MIT: Gluten-Free!

Offering gluten-free options and keeping up with separation standards is an issue that I believe is very important for schools and other institutions to take seriously. One of the biggest issues in being gluten-free, especially when allergic to gluten, is that many people do not trust public eateries. Some restaurants do not realize that just because there is no gluten in their fish doesn't necessarily rule out the fact that there could be gluten remnants in the pan that the fish was baked in or on the hands that prepared it.

There are gluten-free options in many university and high school cafeterias, including Temple's Johnson and Hardwick Dining halls. Yet the problem still lies within proper food separation. Anyone who has been to the dining halls during rush hour can vouch for the picture that comes to my mind. Bustling students, different types of food dropped into the salad bar, employees that slop food onto plates before you have a chance to request anything special, and crumbs on the hot lines. This is about as dangerous as no man's land for people like my room mate. She was limited to the salad bar and french fries that J&H offered during her freshman year (2008-2009) and even then experienced uncomfortable rashes due to contact with gluten.
Lindsey Howell, contributor to Ezine articles, suggests that college attendees get a personal kitchen a.s.a.p. I think institutions need to go the extra mile and offer safe and completly separated gluten-free food options. This means different gloves and cooking necessities to cook the food and knowledgeable employees.
When the university fails to take up the challenge, students tend to help each other out through self-research and blogging. A blog posted on MIT's website gives a list of gluten-free eateries on campus along with nearby restaurants, cafes and grocery stores that offer gluten-free menus and aisles. Temple students also call awareness to local eateries (such as Sweet Freedom) that are safe for students suffering from gluten allergies.
But why shove the responsibility onto the sufferers? I think that schools should be aware of the hardship that comes along with finding food options on campus for students with food allergies. A gluten-free blogger complains, "Sometimes I get annoyed that I have to always know where my next meal is coming from". This pretty much sums up the experiences that I have observed from my room mate and other friends who choose vegan or gluten-free lifestyles.

In elementary schools, having celiacs disease can be a nightmare for parents who are too busy to pack lunches every day. Children shouldn't feel ashamed or like an outcast because of their food allergy that is easily dealt with if institutions implemented the proper food handling techniques. Triumph Blog, a blogging site dedicated to gluten-free communities, is working on a petition that is aimed specifically towards schools, demanding a lunch system that meets students' "medically prescribed dietary needs".
Blogging helps gets small voices heard, and it is with further awareness that we can get our own institutions to start offering safe and healthy meal options for people with food allergies. They should not have to be secluded to limited (and often weird) food options. They shouldn't be shunned from dorm life just because they need personal kitchenettes. The college experience should be about learning about ones self image rather than avoiding disasters that are easily preventable.
Recently, in talking to some freshman at Temple, I have learned that the J&H dining hall does in fact now offer more gluten-free options and there is an entire section dedicated to vegans and gluten-free students. This pleases me as it represents a positive reaction towards students' demands and requirements. Temple is an innovative university, and perhaps in the future more options will arise for the students who have special dietary requirements.

dressing on the side, leave out the gluten please

So apparently to my own surprise, not everyone is gluten free because they are allergic to it. One of the biggest complaints that I hear from my room mate is when she has to have conversations that go like this

person: want to get pizza?
room mate: sorry, I'm allergic to gluten and eggs; I can't
person: what's gluten?
room mate: it's like flour and such. I can't eat things like cookies, pasta, pizza blah blah blah
person: oh my GOD. How do you LIVE??!!
room mate: well...
person: well you're pretty lucky! no wonder you're so skinny, it must be the best diet to be on!
room mate: **rage**

Surprisingly enough, I found a web page that talked specifically about the "trend" of gluten-freedom. It is an article from The Hartman Group and it touches on the fact that even though 1% of the U.S. population has celiacs disease (the main reason for an allergy to gluten), 93% of gluten-free buyers do NOT have celiacs. Gluten is increasing in popularity. Maybe because it makes more sense to cut out starches than to only eat a half a grapefruit each day.

What was interesting was that the web page decided not only to disagree with the validity behind this new fad, but it also seemed biased towards gluten-free products in general. They disproved the idea that gluten is healthier--indicating that a gluten free diet can lead to spikes in ones glycemic index (pushes your body into extreme states). It also sheds light on the "social nature of eating" and how being gluten free can be a "burdensome restriction".

It's interesting to see a marketing group take a concept (not a product) and completely pull a 360 on the idea and portray it back in a negative way. By no means is the hartman scoffing at those of us who absolutely cannot eat gluten, but it is rather sending out factual information to the people (much like the person in my example conversation) who only see the superficial selling points of going sans-gluten.

examples of celebrities who are following the gluten-free trend

TGIF!

So it's Friday, and like most college students, my room mate and I are about to go to a friends house for a party. Now parties for my gluten-free room mate can be a disaster. Think about it, solo cups being flown around in a viscous game of flip-cup...beer sloshing out of kegs, cans, coolers, everywhere! Beer as we know it, is madefrom wheat and grain products. Yet with a little searching, we were able to find a brand of beer that caters to the 3.2 million of us who cannot or will not eat gluten products.

Redbridge is an award-winning beer that was developed for those who wanted a good tasting beer without the allergen. I think they have a very successful tagline: Beer Made With You in Mind: Alternative Recipe, Classic Taste.

Since then, I've learned to appreciate Redbridge over my usual beer drinks. It is light, has a summery taste, and is perfect with fall foods!

