Timaru woman Rachel Tomkinson, a qualified nurse, personal trainer and massage therapist, spoke at a meeting in Gore in early August about the journey she went on after her youngest daughter Jenna, who had severe eczema and 24 food allergies, was born.
Gore women Julie Jenkinson and Joan Hulling were among those who attended and became inspired to form a support group for people who wanted to change their eating habits.
Ms Tomkinson's journey resulted in her writing a book called Jenna's journey: How I cured my baby's eczema.
In the book Ms Tomkinson outlines how people could reduce the effects of food allergies, coeliac disease, migraines and other ailments.
She also explained her beliefs at the meeting.
Ms Tomkinson had developed her own brand of foods called Whoo Hoo.
Mrs Jenkinson said New World was stocking Whoo Hoo bread.
She said the meeting was inspiring and people were receptive to the ideas put forth by Ms Tomkinson.
"I thought we need to have a support group," Mrs Jenkinson said.
Ms Hulling said there was great interest shown at the meeting in adopting ways of healthy eating.
"I was blown away by how many people were there [at the Gore meeting]," Ms Hulling said.
She had resolved to eat healthily and believed a support group would help people keep their resolve.
"There is so much seduction at the grocery store; if I'm struggling, other people must be," Ms Hulling said.
People could adapt methods of shopping and cooking to suit their own needs and it would be good to share tips in a support-group setting, she said.
"You don't have to fight the battle by yourself," Ms Hulling said.
"It's common sense. You don't want to put all kinds of chemicals in your body," she said.
Even if the awareness resulted in people eating more fruit and vegetables, it would result in health improvements, she said.
In some cases it meant people had to retrain their palate as they were so used to eating pre-packaged foods, she said.
Meals could be made tasty by adding herbs, which were easy to grow, she said.
