Recap of April 2013 Potluck Dinner Meeting - Our 3rd Anniversary, Our New Chapter Co-Leader, & American Meat

Theresa Cardinali & Karen Voelkening-Behegan showing off
Terry's 3rd Anniversary cake for the Pasadena Chapter of the
Weston A. Price Foundation. 

With 15-20 people in attendance, we all enjoyed another tasty meal in true potluck style.  This time the selections comprised mostly cold foods including a variety of salads, some sauerkraut, raw cheeses and meats, and some fresh fruit.  The one warm exception was a flavorful mixed grass-fed meat stew prepared by Aaron Zober in the spirit of our film of the evening, American Meat.  For dessert, upon special request, Theresa Cardinali prepared a moist and raw honey-sweetened gluten-free carrot cake to celebrate the 3^rd anniversary of our 1^st chapter meeting on Earth Day 2010.   Thanks, Terry for another great dessert!

Aaron Zober, new Co-Leader of the
Pasadena CA Chapter of the
Weston A. Price Foundation

To further recognize our 3^rd anniversary and the steady growth of our chapter over the last 3 years, I also announced that our chapter will be welcoming a new Co-leader, blogger and host of the Appropriate Omnivore weekly internet radio show, Aaron Zober.  Aaron will be a wonderful addition to our chapter leadership, as he is very devoted to our cause, hard-working, and well-connected with many folks in the Real Food community.

Welcome aboard, Aaron, and congratulations on becoming our chapter’s first Co-leader!  We will post more about Aaron and his work with our chapter in the months to come!

Finally after a relaxed and friendly dinner hour, the group convened to the community room upstairs for the film, American Meat.  If you haven’t seen it yet, I highly recommend it for its compassionate message of hope.  Unlike many films full of doom and gloom about the woes of conventional farming and the dangers of the Standard American Diet (SAD), this film provides thoughtful interviews of farmers on both sides of the fence!  It explains the simple economic truths of both conventional and traditional/sustainable farming models, and offers a very inspiring message:  Positive change is underway, and we can continue to move forward towards a better future simply by encouraging more young people to take up traditional farming.  The whole idea is to re-establish a nationwide system of community-based sustainable agriculture.  For more on the film, please see the trailer.

Thanks to all who attended our Third Anniversary meeting!

We hope to see you at our next chapter meeting, and don’t forget to attend the upcoming March against Monsanto happening in locations all around the world on May 25^th 2013.  Let’s keep Real Food alive!

Your Chapter Leader,

~ Karen

Recap of March 2013 Potluck Dinner Meeting - Biodynamic Composting with Jack McAndrew

Our March potluck dinner meeting took place at my home in Sierra Madre.  With about 25 guests in attendance, we learned how to make biodynamic compost from local expert Jack McAndrew.  Jack was formally introduced by one of his students and protégés, fellow WAPF member, Susan Hardman.  Susan gave us some helpful background information during a brief slide show about the history of biodynamic composting in the tradition of philosopher and Waldorf School founder, Rudolph Steiner.  Another one of Jack’s protégés, Stefan Hagopian of Skyline Organic Farms shared some of his fine wines grown in Topanga using this esteemed agricultural tradition.  Steven Wynbrandt, a third biodynamic gardener known for his urban farm in LA attended the meeting as well.

After Susan's informative introduction, Jack showed us how to build a compost pile using a variety of different layers, each sprayed with just enough water to reach the consistency of a “wet sponge.”   Layers included most importantly cow manure, as well as hay, vegetable scraps, and a special mixture of herbs meant to provide the appropriate balance of minerals and other special properties.   This layering, ideally set in a shady spot, should reach the suggested critical mass of 15’ x 6’ x several feet high, and then be covered with mesh and left undisturbed for 6 months.  Once done brewing, the resulting compost is purported among agriculturalists to be the richest, most coveted growing material for plant cultivation.  For more information about his methods, see Jack's handouts where you will also find his contact information.

At the end of his talk, as a special treat, Jack shared about 10 specially mixed pots of lettuces and baby greens, all grown in his rich compost.  Finally, with a bunch of new fans on board, Jack announced that Skyline Organic Farms, the only Demeter Certified Biodyamic farm in Southern California, owned and operated by his protégé in attendance, Stefan Hagopian, is currently under orders by the California Coastal Commission to be destroyed due to a “disturbance of the natural ecosystem.”  This, in spite of the fact that the property is not only agriculturally zoned, but also consists of 75% wilderness, preserves and grows topsoil, stores rain water, has significantly increased earthworm and bee populations, and feeds its own animals and community.

