I (Yvonne) was fortunate enough to attend the 17th Annual Wise Traditions Conference of The Weston A. Price Foundation November 11-14, 2016 in Montgomery Alabama (beautiful old downtown) and also gladly shared this experience with awesome driver/music coordinator/fellow attendee/beautiful human being, Jennifer! If I may speak for both of us, we had a blast.
For those of you who are not familiar with the Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF), it was founded to disseminate the research of nutrition pioneer Dr. Weston Price, whose studies of isolated non-industrialized peoples established the parameters of human health and determined the optimum characteristics of human diets. Dr. Price’s research demonstrated that humans achieve perfect physical form and perfect health generation after generation only when they consume nutrient-dense whole foods and the vital fat-soluble activators found exclusively in animal fats.
The Foundation is dedicated to restoring nutrient-dense foods to the human diet through education, research and activism. It supports a number of movements that contribute to this objective including accurate nutrition instruction, organic and biodynamic farming, pasture-feeding of livestock, community-supported farms, honest and informative labeling, prepared parenting and nurturing therapies. Specific goals include establishment of universal access to clean, certified raw milk and a ban on the use of soy formula for infants.
Each year the WAPF organizes the Wise Traditions Conference. The intention is that the conference will provide health seekers with the knowledge and tools they need to achieve robust health at any age. The conference is open to anyone who is interested. Families are encouraged to attend.
So, back to my conference experience. If you can imagine for a moment how relaxed and at home we felt in the company of so many others that think and feel the way we do about health, nutrition, sustainable farming, safe dentistry, freedom of food choice … well the list goes on and on. But that is the point, to know that we are not alone in our idea of the best possible solution to today’s morass of illness and imbalance.
As always, the conference presenters were wonderful, informative, very experienced in their fields and gave us so many new things to think about. We should find real comfort in the fact that some of the world’s best doctors are looking at our current health issues with a different idea of prevention and treatment than our current non-functioning paradigm. Like Dr. Stephanie Seneff, PhD , who is focusing her very comprehensive skills on the role of toxic chemicals and micronutrient deficiencies in health with special emphasis on the herbicide Round-Up. She has a very different, well-grounded and researched idea about the Zika virus and its cause.
Speaking of different, we ran in to one of our favorite contributors to the Wise Traditions publication, Dr. Tom Cowan and his beautiful and fascinating idea of what causes heart attacks. Just as an example of the mind blowing concepts we were introduced to at this conference, Dr. Cowan started his lecture with the statement, “the heart is not a pump”. Wow!
I always attend at least one presentation by Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF) founder and president, Sally Fallon-Morell, who presents like she is sitting in your living room chatting about a better recipe for roast. She is one of my living heroes and to be in her presence was an honor!
I met a new hero, Alan Phillips, J.D., who gave up a successful singing/songwriting career to become the only lawyer, that we are aware of, in the U.S. who represents people specifically for vaccine exemption in every forum (school, work, daycare, military, immigration, etc.). You can download his e-book at vaccinerights.com.
Another conference favorite, Dr. Louisa Williams, MS, DC, ND, has spent her career helping people navigate health issues related to dental work and stressing the importance of clean-up after the toxins are removed. She agrees with us regarding the use of thermography and cavitat to help identify areas of concern, it was nice to have that confirmed.
Dr. Chris Masterjohn, PhD spoke about the role of fats in our health is another regular contributor to Wise Traditions publication and wonderful to see him in person.
There was a very exciting lecture from Dr. Tetyana Obukhanych, PhD on how the immune system works with emphasis on its natural function and how to naturally support and enhance it with specifics on how so many of the things we do today reduce our immune systems efficiency.
The information presented by the speakers was not trite or dogamtic. It was researched, clinically applied and well understood because they are so passionate about what they believe and practice.
As you can see we had a profound experience in Alabama and walked the halls with our living heroes and heroines, the guys on the front line of our fight for common sense and a return to natural health and well being.
On a lighter note, the food was to die for! The breakfast and lunch menus were the same healthy, home cooked traditional foods that they are teaching the world to appreciate. Grass fed meats, tons of veggies (some cooked-some raw), Sauerkraut, buckets of butter, fermented grain products made from freshly ground whole flour, kombucha and broth to drink. The sponsors were some of our existing vendors (Green Pastures, EPIC and Bio-Kult Probiotics) plus some new ones that we are excited about looking into for the possible health benefits to our clients.
