The current economic crisis is making gluten free living even more complicated, expensive, and stressful. This is the beginning of a series of articles dealing with this crisis. I’m not sure how many posts will be involved. We have at least five major goals:

• changing our perspective (today’s topic)
• refining our menu planning strategies
• improving our cooking skills
• shopping defensively (for both dietary and financial reasons)
• saving money on restaurant dining

SPECIAL NOTE: I blundered when I stated that I would cover this topic in five articles. It is much more complicated than that. I will continue this series of articles! It is a key issue for everyone (celiac or otherwise) who needs to feed themselves and their families in these  challenging times.

What do I mean by “the new economy”? Food prices are growing rapidly and show no signs of leveling off. This is particularly true of gluten free food and we do not have the option of using cheaper gluten-toxic foods. Our future income is not as certain is not as certain as it was a few years ago.

The first step in solving any problem is an “attitude check”. We must:

• Remember that we have nothing to prove. For example, I drink gluten free beer primarily to prove to myself and others that celiacs can do anything. There are some good (but very expensive) gluten free beers which are worth the price, but….
• Reject the myth of “gluten entitlement”. An item should not end up in our shopping cart (or in our stomachs) simply because it is labeled gluten free. This was much less true, when I was first diagnosed in 1999, I grabbed every gluten free item in sight and hoped that it would not taste too much like sawdust. Thank heavens those days are behind us!
• Never forget that — if we must have a chronic and incurable disease — celiac sprue is the malady-of-choice. We have very few doctor bills, no pills to purchase, and no expensive hospital stays.

The next article in this series will talk more about our attitudes and how they affect our food purchases. This article will be published on July 27, one week from today, and I will publish weekly articles until we have covered this topic

As I mentioned, this is the beginning of a series of articles. All will be connected by the tag “gluten free in the new economy”. Scroll down to the end of this article and click on the red tag. The computer will create a special page for you giving excerpts from each of the articles in the series. Click to read the whole article.