FORT SILL, Okla. (July 31, 2014) -- Jennifer Parker is fighting the injustices of gluten intolerance one baked good at a time. A nine-year military spouse, Parker opened the Bakery Emporium, a gluten-free bakery in Lawton, to give everyone the opportunity to eat without discomfort.

"I don't have a gluten intolerance, but I have a lot of friends and family that do and they're quite sensitive. They were telling me about their struggles and how disheartening it was."

She said originally she was going to have a sugar-free bakery because she was able to lose 40 pounds herself that way, but once she heard how difficult it was for others she took action in the kitchen.

"We've had many customers walk in and they go, 'OK, I see all these nice things. What can I have? I'm gluten-free.' And we're like everything. We've had people cry in front of our case because for those people it's serious."

She said her store's objective is to make the food taste so good that people who don't have gluten intolerance still enjoy it and the people who have gluten intolerance don't feel like they're missing out on anything.

"Food is such a huge thing in life and when you're told you can't have things that you're used to having you get depressed very quickly. So what if you could not have to worry about your birthday cake; what if you could have pie at Christmas; what if it tasted every bit as good and what if it was the same thing everybody else was eating at the table? You would no longer feel like a nun. These are people who have to bring food everywhere they go. What if they don't have to? They could come into a place like this and order anything off the menu."

Gluten is a wheat protein and can be found in wheat, barley, rye and malt. Parker swaps out those ingredients typically for potatoes, sorghum, tapioca starch, potato starch and potato flour.

"Our bodies make up certain enzymes to digest certain foods. That's why if you're vegan and you don't eat meat for a long time and then you eat it you get very sick. It's a similar thing for gluten, except if you're allergic you don't produce the correct enzymes to digest it and you never will. It gets progressively worse so you get more pain, more gas and the things that go with that," said Parker.

Symptoms of gluten intolerance include diarrhea, stomach upset, abdominal pain and bloating. Besides gastrointestinal symptoms, gluten-sensitive people often have fatigue and headaches.

Those who have Celiac Disease may have the same symptoms and should see a doctor to be tested. For those who continue to eat gluten and test positive for Celiac Sprue it can severely deteriorate their digestive tract and it can lead to malnutrition and weight loss.

"The unfortunate thing is the reaction they have to gluten intolerance is similar to reactions to so many other things. So you may have a gluten intolerance or you could have something else," said Parker. "It's very hard to diagnose gluten intolerance except by an elimination diet."

She said the baristas in the front of the store have a log listing ingredients inside the baked items so they can answer specific questions customers have.

FROM PCS TO STOREFRONT

Parker, her children and her husband, Maj. David Parker, 31st Air Defense Artillery, moved to the Lawton-Fort Sill area in May 2013. Parker signed the lease to her new building two months later and opened the doors to the business shortly after.

"It started off really, really slow and it was really hard. My husband deployed two weeks after I opened and I have two kids. It was a lot."

She flew her parents in to live with her and she said the year has been a huge learning experience. From downsizing the kitchen staff to adding bread items to having to fire a disgruntled decorator, Parker said she has been tested. She happily took on the extra duties despite having Rheumatoid arthritis.

"You don't find out what you're 'made of until you're thrown into a situation. Now that's most of my job when I'm in the kitchen. I have eight jobs, but when I'm in the kitchen I'm the decorator."

She is also the store's purchaser, general manager, social media manager, financial manager, marketer and more.

Like many other military spouses, Parker's background varies widely. She went to tech school, has a certificate in crime scene investigation, had a license in hair and did makeup professionally, did DSL tech support, can build a computer from scratch and also worked in the entertainment business in Los Angeles.

"When we lived in Baltimore I had the same worry and same thing in South Carolina, I thought what am I gonna do?"

She gained experience in California in her current profession.

"They had the huge strike at the groceries store and I was hired into the bakery at Ralphs and I was lucky to get a job with somebody who went to Le Cordon Bleu who was able to teach me some cool things about decorating."

She said before opening her own business she turned to employment agencies because she said they understand the needs of a military a spouse and they also know which companies are military friendly.

"And there are job fairs on post that are looking to hire military spouses and there are frequent job fairs that are put on that way."

Before Parker and her family look to their next military adventure she said she is quite happy to feed the Lawton-Fort Sill community gluten-free pastries.