Keeping It Real

To anyone who may actually be following these blog posts (are you out there yet???)- I apologize for my recent silence. Work has been busy, and I've been battling pneumonia!! Now on to today's rant....

I want to put the caution out there again- it can't be said enough- to be careful who you listen to out there, especially HERE on the internet. Remember that anyone with a modem and a keyboard can post anything online these days, and they do. Just because you see it in writing does not make it gospel, does not make it gluten free.

I started this page- actually, the myspace page years ago- as a centralized resource for the gluten free in Fort Wayne, whether it be people dealing with Celiac Disease, gluten intolerance, wheat allergy, or autism. Obviously the GF bandwagon has gotten crowded in recent years. This is good and bad for those of us who need to take it seriously.

It's good because the more demand and awareness there is, the more options we have.

It's bad because lots of people try to be experts and not all of them are. Just because someone claims to be GF does not mean they know it all. It means they eat food. Just because they post a blog does not make them somehow superior to you in the ways of gluten avoidance. It means they know how to post words online.

I say all of this knowing that it may come across as sounding as if I think I'm somehow better than the people I caution against. Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. That's up to you to decide, I suppose. Are you in this because of Celiac Disease? You better be very discriminating in who you trust. Are you in this because you've gotten the impression that GF somehow equates to healthy? Well, yeah.... uh.......

I try my best to not overstep my bounds online in being an expert. I try to just have the internet platform serve as a collection of resources. Want an expert? Try some of the Celiac links at the bottom left of the page. Want to know what's out there locally? Try the links on the right side of the page, but know that not all of those places are created equally. There are places linked that I've never had the guts to step foot in. They offer something GF, but that doesn't mean I'm trusting it. Heck, a big motivation in starting to link so many online resources was to create a centralized database for MYSELF! I'm just nice enough to share it.

That's what I keep this page going for- sharing. Big ramblings such as this will appear here on the blog. Little tidbits, such as Udi's buns now being at the Co-op, show up on the Facebook page. I try to spread the GF word of FW as I hear it. I'm not trying to make money or anything; I'm just trying to make my own life easier and maybe yours too.

It just worries me because so many new things and people seem to be popping up lately that I DO NOT trust. But on the surface, they're as legitimate as anybody else. I'm concerned that the people who really need good information are going to be misinformed- not intentionally, but still...

So please- be careful out there!

And hey..... if you're out there listening, drop a comment on here or on FB so I know I'm not actually just talking to myself.  :)