First I want to thank everyone who has followed me to Open Sky. Or those of you who learned about my blog and mission from Open Sky and followed me here. The support and the emails I get means so very much to me and I am grateful. It makes me realize how many of you out there feel as strongly as I do about spreading the word about celiac disease and all that that truly entails. There in lies the reason I recently decided to no longer work with Open Sky.
When I was first approached by Open Sky they were a much newer shopping site to the online market. The site seemed like a wonderful way for me to get you some of those hard to find ingredients for gluten free baking and some of the wonderful products I use everyday. I was very clear in my first meeting what my wishes were if I were to become the gluten free ambassador for the site. It was simple – anything I refer or choose to put my name behind would have to be hand selected and tested by me. I was not there to just sell products stamped gluten free just to make some dough. Getting safe products to you is an important responsibility and I was ready and up for the challenge. They agreed Open Sky was the place for my vision and seemed excited by my passion.
I spent months putting together lists of products that were not only delicious but also nutritious and most importantly SAFE for us Celiacs, and in those months Open Sky exploded. They are a huge shopping network now. I will say out of the 50 products I referred to them maybe four were taken which eventually led to the first sale. There have been months and months of back and forth on how to make my page work better and as to why my suggestions weren’t being taken. The answer was always convoluted until recently. The clear answer was money. Simply put they weren’t going to make enough money off of the products I was suggesting. Hey, it’s a business and I get it but one that I didn’t feel comfortable in for what I was trying to do. To make matters worse they sent me a package of gluten free cookies that they wanted me to endorse and put under my name. The cookies looked lovely but had NO INGREDIENT list anywhere to be found on the pretty packaging. I knew right there that our relationship was done.
So sadly I am no longer working with Open Sky. I will not recommend anything to anyone if I can not be 100 percent positive that it’s safe for us Celiacs. I want to advocate for Celiacs and gluten challenged people and that was definitely not the right place to do so. Rest assured that when I give you a recipe or my products, that are soon to be avail to you HERE, that they have been tested by the most sensitive celiac around, ME! Much love.
Ever Onward ~
Jennifer
FOLLOW
Good for you Jennifer. That says a lot about who you are as a person. I admire you for that.
Dear Jennifer: First let me applaud you for your decision. I am sure it is their loss!! It just shows what a truly honest and lovely woman you are. I always go to your website for recipes regardless so not being on Open Sky is really irrelevant for me. They do not ship to Canada so when I did go to order something of course I couldn’t! I did write to them but they only said that it wasn’t possible to ship internationally. I am only in Canada and use online shipping for a lot of products and have no trouble.
Thank you for all your hard work and dedication and keep those recipes coming!
Much Love
Sandra
Thank you, Jennifer. Your dedication is truly aprreciated.
Jennifer, you are the voice and type of advocate we need against these companies who only care about the almighty dollar, and not for the health and well being of all of us, there only out to make a buck, heck, Gluten Free food is a hot commodities now, and not all of it is good, some are not really focused on Celiacs. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for this blog, your fight, all your hard work, and your wonderfully delicious and nutritious recipes. God Bless !
Theresa
Good for you, and thank you for all your hard work and knowledge you bring to those who are Celiac or are just learning they are needing to go gluten free.
Good for you! I’m glad that you’re so careful about what you recommend to your readers. It’s wonderful to have a very visible advocate for celiac disease. As a side note, I’m a big fan of the show!
I thought something like that may have been going on – your shop was one I checked frequently (even more than Alicia Silverstone’s) and I was afraid they weren’t doing good by you. When they posted the “gluten free” cookies in Alicia’s store that contain spelt (all of us with celiac or gluten allergies know that spelt contains gluten!), I knew they must be trying to force some products out there, no matter if they were right or not.
I’m really glad you stood your ground, and made the bolder decision to leave when the situation proved to be a bad fit. I subscribed to your blog because of your store through OpenSky, but I’m staying because of your thoughtful, intelligent writing (completely blowing my own stereotypes of what people in Hollywood write about, by the way!). I don’t identify myself as celiac since I found out I had a wheat and gluten allergies as an adult, but I have to obey the same dietary laws, so I read (and cook from) quite a few celiac-centered blogs.
Please keep up the good work here and hopefully you get your dream shop running on your own terms!
I applaud you, Jennifer. I, too, an really disappointed at what Open Sky has turned into. I tried to purchase your honey you recommended but, my order was cancelled.
Thanks Jennifer, your commitment to those of us dealing with celiacs speaks to your character & integrity. Truly appreciated!
Thank you Jennifer for standing by your word and for what you believe….BRAVO!!!
Jennifer, in light of the information about Domino’s new “gluten-free” pizza (so NOT safe for anyone with celiac, allergies, or intolerances!), I really applaud your stand for the safety of those of us who have to live wheat-free and gluten-free for life.
Hearing about that last night put your blog post in an entirely different light. We need more people like you!
Jennifer,
How, when and where can your all-purpose flour be purchased? I would like to try it out for the new counter-top over that I recently purchased.
Thank you.
Thankyou Jennifer for sharing your story I cried when I read it I was recently diagnosed 1 1/2 years ago last Febuary I had nueropathy and other aches and pains after seeing all the oligists as I say and numerous blood test I started researching on my own and went to my Rumatologists and had him test me for Celiac the rest as they say is history. Look forward to reading your posts. I’m currently studying to be a health coach so that I can reach out and help others and let them know they are not alone.
My website is not up yet.
Hugs Kat