 2009               [Page 6]

Internet-Draft                    Food                        March 2009


   the same area or even near an area where the grains are being used
   for food preparation.  In general, this requires designating ahead of
   time a specific area to be used for the preparation of these foods
   and ensuring that the food preparer and anyone that handles or serves
   the food uses appropriate methods to avoid cross contamination.  In
   terms of serving the food, providing plastic utensils and dishes,
   that while not environmentally friendly, helps to avoid one potential
   area of cross contamination for most of the diets.

   In general, the same rules that are required for handling food for
   medically restricted diets applies to all other special diets in
   terms of avoiding cross contamination.  Meat products require special
   consideration in ensuring that food suitable for vegetarians/vegans
   is not contaminated, that appropriate meat products are provided for
   folks on Kosher/Halal diets and that the meat products are
   unprocessed and thus suitable for most allergy/intolerance special
   diets, with the obvious exception that folks that are allergic to
   fish can't eat fish, etc..

   There are laws in the U.S. that make it illegal to mislabel foods
   that are Halal or Kosher.  Standards for labeling of gluten-free
   foods take effect in early 2009 in the U.S. At this time, food
   manufacturers in the U.S. must include all ingredients on the labels
   of any packaged food product.  Many products also contain
   designations as to whether the product is vegetarian or vegan,
   however, the standards for these labels are not as clearly specified
   or restricted.  Manufacturers are required to specifically label the
   food if it contains any of the top 8 allergens.  [Editor's note: I'm
   not sure of the laws in other countries, but the point here is that
   there are fairly clear and broadly recognized industry standards and
   laws to accomodate special diets.].

   In terms of detailed information available to food service
   establishments in order to accomodate these special diets, the
   National Restaurant Association [NRA] has produced a comprehensive
   guide for food service establishments to ensure that they
   appropriately handle food specifically for allergies and intolerance,
   but could be used to avoid cross contamination and ensure that only
   "safe" foods are served.

   The fundamental requirements for the provision of food to accomodate
   special diets consists of the following:

   o  Having the right food available to the participants at the meeting
      venue.
   o  Ensuring the food is prepared and served by appropriate methods
      per Section 3.




Barnes                  Expires September 9, 2009               [Page 7]

Internet-Draft                    Food                        March 2009


   o  Ensuring the staff are aware of participants requiring such food
      and are willing to accomodate such requirements per Section 5.


4.  Meeting Planner Recommendations

   In the past, IETF meeting coordination staff have been pro-active in
   meeting the needs of folks with special dietary restrictions when
   they've been made aware.  For example, at one venue which served many
   cookies with nuts, the meeting staff was able to ask the food service
   staff at the meeting venue to have some nut free cookies available
   and labeled as such.  More recently, the staff were very accomodating
   in ensuring a special meal was available to a participant in the WG
   chairs session.  Most recently, the meeting planners have added a
   field to the participant registration form to allow folks to indicate
   dietary restrictions.

   The following summarizes the recommendations for special diets that
   meeting planners should be able to accomodate with some pre-planning,
   and as noted above have already been pro-active in accomodating:
   1.  Negotiating with the venue staff the agreement to at least meet
       the basic requirements in Section 3 in terms of availability of
       food at the venue.  Ensuring that specific foods for special
       diets is available starting on the Friday nite prior to the
       meeting week, since some folks arrive early for pre-meetings and
       tools session.  Note that the number of folks requiring special
       diets can be estimated based on the numbers from previous
       meetings.
   2.  Determining special dietary needs of participants during
       registration and communicating any additional requirements to the
       venue staff.
   3.  Providing information about the provisions for special diets in
       the participants IETF registration packet and on the IETF meeting
       attendee mailing list.
   4.  During the meeting, responding to the concerns raised by
       participants in terms of the problems encountered.  In general,
       this requires serving as a facilitator between the participant
       and the venue staff.  It should be noted, that in general this
       situation intervention should only be required in cases where the
       participant has done their part with regards to the necessary
       accomodations for their special diet per Section 6.


