Okay, why is it that nobody else seems to understand that an "awards" banquet feels like...
well, not like a
reward of some sort, anyway.
More like punishment.
So let's recap. To attend an "awards" banquet with food allergies one must:
a) explain to the organizers that you'll need some accommodations wrt food.
b) once they've agreed to that, you'll need to either:
i) speak with caterers extensively and hope for the best (unwise with low threshold or MFA)
ii) FURTHER explain why you need to know exactly WHAT is being served so that you can...
c) determine how to surreptitiously handle the fact that you won't be eating anything that you didn't bring yourself anyway.
d) Must be non-messy, something easily pulled out of a bag and sufficiently identical as to not make others uncomfortable... and must be substantial enough that nobody nearby will feel compelled to ask "Is that all you're eating?? Let me find you something that you can eat!"
I hate events like this.