<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> Here is a sample letter that you can use to address support for wheat protein research. Ann I am writing to you in the hope that you will oppose proposed cuts of about $5 million in the budget of the US Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) at the Western Regional Research Center in Albany, California. The cuts are scheduled to go into effect for the coming fiscal year, beginning October 1, 2002. Since I have celiac disease and must maintain a wheat-, rye- and barley-free diet, I am especially concerned about cuts of approximately $1 million to the wheat protein research project there. This program has provided celiacs like me with valuable information about the nature of the protein and peptide components in wheat that trigger celiac disease. This information helps us choose a safe diet. The complex makeup of many commercial processed foods makes it very difficult for nonscientists like myself to understand what must be avoided and what is safe. The research and advice that we get from this unique wheat research project has been enormously helpful to a generation of celiacs. If it is terminated, we will no longer have access to a body of information that has developed over a period of more than 20 years. Termination of the project will also limit the potential for development of new research into continuing food questions and the nature of the molecular basis for celiac disease. Recent research has shown that celiac disease may affect as many as one in a few hundred Americans rather than one in a few thousand as formerly believed. If that is correct, upwards of one million Americans may be affected, making this research even more vital. Specialized research like that carried out at the USDA/ARS Western Regional Research Center has been minimal elsewhere in the United States. Please don't make things even more difficult for those of us with celiac disease. I urge you to oppose the cuts for the reasons I have outlined. Thank you. *Please provide references to back up claims of a product being GF or not GF*