I think most people at the meeting were both saddened and angered to come face to face with yet another small sustainable family farm's misfortune, due simply to some misconceptions created by a single hostile neighbor.  This sounds like another case for the Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund.   True to form, hardly a meeting goes by without the mention of some sort of governmental resistance to the cultivation and distribution of naturally-grown and traditionally-prepared nutrient-dense foods.   That is why we continue to hold our meetings not only for cameraderie, but also as a way to educate the local population and create a greater demand for traditionally grown and prepared foods.

For further reading on the subject of Biodynamics, Susan Hardman recommends:

Agriculture by Rudolf Steiner

Agriculture Course:  The Birth of the Biodynamic Method by Rudolph Steiner

What is Biodynamics?  A Way to Heal and Revitalize the Earth by Rudolph Steiner

Culture and Horticulture: A Philosophy of Gardening by Wolf-Dieter Storl
A Biodynamic Farm for Growing Wholesome Food by Hugh Lovel

Thanks again to Jack, Susan, Stefan, and Steven for all they do to live the biodynamic lifestyle and share it with others!  


And don't forget to mark your calendar for our next two events coming up in April:  

1) On Sunday, April 28th, we'll be going on a field trip to Koreatown in LA for a traditional Korean dinner.  For more information or to register for the event, go to our Special Events page.

2) On Tuesday, April 30th, we'll have our next monthly potluck dinner meeting featuring a great film, American Meat, which will teach us all about the growing movement across the USA to rebuild a vast network of small, traditional, sustainable farms that provide the freshest and healthiest foods possible to our local populations.

See you in April!

Your Chapter Leader,

~ Karen

Recap of February 2013 Potluck Dinner Meeting - Eastern European Night!

Last night’s potluck dinner brought together some traditional Eastern European favorites, including 2 types of goulash with a variety of meats, veggies, herbs and spices, buckwheat kasha with butter, cool crispy sauerkraut, freshly-roasted and fermented red beet and sour cream salad, hardboiled eggs stuffed with dill-mayonnaise yolks topped with salmon roe, rice pudding of raw milk and cultured cream, chilled homemade rhubarb-and-raw-honey tea, and of course some vodka!    We all enjoyed dining in good company to the sounds of some playful retro Russian music.  Then everyone took turns sharing anecdotes about Eastern European culinary traditions.

We learned that the official composition of "Eastern Europe" depends on whose definition you use, the UN’s the CIA’s, or the countries’ themselves!  We learned that there are 3 major cultural influences in Eastern Europe:  Islamic, Eastern Orthodox, and Roman Catholic.  We learned that cabbage, whose wild ancestor is originally from the Mediterranean, is common to all Eastern European nations, due to its preference for growing in cooler climates, its high vitamin C content, and its versatility.  Several of us spoke about how buckwheat figures prominently in traditional Russian diets, and one Russian guest taught us all about kasha.   Aaron Zober contributed a recipe for buckwheat kasha, courtesy of Stanley Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat.

We even had a thoughtful discussion comparing our modern American diet to the traditional Eastern European diet.  Our Russian guest explained that even though Russians ate plenty of meats, roots, buckwheat, dairy, and fermented foods and beverages, and even though the babushkas (grandmas) were known for making everyone “eat, eat, and eat some more,” no one ever got fat.  Typical urban families in Russia supported their diets with fresh homegrown produce from their own gardens cultivated at their family dachas or country cottages.  Mothers and babushkas always used fresh or fermented produce for preparing meals, whether from their own gardens or local farmers markets.  The food was always nutritious and homemade from scratch, and the people were healthy.  But now, over the years of continued urbanization, expansion of industrial agriculture, and the growth of the processed food industry, Eastern Europeans are slowly seeing a degradation of their traditional diets and increasing obesity and other related modern health problems. 

To sum it up, even though we did not have a scheduled speaker for the evening, our group was able to share information and learn from each other at yet another successful potluck dinner meeting.

Don’t forget to check our Meeting Schedule regularly for updates.  In March we'll enjoy another potluck dinner of traditional foods, and learn all about biodynamic composting with Jack MacAndrew.