5.  Venue and Food Service Recommendations

   Since IETF meetings are typically held at full service venues,
   accomodating special diets is a service can typically be provided, in
   particular with advance notice that allows the venue to properly



Barnes                  Expires September 9, 2009               [Page 8]

Internet-Draft                    Food                        March 2009


   plan.  Planning is required to ensure that the basic requirements
   identified in Section 3

   The following summarizes the recommendations for special diets that
   the venue coordinator and food service staff should be able to
   accomodate with some pre-planning and meet all the requirements:

   1.  Agreement with meeting planners during the contract negotiation
       phase that they can at least meet the basic requirements in
       Section 3.
   2.  Providing information about the provisions for special diets on
       check-in and readily available at all food service locations
       within the venue.
   3.  Ensuring that specific foods for special diets is purchased in
       time to meet the dietary requirements starting on the Friday nite
       prior to the meeting week, since some folks arrive early for pre-
       meetings and tools session.
   4.  Training chefs if necessary to ensure food for special diets is
       properly prepared.  Noting, that the majority of chefs receive
       training to accomodate special diets.  There is a food service
       training guide published by the National Restaurant Association
       (the other NRA) [NRA] that provides explicit details for
       restaurants in accomodating food allergies that applies generally
       to other dietary restrictions.
   5.  Training waitstaff on the need to clearly document the special
       dietary requirements when food is order.
   6.  Training waitstaff to effectively communicate with the food
       preparers and servers (which are not always the waitstaff in some
       food service locations) to ensure that the preparation, handling
       and serving of the food for the specific dietary restriction is
       understood.
   7.  During the meeting, ensuring food that is available at buffets is
       arranged to avoid cross-contamination (e.g., nuts isolated, no
       dairy near meat, etc.) and has a list of ingredients (including
       source) readily available.

   While this list might seem quite onerous, a similar approach is used
   by a variety of organization including public schools, overnight
   summer camps for kids, airlines that still provide meals for
   international flights and a broad range of other conferences from
   small to large.


6.  Participant Recommendations

   The following summarizes the recommendations for special diets for
   which the participant is responsible.  These recommendations allow
   the individual to pro-actively ensure that adequate food is readily



Barnes                  Expires September 9, 2009               [Page 9]

Internet-Draft                    Food                        March 2009


   available during the meeting, for lunch in particular:

   1.  Ensuring that the accomodations booked for the meeting can
       accomodate any food or medication which requires special handling
       (e.g., insulin for diabetics and any other supplements,
       medications or foods which are important for other special
       diets).  Many hotels will provide a refrigerator in the room.
       Some hotels have microwaves in the rooms or in common areas.  In
       many cases, it can be a really good idea to stay at a hotel near
       the venue, where food preparation items and refrigerators are
       standard.  For example, there was a Marriott Residence Inn right
       next to the meeting venue in Philadelphia.  The room rate was
       identical.  There were also two Whole Foods markets within
       walking distance.  Thus, for folks on special diets, we really
       had an optimal setup.  Typically, the Marriott Residence Inns and
       Hilton's Homewood Suites will also do shopping for you (with a
       list provided in the room).
   2.  Bringing special dietary items (including medications, etc.) that
       are typically not generally available, especially in airports or
       when arriving off hours in an unfamilar location, in carry on
       luggage.  It is often very, very helpful (and sometimes
       necessary) to have a letter from your healthcare provider
       documenting the need to travel with these items.  Also, this will
       typically allow you to go through security with a freezie pack in
       a lunch cooler.
   3.  Indicating the dietary restriction when registering for the IETF
       meeting.
   4.  Monitoring the IETF "food" mailing list for information as to
       availability of specific special diet foods, including food
       markets, nearby food service establishments, as well as at the
       venue.
   5.  Gathering the available special diet information upon arriving at
       the venue.
   6.  Sharing information on the IETF "food" or IETF meeting specific
       mailing list as to local food service establishments and markets
       near the venue during the meeting.
   7.  Communicating effectively with the food service personnel your
       specific dietary needs.  While the expectation is that the venue
       and meeting planners have done their job, ensuring that one gets
       the right food requires effective communication every step of the
       way.  Thus, the same approach that one uses elsewhere should also
       be used at the meetings.  One can never assume that everything
       has been taken care of by someone else.  And, as with anything
       that involves many people doing the right thing, there is always
       room for human error.  A very effective tool for communicating
       this information are food allergy cards available on several
       websites, some of which allow you to enter all your restrictions
       and print them yourself.  Others are pre-printed and purchased