Since I have had a new interest with gluten-free foods, I have noticed that many people view the allergy a new "fad". Gluten diets are becoming more popular. CBS had an article entitled Gluten Free Eating: is the new "it" diet better for you? In it, the author describes how people are catching on to the gluten-free trend not because of allergy reasons but for other. The possibility of a Gluten-free fad can open many opportunities for companies to hone in on specific target markets that are essentially untouched (compared to other foods).

Companies are beginning to realize the power of the gluten-freedom eaters. I found a posting on AllBusiness.com selling a report to the gluten-free consumer. The blurb about the article spoke on how many businesses are turning to gluten-free advertising of their products. For instance, general mills purposely advertises their normally gluten-free cereal as "New! Gluten Free!". No change was made to the cereal, but the advertising took a different direction that presented itself new and innovative to consumers.

So even though Redbridge has carried one of the oldest names in the Gluten-free world, many other companies are jumping on the popular trend of eating Gluten-Free. I think it is very wise for supermarkets, restaurants, and catering services become aware of their small clientèle who demand gluten-free products.

freedom! sweet freedom!

This summer, I bought myself a beach cruiser for the city. It was awesome for the first 2 weeks, until it was kidnapped from me. (moment of silence) I took a trek to Frankenstein Bike Works which is located on 1529 Spruce St to buy a new bike (and lock). The owner is very quirky, but that's what I love about the small shops in Philadelphia.

With my new bike, I have had many biking adventures and many of them seem to end at the quaint bakery on South Street. Sweet Freedom isn't your ordinary bakery. The sweet gals who work there bake solely gluten free and vegan products. It's a great place to chill and people watch over a cookie, pizza slice, or muffin! Yes, the pizza doesn't have any cheese (vegan!) but it's definitely worth a try. My personal favorite are the cupcakes--lime and coconut in particular.

So if you're up for an adventure, venture off of the beaten south/lombard path that all the freshmen seem to hawk to. Get off on to the side streets, and you'll be surprised at the neat shops!!

hunt around, and see if you can find other neat spots around South Street like

• hookah bars with the best Israeli fries in Philly (Fez)
• thrift stores (Philly AIDS thrift)
• old-fashioned candy shop (sweet tooth)

let me know of any personal south street favorites!

Apples to Apples, oh and eggs are soooo last year.

When I was younger, we had family game nights every Sunday. The usual boardgames would include chess, scrabble, trouble, ect. ect. It wasn't until a wacky Wednesday night when, accompanied by low doses of sleep that I discovered apples-to-apples, the game where you just describe things.

Yes, I may have been sheltered. I know this is an all-American classic. Yet with my new found knowledge, I decided to take game-night to a whole new age-group. My apartment now holds racks of nonsensical board games, and we often share food during those rainy nights where we all should be studying but would rather sit on my stained apartment's carpet and laugh at how cute we can be with word combos.

Now what does game night have to do with outdated eggs? Well, we've all heard about the salmonella outbreak, and my roommate is conveniently also allergic to eggs. So when it comes time to break out the batter for game night munchies, we had to find something to go along with our gluten-free dessert recipes.

One of my favorite original recipies is my recipie for banana bread. It's versatile, and I always have the ingredients on hand, even in my work-study-job funded kitchen. The only problem was that not only did it include gluten ingredients (flour) but also eggs(!!!). eggs are essential in quick breads because they bind the gluten together. What we found to work wonders in place of eggs was the adding of applesauce. Whoah! We decided that we didn't need to hit the gym after satisfying our sweet tooth craving for sweetness. Our health-conscious points shot through the roof. This bread is healthy also because instead of fattening butter, I used olive oil; and instead of loads of granulated sugar, we squeezed in some maple syrup and brown sugar. What we ended up with was a totally rustic, melt-in-your-mouth bread that was a total hit when combined with a friendly game of apples-to-apples.

1 c. brown sugar

8tbsp olive oil

2/3 c. applesauce

3-4 ripe bananas (dependent on size and how banana-y you like your bread)

1 tbsp milk (or use vanilla soy milk for vegan banana bread)

1 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

2 c. rice flour

1 tsp baking powder (or 2/3 tsp. double acting baking powder)

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp vanilla

2 tbsp maple syrup (I've used molasses before also)

preheat oven to 325

mix brown sugar and olive oil well

add applesauce and mix well

in a separate bowl, mash bananas until smooth (if you leave big banana pieces in they'll show up as grayish chunks in your bread)

add milk and cinnamon to mashed bananas

sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together

add banana/milk/cinnamon mix to sugar/butter

stir in maple syrup and vanilla to wet ingredients

add dry ingredients and mix just until the flour disappears

pour into a greased pan and cook 60-70 minutes, or until a fork comes out clean

enjoy! I serve it with a squirt of extra maple syrup, but that may be because I'm addicted to the rustic flavor!

Rule #1: no gluten

Okay, so I'm a college student. This meaning that I often divulge in late night pizza raids, free pretzels outside the bell tower and of course the warm beer offered at Temple's fine establishments. So what do I do when I decide to live with someone who turns red (literally) at the presence of what all these activities have in common---gluten?

For those of you who don't know what gluten is, check out this website. Foods that we have always grown up with as privileged gluteneers are sharply rejected by some people who develop allergic reactions to all-things gluten. Gluten can be found in the strangest of things....think barbaque sauce, chocolate chips...ovaltine???

That being said, my roommate is no poor starving child. With years of gluten cooking behind her, she was able to help me freshen up my favorite recipes. As the semester goes on, I hope to share with you the recipes I have created successfully, along with some funny mistakes that I have made, sans gluten. I encourage you to try the substitutions, because as I have found, they're really not that scary. Even to the beer drinking, Owl's Nest loving college student.