Food Allergies Rock! – Kyle Dine's Blog

A cool idea from a fan & friend. What do you think? It would raise so much awareness! Thank you Carla!

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Dear Kyle Dine Fans,

We are huge Kyle Dine fans, too! Kyle’s story, his lyrics and his amazing talent have been so inspirational for our daughter who has food allergies. We think that Ellen DeGeneres should meet Kyle Dine! 

Here is our plan, on Tuesday, October 9, 2012 we want ALL Kyle Dine fans to submit a message to Ellen DeGeneres about how she should meet Kyle Dine and learn about his amazing message. This submission can only be 1500 words, so start your rough drafts today. 

Ask your friends, your family and your neighbors to get on board. Try to passionately explain how Kyle Dine has positively impacted your family and why Ellen DeGeneres should meet him. 

Remember, Tuesday, October 9, 2012 is the day to send your submission. The link is: http://www.ellentv.com/be-on-the-show/10 

Kyle Dine has done so much for our families and our kids with food allergies. This is one way that we can say Thank You to Kyle Dine!

Carla Uzzell

Off I go! It’s a beautiful time of year for a road trip and I couldn’t be more excited to have a week full of school food allergy awareness assemblies in the north eastern U.S. As always, it will be quite a bit of driving, but I am lucky to see many friends along the way and meet new incredible folk that inspire me to keep doing what I’m doing.

I have been practicing my songs on and off for the past few weeks (it was nice to have a summer break!) and had a full amplified “dress rehearsal” in my basement today. I find the songs are engrained in me, but it’s the messages in between the songs that are really the most important to practice. The songs simply introduce key topics, but it’s the speech afterwards that really drills it home.

For instance, when I play the song “Food Allergies Rock!” at schools, the song by itself may comes across as a bit of a head scratcher. But I always combine it with a segment where I get everyone to close their eyes and think of one thing that makes them different from the students beside them. That one thing is what makes them unique, and we should all celebrate our differences because that’s what makes us special. By this point, kids are excited for the song and truly buy into the general theme that “our differences rock!” which is a much needed message in this day and age with bullying being such an issue.

Nonetheless – the dress rehearsal went well with me doing a lot of talking to myself and to any stuffed animal in the room! I am now very excited to kick off my new back to school tour and help raise awareness about anaphylaxis to thousands of more people.

On the road again…

From Kids with Food Allergies website:

Registration is Free. 

Pre-register for the event and your family will receive one free child’s T-shirt. Extra T-shirts will be available for purchase at the registration table for $10 each.

Join us this year for a KFA fundraising walk (or stroll!), food allergy awareness, family entertainment and friendship. We encourage all families interested in supporting food allergy education and awareness to attend.

All activities will be held indoors, so no need to worry about the weather!

LOCATION:  Plymouth Meeting Mall  Directions

Registration at 9:00 a.m. (Save time and pre-register!)

Walk and Fundraiser from 10:00 a.m. through 1:00 p.m.

Featuring:
• Interactive performance by “Food Allergies Rock” musician Kyle Dine
• Award-Winning Family-Friendly Magic of Kyle and Kelly
• Allergy-Friendly Exhibits from Elmwood Park Zoo
• Activities for Children
• Allergy-Friendly Businesses
• Book signings by Colette Martin, author of Learning to Bake Allergen Free and Sloane Miller, author of Allergic Girl.
• And More!

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Hope to see you there!

Kyle

Hey folks,

Happy summer! I hope that you are finding lots of time to enjoy the best parts of the season. I’ve been busy adapting to Slovenian life and am currently taking summer school for Slovenian language. I was very lucky to spend a weekend on the seaside in Croatia with friends and visited an incredible fortified village named “Motovun” that is located on a hill.

This fall is already looking very busy for school shows back home. I will be spending a week on the road in the north east, and then two…yes two full weeks in San Francisco! (I am grinning ear to ear!) I am excited to hear that there is so much interest in allergy awareness in one area.

I am all booked up for U.S. shows this fall, but am still available in Ontario in October. I will gas up the car and be back on the road in the U.S. in April/May 2013. If you are interested in allergy awareness assemblies at your school, please drop me a line! www.kyledine.com/contact.html 

Have a fun and safe rest of the summer,

Kyle

Motovun, Croatia

I find it highly ironic that my first blog post about living in Europe is the day I’m packing up to go back to Canada.

I had good intentions of keeping people posted on what life is like over here in the tiny country of Slovenia, however I think my blogging absence almost speaks for itself. As I imagine many of us will agree, it’s nice to have a break and come out refreshed. That is exactly how I feel today – refreshed.

I will dig deeper into the world of food allergies & Europe later on, as for now I would love to share with you how much I’ve enjoyed living here since mid-January.

If I were to narrow down my top 3 favourite things about living here, they would be:

1. Slower Paced Life – this is not a hustle & bustle lifestyle. People take their lunch breaks, and then many coffee breaks. Overall, it’s been nice to actually tackle my to-do list rather than expand it.

