Oatmeal, bread, and flour are all things that we enjoy and take for granted, but for people with Celiac Disease all these foods and food products cannot be digested because the ramifications of eating these could cause abdominal pain, bone and joint pain, fatigue, anemia, or something even worse. The cause of this is Gluten, which is an amino acid that is found in rye, wheat, and barley. It affects the intestines of one out of one-hundred and thirty-three people that are allergic to it. Before, people with Celiac Disease had only one option and that was to eat a gluten free diet, but one entrepreneur who suffers from the disease had had enough and set out to correct the problem.

Forrest Smith was just a freshman when he received a project from the Future Farmers of America and this was to start up his own business. Armed with a small loan, he set out researching a business that could be started using what he had. After relentlessly researching business ideas, which Forrest assured me was the hardest part, he decided to start a business selling gluten free oats around the Powell area because there was no one selling this product except for a small business that was located in Canada. Even after the project was over Forrest and his parents, who also both suffer from Celiac Disease, continued his business all the while expanding it. Today, Forrest and his parents ship their product all around the U.S., a little in Canada, and they even had an order from Taiwan. Now he and his parents are learning to ship internationally and the only problem with this is that the shipping costs are too high.

In Gluten Free Oats, Forrest’s business, his parents are part owners of the business because at the time Forrest was too young to take out the loans needed to run and maintain the business. Forrest also said that he continued to start up the business because his father always had the saying “mind over muscle,” which means that being the manager of a business is better than working for one. Gluten free oats are actually just plain oats with the exception that the oats with gluten receive it from the wheat, rye, and barley they are grown next to. Farmers grow oats next to the plants because it is cheaper, but in raising gluten free oats the oats have to be raised separately and harvested with inspected machines that have not been used to harvest anything other than the oats. This is because the machines will transfer other seeds and plant parts to the oats.

Forrest’s business has sparked interest amongst the public, and he has appeared in several newspaper and magazine articles. The most recent publication Forrest has appeared in was an agricultural magazine called “Out Here” in which he talks about his business and his disease. He has also appeared in articles in the Cody Enterprise, The Powell Tribune, and the Billings Gazette.