Collaborative Research Project
Researched and produced by Diane Seneca, Andrea Mallon and Shannon Parry.
Introduction
The following documentary is the product of a collaborative research project that focused on gluten free foods and the issues consumers face when they are required to maintain a gluten free diet. Some people eat gluten free foods by choice; however, there are many people who must adhere to a gluten free diet due to health issues. People who have been diagnosed with celiac disease or gluten intolerance must eliminate gluten from their diets or face serious health consequences; for example, patients may experience severe abdominal pain and digestive problems, malnutrition, skin rashes, and loss of hair.
The documentary features Jessica Lawson, who was diagnosed with celiac disease. Lawson describes her illness and her struggle to adhere to a gluten free diet; additionally, she will describe the difficulty she had with regard to food choices and the availability of gluten free products. Embedded within the interview, the documentary provides facts on gluten, gluten free products and labeling, information on celiac disease, and a gluten free taste test experiment. Additionally, there is a short clip of Andrea Mallon's search for gluten free foods in her kitchen cabinets. All of the unedited videos included in this documentary can be found on the Oral History page on this site.
Guiding Research Question: What is gluten, and what is it like to eat gluten free?
Introduction
The following documentary is the product of a collaborative research project that focused on gluten free foods and the issues consumers face when they are required to maintain a gluten free diet. Some people eat gluten free foods by choice; however, there are many people who must adhere to a gluten free diet due to health issues. People who have been diagnosed with celiac disease or gluten intolerance must eliminate gluten from their diets or face serious health consequences; for example, patients may experience severe abdominal pain and digestive problems, malnutrition, skin rashes, and loss of hair.
The documentary features Jessica Lawson, who was diagnosed with celiac disease. Lawson describes her illness and her struggle to adhere to a gluten free diet; additionally, she will describe the difficulty she had with regard to food choices and the availability of gluten free products. Embedded within the interview, the documentary provides facts on gluten, gluten free products and labeling, information on celiac disease, and a gluten free taste test experiment. Additionally, there is a short clip of Andrea Mallon's search for gluten free foods in her kitchen cabinets. All of the unedited videos included in this documentary can be found on the Oral History page on this site.
Guiding Research Question: What is gluten, and what is it like to eat gluten free?
"Cooperative" Afterwords on Documentary
Shannon's Reflection ~
(Living with Celiac Disease -- Interview Jessica Lawson)
Before conducting the interview with my cousin, I never knew how much this disease had effected her. At family gatherings, she would always "fit in", but now I realize how much self control it takes for her not to eat a single cracker! The questions that Diane, Andrea, & I came up with were the perfect way to personally connect and truly understand WHAT gluten is and WHY people live gluten-free.
Andrea's Reflection ~
(Living Gluten-Free -- Starting in her Kitchen)
Before conducting research on living gluten-free I didn’t realize how much effort those who suffer from celiac disease or gluten sensitivity have to put into a day. I went through my kitchen cabinet and found that there wasn’t anything I could eat. Not only wasn’t there anything in my kitchen, but the local grocery store couldn’t even help. It’s difficult to stay away from foods that you once ate, but the fact that there isn’t much support makes the matter worse. I do not know how I would survive at first. I only took a glimpse into what it would be like to live gluten-free, as did Shannon and Diane, but the glimpse gave us and understanding of what people who have to live gluten-free go through. I won’t look at the words gluten-free again without acknowledging the discipline and struggle that are attached to the words.
Diane's Reflection ~
(Living Gluten-Free -- Baking without gluten)
For this research project, I experimented with a chocolate chip cookie gluten free recipe. Betty Crocker assured me that they would taste delicious, though the main ingredient - flour- was absent from the recipe. I checked the box to see which ingredient had replaced flour, and it turns out that the cookies were made from rice and potato. Now, I'm wondering - how's that going to taste?
The first thing I noticed about the batter mixture is that it was very heavy, as compared to regular cookie batter. When I poured the contents of the box into the mixing bowl, the mixture looked grainy instead of smooth. I was immediately skeptical. So, I put the egg, the butter, and the vanilla in and stirred it all up. The box said, "Batter will be crumbly," but that was an understatement - it was like mixing grains of sand! But, I kept going, dying to know what these cookies were about.