2. Vibrant Culture – I am very proud to be Canadian and love our culture. However it’s been eye-opening to find how important culture is here. One of the biggest national historical icons is a poet and they absolutely love to polka (I have actually joined in polka jams on guitar!)
As a friend told me after playing a nostalgic Serbian song on guitar – “music and art is all that we have left to remember Yugoslavia”.  In hard times of war and political reform, it’s a strong culture that helps binds people together.

3. Social Appreciation – everything is very community oriented here. There are the ever-popular firefighter parties in all villages that bring everyone together. I was particularly amazed by their winter celebration. On the coldest days of the year, the capital of Ljubljana is packed with people celebrating winter by hanging outside by the Christmas market, drinking hot wine, and listening to live music. They truly embrace winter.

Overall, I am very happy living here and will thoroughly enjoy this chapter in my life for however long it may last. As for now, I need to pack a suitcase of European goodies to take back to my family and friends.

I will be back in Canada for just over a month and am very excited to get back at performing food allergy assemblies in schools! I will keep you posted from the road on my Facebook page.

Wishing you the very best,
Kyle

PS – In case you are wondering, the first thing I will want once back in North America is a Tim Horton’s Coffee!!!!

The Cover Art for "Porcelain Christmas"

I am so excited to announce the launch of a new songwriting endeavor that I have been working hard at for the last few weeks.

Porcelain Christmas on iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/porcelain-christmas/id489863409?i=489863424&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

I wrote a Christmas song a few years ago and realized quite quickly that it was way beyond the range of my own voice. I put it on the back shelf and actually forgot about it! Then a good friend of mine was in touch about creating a Christmas cover CD with his sister Anwyn. They wanted to include an original song and they decided upon my “Porcelain Christmas”. Her voice is truly remarkable. Anwyn Musico has a lot of theatre experience and was even a part of The Sound of Music during its Toronto run.

The song is nostalgic piece that describes that ideal Christmas that we all have in our minds. It reverberates the fact that as we get older, it’s family that truly makes Christmas special and picture perfect.

I really hope you enjoy the song.  I admit that it’s much different then my typical “allergy music”, but it’s a very exciting prospect for me to start writing in different genres in hopes of making more inroads of making music a steady career.

Hey folks! From now until December 6th I will be having a 50% off sale on both of my food allergy music CDs: “You Must Be Nuts!” and “Food Allergies Rock!” 

For only $7.50 you can get a copy for yourself, your school, library, or a friend who might value the empowering allergy messages for their child.

As an extra bonus, I will throw in a “Food Allergies Rock!” guitar pick into your package for your little aspiring rock star!

http://www.kyledine.com/Purchase.htm

Thank you Tina Rose from www.realage.com on this insightful piece on how far we’ve come in raising allergy awareness.

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Raising Food Allergy Awareness

In the dark days before the information age, people didn’t always know about the power of food allergies. You could go your whole life without getting an “allergy alert” about a company that found a rogue peanut in an allegedly peanut-free zone. But these days, with the online world always at our fingertips, more and more companies, restaurants and people are becoming aware of food allergies – which is good for those of us who struggle to breathe (or itch, or worse) when greeted by peanuts, a dose of shrimp stock or even a bite of egg.

Obviously places like the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA), and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have helped raise awareness about allergies, but there are a lot of advocacy groups and grassroots organizations whose members have pounded the pavement, lobbied food manufacturers and government agencies to make sure that we all have the option to enjoy delicious foods safely.

Organizations like FANN (Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network), Food Allergy Initiative, Kids with Food Allergies Foundation, and American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology have all worked to raise awareness and create an environment that helps keep allergy sufferers safe. Just a few of the things we should thank them for either demanding or developing include:

• More comprehensive food labeling
• Special allergy alert notices that go out online, on mobile devices, television and radio when food is mislabeled, recalled or an ingredient has changed
• Pamphlets, brochures and classes – online and in person – for educators, health professionals and just everyday individuals who are interested in keeping someone they love safe

Outside of alerts and education, one of the best things to happen to allergy sufferers in decades is the “foodie” movement. Whether you love Nigella Lawson, Jamie Oliver, Rachael Ray or the Barefoot Contessa, there’s no denying that these people have helped springboard the whole idea of “food love” and passion for entertaining into the mainstream. Along with that also came gluten-free recipes, homemade baby food, allergy-friendly substitutions and a whole slew of recipes, books, blogs and TV shows about the importance of eating well – and eating safely.

Of course, you still have to be aware, wear your medic alert bracelet, and be prepared in case of an emergency, but thanks to the power of the Web and the rise of the “foodie” culture, it’s a safer – and tastier – world for all of us.

Happy eating!

Tina Rose writes for RealAge.com, a health and wellness website focusing on allergies and health tips to help you live life to the youngest.

That’s right! On August 27th, 2011, I married my long time sweetheart in a beautiful ceremony in her home country of Slovenia. We are flying high these days after our perfect day. I am taking a break from my blog for the next while to focus on a busy fall including our big wedding reception in my hometown with all of my family and friends. Thanks everyone for all of your kind wishes and congrats! This allergy musician is a hubby!