Ep 122 Celiac Awareness Month 2020
Let’s start the blog with the show notes for this Episode –
May is Celiac Awareness Month and this year it has proven to be a unique time, for the Canadian Celiac Association to both celebrate and pivot to provide support, information and leadership to the celiac/gluten free community in Canada. I speak with Jaya Mootoo who is the National Manager of Philanthropy for the CCA. She brings me up to date on the wide variety of efforts by the CCA to meet the needs of our community at this difficult time. We talked about the online conference held earlier in the month, which is now available to be viewed on facebook. Here’s a link to the facebook video –
Sue’s Websites and Social Media –
Podcast https://acanadianceliacpodcast.libsyn.com
Podcast Blog – https://www.acanadianceliacblog.com
Facebook – @acanadianceliacpodcast
Twitter – CeliacPodcastCA
Email – acdnceliacpodcast@gmail.com
Baking Website – https://www.suesglutenfreebaking.com
Instagram – @suesgfbaking
YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUVGfpD4eJwwSc_YjkGagza06yYe3ApzL
Email – sue@suesglutenfreebaking.com
Other Podcast – Gluten Free Weigh In – https://glutenfreeweighin.libsyn.com
My Thoughts –
Where I live, Celiac Awareness Month has normally been marked by some sort of outreach from the members of our chapter to our greater community. When we showed up for events we each made sure to wear our small piece of green ribbon as an international symbol.
In larger centres, chapters were, and still are, able to have prominent buildings or landmarks lit up in green. In my small city, that’s just not practical.
In any other year, our small chapter could plan a table at our shopping mall to answer questions from the public, or more ambitiously plan a public information event (which included food of course). This year is different in so many ways.
The one thing I will remember from Celiac Awareness 2020 will be the virtual conference. I’ve been to many CCA conferences in locations across Canada, and enjoyed every one of them. I was disappointed to not be travelling to Regina to meet up with old friends, make new ones and enjoy some local hospitality. But I was thrilled to still be able to attend so many informative sessions presented by trusted professionals. It was a long time to sit in front of my computer, but there were some perks. I was able to get up and make a cup of tea whenever I wanted without having to wait for a tea break. I was able to check my email and have a text conversation with a friend without seeming to be rude. I was able to let the dog out and put my feet up on a footstool. In other words, it was quite comfortable participating in a national conference from the comfort of my home. I didn’t get to see the sunset over the prairies, but there was no guarantee that was happening with such a busy schedule at a conference. I also did miss the food.
If you were to ask almost anyone who has been to a CCA conference what they looked forward to the most, and what didn’t disappoint, likely the answer would be “the food”. Clearly some conference goers are there primarily for the food – and that’s not a bad thing. If I think back to some conferences I’ve attended, I remember different speakers, but often forget which conference they spoke at. The food, and the local entertainment, I can usually remember that clearly.
What I’ll remember from Celiac Awareness Month 2020 is a conference I could attend from home and having to make my own gluten free meals for the day. Come to think of it, I do have much more time on my hands these days, so maybe having to make my own meals was all just part of the experience – Two Thumbs Up for the CCA Virtual Conference 2020.
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