Have a great month!

Your Chapter Leader,

~ Karen

Recap of January 2013 Potluck Dinner Meeting - The Wonders (and Politics!) of Palm Oil with Jolie Assina

Our January potluck dinner meeting featured Jolie Assina of Coconut Cow telling us all about Palm Oil.  We learned that palm oil comes from a type of palm that bears the palm fruit.  It is a tree that is indigenous to West Africa, whose products are primarily exported from Ghana.  Nutritionally speaking, in addition to having all the health benefits of coconut oil, it also contains lots of Vitamin E, and is even used to make Vitamin E supplements.  It has a very healthy fatty acid profile with plenty of heat-stable fats, making it a great and flavorful cooking oil.  Palm oil comes in a variety of different types, ranging in color from gold to dark orange.  

When selecting a palm oil, Jolie advised us to be aware of both where it comes from and the methods of processing.  Being from West Africa herself, Jolie prefers the palm oil from Ghana, and suggests that the palm oils from Mexico or Southeast Asia, where the plant is not native, tend to be less flavorful.  This may be an advantage for western palates if the native flavor is too strong, but if you want to taste the oil in its pure original form, try the one from Ghana. 

Another factor to consider when purchasing palm oil is the type and location of the plantation where it was grown.  Some plantations, especially the newer ones in tropical areas where the plant is not native, may be endangering the natural local environment when imposed as a cash crop.  If you choose to eat in harmony with nature, then it's always important to consider the environmental impact of the products you buy.  When selecting your palm oil, be sure to choose one from a sustainable grower.

As far as processing, the traditional cold and chemical-free methods of obtaining the oil yield the most healthy and nutrient-dense products.   You can generally find the processing information on the label, but you can also tell by appearance:  When minimally processed, the palm oil separates into distinct beads in its solid state.  Like coconut oil, palm oil alternately hardens and liquifies with changes in ambient temperature.  This is normal and natural and does not effect the quality or nutritional value of the oil.  

Palm oil, like coconut oil, comes from the fruit of the tree.  Before extracting the oil, the palm fruit is first made into a pulp, butter, or cream.  This lovely cream is also a wonderful culinary and health product by itself.  To give us an idea of the epicurean applications of palm cream, Jolie passed around a small sample of plain warm tomato sauce followed by another sample enhanced with the palm cream.  The difference was amazing and delectable!  The palm cream added a thickness, richness, and savory flavor to the sauce.  Tasting the sauce made me want to go stock up on palm cream right away!

Jolie also enlightened us about another product that comes from the same tree:  Palm sugar.  Like maple sugar, palm sugar is derived from the sap of the tree, after it has been tapped from the trunk.  When properly processed to maintain minerals and enzymes, palm sugar makes a great choice for a healthy sweetener.

About half way through her presentation, for all those who donated, Jolie offered a plate of traditional West African food, including soaked fava beans, chicken on the bone stewed in the tomato sauce with palm cream, and some freshly prepared African yam.  While the group was enjoying this traditional West African dinner, Jolie also took the opportunity to tell us about the African yam and discuss another important tuber, the cassava root.  Cassava is just another name for that popular Central American and Caribbean food, the yucca.   This famous tuber is in fact known by many different names, depending on the area where it's grown.  Most notably, cassava is used to make tapioca, a product that is rapidly gaining in popularity due to the rising demand for gluten-free products.  For comparison, Jolie held up cassava/yucca root next to the African yam, and you could see the similarities.  

By the end of her presentation, our group of full and happy diners enjoyed several interesting discussions including one on gluten-free products, another on eating locally, and another on eating in harmony with your ancestry.

Many thanks to Jolie for an inspiring and tasty presentation!  It's great to learn as much as we can about traditional foods and preparation methods from all over the world!  For more information on palm oil, see the links I've posted below, and be sure to check back in a few days for Jolie's tropical fruits & oils shopping list.

See you next month!  And until we meet again, try adding some palm oil or palm cream to your cooking! 

Your Chapter Leader,

~ Karen

Links:

http://www.coconutcow.net/index.html

http://www.naturalnews.com/028941_tocotrienols_palm_fruit_oil.html

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=nutrient&dbid=111

http://piccadillybooks.com/palm-oil-miracle.htm

http://www.congocookbook.com/soup_and_stew_recipes/palm_butter_soup.html

http://www.drbronner.com/palm_oil_from_ghana.php

Recap of December 2012 Potluck Dinner Meeting - The Weston A. Price Foundation as Shown on the Public Television Series Healing Quest

Happy New Year to All!  

