This is a very belated report on our most recent Marin/Sonoma County WAPF potluck. We met in Petaluma at the club house in Lisa’s (Sonoma County co-chapter leader) apartment complex. There was a fire in the fire place and she decorated with candles. It was lovely. The food was delicious as usual. People from San Francisco, Marin and Sonoma County came! Lisa asked me to talk about my experience at the conference. So here goes! My apologies for the jumble of information.
The recent WAPF annual Wise Traditions Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, was an event rich with wisdom, fantastic food, entertainment, and friendly faces. The conference is so massive that it’s difficult to tell a cohesive story about it so I’ll just share a few pearls from some of the presentations I attended.
There were almost 50 speakers covering a multitude of interesting topics. There were 1400 attendees this year!
Next year it will be in Indianapolis.
WAPF Chapter leader meeting
Sally says that Membership is key. For your membership, you get a very interesting quarterly magazine. You are supporting an educational and activist organization to get the word out about healthy whole food eating according to Weston Price principles.
There are 2514 members just in CA.
There are only 3 paid employees for the WAPF!
Sally’s message for this year is to involve youth in the WAPF. They are our future!
Ideas ~ cooking contests for highschoolers; make potlucks family friendly
The Shopping guide app was introduced at the conference this year. There are twice as many listings in the Real Food Guide as last year.
The WAPF has a dream to have an independent research lab to study nutrient-dense food. They’ve been offered access to a lab in Illinois for an annual contribution of $300,000. So far $100,000 has been raised.
They’d like to do further research on the fat-soluble vitamins A, D and K; study harmful additives in our food, such as hexane; and investigate the impacts of various cooking and preparation techniques on the nutrient profile of the foods we eat.
Healing Quest on PBS. As an independent TV show, they’ve produced about twenty 6-7 minute shorts on Weston Price principles, including cod liver oil, fermented foods, the grass-fed movement, healthy fats, raw milk, soy, etc. These shorts are an easy teaching tool and objective way to introduce people to the principles.
There was a consistent theme in many of the presentations ~ one with which I’m sure you are familiar. The exponential increase in environmental chemicals and electromagnetic radiation all take a stiff toll on our health. From lawn fertilizers and pesticides to dry cleaning fumes and body care products, are links to some of our more serious diseases , including obesity, diabetes, breast cancer, autism.
Stephanie Seneff ~
Talked about the importance of sulfur as a mineral in our bodies. She described some ways to increase our sulfur stores ~ bask in the sunshine and spend some time looking up at the blue sky; take an Epsom salt bath; eat plenty of cholesterol rich foods
Louisa Williams
Reminded us that auto-immune disease was rare a hundred years ago and now everyone knows several people with lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, etc. There is widespread acknowledgement that autoimmune illness always includes some component of increased intestinal permeability or ‘leaky gut’ and her belief is that a major cause is the excessive use of antibiotics
Robert Scott Bell
Has a 6 day/week radio show that empowers his listeners with healing principles. It focuses on alternative/holistic health care. He “tackles the tough issues and shows no fear when confronting government and corporate bullies who would stand in the way of health freedom.”
The title of his presentation was “Health Sovereignty and GI Recovery”. He talked about freedom in healing and in politics and also about healing gastrointestinal issues with homeopathy, diet, silver hydrosol, and some detox regimens.
I went to a little bit of Sally Fallon’s Nourishing Traditional Diets presentation. There are so many speakers I wanted to see, that it was difficult to choose.
A few bits of wisdom from her talk:
We have always been dependent on animal products ~ it’s used in hydraulic brake fluid in jets, the membrane in phones.
Some of us are obligate carnivores ~ it depends on our heritage. Often alcoholism is a sign for a need for meat
Riddle: How are animal fats like sex?
Answer: They are both needed for reproduction (needed for hormone production)
Another good saying: A puritanical diet (low salt, low fat, high fiber) leads to desire for pornographic foods (cakes, donuts, candy).
WAPF vs Paleo
There’s been some conflict between the WAPF and the paleo community even though there are some similarities. Sally said that when she looked up paleo online, the most prominent authors were Loren Cordain and Robb Wolf who initially were promoting a lean meat, low carb type diet.
Continuous Brewing Kombucha class
I haven’t tried this yet but if you drink kombucha regularly, this is a way to have a continuous supply without having to wait
Broth Making class
Tips: soak bones in water with a splash of vinegar to start pulling the minerals from the bones; bring to a gentle boil, skim, then turn the heat way down so it barely bubbles because continuous boiling on high for a long time can destroy the collagen
Broth is a great way to add healing herbs to the diet, too ~ sage, thyme, parsley; or ginger, astragalus or Solomon seal root, which is nourishing for bones
Fish stock is very nutritious ~ lots of minerals
Chicken stock ~ fresh chicken makes a light broth; roasted chicken or roasted bones makes a darker stock
Beef stock ~ roast bones, then deglaze the pan and add drippings to the pot, cook 18-24 hours
Tom Cowan
Making the case that heart disease and cancer are the same. If I understood him correctly (and I’d like to listen to his presentation again), it sounded like the issue with both those diseases is poor mitochondrial health. (Our mitochondria are our energy makers)
It reminded me of Dr. Terry Wahls healing herself from multiple sclerosis. She wrote a book called, “Minding My Mitochondria”.
Andrew Wakefield, an academic gastroenterologist
He spoke about autism at the Saturday night banquet. He lost his job, career and medical license while in the pursuit of the link between childhood vaccines, intestinal inflammation and neurological injury.
He said autism started in 1988/1989
According to his statistics, autism occurs now in 1 in 50 births. If the trend continues, it will be 1 in 2 by 2025 (if I heard him correctly!)
He said that causation is complex but he put a lot of emphasis on the MMR vaccine (specifically mumps) as causing problems.
Boys are much more susceptible to neurological damage ~
~ they are 4X more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD and be medicated; they are 80% of high school dropouts; and only 45% of college graduates; they get the majority of Ds and Fs in school
Kaayla Daniel
Talked about detoxification
She says we are waste dumps of toxins from mercury, flame retardants, pesticides, Teflon, plastics
Step 1 ~ stop exposing yourself ~ minimize exposure to radiation
Step 2 ~ feed ourselves with nourishing foods ~ healthy fats, minerals, cholesterol
Step 3 ~ heal the gut ~ cultured foods, coconut oil, bone broth
Step 4 ~ clean up lifestyle ~ deal with stress, emf and wifi exposure
Deborah Gordon
High Intensity Interval Exercise
Most efficient way to get the biggest change in glucose regulation, weight loss and helping with insulin regulation
Esther Gokhale
Primal posture for healthy living ~ by studying indigenous cultures who still have their body wisdom ~ she has helped many people regain their structural health and heal back and other pains
Pat Foreman talked about how heritage chickens support nourishing traditions.
Our two most precious commodities on earth ~ topsoil and water
She brought one of her chickens to the talk, named Oprah Hen-Free
She feels it’s important to keep chickens for several reasons:
Health starts in the soil ~ chickens help make healthy soil;
50% of all trash is biomass and chickens can consume much of that
She also says that “whoever controls your food supply controls you” ~ so she encourages us all to have more control of our food supply
(an average person eats 256 eggs/year ~ a commercial hen lays 259 eggs/year)
By Karen Hamilton-Roth