Celiacs Talk with their Feet!

Your eyes are not deceiving you. Celiacs have all kinds of special talents! Like their ability to talk with their feet.

Nina and family had poured over The Celiac Scene™ maps for Kingston and had decided on one of our recommended restaurants for a special celebration. When they were seated and about to order, she dutifully inquired about the gluten-free options that she had been told they were renowned for.

Then the stunning proclamation: they no longer accommodated gluten-free diners! One can only imagine what prompts a highly regarded restaurant to take such a stand, in a day and age when the competitive restaurant industry is clamouring for the patronage of customers with a proven loyalty rate of 96%! A market that has grown by 28% since 2004! A preference that estimates suggest fully 10 % of the population now embraces.

Shocked and dismayed, the family did the only thing they could do under the circumstances - they stood up and left! Fortunately, there were other restaurants on Kingston's Celiac Scene™ who were interested in meeting their needs.

So if you are a celiac and faced with this kind of reception, I encourage you to do what Nina's family did and talk with your feet! Use our maps to head over to where your business is appreciated and enjoy the efforts of entrepreneurs who make you feel welcome and cared for.

As I always say, support those who support us!

Milestones @ The Celiac Scene™!

A brief update on the milestones passed this week at The Celiac Scene™:

2 celiac-friendly restaurants now listed for Alaska !

65+ GIG recommended restaurants have just been posted for Chicago and area, a welcome to the attendees of the Gluten-Free Cooking Expo being held there August 15 & 16.

150+ celiac-friendly restaurants have been mapped out for La Belle Province , Quebec!

250+ restaurants certified in GIG's GFRAP Program are posted across Canada and the US.

561+ FREE maps are now available to guide the gluten free to celiac-trusted restaurants across North America.

18,000+ people visited The Celiac Scene™ in July, in search of gluten-free dining options.

COUNT YOURSELF among the people who have made this resource possible:

for contacting us with suggestions
for sending us your encouragement and thanks
for recommending the site to others
for enlightening the hospitality industry, one restaurant at a time
for your work advocating for celiacs everywhere

The Celiac Scene™ is very much Your Scene! Our thanks to you!

Congratulate Ellen!
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Cycling for Celiacs Rally of Support

17 cyclists! 140,000 kilometers! 10 years! $100,000 to date!

17 celiacs will prepare for their 1400 kilometer fundraising bike ride from the Provincial Legislative buildings in Victoria to same in Edmonton, Alberta. They are supported by celiacs with much fanfare in towns and cities along the way and have raised over $100,000 to date for celiac research!

GLUTEN-FREE CARB UP

Wednesday, August 5th, 6:30 pm
The Olive Grove Restaurant
Premiere of Victoria's First Gluten-Free menu!
Would you like to attend?


GLUTEN-FREE SEND OFF
Thursday, August 6th, 8 am sharp!
Do the wave off as they break in their bums at the Legislative Buildings. Commissionaires on hand for crowd control!

To make a donation!

So you want a Gluten-Free Guarantee?

Are there really any?

Proactive restaurant certification programs offered by advocate organizations such as the Gluten Intolerance Group of North America® and the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness are helping to create awareness in the hospitality industry and inspire restaurants everywhere to cater to our needs.

Ultimately, celiacs and the gluten free still need to take responsibility for their own diets. Unless you are partaking at a dedicated gluten-free restaurant, you cannot abdicate all responsibility and completely download it onto the shoulders of the restaurant who, with the best training and every good intention, are still preparing your meal in a gluten setting.

Sadie Amanda of the Seattle Gluten-Free Food Examiner said it beautifully in her recent post. I liked it so much I wanted to share it with you:

"ALWAYS REMEMBER: The only way to guarantee a gluten free meal is to cook at home with fresh ingredients on a gluten free surface. All restaurants that offer gluten free meals will do their best to prepare your meal without gluten, although they cannot guarantee that your meal will not be exposed to incidental cross contamination. For those who have absolutely zero tolerance for gluten, please be aware of this possibility when dining out."

Dining out is something we all love to do and it is only natural that celiacs want to be a part of it. But if you are looking for a guaranteed GF meal, the only way that you can be absolutely certain of what you are eating is to follow Sadie's advice. Otherwise, while organizations like GIG & NFCA and enlightened restaurants are doing the best they can, this is our reality. Time to step up and stop complaining.

What our users are telling us!

Message: We are in Vernon, BC now. Your site recommended KTs restaurant in downtown Vernon. Wow! My son had his first apple pie in two years and the pizza was great! There was a lot of choice and the staff was very helpful!

Message: Just got back from a trip to Victoria and The Celiac Scene was a Godsend!! When I went to Victoria I went on the Chapter's website and used the link to get to www.theceliacscene.com. Ate at several of the places listed on your website which were easy to find with the maps – very handy!

Message: I ate at The Joint Pizza place (twice!!) and The Noodle Box once - although should have eaten there more it was fantastic! Also bought GF baking from Origin GF Bakery set up in Bastion Square on Saturday. Fabulous! Keep up the good work!

Message: It was great to hear you talking about The Celiac Scene on the radio this morning. I think your idea is fabulous. Eating out was a great pleasure in life before being diagnosed. Road trips were fun for checking out restaurants along the way. Alas, my first road trip after diagnosis found me eventually going to a clinic for help in stopping the vomiting and diarrhea. In retrospect, I perhaps had caught a bug, but at the time it just scared me about eating "away". Since then I have experienced being told there wasn't anything for me which pushed my rejected and survival buttons both and basically I had dreaded having to travel to care for or visit family. Thanks for your doggedness in getting celiac disease in the news and giving hope to those of us who love to eat out and survive it!

And best of all

Message: LOVE your site! My 15 year old son was diagnosed 1 year ago and we are traveling for the first time on a family holiday since his diagnosis. To say I am nervous is an understatement. Then I found your site. THANK YOU!!! We are coming to Victoria and he can't wait to try out all the great tasty places! We are from a small town near Edmonton and our choices are slim pickins! I'll shout loud and long to our celiac friends about your fabulous web site! Great job. BC here we come!

Celiactivist© of the Week!

Tiffany keeps celiacs up to date on topics that affect us, sharing her joy and her outrage. She promotes the products and services that are helpful to us all on her webpage at Examiner.com .

But it was this email she sent me that made me realize that Tiffany is an advocate not only for celiacs but for restaurants who sometimes have to be dragged kicking and screaming into gluten-free awareness:"I finally found a new place for gf pasta down the street. It's my pizza place but I've bugged them for six months to make us pasta. My dish was do good I almost cried right at the table - with the owner standing there for my reaction to his food."

To Tiffany, I present the The Celiac Scene's Celiactivist© Award for her efforts in the big picture through her work at the Examiner and in the personal picture, working to make change, one pizza place at a time!

Bravo, TIffany!

The Scene™ Featured in The Examiner!

Great news! The Celiac Scene™ has been featured in an article written by the inimitable Tiffany Janes , a writer for www.Examiner.com . She is doing a series of articles on how to enjoy real freedom on your holidays, even if they have to be the gluten-free kind. The two are not mutually exclusive!

Please take a hike on over to Tiffany's site and check out the wonderful things she has to say about us!

And while you are there, have a look at the broad range of topics she covers about living the good gluten-free life. Together, we'll help you navigate your world.