So, the crumbly batter was mixed to my best abilities, yet it didn't appear as if I could make individual cookies out of it because it wasn't sticking together. I used a spoon to pull some of the batter out, but it just kept crumbling apart. I finally put the spoon down and used my hands to press the batter into balls. Still, the batter was crumbling as I put it on the cookie tray! Oh, these cookies were beginning to wear on my nerves. I finally got a tray together, I pushed the crumbles as close to the balls as possible and put it in the oven.
The directions said they would take 8 to 11 minutes, a full 14 minutes in and the cookies still appeared white; where was that "golden brown" Betty told me about? After 16 minutes, they finally appeared "golden;" however, I realized that I had left them in too long. They came out hard and brittle - guess I should have listened and taken them out when they looked raw.
I brought them into our WRT class, and we had a taste test. Andrea baked regular chocolate chip cookies. As our video showed, all of the victims of my baking preferred the regular chocolate chip cookies over the gluten free. If I were to attempt baking them again, I think I’d add some apple sauce to see if it helped with the moistness and texture of the cookie. The two main complaints were that the cookies were brittle and that they had a “cardboard” aftertaste. They weren’t terrible, but they were certainly far from good. If I had to eat gluten free, I would continue trying different things until I was able to create something that tasted like a fresh baked good.
(Living with Celiac Disease -- Interview Jessica Lawson)
Before conducting the interview with my cousin, I never knew how much this disease had effected her. At family gatherings, she would always "fit in", but now I realize how much self control it takes for her not to eat a single cracker! The questions that Diane, Andrea, & I came up with were the perfect way to personally connect and truly understand WHAT gluten is and WHY people live gluten-free.
Andrea's Reflection ~
(Living Gluten-Free -- Starting in her Kitchen)
Before conducting research on living gluten-free I didn’t realize how much effort those who suffer from celiac disease or gluten sensitivity have to put into a day. I went through my kitchen cabinet and found that there wasn’t anything I could eat. Not only wasn’t there anything in my kitchen, but the local grocery store couldn’t even help. It’s difficult to stay away from foods that you once ate, but the fact that there isn’t much support makes the matter worse. I do not know how I would survive at first. I only took a glimpse into what it would be like to live gluten-free, as did Shannon and Diane, but the glimpse gave us and understanding of what people who have to live gluten-free go through. I won’t look at the words gluten-free again without acknowledging the discipline and struggle that are attached to the words.
Diane's Reflection ~
(Living Gluten-Free -- Baking without gluten)
For this research project, I experimented with a chocolate chip cookie gluten free recipe. Betty Crocker assured me that they would taste delicious, though the main ingredient - flour- was absent from the recipe. I checked the box to see which ingredient had replaced flour, and it turns out that the cookies were made from rice and potato. Now, I'm wondering - how's that going to taste?
The first thing I noticed about the batter mixture is that it was very heavy, as compared to regular cookie batter. When I poured the contents of the box into the mixing bowl, the mixture looked grainy instead of smooth. I was immediately skeptical. So, I put the egg, the butter, and the vanilla in and stirred it all up. The box said, "Batter will be crumbly," but that was an understatement - it was like mixing grains of sand! But, I kept going, dying to know what these cookies were about.
So, the crumbly batter was mixed to my best abilities, yet it didn't appear as if I could make individual cookies out of it because it wasn't sticking together. I used a spoon to pull some of the batter out, but it just kept crumbling apart. I finally put the spoon down and used my hands to press the batter into balls. Still, the batter was crumbling as I put it on the cookie tray! Oh, these cookies were beginning to wear on my nerves. I finally got a tray together, I pushed the crumbles as close to the balls as possible and put it in the oven.
The directions said they would take 8 to 11 minutes, a full 14 minutes in and the cookies still appeared white; where was that "golden brown" Betty told me about? After 16 minutes, they finally appeared "golden;" however, I realized that I had left them in too long. They came out hard and brittle - guess I should have listened and taken them out when they looked raw.
I brought them into our WRT class, and we had a taste test. Andrea baked regular chocolate chip cookies. As our video showed, all of the victims of my baking preferred the regular chocolate chip cookies over the gluten free. If I were to attempt baking them again, I think I’d add some apple sauce to see if it helped with the moistness and texture of the cookie. The two main complaints were that the cookies were brittle and that they had a “cardboard” aftertaste. They weren’t terrible, but they were certainly far from good. If I had to eat gluten free, I would continue trying different things until I was able to create something that tasted like a fresh baked good.