Gluten free living was always a challenge, but now, there are even more hurdles. With COVID 19 restrictions everywhere and no end in sight there continues to be a never ending road of mystery ahead for those on a gluten free and allergen free lifestyle.
If you dine out, many restaurants are still only providing take out. Are they being more careful or the same to adhere to a strict gluten-free request? I continue to trust only the same, tiny amount of local restaurants and route them in our meal plan.
Meanwhile depending on which state you reside or travel to some allow you to eat indoors. At times it feels like you may be in a different word based on the amount of mask restrictions or openness. Nevertheless, communicating with a mask to a waiter with a mask provides more anxiety to those with restrictions on gluten based foods and with allergies. Simply because trust is built on verbal communication and non verbal cues in person.
I'm based out of greater NYC. Even here depending on which zip code you choose to shop, buy groceries, or eat out at a restaurant there are not commonalities.The gluten free journey continues to be a day to day, hour by hour, confusing journey of safety and that's why you should continue to control what you buy and where you buy it.
It's more popular than ever to shop from home. I use apps like, Instacart, to occasionally take advantage of adding my favorite foods onto a digital grocery list and someone will deliver it to my home. Yes. Someone literally shops for me. They pick my veggies and go into the aisles and drive it to my home, it's quite insane when you think about it. Wegmans, Shoprite, Costco, etc are some of the grocery stores you can find on Instacart and they charge a small fee to do so.