ASHLAND – Think back to elementary school, it’s your classmate’s birthday and they’re passing out cupcakes. As each pupil is handed a cupcake, but you get skipped. Instead of a cupcake, you’re handed Smarties. It’s not that you hate Smarties, but having a cupcake would feel like you’re invited to the party.
That feeling was something Ashland University student, Victoria Barth, knew too well.
“I go to Ashland University, and I pursue degrees in elementary education and intervention specialists. So, I’m very adamant and advocate for food allergy awareness when I can,” Barth said. “I was diagnosed with celiac disease at the age of 4, so I’ve had a severe food allergy all of my life.”
Barth’s slogan, “Where every kid is invited to the party,” connects to her goal through Nom Exclusion, a mission to bring affordable snacks to low-income schools and ensure everyone gets a birthday treat.
Nom Exclusion is a school program that provides students with backpacks filled with snacks for the weekend that address the nine main food allergens: Eggs, fish, milk, peanuts, sesame, shellfish, soybeans, tree nuts and wheat.
The non-profit project is designed to eliminate the added cost of allergy-friendly snacks for the participating schools. According to The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, the average price of a white bread loaf is $1.70, however, gluten free bread had an average of $5.70 per loaf.
Barth is able to accomplish her mission through her win in the Idea Labs Pitch Competition at Ashland University. With 26 teams competing, she was the only non-business major who placed in the competition. After explaining her mission, the judges awarded her with the $500 prize. She later won $1,000 through the Burton D. Morgan startup grant to support the program.
The funding will help cover the cost of logos, bag design and of course, the allergy-friendly snacks accommodating the top nine food allergens. The bag consists of about eight different snacks to last a weekend.
As an aspiring teacher, Barth wants to ensure no one will feel excluded because of an allergy.
“That’s what school is about. We want everyone to feel part of a community and feel safe and welcome. So why not do that in every aspect of school? Especially being a future teacher, I want to incorporate that into my classroom as well,” Barth said.
Many schools already offer after-school backpack programs for low-income families. However, allergy-friendly foods can be more expensive and less accessible.
Barth said that challenge is part of what inspired her to create Nom Exclusion. She plans to launch a pilot program with a local school district in the fall of 2026.
While the program is still in the early stages of development, Nom Exclusion provides good learning skills to students not using the snack bags. Barth encourages kids she works with to ask questions about her allergy, and she teaches them how to read food labels.
“I think this program brings a lot of awareness,” Barth said. “What I’ve experienced, especially having celiac disease for so long, if you don’t have a food allergy, it can be difficult to understand their daily life and the steps they have to go through.”
By increasing awareness and providing more safe options, Barth hopes students with dietary restrictions will no longer feel left out.
“I want them to feel that they’re invited to my party and feel they are included and have a place.”