Barnes                  Expires September 9, 2009              [Page 10]

Internet-Draft                    Food                        March 2009


       from the vendor.  These cards can be given to the food service
       staff.  This is very helpful for staff that are unfamiliar with
       handling special dietary requests, as oftentimes these cards
       trigger a visit from the chef.  In virtually all cases a
       discussion with the chef on your dietary requirements results in
       the precise food that you have require.
   8.  Thanking the folks that do take the effort during the meeting to
       accomodate your special dietary needs and ensuring that the food
       service staff are adequately tipped in locales for which this is
       a custom.


7.  Specific Food Recommendations

   While specific foods for the special diets can be quite diverse and
   sometimes contradictory (e.g., meat for vegans/vegetarians, seitan
   for celiacs, etc.), there are also sufficient readily available foods
   that can meet the requirements of the majority of the special diets.
   There are a plethora of recipes in cookbooks and on websites that
   address all these various diets, including many that combine the
   diets, such as [kosher-veg].  The Cornucopia restaurant in Dublin
   [cornucopia] is a perfect example of how this can be done in an
   extremely cost-effective efficient and gastronomically appealing
   manner.  Stores such as Whole Foods, with locations in virtually all
   major U.S. cities, as well as in the U.K., typically handle this in
   an exceptional manner, as well, as they often have a salad bar
   section that consists of very plain and clearly labeled foods.  Most
   Whole Foods stores also have lists of specific foods in the store
   that are safe for a variety of special diets.  Many airlines that
   provide special meals typically use the same basic meal to accomodate
   all special diets, in many cases just substituting an alternative
   protein such as the ubiquitous portobello mushroom for the meat to
   accomodate a vegetarian/vegan diet.  Also, many restaurants do have a
   subset of their menu that can typically accomodate special diets and
   in many cases the menus either labeled the items as such or include a
   note indicating that dishes can be prepared to accomodate dietary
   restrictions.

   The following summarizes some basic foods that can accomodate the
   majority of special diets that the venue coordinator and food service
   staff should be able to accomodate with little pre-planning since
   they are the foods that provide the basis for most healthy diets.  In
   addition, almost all of these items require very little preparation,
   thus the potential for cross-contamination is fairly low by observing
   the basics of a clean prep area and clean utensils, etc.  Also, many
   of these items can be delivered by the food service distributors
   ready for serving (e.g., salads and even some meats).  Virtually all
   the foods can be served cold, as most folks find a cold meal



Barnes                  Expires September 9, 2009              [Page 11]

Internet-Draft                    Food                        March 2009


   acceptable for breakfast and lunch since dinners at IETF meetings
   tend to be larger, hot meals:

   o  A variety of fresh fruits available at breakfast, lunch and for
      breaks, when cookies, etc. are served.  The fruit must be kept
      separate from the cookies, etc. to avoid cross-contamination.
   o  A variety of fresh vegetables, either served raw or steamed and
      served plain, available at lunch either on a buffet or on the
      menu.
   o  At least two greens (without preservatives) for a salad base
      available at lunch and dinner - e.g., Romaine and spinach - served
      separately as some folks cannot tolerate the oxalates in fresh
      spinach.
   o  Lean proteins such as beans, steamed fish and steamed, grilled or
      deli meats such as chicken or beef, with at least one kosher
      option and ensuring that the meats are unseasoned and without
      fillers.  Note, that the meats can be served cold, thus prepared
      the night before and actually this may be very economical for the
      food service establishment where fresh foods are typically more
      desireable - e.g., fish spoils most quickly, thus cooking what's
      left from the dinner the night before is economical and efficient.
      For some folks, these foods are eaten for both breakfast and
      lunch.
   o  Also, to accomodate folks that can handle various spices and
      seasonings with their food, a range of condiments such as the
      basic salt and pepper, ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise and Tabasco
      sauce, as well as minimal salad dressings such as vinegar and oil.
      These items are readily available at virtually any food service
      establishment.
   o  Within the food preparation environment for these foods and in the
      case of buffets, avoiding dairy altogether is recommended as it is
      a common allergen, not eaten by vegans, has special rules for a
      Kosher/Halal diet, 50 percent of celiacs cannot tolerate dairy and
      the most health conscious of people typically recognize that cow's
      milk is not a particularly healthy food.

