Iowa State Celiac Conference

As I've said before in previous postings, one of the most important things to do when you're gluten free is to find others! Luckily for you, there's a conference coming up soon in Iowa (not too far from the Twin Cities).

Details of the Conference:

It is held on October 1, 2011at Arrowwood Resort and Conference Center in Okoboji, Iowa. Dr. Joseph Murray from Mayo Clinic and Hospitals in Rochester, MN will be the keynote speaker (he's VERY educated on Celiac Disease and has some great videos on Youtube). They will have a Registered Dietitiean, a session for parents with celiac children and will talk about preparing for emergencies and safely eating out. This year they will also have a food fair featuring vendors from across the country.

The website for the event is located here.

Thanks to Mary Jo Brunner of the St. Croix Valley Celiacs and Lona Lende for the heads up on this conference. I plan on attending and am excited to hear Dr. Joseph Murray from Mayo Clinic speak. I've utilized some of his videos to help others become educated on what Celiac Disease is and answer basic questions.

My Tiff with Target

One of the best things that can happen to a Celiac is when they walk into a conventional grocery store, just looking to pickup some basics (milk, eggs meat) and they stumble across gluten free products hidden within other sections. This happened to me last year at the Target in Roseville, MN. A relative told me that she saw some GF cake mix at that location and was completely surprised by it. I stopped in, looked around and picked up some Tinkyada noodles (my favorite). I took note to remember that this location had GF options but noted that they did NOT have Xanthan Gum (that’s a whole other rant). As we gluten free bakers know, xanthan gum is essential to any GF baked good.

Anyway, I generally try to pickup my bread, bagels, crackers and pasta from locally owned stores that support the GF lifestyle in the Twin Cities so I never really paid attention to what Target or Rainbow were stocking. I personally enjoy Fresh and Natural Foods, The Wedge Co-op or Tailor Made Nutrition.

Last week, however, I desperately needed some bread. If you’re anything like me, your prime grocery shopping time is approximately 10:30 p.m. when you’re finally on your way home after a day full of work and other commitments. So I swung into that same Target in Roseville knowing that they supply some GF products. What I didn’t realize, was that they do not stock all of the GOOD GF products. They had one type of bread (name not be mentioned) and it was one of the breads that I used to eat in the days of mail-ordering gluten free products from Canada. Needless to say, I was desperate so I bought it. Upon arriving home and making a sandwich I immediately regretted my purchase and have vowed to buy bread in bulk from now on from brands I enjoy.

The biggest disappointment of this whole adventure is that this Target is making an effort to supply GF products to their customers but they’re not choosing the best options available. In turn, people will stop purchasing those products (such as myself) and Target will stop carrying any GF products because they aren’t selling well. This isn’t just happening in Target, I’m sure it happens in any corporate store that tries to bring in GF product.

I plan to contact the Target Grocery Manager about this as to actually make something happen. We don’t need any other stores saying that there is “no demand for GF product”. We’re here and we need options!