It was funny. I was walking around the Trader Joe’s on Atlantic in the Bixby Knolls area with my clipboard in hand. My clipboard has the Trader Joe’s list of gluten free items and as I was riffling through the pages, an employee of TJ’s came up to me to ask is she could assist me with finding any GF items.

She knew just by watching me with my list in hand that I must be a celiac.

Now, I have to tell you that I found that very refreshing.

It’s nice when someone pays attention and gives a hoot about your dietary needs.

Last month, at another Trader Joe’s, one of the employees told me that they can’t please everyone when I asked why TJ’s couldn’t label their foods as GF.

Turns out the TJ’s is working  to get the GF label onto their product line but it will happen over time which means I will still be walking around with my clipboard for another year, at least.

Still, to have someone tell you that they can’t please everyone when you are someone who has special needs, is a rebuff, to say the least.

Anyway, this other employee took the bad taste out of my mouth for  Trader Joe’s by being attentive and recongnizing that using a 7 page cheat sheet to shop is a real pain.

I hate to whine and I hate to make a big deal about being a celiac but, let’s face it, we are just as important as the vegans and those who shop only organic and the diabetics and all the other people on the planet that have the 5 most common allergies, are we not?

You bet we are!

Stay tuned. As I find more places around Long Beach, CA that work with and for us celiacs, I’ll report back here.

And don’t be afraid to leave comments to let us know what you find works for you in the Southern CA area!

Oh, and here’s that link for the Trader Joes No Gluten Used list : http://www.traderjoes.com/attachments/NoGluten.pdf  (Right click and save to your computer. You will need Adobe free reader on your computer to open this list.)

Since my last post, I have been digging around in more grocery stores in Long Beach, CA (not to be confused with Long Beach, NY

I found that there is a grocery store that does have several aisles dedicated to alternative and healthy foods.

The Vons in Bixby Knolls on Atalantic (4550 Atlantic Avenue to be precise) has several aisles to the far left when entering the store. These aisles are beyond the deli section.

In these aisles they have several gluten free items including crackers, soups, salad dressings, noodles, cookies, and a few other items. This is also where I can find my organic canned goods.

Also, this Vons has a dedicated section of the produce area for organic produce.  Somehow, I missed this but a friend told me to look again and it is there. Find it in the middle of the produce section on it’s own island of produce.

The produce is in good shape and not so very overly priced. It is the only place in town where I can find fresh organic berries. Not even Wholefoods or Trader Joes has fresh organic berries this time of year.

I haven’t tried any other Vons stores but when I get around to a different area of Long Beach/Lakewood/Signal Hill, I’ll take a look and report back.

In the meantime,
Eat Well!