Overview: Gluten Freedom Project is a website dedicated not only providing information on what foods are gluten free, but also providing information and support to the gluten free community. Although there is a free four day trial, access to the full website requires a paid membership which can be paid monthly or annually. Paid membership includes 8 weeks of lessons to improve gluten free knowledge. 

During registration  you can choose your allergies outside of gluten, as well as your protein source, which is a great place to start to fine tune your experience. The website is broke into three specific sections: food, learning, and support. 

Menu Preferences window

In food, you can create a weekly menu, search recipes in both meals/snacks or recipes, view your grocery list, or look at the product directory. To create a menu you can have it auto fill, based on your needs as you’ve entered them, or create your own by choosing from the various recipes.. Meals/snacks and recipes is where you can search for food to place on your menu. Here you can search not only by keyword or ingredient but also by cuisine type, meal type, protein type, or time-to-table. Your grocery list is where you will view the ingredients needed for the menu you have created, and add or delete items as needed. You can print this list, or used it on your phone while shopping. Finally, the product directory is where you can find and search for gluten free products. In the future, the company hopes to partner with food manufacturers to offer coupons which will be available when you click on a product. All of these sections are linked, so that you can view recipes on the menu, and view the product suggestions for particular items within the recipe in a hyperlink with in it. 

In learning, individuals have the opportunity to learn and answer their questions about a gluten free life style. For those who pay for access, The 8 weeks of Gluten Freedom Project lessons become available over the course of your first 8 weeks in the program, and cover everything from social support, to shopping and creating a safe kitchen space and much more. Lessons are straight forward and informative, and include videos, quizzes, checklists, and articles. You can see the lesson break down to the left. Lessons are mailed to you weekly, but you can also access them on the website in either the lessons or library section. There is also a list of resources in this section. 

In support, individuals can share their stories, and questions, and access support from other members, or professionals who are available. 

General access for the public is available for the product directory, recipe section, viewing of the support forum, and in part to the library. For more information about the price, free trial, or what is available simply check out their Overview. 

Pros: Overall, this website is very well put together and thought out. The email system, which emails you weekly with tips, lessons, and menu ideas is a great way to reminder people of the resources available. I for one know that I sign up for things and forget them so this was a great added bonus! The recipes available come from diverse cultures, and experience levels showing an understanding and appreciation of diversity.  

The menu is set up with nutritional assessment tools, which allow the program to determine if you are getting the right amount of fruits and vegetables, and other nutritional variables, as established by the American Dairy Association, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society and others. Recipes are also rates on a Spoonfuls of Health (SoH)™ system which determines the healthy-ness of recipes based on these same nutritional guidelines. These are a great added bonus which adds depth and understanding of the nutritional standards that many of us lack, and is a great reminder to seek out well balanced meals everyday. 

As a social worker, I think the lessons are amazing. Resources for those on a gluten free diet often overlook the psychological, social, and emotional impact that such a diet has an an individual. However, the lessons, resources, and other articles available through Gluten Freedom Project emphasize addressing the diet change from a positive standpoint which stresses support, encouragement, empowerment, self determination, stress reduction, and taking ownership of the journey towards a gluten free life. 

Cons:  First, when looking at my grocery list I was not happy to see that quantity of items was not listed. I tend to shop by recipes, so I include things like ‘4 green peppers’ in my shopping list rather than simply ‘green peppers’. In speaking to Greg about this there were two reasons why this is. First, a system that would cross reference all recipes to compile exact quantities would be a ton of work to create, although it is possible. Second, he explained that the items on meals/snacks and recipes are different (something I had not noticed before). The difference between the two areas is that items listed in meals/snacks might combine a recipe with a side dish or snack, and will not include information on yields or quantity of ingredients needed whereas items in recipes are specific recipes for individual items that do include this information. This makes it harder to auto fill quantity of grocery items onto the grocery list.

I also found that my shopping list the weeks I followed the menu were rather expansive and more expensive than normal. I think it would be of benefit for the website to include some sort of budgeting tool. Whether it be something that assess the cost of individual recipes, or looks at the ingredients in recipes to auto fill recipes with similar ingredients, I think this would be an added bonus which would make grocery shopping on a budget easier.

Finally, you cannot print your menu planner or the recipes themselves. Although I understand the desire to want people to come back to the website for this information, it is not user friendly in that those without smart phones, computers or ipads at home, or internet access in the kitchen will have difficulty accessing this information when it comes time to prepare their menu and meals. 

Conclusion: Ultimately, I think this is a great resource that provides a well rounded approach to answering questions and concerns regarding a gluten free lifestyle. The website is easy to navigate, and also comes with tutorial videos. Information is extensive, interesting, clear, and easy to understand. I would recommend this to anyone gluten free, especially those who are new to the diet and in need of support. 

The addition of at least a menu planner printer button, and perhaps budget planning or cost effective menu planning tools could strongly improve the food portion of their website, and perhaps they can add that in the future, but regardless it is a great resource! Most importantly Gluten Freedom Project does not neglect what many other resources do, that emotional wellness is the key to positively tackling a diet change as large as this, not to mention sticking to it.