LI News and Vendor Fair 2009 Lookback

With Many Thanks to Erin Smith and Gluten-Free Fun

Thanks to Erin Smith at Gluten-Free Fun, I see that the 2009 L. Lodico Walk for Celiac Disease (LLWCD) scored television coverage on NY1.

Also thanks to Gluten-Free Fun, I see that Long Island gluten-free bakery Joan's GF Great Bakes (JGFGB) got very positive coverage in The Washington Post.

And thanks to the message board of the New York City Celiac Disease Meetup Group (NYCCDMG)—which Erin organizes—I see that Joan herself will be at Plainview, Long Island's Get Healthy America (GHA) (148 Manetto Hill Road, 516-931-1900) on Saturday, June 13, 2009.

But Gluten-Free Fun also informs me that before then—tomorrow evening from 7 to 8, actually—Michael Thorn will give a talk about celiac disease at the Wild by Nature (WBN) store in Huntington, Long Island. Having met Michael and heard him interviewed on the radio (here's a recent talk), I think this sounds like a very worthwhile event, especially for GF newbies on LI.

I most recently saw Michael at the 2009 Gluten-Free Vendor Fair on Long Island (GFVFLI). Amidst all the hubbub, I savored the yummy strawberry cake samples from Get Healthy America...


















...and enjoyed talking with Michael and special guest Cynthia Kupper of GIG (below). Don't blame them if they don't seem especially cheery—they were trying to be patient with my photographic skills—or lack thereof!

















Besides the strawberry cake and bagels and English muffins from Joan's GF Great Bakes, my other LI favorites at the fair included the artisanal chocolates from Centerport's Azure Chocolate, crusty bread from Everybody Eats of Brooklyn, cannoli from Mama's of Oakdale, desserts from Buena Sera Restaurant/The Gluten-Free Solution, and the BBQ offerings from Northport's Smokin' Sloe's.

Photos: David Marc Fischer

More GF LI

TV and Radio Coverage

I thought I'd follow up on my post about Sunday's exciting gluten-free vendor fair by drawing attention to a couple of recent developments on gluten-free Long Island.

Here's Michael Thorn, vendor fair organizer and otherwise active member of the Suffolk County Celiacs, interviewed by Frank Brinka in an extensive Island Outlook radio segment.

And SuezBoss/Sue Moller of GlutenFreeLI appeared with News12 newswoman Mary Mucci in this Long Island Naturally segment (April 20, 2009) that involved visits to Joan's GF Great Bakes as well as GFRAP restaurants Caffe Baldo, Mama's Italian Restaurant, and Smoking Sloe's.

News12 item posted using ShareThis

Island Outlook on Celiac Disease

Kudos to Michael Thorn of the Suffolk County Celiacs and Frank Brinka of Island Outlook for a very good, up-to-date, and wide-ranging discussion of celiac disease. The running time is 30 well-spent minutes.

Island Outlook is a production of the LI Radio Group, where Eric Schwartz is Senior Account Executive. Kudos also to Schwartz, who is involved in a radio campaign to boost awareness of celiac disease.

Thorn on the Air

Michael Thorn of the Suffolk County Celiacs writes that he can be heard on the air starting Sunday on the following stations at the following times:

WHLI (1100AM) 9am
WKJY (98.3FM) 6am
WBZO (103.1FM ) 7am
WMJC (94.3FM) 7am
WLVG (96.1FM) 7am
WRCN (103.9FM) 6am & 11pm

Photo: David Marc Fischer

LONG ISLAND UPDATE

Michael Thorn of the Suffolk County Celiacs recently announced the date of the third Long Island Vendor Fair: Sunday, April 16, 2009! The first and second editions were great, so mark those calendars, okay?

In the meantime, please be advised that veteran vendor Joan of Joan's GF Great Bakes (JGFGB) is slotted to appear at the Health Nuts in Bayside (211-35 26th Avenue) this Sunday, July 13, 2008 [from about Noon 'til 5].

