Sunday, December 13, 2009

Gluten Free & Organic Dried Fruits and Nuts!!! OMG!!!


Anyone with Celiac Disease or who is on a strict gluten free diet because of allergies knows what a pain in the A$$ finding basic & safe organic foods can be! I have literally searched for over 8 years to find organic replacements to my once healthy snacks of dried fruits and nuts, only to run into the problem of vendors dusting their packaging equipment with wheat every time. For a normal person this wheat dust practice ain't no thang but a chicken wang... for someone with Celiac this equals more symptoms then there are cowboy hats at a wild rodeo in Texas. People with Celiac Disease have been banned by faulty genetics from saving big bucks at the bulk food section in the health food store when seeking snacks because of vendor and store cross contamination, which may be the lamest thing about the diet for me. Screw bread, I want organic bulk whole foods that are safe!
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OK - so here is the kicker... I....Have....Found....ORGANIC...Dried fruits and NUTS safe for those with celiac! OMGAWD....
I found a company called Raw From The Farm online with the help of my good friend Noel, this store skips the middle man vendor BS and gets their goods straight from farmers. Now some farmers deal with these goodies plus gluten grains and so they will not be listed here, but for those products I asked about specifically here are the ones that the farmer themselves confirmed are gluten free:::

DRIED FRUITS:
  • Raisins
  • Dates
  • Apricots
  • Peaches
  • Nectarines

Dried Nuts:
  • Pecans
  • Walnuts

NOT GLUTEN FREE: the sunflower seeds are not gluten free, which makes me wanna cry. Why Mr. Farmer WHy!?
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If you see other products on Raw From The Farm's website I didn't mention in this list please email them and ask them to write the farmers about the foods you are interested in - this company took the time to write each product I asked about and gave me the farmers response! How awesome is that?
To top the fact that these snacks listed are raw, organic, and gluten free the company also will package the goodies in your choice of a PVC/Plasticizer Free plastic bag or a compostable Eucalyptus Fiber baggie!! Holy eco coolness.

PS-- Does anyone know where someone with Celiac can order organic dried beans in bulk?

XoXOoooox
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5 comments:

  1. lindaDecember 13, 2009 at 7:03 PM

    I'm not so sure the eucalyptus fiber is an eco choice in any way shape or form. I recently saw a documentary about the euc tree farms in south or central america displacing all the local people, and what is worse, the trees are HEAVILY pesticided, poisoning the ground water, actually what is left of the ground water, because they suck up a lot and leave almost none for the locals. I don't remember what documentary this was in, possibly "The Refugees of the Blue Planet".

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  2. Miss VoodooDecember 13, 2009 at 7:54 PM

    Goood Gawd Linda - that is terrorizing. Makes me feel better that i skipped on the eucalyptus baggies, and got the PVC free ones instead. It's wild where all our mass consumption has led us in recent times- we do the dumbest stuff and then try to recycle it into something else- but really what would help is if we reduced all this mass scale farming of things.
    Thanks for the info!

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  3. Miss VoodooDecember 15, 2009 at 9:29 AM

    Hey linda-

    I tried looking up those baggies and could not find any real info online - I am sure it is a by product of what you are talking about. Lame!

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  4. Miss VoodooFebruary 14, 2010 at 11:01 AM

    UPDATE!!!

    The Raw From The Farm website has now updated their inventory to say "gluten free" where the farmer has confirmed it is gluten free!
    Makes shopping way easier...
    things like Figs, Macadamia nuts and sun dried tomatoes are on the list now. Go check it out!

    xoxo

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  5. raw from the farm via the oko boxFebruary 17, 2010 at 9:37 AM

    Hi Leslie -

    I heard back from the manufacturer of our bags. They reported that the suppliers they work with are Forest Stewardship Council Certified or the equivalent in that particular country. Here is some info about the standards http://www.fscus.org/standards_criteria/

    Also, I did some reseach on the film your blogger was referring to, http://www.umanitoba.ca/cm/vol14/no19/therefugees.html, and saw that they were talking about the Aracruz Cellulose company. I asked the supplier of materials for our bags if they work with this company and they stated they are not affiliated in any way with Aracruz Cellulose.

    Please let me know if you have any questions about this.

    Thank you!

    Drake

    Raw from the Farm
    www.Rawfromthefarm.com
    PO Box 13235
    Oakland, CA 94661
    888-303-4RAW (729)

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