<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

Thank you to everyone who responded!


Every post stated that these grains are gf.  Here are the highlights:
NOTE: these are the words of the people who responded (14), not my own:

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some celiacs may have additional sensitivities to such things as quinoa,
amaranth and buckwheat. But unless they have been contaminated by an
outside source, they are all definitely GF. For instance, buckwheat is
misnamed. It has no relationship whatsoever to wheat. It's actually a
berry. No gluten at all.

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The thinking is that the old goat who heads the CSA puts
everything that bothers him personally on the forbidden list. If you
don't have specific sensitivities to them they are fine. I think the
idea is that these are not too wise for new celiacs to eat until they
get their diet stabilized and know what they are doing because if they
are sensitive to one of these it will confuse them. I'm very sensitive
to quinoa, but it's still GF. So after they stabilize their diet they
could try one at a time very carefully and keep track to see it they get
any reactions. As always.

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Unfortunately, the Executive Director of CSA insists on declaring
anything offlimits based strictly on hearsay evidence, i.e., any time he
gets reports fromanyone that they have had reactions that they think
were caused by (whatever) he immediately adds it to his extensive list
of things celiacs should avoid. Neither amaranth nor buckwheat are
closely related to wheat; they do not contain gluten. This is not to
say, however, that some people may not be sensitive to them--people
can have allergies to anything. One note of caution, however, sometimes
wheat flour may be mixed with buckwheat flour, so be sure of your
source. The source for pure buckwheat in the U.S. is Birkett Mills,
which has a dedicated mill.

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CSA has their head in the sand. I was asked last week if I wanted to
become Region III chairperson for a year to fill in as Diane Paley is
becoming President in waiting. Their position on these grains was the
reason I said no.

Amaranth grows wild in the parks here in NYC. It isn't even closely
related to a grain. And neither do the seeds look like grass seeds. Here
are a couple pictures of one I took last Fall in Central Park:

http://albums.photopoint.com/j/ViewPhoto?u8126&a87623&p799578
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/ViewPhoto?u8126&a87623&p799579

And these were taken in Prospect Park:

http://albums.photopoint.com/j/ViewPhoto?u8126&a79163&p762669
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/ViewPhoto?u8126&a79163&p762672
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/ViewPhoto?u8126&a79163&p762673
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/ViewPhoto?u8126&a79163&p762675

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FWIW, I understand buckwheat to be a close relative of rhubarb -- not a
grass plant at all, hence completely different proteins than wheat.
Don't know about amaranth's evolutionary relationships, but have
definitely seen it listed as gluten-free.

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Amaranth is GF.  It is not closely related to the grains that give
Celiacs trouble.  I bougth Amaranth flakes to use in place of oatmeal in
cookies.

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Both amaranth and buckwheat are safe - neither contains gluten. You will
probably hear others say both are bad.

A source of controversy is the tendency to grow either crop near wheat,
or to rotate crops on an annual basis. Granaries do not necessarily
clean their storage areas when changing the product stored and so on and
so on.

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both amaranth and buckwheat are GF grains. CSA is a little anal about
what they restrict, if they feel the grains have "not been tested
enough." both grains are not in the same family as the gluten grains.
there has been a lot of heated discussion on the celiac list about the
CSA and its position!

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Amaranth is gluten free.  So is buckwheat.  I've seen a few things here
about CSA.  They seem to have a very conservative approach about gf
status on many things.  Just adds to the confusion for me.

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Once again, thank you to everyone who responded.

Gwynneth in Boston