A tip if you go to Bayside: Make sure you have the address! Don't do what I did on the day of the JGFGB grand opening in Bellmore: I drove there without the address and desperately prowled the streets of Bellmore until blogger, New York City Celiac Disease Meetup Group (NYCCDMG) organizer, and homegirl Erin phoned and navigated me in.

Here she is with Joan's son Howie. In Howie's other hand is one of Joan's gluten-free faux flying saucers, made especially for this fun occasion.

















Here's Howie with Joan herself!


















Here's a cookie platter featuring Joan's gluten-free graham and chocolate chip and cow cookies. Don't be deceived by the looks of those sweet bovine bites: The cow cookies are dairy-free too!

















Not shown: Joan's bountiful bagel buffet, Joan's onion rolls, Joan's pizza, etc., etc. Everything was delicious—and it was good to see the turnout, including such luminaries as NYCCDMG assistant organizers Ben and Liz, celiac awareness pin creator Aileen Markowsky, Nassau support group leader Jim Blank of the CSA's Long Island Chapter (which is having a July 18 meeting that will also feature Joan), and Erin's mom—another homegirl! More photos can be found here.

Photos: David Marc Fischer

PEOPLE ARTICLE

The current issue of People--dated June 11, 2007, it asks "What Happened to Lindsay Lohan?" on the cover--includes a two-page article devoted to celiac disease. The issue is unlikely to appear on the magazine's website, but it should be readily available at newsstands, libraries, and waiting rooms. More on the waiting rooms later.

Sharon Cotliar's article "No Wheat, No Worries" combines facts about celiac disease with short profiles of two California moms with kids diagnosed with the condition. The medical experts quoted in the article are New York's own Dr. Peter Green, director of the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University and co-author of Celiac Disease: A Hidden Epidemic, and Atlanta's Dr. Cynthia Rudert, medical advisor for the Celiac Disease Foundation. The two moms are Sarah Givens and Danna Korn. Danna, the founder of Raising Our Celiac Kids (ROCK), is also author of Kids With Celiac Disease, Wheat-Free, Worry-Free, and Living Gluten-Free For Dummies.

The article defines celiac disease as "an autoimmune ailment, triggered by gluten, that damages the lining of the small intestine." Opening with a classic-sounding case of celiac disease in a three-year-old whose symptoms included severe anemia and belly distension, it covers the challenge of switching to a gluten-free medical diet as well as recent improvements in labeling and product availability that make the adjustment easier.

From a medical perspective, the article states that celiac disease "may affect as many as 1 percent of Americans...although many may be misdiagnosed and some suffer from only minor symptoms." It refers to Dr. Green (pictured) as saying that the time between onset and accurate diagnosis averages 11 years. It also mentions that women are twice as likely to have celiac disease and lists some of the manifestations: fatigue, anemia, infertility, osteoporosis, some cancers, vitamin deficiencies, abdominal bloating and pain, both diarrhea and constipation, and even irritability.

The story also includes a photo of Danna and her family with a toaster (marked GLUTEN-FREE...Good for me!), another shot of Danna with Sarah Givens and her daughter, and a funny sidebar image showing gluten-containing foods marked with yellow CAUTION tape.

The article ends with Dr. Rudert advising people who suspect that they have celiac disease to get a complete blood tests, and notes that diagnosis is confirmed with biopsies of the small intestine. It refers readers seeking more information to the National Institute of Health and Danna Korn's Gluten Freedom.

So what's to be done now that People has covered celiac disease? Michael Thorn of Suffolk County Celiacs suggests emailing the magazine "to thank them for the article, share a brief personal story and/or encourage them to cover adults with CD. Praise them for covering this very common disease and ask they they do more."

And here's something else you can do: When you're in a doctor's waiting room, look for the copy of People and leave it open to page 143, where the article starts. Better yet, find out if the article can be kept in the waiting room and otherwise made available for other patients to read.

Dr. Green has talked about raising awareness of celiac disease in doctor's offices. This People article could be very useful in achieving that goal.

PS The April 9, 2007, People briefly referred to celiac disease in an item on Elisabeth Hasselbeck.