Page 17 - Valley Table - Summer 2022

Against The Grain
When Lynn Feder of North Salem traced her decades of serious health issues to wheat and gluten—but couldn’t imagine life without good bread (and crackers), she was inspired to create her own.
BY SASHA TUDDENHAM
BACK WHEN LYNN FEDER, 65, was growing up in
South Africa, no one was talking about wheat or dairy sensitivities or the potential downsides of consuming gluten. All that Feder knew was that she felt sick nearly all the time. She had contracted a rare bacterial infection as an infant and was plagued throughout her childhood by irritable bowel syndrome, a spastic colon, and a hiatal hernia. As she grew older (and moved from Johannesburg to the United States), she developed more health problems including frequent bouts of pneumonia, sinus infections, and bronchitis. Doctors were stumped.
It wasn’t until 2013, when Feder consulted with a nutritionist who put her on a diet free of dairy, gluten, grains, and sugar that she began to heal. Even though she was relieved to finally feel better, the restrictive diet was a challenge to follow. “My mother is an incredible cook, and I grew up in the kitchen. With my new diet, one of the things I really missed was bread,” says Feder.
So, she started to experiment. “I decided that I would try [to modify] an old recipe my mother used to make in South Africa which contained a nutty wheat flour with a grainy texture,” says Feder. “I thought about how I could replicate something like that without flour, and I started playing around with seeds.”
After two years, she perfected her recipe and turned her newfound passion into a business to “help others who are sick of being sick,” says Feder. She named her company Lynn’s Life (lynns.life) and sells four types of bread mixes—Yummy Original, Hint of Rye, cinnamon/strawberry and strawberry chocolate—plus Yummy Bagel mix, Yummy Cracker mix, and Yummy Crunchie coconut crisp mix.
All the products are made in a former barn that Feder converted into a commercial kitchen on her property in North Salem. “I really feel that we are made of energy and, when you infuse your love and energy in a product, the product is going to be good,” she says. “I got the texture right. When you bake the bread, it smells delicious. I created all the fantasy of bread because I [perfected] the taste, the smell, and
the texture.”
Feder launched Lynn’s Life “for people who need someone to understand why they are not feeling as good as they should,” she says. During her product research and development,
she discovered that many gluten-free products in the supermarket contain preservatives which can be irritating to those with stomach sensitivities. She also found that a lot of gluten-free commercial products contain potato starch and nut flours, ingredients that she and many others with restrictive diets can’t tolerate. Through a lot of trial and error, she found a way to eliminate everything in her mixes
that she previously phased out of her diet, making them accessible to most consumers with food allergies and sensitivities.
All of Lynn's Life mixes are high in fiber and low in carbs. Bagels and bread mixes are top sellers, but Feder is particularly proud of her crunchy coconut crisp. She considers it to be the ideal low-sugar dessert thanks
to the combination of chocolate, strawberry, and coconut. “Food is medicine,” observes Feder. “There is no reason that anyone should not feel fulfilled and happy eating food that’s really healthy. It’s all a matter of how you make it.”
photo courtesy of lynn's life
june – august 2022 valleytable.com 15