Unions now satisfying gluten-free diets

TUCSON, Ariz. – When Nicole Garibay spent last year as a dorm resident with celiac disease, she basically lived off salad and grilled chicken.

People who suffer from celiac must eat a gluten-free diet because their bodies cannot take the wheat, rye and barley found in gluten, so if Garibay wanted anything outside of the Student Unions, she had to walk a long walk off campus to Fry’s or Wild Oats.

“You have to go to extraordinary means to get the food,” she said.

So when Garibay, a nutritional sciences sophomore, earned a position working for the Park Student Union as part of a Professional Internship Program, she noticed the Union’s purveyor offers gluten-free products and started pushing for it. Starting this semester PSU offers a gluten-free food section to accommodate dorm dwellers like Garibay last year.

“I think a lot of people don’t realize how many people have celiac or just another gluten intolerance, which includes a wheat allergy,” Garibay said, “and more and more people are finding out that that’s what’s making them sick throughout their life, and without having those offerings the kids really have nothing.

“My first year, while most people have the freshman 15, a lot of kids who have celiac like me we actually end up losing weight because there’s just not food.”

PSU offers gluten-free chicken nuggets, pizza, macaroni and cheese and the only brand of gluten-free bread that doesn’t require a freezer, convenient for the dorm lifestyle.

Around campus, 3 Cheeses & a Noodle sells a gluten- free pasta, On Deck Deli has gluten-free bread and Highland Market offers gluten-free products as well.

“It’s everywhere, and we have so much variety,” Garibay said.

She added some people who don’t suffer from a food allergy have bought products like the gluten-free chicken nuggets and pizza based on their taste and the fact they’re allergen-free.

“I think we’ve gotten a pretty good response,” Garibay said. “I’ve talked with a few people when they bought the food to see how they’re liking it. People seem really excited, especially since we didn’t have the offerings before.”

PSU also now offers gluten-free cookies that appeal to the vegan market because they’re allergen-free and don’t include eggs or any dairy products.

PSU supervisor Rachel Barthel said many of the Union’s offerings are actually Garibay’s preferences, as she had inside knowledge of many of them having used them herself.

“We had a point of reference so to speak with Nicole in saying, ‘I like this item, let’s bring that in,’” Barthel said. “She’s been a really good reference for that.”

So now the next time Garibay wants a bite to eat to satisfy her gluten-free diet, she doesn’t need to put her walking shoes on to get it.

“It’s a lot easier,” she said. “We can just walk over here and here’s the food.”