Our March 2014 Potluck Dinner Meeting - Nutrition from a Doctor's Perspective with Dr. Yoshi Rahm, D. O.

by Karen S. Voelkening-Behegan, MA, NTP, CGP

On the last Thursday in March, the Pasadena California Chapter of the Weston A. Price Foundation welcomed osteopath Dr. Yoshi Rahm to our monthly potluck dinner meeting.   After an extra-nourishing feast in the dining area of Nature Friends Lodge, we headed upstairs to soak in the offerings of our special guest.

In his cheerful, mild-mannered, and straight-forward fashion, Dr. Rahm highlighted the benefits of glutathione and ozone, two of the most powerful and protective healing substances known to man.   Careful to note that neither compound is a cure-all, Dr. Rahm spoke about the therapeutic uses of both glutathione and ozone in assisting the body to heal all kinds of conditions. 


Glutathione

First Dr. Rahm gave a short talk about glutathione, the most powerful antioxidant in the human body.  The "Mother of all Antioxidants," glutathione has many responsibilities:  It facilitates the regeneration of vitamins C and E, it neutralizes free radicals, it enables the transport of mercury out of our cells, and it aids mitochondrial and DNA functioning. It also moderates the risk of radiation exposure, and is highly recommended as a therapy if you ever receive a CAT scan, which exposes you to the radiation equivalent of up to 1100 x-rays.

Glutathione is so important that it can even slow aging.  Among longevity scientists, it has been shown that telomere length decreases with age, and that glutathione helps slow down the wear and tear of our telomeres.  Telomeres are nucleotide sequences found at the ends of our chromosomes, which protect our genetic material from deterioration.  As Dr. Rahm put it, “Your telomeres shorten as you age.  Once they’re gone, you die!”  So we’re only as old as our telomeres are long.  Lucky for us, even though glutathione cannot reverse aging, it definitely can slow down the shortening of our telomeres.  Increased glutathione levels are associated with longer lasting telomeres and longer life.  That makes perfect sense if you consider that the primary role of glutathione is to aid the detoxification process and prevent cell damage.  As you would imagine, glutathione not only keeps us younger longer, but also helps in the fight against many acute and chronic illnesses due to its great protective and detoxifying effects.

Though our bodies make our own glutathione, our internal supply of this very important antioxidant can be severely depleted by a number of factors including poor diet, pollution, toxins, medications, stress, trauma, aging, infections, and radiation.  In fact low glutathione levels are found in nearly all chronically ill patients, many of whom lack the ability to effectively build, use, and recycle glutathione.  Healthy glutathione levels are essential for maintaining a well-functioning immune system, and preventing both cancer and a wide variety of chronic diseases.

If you aren't feeling well and suspect that you have low glutathione levels, you may want to consider glutathione therapy.  As a therapy, glutathione can be administered in a number of ways. Homeopathically, it absorbs right under the tongue and into the bloodstream.  Orally, in the form of a pill, it is not recommended because most of the glutathione gets digested before it can do any good.  Topically, glutathione works by slowly absorbing through the skin into your cells and circulation.  But by far the most effective way to immediately increase your glutathione levels is via injection.  This is method Dr. Rahm uses in his practice for anyone needing extra glutathione support.

If you’d like to increase your glutathione levels naturally, it helps to be on a traditional diet that supplies plenty of high quality proteins and the important cofactors that help break them down and recombine them.  Glutathione is synthesized in the body from 3 amino acids, cysteine, glutamine, and glycine, which are specifically found in meats, organs, bones, skin, and of course bone broth!  In addition, once you include the appropriate co-factors in your diet such as those found in folate-rich legumes, leafy greens, and sulfur-rich foods like fermented vegetables, garlic, onions, and cruciferous vegetables, you’ve got yourself a formula for the great anti-oxidant protection that only glutathione can provide. 

Besides maintaining a glutathione-friendly diet, you can enhance your supply of glutathione with a number of healthy lifestyle factors:  Good stress management for lower stress levels, regular moderate aerobic and anaerobic exercise, meditation, deep breathing, plenty of sleep, and a good support network.   In combination with diet, each of these lifestyle factors plays an important role in your glutathione synthesis, and ultimately your health and longevity.  For more information about glutathione and glutathione therapy, refer to Dr. Rahm’s glutathione handout, or contact Dr. Rahm.

Ozone Therapy

In keeping with the theme of protective nutrients, Dr. Rahm also showed us the important film, “Ozone, a Medical Breakthrough?” an updated version of the award winning 1994 documentary, “Ozone and the Politics of Medicine “ by Producer/Director Geoffrey Rogers of Threshold Film, Inc.  A powerful investigative documentary filmed in 11 countries over 16 years, the movie explains the benefits of ozone therapy and the politics of fear and controversy surrounding its use in the USA and Canada in spite of thousands if not millions of successes worldwide.

