A vegan's POV on Calgary's Celiac Market

By Giselle Wedemire

The Picky Bitchez hit the town on Nov. 17 at the annual Celiac Market. Held at the Parkdale Community Centre, 30 vendors showed off their gluten-free wares to a burgeoning Calgary market.

Picky Bitchez Casey and Giselle hit the town on Nov. 17 when they 
attended the Celiac Market at the Parkdale Community Centre.

As the event’s name implies, the central focus of each culinary offering was wheat- and gluten-free goods -– but I scoped out a whole whack of vegan-friendly goodies. According to Canadian Celiac Association’s Calgary-based program coordinator Kathy Collier, there is some overlap in the Venn diagram of packaged vegan and gluten-free foods  because lactose intolerance and wheat sensitivities often “go hand in hand.”

“The villi becomes flattened in a celiac’s intestines, and lactose can irritate them, so many gluten-free goods are often lactose-free to begin with,” Collier said.

This didn’t guarantee that I could try every dairy-free option at the market – eggs were still used in many of the fair’s baked goods –- but at least there was hope for a vegan such as myself.

While it may have taken a more careful eye to scope out the vegan goods available that day, I proved to be quite successful in my own personal game of ‘I Spy Vegan Food’. And the best part was that many vendors’ vegan-friendly items were available for sampling!

Almost 10 of the 30 vendors offered up goods that were already vegan or could otherwise be customized to accommodate such Picky Bitchez. 

Among these veggie-friendly merchants were pizza pro Judy G (which offers a cheese-less, roasted vegetable frozen pizza) and granola bar genius Edible Rebellion (which normally lists honey as an ingredient, but recipes can be tweaked to better suit customer specifications if large enough orders are placed).

I Spy Vegan Food


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 Most impressive for me was the spread   put out by Earth’s Oven. The local brand earns top marks from me because they’ve restored my faith in the belief that us vegans can indulge guilt-free in a number of pre-vegan guilty pleasures. Mandy Chin, owner of Earth’s Oven, established her business 10 years ago and has made it her mission to make her natural and organic products “tasty and excellent”.

 

Admittedly, one of the things that first drew 
me to Earth's Oven's display table was this 
tempting piece of heaven --
 a gluten-free, vegan Nanaimo bar.

“It’s pure, healthy food – good for the body,” she said.

With a diverse catalogue of gluten-free and vegan products ranging from frozen veggie tacos to their seasonal gingerbread cookies, Earth’s Oven gets my official Picky Bitchez Seal of Approval*.

*While this merit is pretty much meaningless, I think it’s pretty cool that they so deliciously cater to both Casey’s and my picky lifestyles.