Launch of My Gluten Free Summer 2016 : 38 days travelling gluten-free in Italy!

July 28, 2016. 8h52. Paris Charles de Gaulle. The plane is preparing to the take off … Today is the big day, FINALLY! THE day I was expecting for so long: my departure for the Gluten Free Summer in Italy!

Gluten Free Summer 2016 : the Gluten Free… Dolce Vita !

Remember, 3 months ago, I was sending my application to the Gluten Free Summer contest, a global contest organized by the gluten free products producer Schär.

Aware of the difficulty of traveling with a gluten sensibility, the gluten free brand Schär launched a contest to find 3 food-travelers who would accept a HUGE challenge: flying to Italy, known as the paradise of pasta and pizzas, for 38 days in order to find and taste the best gluten-free restaurants in Italy… this fully funded by the leading gluten-free products brand! A Summer « Job » that inspired many people, including me.

I still remember when I heard about the Gluten Free Summer competition, I could not believe it : Travelling around Italy, tasting restaurants and other food places ; detecting the one that are gluten-free, the one that are not, and sharing my experience on the social medias…. waw ! The perfect summer vacations !

So I decided to act by sending my application for this amazing experience! After 30 days of public votes, I have been qualified in the top 15 and after depth interviews, the results were announced: I discovered with surprise that I have won the contest – alongside with two other girls – one Italian and one Brasilian.

Les 3 gagnantes du concours Gluten Free Summer

The 3 winners of the Gluten Free Summer 2016 : Marta. Nathalie (me) and Marilia.

« Going to restaurants is a tiny pleasure of life that should be accessible to all »

You can imagine my joy when I heard the news! And I am still very excited about it…

I am really more than happy to have the opportunity to contribute – via this big big challenge – to make life easier for people with celiac disease. Although gluten-free restaurants are beginning to emerge in some cities, many restaurants are still not ready to host intolerant people.

As a Health and Nutrition blogger and future dietician, I am aware of it, and for this reason I am very happy to contribute through this unique journey to make a better world – a world where intolerant people would not have to worry « where » and « what » to eat.

Indeed, going to restaurants is a tiny pleasure of life that should be accessible to all; still, many people are deprived of this treat because of the limited number of gluten-free restaurants or because of the a lack of visibility of restaurants which really make an effort to provide an adapted offer for intolerances and food allergies.

During the Gluten Free Summer trip, we will collect a database of restaurants which are offering adapted dishes to people with celiac disease. The identified gluten free restaurants will be then added to the mobile application Gluten Free Roads launched by Schär, an application that enables to find gluten-free restaurants, bar and places wherever you travel.