I recently had the opportunity to attend my first ever chapter meeting for The Weston A. Price Foundation.  If you aren’t familiar with them, get ready for a wild ride!    You’ll find  more reliable, research based health and nutrition information from this organization than what is taught in mainstream schools and doctors offices across our country.  I am so thankful for this group that has helped shaped how I now view food and nutrition.Weston A. Price was a dentist from Cleveland, Ohio.  When he practiced in the 1940s, he was very concerned about the dental health of his patients.   He saw many patients with chronic fatigue syndrome and other diseases,  and was convinced that this sort of physical degeneration wasn’t just part of God’s plan for us.

He was particularly concerned about his younger patients.  He often saw children with frequent sickness, anemia, allergies, poor vision, and a host of other problems.  Suspecting nutritional deficiencies as the cause, he set out on a mission.

His genuine concern for his patients fueled a curiosity to learn whether or not other people groups experienced the same sort of physical degeneration.   It led to a 10-year study of remote tribes and people groups, untouched by modern civilization.  What he found from traveling and studying was astounding.  Picture after picture from his travels reveals healthy teeth, and overall healthy bodies.  He studied diets in these primitive cultures and found that they ate very differently than the modern American diet (of the then 1940s).  Full of fat, unpastuerized dairy, a variety of unrefined grains, fish…foods that were untouched by modern vegetable oils, sugar, and other refined products.

The research done by Dr. Price is really, very amazing.  My purpose today is simply to give you a brief background so you understand the origins of the foundation, but much more can be learned from his findings.  To learn more about Dr. Price and his studies, go here.

The Weston A. Price Foundation was formed in 1999 with the purpose distributing Dr. Price’s findings to the general public.  They  hold to the belief that a nutrient-dense diet is the best way to achieve optimal health.  Because of this, they have devoted an entire website, conference, hours of research, testifying in hearings all for the sake of helping people know the truth about what real nutrition is.  Nourishing food.  Real food.

What I appreciate about WAPF is that they don’t make bold, un-found claims.  Research is done that backs up what they claim.  Careful study and good research is important to me,  I don’t want to follow a fad nor do I want to risk doing something that might really be harmful for my health or the health of my family.

I recently had the privilege of speaking with Sally Fallon, the President of the Foundation and author of Nourishing Traditions.  She shared with me a little about the time and research that went into her book.  It’s important to her, too.

And here’s a little secret:   Sally made a lot of really bad dishes as she tested out recipes for her book.  That she tested on her family.  We ALL do it!

What is nourishing food?

Straight from Mr. Webster’s mouth:

Nourish
NOURISH, v.t. [G. to nourish, cannot be the same word unless they have lost a dental, which may perhaps be the fact.]

1. To feed and cause to grow; to supply a living or organized body, animal or vegetable, with matter which increases its bulk or supplies the waste occasioned by any of its functions; to supply with nutriment.

2. To support; to maintain by feeding. Gen 47.

Whilst I in Ireland nourish a mighty band, I will stir up in England some black storm.

3. To supply the means of support and increase; to encourage; as, to nourish rebellion; to nourish the virtues.

What madness was ti, with such proofs, to nourish their contentions!

4. To cherish; to comfort. James 5.

5. To educate; to instruct; to promote growth in attainments. 1 Tim 4.

NOURISH, v.i.

1. To promote growth.

Grains and roots nourish more then leaves. [Elliptical.]

2. To gain nourishment. [Unusual.]

In a nutshell:  food that causes growth, to supply nutritional value.  Does it sound silly to call something “real food?”  It might, but when you take a walk down the grocery aisles, what you the most of are mere food products. Not.  Real.  Food.   Unfortunately, despite claims made on packages, much of what is sold in stores is more detrimental to our health than it is helpful.

It is my desire to provide my family with real, nourishing foods.  You’ll hear me talk a lot about it on this blog.   Not because I’m obsessed with it, but because it is a huge part of my role as a wife and mom.  I want to take good care of my family.  Read more about why I do it here.

It’s also my desire to help educate others who desire to eat better, but don’t know where to begin.  It can be so overwhelming and many questions inevitably arise.  Please stick around, ask questions, and get ready to learn!  You’ll hear about my own story, our journey to eating nourishing foods, and learn a lot about how to prepare a variety of yummy, nutritious dishes.

In three weeks (October 11), we’ll begin a series entitled “12 Steps to a Nourishing Diet.”  Three weeks is a long time to wait, I know.  But, there are a lot of things to be done between now and then (like getting my new design up and running!).  So stay tuned and spread the word if you know others who are desirous of eating better but don’t know where to start.  This will be the place!  I have some exciting “”things” in the works to go along with our series and I can’t wait to unveil them!