Speaking of food, we encourage everyone to support the Farm to Consumers Legal Defense Fund (FTCLDF) because they advocate for and defend the farmers growing and distributing nourishing traditional foods like raw milk, raw butter and pastured eggs. The FTCLDF protects the rights of farmers and consumers to engage in direct commerce; it protects the rights of farmers to sell the products of the farm and the rights of consumers to access the foods of their choice from the source of their choice. FTCLDF is a true grassroots organization and receives no government funding and little or no corporate funding.
On a personal note, we walked the same streets as the freedom marchers from the 1960’s that ended in front of the state capitol. I was proud to be there. It felt like we were there fighting for our freedom again in Montgomery Alabama by showing our support for the people that fight the battle every day for food grown consciously, the right to distribute that food, our right to purchase that food and our inherent right to choose what is best for our bodies.
My takeaway from all of this? I walked the halls with my living heroes/heroines including the farmers that were there against all odds and strange laws about whether they should be able to sell their beautiful food and whether we should be able to buy it. They are fighting every day for the right to grow food properly and share it with the world. There are folks out there just like you and me working to make this a better, safer, healthier place to be and that gave me much comfort. And, you can ask Jennifer, much JOY!
One last thing, you would love to become a member of the Weston A. Price Foundation. As a member you receive its Wise Traditions publication quarterly with articles and information that are truly well-informed and researched covering areas of concern for everyone’s health and well being for a mere $40.00/year! Support the people helping us to be well and stay well, fight for your food rights…rockin on with our bad selves.
Yvonne is correct! We did have a blast at the Wise Traditions Conference. This is the first one I (Jennifer) have attended. Just reading the list of speakers incited irrepressible giddiness. It was like reading a list of rock stars, but these rockers are advocating, researching and educating about nourishing foods, working with the body to obtain health and working to keep everyone's right to freedom of choice.
Over the 3 days of the conference, 42 speakers presented. Each day we had to make the choice of which talks to attend. It was tough to decide. Thankfully, I had a partner. Usually Yvonne and I would go to separate talks and then share what each of us had learned. It was a double whammy of fantastic learning.
Some of the presentations I attended were Ferments! with Celeste Long Acre, Gardening for Nutrient Dense Vegetables with Alvin & Calvin Bey, Vaccine Politics & Your Legal Rights with Alan Phillips, The Adrenal Heart Connection with Dr. Tom Cowan, Fermenting Drinks with Hannah Crum and Your Family's Dental Health with Dr. Lorie Miller Stevens, RDG, DMD, MAGD, AIAOMT.
At each lecture I learned something new or had my ideas of what is possible expanded. I learned things like carbon dioxide in the body is necessary for certain gene expressions therefore learning to breath to allow for more CO2 is important, that a scary amount of scientific published findings are false and how extruding grains (which is how most cereal is made) warps it and makes it almost indigestible.
But the one thing that was consistent and really stood out with every speaker I heard was that each one spoke with heart. It was obvious they truly care about helping people get and be healthy. Their desire to educate as many people as possible so that everyone’s life can be better was palpable.
One of the more subtle, (and delicious) learnings took place at each meal. Lunch and dinner were included with the conference and like Yvonne said, the food was to die for. Each meal was prepared within the WAPF guidelines. I experienced soaked/fermented oats with cultured butter (the importance of eating a fat with a grain), fermented vegetables (a probiotic with each meal), drinking broth, kombucha and fluoride free water. Each meal had vegetables, a meat (grass fed, pasture raised) and something fermented. Seeing the guidelines in action made it easier for me to plan my meals at home.
While walking around and attending the lectures it began to dawn on me that like Yvonne, Lois and myself, there are people all around the country who believe and make their voice heard about the importance of chemical and genetically modified free foods. About the right to choose clean, nutritious foods, to choose natural health care, freedom to decide what is best for our bodies regardless if the government thinks it is or not. Sometimes it does feel like we are a candle in a hurricane. But at the conference I saw there are many candles. Shine on!
Wish you had been to the the conference? Purchase the recordings and it can almost be like you were.