Though I was out of town, word has it that the December meeting was a success.  Estimated attendance ranged from 13 to 20 people, including several newcomers.  Everyone got to enjoy some great food while watching the Weston A. Price segments from Healing Quest, a public television series.  

Filled with interviews from many prominent Weston Pricers,  the DVD offers a great education to anyone who would like to learn more about the Weston A. Price Foundation.  If you missed the meeting, the video covers topics from raw milk to grassfed beef to the health benefits of traditional foods.  It is well worth the price, especially if you're trying to find a good way to introduce your friends and family to traditional foods and their health benefits.  

To order your own copy of the DVD, go to:  http://www.healingquest.tv/store/compilations/healing-quest-weston-a-price-segments/

Best wishes to all for a happy and healthy New Year!  

See you in 2013!

~ Your Chapter Leader, Karen

Recap of November 2012 Potluck Dinner Meeting and Review of the 2012 Wise Traditions Conference

The Pasadena CA Chapter of the Weston A. Price Foundation
with Sally Fallon Morell at the 2012 Wise Traditions Conference
Back Row:  Jen Hawley, volunteer; Ramanuj Basu, Chapter
Communications and Raw Milk Institute Board of Directors;
Sally Fallon Morell, President of the Weston A. Price Foundation;
Karen Voelkening-Behegan, Pasadena CA Chapter Leader;
Elaina Luther, Culture Club 101 and Raw Milk Institute Board of Directors;
Monica Ford, Real Food Devotee and Wise Entrepreneurs
speaker at the 2012 Wise Traditions conference;
Jamil Avdiyev, High Brix Nutrient Dense Foods.

Front Row:  Jeannette Wu, volunteer;  Aaron Zober, host of
The Appropriate Omnivore radio show;
Joy Stefoni Fisher, WAPF-Pasadena mom-to-be!

by Karen Voelkening-Behegan

November 2012 was a big month for the Pasadena CA Chapter of the Weston A. Price Foundation.  Not only did the annual Wise Traditions conference come to California, but 17 of us from our chapter attended. On the right is our chapter photo at the conference with Sally Fallon Morell, President, Treasurer and Co-Founder of the Weston A. Price Foundation, author of the Nourishing Traditions cookbook, and editor of the Wise Traditions journal.  Out of the 17 of us who attended the conference, not everyone made it to the photo opportunity, but at least 7 contributed to a group 
presentation about the conference
at our November potluck dinner
meeting.  

Sally Fallon Morell with Jolie Assina
at the Coconut Cow Exhibit
at the 2012 Wise Traditions Conference

At the chapter meeting, after announcements were made, Chapter Leader Karen Voelkening-Behegan started off the evening with a story about her encounter with fellow chapter member and conference exhibitor Jolie Assina of Coconut Cow, and Sally Fallon.   At the Coconut Cow exhibit at the conference, Sally Fallon showed great interest in Jolie's upcoming talk at our chapter meeting in January about the health benefits and politics of tropical oils.

Three of our members who attended the conference, Ram Basu, Jenn Hawley, and Elaina Luther, helped host the exhibit for the Raw Milk Institute (RawMI) at the conference, and gave us an update on the status of RawMI at our potluck dinner meeting.  As RawMI Board Members Ram and Elaina explained, The Raw Milk Institute now has its first farmer member with several more in line to join, many out of the state of Oregon.  Some benefits of joining the Institute include:  improvements in the quality and safety of raw milk, more consumer interest in the product, and better insurance rates for farmers who produce raw milk, to name a few.

Sally Fallon Morell with Gladys Batan

One of our newer members, Gladys Batan, made us a Power Point presentation of lessons learned from the conference, including some innovative slides illustrating how food in this country is primarily a financial commodity, grown without any mind to nutrition.  She then went over some of the main points from Sally Fallon's all-day lectures about traditional diets and how they enhance our health and well-being.  Gladys also showed us some photos from the "Native Ways" track of the conference, including highlights from the "Acorn Lady" who demonstrated how native Californians prepared foods from locally-gathered acorns.