When I first talked to Dr. Rahm about ozone, I asked whether it could be considered a nutrient like the others we talk about at the Weston A. Price Foundation.  Ozone is a form of oxygen, not something we would normally think of as consumable.  But for the cells in our body, oxygen is the most important nutrient there is.  There’s a reason why we breathe it, and why, though we can go for weeks without food and days without water, we can barely survive a few minutes without oxygen.

Click on image for link to trailer

Oxygen is vital to every cell in the body.  Ozone, or O3, as explained by Dr. Rahm, is simply a high-powered, supercharged, reactive form of oxygen comprised of 3 oxygen atoms instead of two, in other words “super oxygen.”  For those who fear any toxic effects from its reactivity, it’s helpful to remember a couple important points:  First, ozone tends to form around other reactive molecules, so as Dr. Rahm explained, though we associate it with air pollution, its occurrence is simply an indicator of the presence of toxins.  Ozone also forms when the sun's rays hit our upper atmosphere, creating the earth's ozone shield and protecting us from harm.

Second, anything can be toxic in excessive amounts.  That's why we have the field of pharmacotoxicology.  We mustn’t forget that it’s the dose that makes the poison. Ozone therapy, delivered at the right dose and at the right time and place can do a lot of good with little to no side effects.  The benefits of ozone are due in part to its ability to stimulate the formation of destructive free radicals that attack only unhealthy cells without their own built-in antioxidant defenses.  For more about the biochemical mechanisms of ozone, I recommend reading: Ozone - History, Biochemistry, and Therapeutic Effects.

Ozone has been clinically shown to heal the effects of many diseases including aids, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and tumors. It has helped heal injuries, clear dental infections, prevent amputations, and decrease damage from heart attacks and strokes.  It has been widely accepted and used for decades in Germany, and is gaining popularity throughout Europe, India, and Latin America.  The USA is one of the only countries in the world where it is not considered an important therapeutic tool.   Luckily, ozone therapy has been legalized in California, so Dr. Rahm is now able to offer it to his patients.  Ozone is administered as an intravenous injection, in a quantity, concentration, and frequency corresponding to the specific needs of each individual patient.

Besides the evidence provided by the documentary for the healing effects of ozone in patients around the world, we also learned about the healing effects of ozone therapy right here in our own back yard.  One of Dr. Rahm’s MS patients, a young woman in her 20s, had debilitating symptoms of paralysis on one entire side of her body.  After several weeks of ozone therapy, the paralysis was 90-95% gone.

Reinforcing Dr. Rahm’s tremendous success with ozone therapy, a member of the audience stood up to tell her own story:  Years ago, before ozone therapy was legalized in California, she developed 3 abdominal tumors which were so large that that she needed regular hydrotherapy sessions to clear her GI tract.   Finally, the tumors grew so large that surgery became her only legal option, so instead of choosing surgery, she sought out some good “underground” ozone therapy.  Within 2 weeks, all the tumors were gone.  When she returned to her original doctor, he was reluctant to give any credit to the ozone therapy.  But she knew in her heart that when nothing else worked, it was the ozone that resolved the problem.

Dr. Rahm’s most passionate message of the evening was that if you or anyone you know ever has a heart attack or stroke, the sooner you get ozone therapy, the quicker you’ll recover, and the less long-term damage and scarring you will have.   Brain scans featured in the documentary from a patient with 3 strokes showed that the stroke with the most healing and the least scar tissue was the one treated with ozone.

Likewise, the sooner you get some ozone after a heart attack, the quicker you’ll heal, the less scar tissue you’ll develop, and the better long-term prognosis you’ll have.  For internal injuries like heart attacks and strokes, ozone is most effectively delivered in the form of an injection. For external injuries, it can also be applied as a topical agent such as ozone-infused olive oil.


There are so many uses for ozone that it seems criminal to actively withhold it from patients in the United States.  Here at the Weston A. Price Foundation, we know all too well about how politics can influence our ability to access the healing nutrients we need.   You’ll have to watch the film to learn more about the politics of ozone therapy, but suffice it to say that the conventional establishment considers the thousands of successful cases over decades of clinical work across the globe as merely “anecdotal,” and that funding to validate these worldwide successes in the United States of America is lacking.  We can only guess how much money the pharmaceutical industry would lose if this successful alternative therapy were to take hold here in the US.

