Living Without...What?

Standing in line at Whole Foods on Wednesday, waiting for the delightfully cyberpunked kid at the register to finish with the customer ahead of me, I spot an interesting magazine. Living Without Spring 2007. It has a nice, soothing cover, like Real Simple, except less simple. I like the Spring colors (so I'm easy, sue me). And what's this? The tag line is, "A lifestyle guide for people with allergies and food sensitivities."

Excellent, think I! Maybe they have something on soy.

Okay, so I'll be honest, I was pretty sure there was nothing on soy allergies in there. It seems to be one of the few allergies that almost no one knows about, yet. But I thought maybe it would at least have ideas that I could apply to my own allergies. After all, it's a magazine geared toward "food sensitivities"!

That is, if your food sensitivity is gluten intolerance or celiac disease. That's what it's geared toward. There is no broad view of allergies in this magazine. Almost all the articles are about gluten. Almost all the ads are about gluten-free foods.

I will admit, I'm annoyed. I understand that celiac disease is terrible. Believe me, I am not questioning that. What I am questioning is the validity of selling a magazine under the guise of "allergies and food sensitivities" while what you really mean is "gluten sensitivity".

Especially at $6. Too bad I bought it before I looked at it, hm?

On the other hand, it has some interesting recipes. Such as Sweet Pea Soup with Lemon "Cream", quotes are theirs. I think I'll try it sometime...modifying it for my allergies, though.

Some of the "recipes" aren't really recipes, but I guess not everyone knows that Steamed New Potatoes with Fresh Herbs involves steaming new potatoes with herbs, hm?

The layout of the magazine is nice and simple. They shove a lot of information into only 66 pages, especially for all the ads they cram in with it. But really, $6? You could find all this information on the internet for free.

Someone make a Living Without Soy Because The Bastard Is In Everything magazine and then we'll talk.