Next, Monica Ford, aka Real Food Devote, gave us a nice overview of her time at the conference, including some photos of her debut as a Conference Presenter. Congrats to Monica on a job well done addressing a full audience on how to start and run a real food business!  Monica hopes that soon we will all be able to travel anywhere in the USA and find wholesome, healthy, traditionally-prepared foods wherever we go.  Monica also shared some beautiful photos of her trip to Chaffin Family Orchards.

Aaron Zober, host of the local radio show "The Appropriate Omnivore" spoke next and shared his photos of many of the exhibitors and presenters at the conference, including several that he interviewed for his show.  To top off the evening, Aaron followed up with some mouth-watering images of the meals served at the conference, with enticing descriptions of the beautifully prepared foods made with fresh, locally and sustainably grown ingredients.

It was fun to relive the excitement of the conference, and hear about the parts we all missed.  The annual Wise Traditions conference has become so large now that it offers at least 4-5 different tracks at any given moment, every day.  Some of the tracks for this year's conference included:  Nourishing Traditional Diets, Gut & Psychology Syndrome, Nutrition & Behavior, the Science of Farming, Traditional Cooking, Native Ways, Wise Entrepreneurs, Wellness, and Nutrition.  The conference really explores all the connections between our foods, our environment, and our bodies; from growing the crops & raising the animals, to harvesting the food products, preparing and serving them, consuming them, and reaping their health benefits.  

Though we didn't have time to adequately discuss the conference's theme, "Nutrition and Behavior," rest assured that the message rang loud and clear throughout many of the scientific lectures at the conference.  Every theme-based lecture at the conference highlighted the importance of certain nutrients for their critical roles in mental health.  Not surprisingly, the declining state of mental health and happiness in the western world today can be directly traced to deficiencies in these nutrients, all of which are plentiful in traditional diets. Consistently we were shown that the foods we need to eat for good mental health include whole animals with the skin, bones, organs, and fats, raw dairy, fermented foods, sprouted nuts, seeds, and grains, and even tropical oils.  As Dr. Weston A. Price observed, the people he encountered consuming traditional diets were not only stronger and healthier in general, they also had brighter, calmer, and more cheerful dispositions,  Their babies didn't cry as much, and violent crimes and mental illness were unheard of.  In fact, in many of these cultures, there was no need to incarcerate anyone, so prisons simply did not exist.

Near the end of our chapter meeting, important mention was also given to the inspiring Closing Ceremony of the conference when Jeffery Smith of the Institute for Responsible Technology highlighted how far we've come in the battle to label foods containing genetically modified organisms or GMOs.  Though Prop 37 in California didn't pass, it nearly passed, and even more importantly, it inspired many other states to start their own initiatives.  As far as Jeffrey is concerned, we may have lost this one battle, but we certainly are winning the war against GMOs, and all future generations of humans, plants, and animals will thank us for our efforts.  What an inspiring ending to a truly awesome conference!

As the leader of this chapter, I am proud to be part of such an active community that is truly embracing the lessons of Dr. Weston A. Price and the foundation in his name.   Clearly, participation in this movement is growing in the Pasadena area, as more and more people seek local and traditional foods, start businesses, and use traditional foods to improve their health.  If our growing attendance at the conferences is any measure, then we're surely on the right track to a healthier and more sustainable future.  In 2008, the last time the conference was held in California, our chapter was just an idea, with a few Pasadena area attendees who didn't know each other.  Last year at the conference in Dallas, maybe 5 of us attended and brought home some great experiences to share with our fellow members.  This year our attendance rose to 17, many of whom were active participants in the conference, volunteering, representing great organizations like the Raw Milk Institute, presenting, and exhibiting.  

In fact, by being active participants at the conference, we're also actively increasing our area's knowledge of this health-giving, science-based, ecologically-sustainable, and delicious lifestyle.  By supporting local farmers and traditional food businesses, we're increasing our area's demand for traditional foods and inspiring others to do the same.  Let's hope that by the next time the Wise Traditions conference comes to California, we'll be able to boast even more traditional farms and food businesses in our area, a greater knowledge base, and even better attendance!  ( … not to mention a healthier and happier community!)

Thank you to everyone who attended the 2012 Wise Traditions conference and supported the mission of the Weston A. Price Foundation this year!

~ Your Chapter Leader,  Karen