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I've been reading the postings about cooking from scratch with some
mixed feelings.  First, cooking from scratch does not completely
eliminate the problem of contamination.  If one wants to use GF-flours
the problem of contamination still exists.  If one wants to use spices,
the problem is still there.  What about things like grits?  Raising
and grinding your own GF-grains is not feasible for most of us.  Trying
to cook with NOTHING that has been processed is not feasible for the
majority of us.
 
I certainly find that I cook "from scratch" much more than I did before
going on a GF diet.  But this still includes spices, processed GF grains,
canned tomato sauce (how does one find decent tomatoes in the winter to
use in a tomato sauce without resorting to cans?), etc.  So contamination
is something I feel I will always have to worry about.
 
Second, though I agree that cooking from "scratch" is the best way to
try to eat gluten free and healthily.  However, for most of us the
amount of time energy and money necessary to exclusively cook from
scratch is prohibitive.  I am a graduate student with a 15 year old
daughter.  I have neither the time nor the money to avoid processed
foods altogether.  I already spend a good amount of time each day trying
to figure what I will eat and when.  There is no way I could devote
more time to this without giving up graduate school.  I am sure there
are many people in similar situations.
 
So please let's not dismiss a serious issue like contamination by saying
that we should all just cook from scratch.
 
Debra L. Boutin
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