   The following food options would be nice to have available, but may
   require some pre-planning depending upon the venue, but in general
   can be purchased/prepared ahead of time, thus should not be
   particularly difficult to support:

   o  Alternative grains such as Quinoa - can be served as a hot
      breakfast cereal or served as a side dish as an alternative to
      rice or cracked wheat salad (Tabbouleh) - the latter could be made
      using leftovers from breakfast.  In the case of breakfast, side
      options such as maple syrup and dried fruits like raisins can be
      used to sweeten (in the same manner as these items are served with
      oatmeal).



Barnes                  Expires September 9, 2009              [Page 12]

Internet-Draft                    Food                        March 2009


   o  Rice crackers as an alternative to wheat based grain products.
   o  Hummus as a protein alternative for breakfast and lunch.  Hummus
      keeps quite well, thus the food service staff would only need to
      prepare a large enough batch to last the week.
   o  Sprouted beans as a salad/protein alternative for breakfast and
      lunch.
   o  Soups that would accomodate all diets such as non-dairy Squash or
      vegan lentil soup.  As with the meats, this soup could be made
      with leftovers served from the previous evening.
   o  Nuts and seeds (e.g., pumpkin, sunflower, etc.), including nut
      butters, as alternative protein sources for folks.  These are
      suitable for all meals and snacks.
   o  Snack bars as an alternative to the cookie option at breaks.
      There is a wide range of healthy snack bars available, with many
      being either free of all allergens, vegan and kosher or at least
      accomodating 2 of the 3 main restrictions.  For example, bars with
      honey are not vegan, but may be suitable for all the other special
      diets.  Many of the manufacturers of these snack bars will provide
      a certain number to non-profit organizations for their events for
      marketing and as a public service.


8.  Security Considerations

   This document neither defines nor extends any Internet protocol, thus
   there are no particular security considerations.  One could consider
   the information as to which participant requires a special diet, but
   in general, this isn't considered particularly private for most
   folks.


9.  IANA Considerations

   This document requires no IANA registrations.


10.  Acknowledgements

   The authors appreciate the feedback from the individuals who
   considered the discussion on the IETF-72 attendee list to be
   constructive and provided good input.  In addition, we also
   appreciate the feedback from folks that considered this topic to be
   only of concern for a small subset of participants and an onerous
   task and expectation for consideration by both meeting planners and
   the meeting venue.  Feedback from these folks provided the motivation
   for this document.

   The author appreciates the support from Dan Wing in setting up the



Barnes                  Expires September 9, 2009              [Page 13]

Internet-Draft                    Food                        March 2009


   ietf-food mailing list.  The list has been very helpful in
   identifying restaurants, markets, etc. and allowing folks with
   similar food interests to meet and dine together at recent meetings.

   The authors appreciate the feedback from Dan Romascanu and Teemu
   Huovila.  As well, the author appreciates that the meeting planners
   (including Ole Jacobsen) are using this document to provide input to
   meeting hosts (Kaori Maeda and Akira Kato), so that these dietary
   restrictions can be considered in meeting planning, in particular for
   IETF-76 in Hiroshima.


11.  Informative References

   [NRA]      Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network, "Welcoming Guests
              with Food Allergies", 2008.

   [kosher-veg]
              Marks, G., "Olive Trees and Honey: A Treasury of
              Vegetarian Recipes from Jewish Communities Around the
              World", November 2004.

   [cornucopia]
              Heffernan, E., "Cornucopia at Home", October 2008.


Author's Address

   Mary Barnes
   Nortel
   2201 Lakeside Blvd
   Richardson, TX

   Email: mary.barnes@nortel.com

















Barnes                  Expires September 9, 2009              [Page 14]




PAFTECH AB 2003-20262026-04-23 11:46:47