Review and Give-away: Celiac Disease DVD

Living the gluten-free lifestyle can be challenging in many ways. Both eating out and shopping for food can become exhausting chores, especially in the beginning. Something I’ve often thought about was how great it would be for someone to produce a documentary of sorts about celiac disease in the U.S. In my mind, to make such a film, someone would take a video camera around the country and randomly walk into restaurants looking for a gluten-free meal. It would be funny to capture all those “deer in the headlights” looks from servers, I think.

Recently, I stumbled onto something on Twitter that really got my attention. A young woman named Susan Cohen directed a DVD about Celiac Disease in the U.S. Admittedly, her vision of what such a video should be like and the story it should tell is much more creative than mine. The first time I watched Generation Gluten-Free, I found it hard to catch my breath at times. There on the screen were several wonderful people responsible for making the lives of people living gluten-free in the U.S. a lot easier.

Several founding members of the Westchester County Celiac Support Group explained how their now powerful group came into being. Their stories will resonate with most people that had a long journey to a diagnosis as well as with someone like myself, who had a much smoother and shorter road than most. As I watched the ladies in the film, I could not help but think about how the existence of their group inspired countless others to create their own support groups. It really has been a grass roots effort and today there are still new groups being formed all over the country.

Beth Hilson, founder of Gluten-Free Pantry, and her son explain part of their journey in the film. There were many touching and funny moments in their segments. What fun it must of been to have a Mother asking you to test taste treats like brownies and cookies all the time. At least, it would be fun when they tasted good! As we all know from our own gluten-free baking experiments, Beth’s son likely had to endure a lot of not-so-great things along the way. In the end, Beth created some phenomenal products. I think her story will inspire other gluten-free business owners who now are where she was several years ago.

Another food company owner is also represented in the film – George of Foods by George. How his company came to be is actually a love story of sorts. Get ready for the waterworks when you hear about how George turned something very negative into something wonderful with – and for – his wife. Their gluten-free journey began before they were even married. The very first edible frozen gluten-free pizza I ever ate was from Foods by George. Discovering there was pizza after a celiac diagnosis gave me hope and I have George to thank for that.

Probably one of the most exciting discoveries in the DVD for me was finding out who actually came up with the idea to start the GFRAP program. It was the brain child of Pat McGregor. She knew people with celiac wanted to eat out, but at the time, it was almost unheard of in the U.S. The way I see it – we all have Pat to thank for helping to make it possible to eat out safely. As someone who eats out often, my hat definitely goes off to Pat MacGregor!

Peter Zakasis of Peter’s Gourmet Diner in NYC is in the DVD as well. We ate at Peter’s while in the city on vacation a couple of years ago. Instead of a few items being marked gluten-free on the menu there, the few number of items that are not gluten-free are marked. The menu is monstrous so just know the first time you go, you’ll probably order more food than you can possibly eat. These days, you can get sandwiches on gluten-free bread at several deli’s in NYC, but Peter’s Gourmet Diner was the first place to offer them.

When gluten-free kids appear in the DVD, your heart will melt for them and their parents. One family from the NY area actually ended up finding out from a doctor in Miami that their daughter had celiac. It’s a heart wrenching story, to say the least. No family should have to endure what they did, yet many families are going through something similar every day in this country. Sadly, the mainstream medical community here is still lacking greatly in celiac disease and gluten intolerance awareness.

Last, but certainly not least, the famous Joseph Pace of Risotteria fame appears in the DVD. You have to adore a guy that puts gluten-free bread sticks on the table for all patrons. His gluten-free offerings actually started off with risotto and one thing led to another. Today, his gluten-free pizza and desserts are ridiculously delicious! My only regret about our vist to NYC was that we only ate at Risotteria once. Besides fabulous gluten-free pizza, the black & white cookie and pound cake at Risotteria will rock your world!

Susan Cohen did a beautiful job telling the story of celiac disease in the U.S. Generation Gluten-Free will make you cry, laugh and cry again. In the end, you’ll feel appreciation for those that smoothed the path for the rest of us. You’ll also understand the power of what people can do when they work together for a common goal. Susan has graciously offered to send two of our readers a copy of her great DVD. Please leave a comment below for your chance to win. The deadline is August 19th at 12 midnight EST and the shipping address must be in one of the lower 48 states. The winners will be posted on August 20th. If you don’t win, you can get your own copy for only $4.50 (including shipping) and that is quite the deal indeed!

UPDATE:  Congrats to Amelia Hyde and Laurie Sammon who won copies of the DVD!

*Special thanks to Susan Cohen for sponsoring this great give-away for our readers and I hope to see more of your work in the future!