Everybody’s Doing It.....

Hey y’all, eating gluten free is definitely having a “moment”!  In just the last two weeks, I’ve read about two different celebrities eschewing gluten.   The first article I read was about Gwyneth Paltrow’s upcoming cookbook.  Apparently, she’s into eating healthy and one of the only things she tries to avoid entirely is gluten, because she thinks its “bad for you”.  The second, and the one I felt most interesting, was Chelsea Clinton.  She actually had a gluten free wedding cake, at a wedding for 500 plus people. All I can say, is that must have been one heavy cake!  Gees, last time I bought a pack of 4 hamburger buns, I think they weighed about 5 pounds....just imagine how much more a cake would weigh.  Interestingly, none of the articles stated why exactly they had chosen to become G-Free, but all that matters is that eating gluten free is definitely getting a lot of publicity.  Now, I know KC thinks that this could potentially be disastrous, but I have a slightly different opinion.  Rather than spawning a series of chefs and restaurants that are sub-par at best and dangerous at worst, I’m hoping it will merely bring attention to the fact that there is a huge demand for gluten free products.  And hopefully this attention will translate into greater availability and a wider variety of gluten free products.  Last week I was in Madera, visiting my parents and I was shocked at how difficult it was to find gluten free foods.  You just can’t.  Then we went over to the beach and checked out the selection of gluten free foods in Watsonville - also unimpressive.  But on the other hand, Whole Foods in Fresno is a virtual gluten free Mecca.  While I am totally glad that there ARE stores that carry gluten free goods within driving distance, I also think we can do better than that.  I think those of us that buy gluten free goods need to step up and speak to managers and purchasing agents about what we want and why they don’t carry it.  As a relative newbie, I’ve mostly relied on product recommendations from other celiacs and from sites like G-Free Foodie, and found that if you ask a store to carry Udi’s bread, they will usually order it for you.  And chances are, you aren’t going to be the only one buying it.

G-Free Mommy, Hilary