A couple of years ago, Gluten Free Foodies blogger and consultant Lisa Garza did a great thing for Kitsap County food banks by hosting a gluten-free food drive and then personally distributing the donations collected. She also came to a meeting of the Kitsap County Food Bank Coalition (www.kcfbc.com) to discuss her efforts surrounding gluten-free education.

Garza is one of Kitsap’s most public and visible advocates in this field, and writes a blog, Gluten Free Foodies, which may be found at pnwLocalNews.com. As so much advocacy and activism does, Garza’s began personally with a serious illness and an eventual diagnosis which included Celiac Disease. In her struggle to heal, the subject of gluten-free became her passion.

As part of her mission to educate and assist others who are personally addressing this subject or have an interest in it, Garza maintains frequent contact with consumers, chefs, stores, and manufacturers to keep up with the latest information. These days, she finds she is often debunking a myth that gluten-free is a fad diet or one utilized for weight loss.

Despite the increasing visibility of this issue, according to the University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center only 10 percent of people with the disease are ever diagnosed. It is easy to imagine that rate goes way down among people without the resources to pursue the medical attention a diagnosis and treatment would require. It is estimated that 97 percent of Celiac Disease sufferers are undiagnosed. Diagnosis can be challenging, as there are more than 300 symptoms associated with it, many linked with other illnesses.

Some estimates indicate that one in 133 Americans have Celiac Disease, and one in 13 children have food allergies. Gluten-free foods can often be as much as four times the cost of their equivalent products containing gluten. The challenges for low-income families who deal with this issue are enormous. Often a choice must be made between going hungry or eating something they know will aggravate their condition.

The gluten issue has become more prominent for food banks as they struggle with limited resources to address the issue and help fill this gap in low-income homes. Gluten-free products do trickle in through some supply channels, but they tend to be snacks which are no healthier than any other processed food snack.

Those who find themselves in the position of shopping for gluten-free know that gluten can be an ingredient in just about anything at all, while trying to assure genuine gluten-free is difficult unless the product is labeled as such.

A few months ago new ShareNet volunteer Daniela Siegenthaler arrived with a personal investment in the topic. Siegenthaler knows how difficult and time-consuming it can be to manage special dietary needs, and is sensitive to how this becomes exacerbated or impossible without the resources, time, or funds to self-educate.

Siegenthaler had two chief goals, beyond a basic desire to help, for her volunteer work at ShareNet: To meet the needs of clients with Celiac Disease or other food allergies, and to increase the connection of local farms with ShareNet in supporting better nutrition for our clients.

Just as ShareNet frequently acts as a resource and information center to our clients on other subjects and social services, it is our goal to become a resource for gluten-free needs, and a source of these foods to the extent that we are able to provide them.

Early objectives are to produce and distribute handouts detailing gluten-free safe foods, celiac and special dietary needs resources, recipes utilizing our stock, and to provide designated gluten-free food packs.

We welcome support and involvement from the community on raising this awareness and helping us better serve the need for gluten-free. If you’d like to contact Daniela Siegenthaler for more information or to support our efforts, please let me know.

— Contact ShareNet executive director Mark Ince at sharenetdirector@centurytel.net.