Living Gluten Free & Eating Paleo in NH

Many Free Staters have taken to adopting a paleo diet, probably due to Mark Sisson’s writing for the popular Lew Rockwell blog. In addition an increasing number of people notice a sensitivity to foods that contain gluten. It also does not hurt that eating paleo or gluten free also rejects much of the Food & Drug Administration’s, mostly lobby/constituent driven, advice. Generally speaking eating paleo avoids gluten though avoiding gluten does not necessarily mean you eat paleo. Still you may be interested to know how can Free Staters eat gluten free or a paleo diet while living in New Hampshire?

Grow Your Own Organic Food?

At the Liberty Forum 2012 a popular topic was organic foods and small-scale farming with authors like You Can Farm‘s Joel Salatin, Mini Farming‘s Brett Markham and Qualivore‘s Eve Gabriel – who all stressed growing your own where possible and eating food that comes from farms not factories. One focus of eating a consistent paleo or gluten free diet can be a focus on minimally processed, whole foods. So it makes sense for paleo and gluten- free eaters to seek local farm produced foods. So while reading the aforementioned authors may help you pursue growing your own food, you may be interested in where to buy from farms.  You probably know that small farms were common in the early days of colonial America but in recent decades small farms have been driven out of business by corporate agriculture and red tape. The trend running counter to this is that of small organic farms and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA’s).

Community Supported Agriculture in NH

The good news is New Hampshire was home to not only some of the earliest farms in America but also is the home of some of the earliest CSA farms in North America like the Temple-Wilton Community Farm in Wilton, New Hampshire. What are CSA’s? They are basically specialized farm business models that get consumers (eaters) involved with more direct ownership of a farm’s produced food. Often times CSA’s are organic and focused on providing a higher quality food product than you find at your corporate grocery chain. The CSA’s vary widely and higher quality does not always mean paying a higher price. Some have delivery some do not. The range of items you can get also varies from meat, fish, vegetables and fruit and everything in between. You find a directory of CSA’s in NH searchable by town and more at Localharvest.org. At the time of this writing there were over 80 CSA’s shown. A number of Free Stater farms (Bardo Farm) and CSA’s are also options.

Gluten-Free Restaurants in NH

I am not aware of any larger restaurants in New Hampshire that specifically serve paleo-friendly fare though many now have gluten-free menus. Still there are restaurants whose cuisine is naturally paleo-friendly, like Gauchos Brazilian Steakhouse in Manchester. The popular NH chain of restaurants,  The Common Man has gluten free menus and locations all over the state.

Gluten-Free & Paleo Food Shopping

If CSA’s don’t sound like a good fit and you like to cook at home there are options. Bob’s Red Mill has a number of products like gluten-free flour, coconut flour and almond flour which you can order online and often find in some NH grocery stores like Market Basket. There are a fair number of health food stores in NH like A-Market in Manchester. One of the three Walmarts in Manchester and the new Hannaford in West Lebanon have dedicated gluten-free aisles. Thanks to the folks over at the FSP forum for those tips. The Localharvest search directory also has friendly stores.

Porcfest Food

Ah Porcfest! What could be more appropo than Free Staters setting up businesses to cater to those who eat paleo/gluten-free? Free Staters like George Mandrik have setup vending booths at Porcfest serving paleo-friendly foods like the Trainwreck, described by George as “gyro meat, tomatoes, onions, and tzatziki sauce, all wrapped up inside a 5×5 weave of bacon.”

Given the popularity of these foods in the Free State, expect George to have some competition this June at Porcfest! Are you a Free Stater and follow a gluten-free or paleo diet? Please share your tips!