A huge Grass Roots effort is needed to alter opinions and get ozone therapy more accepted and available throughout the country.  Changing the attitude of most conventional physicians regarding ozone will take some serious work.  But with any hope, someday our health care system will see how much we stand to gain by incorporating this therapy into the halls of modern American medicine.  We just need to keep demanding it, and keep showing how it can aid in the healing process and ultimately reduce health care costs nationwide.

Our heartfelt gratitude goes out to Dr. Rahm for daring to defy convention by legally offering his patients access to this wonderful healing therapy.  Oxygen is, after all our Number 1 nutrient!  For more information about ozone and ozone therapy, please refer to Dr. Rahm’s Ozone Therapy handout, or contact Dr. Rahm.

Thanks to all who attended and contributed to our March potluck dinner meeting. 

I hope to see you at our next meeting in April!

~ Your Chapter Leader, Karen

Link to Trailer for "Ozone, a Medical Breakthrough?

Our February 2014 Potluck Dinner Meeting with local Rancher and Grass Farmer, John de Bruin

by Karen Voelkening-Behegan

When I arrived at our monthly gathering last week, our special guest, rancher and grass farmer John de Bruin of the California Lowline Cattle Company and Dey Dey's Best Beef Ever was already busily preparing samples of his grass-fed sausages, beef fillets, and London broil.  We had a cheerful crowd of about 20 participants with a handful of new faces.

Just to give you an idea of how colorful our meals are, it finally occurred to me to take this photo of some full plates.  I really think that as much as we talk about meat in this group, we probably eat more vegetables than most vegans and vegetarians.   In meat-phobic diets, in the absence of healthy animal proteins and fats, our bodies tend to steer us towards starchy carbohydrates.  The hunger signal is not as readily turned off, and the urge to fill your plate and belly with starchy carbs becomes so strong that your focus is directed away from eating adequate amounts of produce.   Without the meats and healthy animal fats, people crave and eat more grains, beans, and tubers, all of which, when over-consumed or improperly prepared, tend to be inflammatory and cause nutritional imbalances and even food intolerances.  So here at the Weston A. Price Foundation, we

advocate lots of properly-prepared non-starchy vegetables accentuated by meats and other animal products in their most natural form, and finally if desired and tolerated, some properly prepared nuts, seeds, grain, beans, or tubers. The result is a colorful plate overflowing with the nutrients needed to both build and cleanse your body!

As our February potluck dinner meeting began, our special guest John de Bruin passed around his tasty breakfast sausage as an appetizer, and then moved on to his beef fillets and finally his savory London broil.  One thing that John prides himself on is the flavor of his beef.  He puts a lot of effort into cultivating the right kind of grasses that will produce the best tasting meat.  He generally seeds his fields with a mixture of  rye, orchard grass, alfalfa, oats, fescue, and barley.  According to John, their are 3 factors which contribute to the flavor of the meat:  the breed of cattle, their diet, and the aging process.  The breed John grows is a cross between Angus and lowline cattle. 

Sadly he points out, that although grass-fed meat is great for our health and for the environment, unfortunately many grass-fed beef producers do not consider the quality of their grasses, leading them to produce a much tougher and less flavorful product, which can turn people off grass-fed meat.  So take some good advice from John de Bruin:  if you're grass-fed curious, shop around and don't make a judgement or even a purchase until you find a brand that is known for its flavor.  Otherwise you may be sorely disappointed.  Properly raised grass-fed beef is so good for both you and the environment (see the Ted Talk with Alan Savory or my July 2013 post to this blog) that we want you to have a good experience and come back for more.  If you live in the Pasadena area, then the grass-fed beef from Dey Dey's Best Beef Ever at the Pasadena Farmer's market is the way to go!

During his after-dinner talk, John showed a Power-Point presentation, my favorite slides of which were the ones with nutrition charts for grass-fed versus grain-fed beef and pasture-raised versus conventionally-raised chicken eggs.  The differences were astonishing and inspiring.  The  nutrition information on those charts alone would certainly make me want to switch to grass-fed beef and pastured chicken if I wasn't already hooked on it!   Though grass-fed beef tends to be more pricey than grain-fed beef, you'll eat smaller quantities, and in the long run, as long as you avoid processed food and eat plenty of clean veggies, you'll save on your health care bills.  Ultimately, whichever way you look at it, you will end up paying for your health, either by prevention or by disease management.  Personally, I choose the former!

Another point which stands out from his presentation was how John became interested in farming in the first place.  Farming is actually his third career, one he started after years as an engineer.  He'd always wanted to live in the country, but was city bound until his retirement.  Remembering his favorite cow "Bessie" with the most loving adoring eyes and beautiful long eyelashes from the time he spent in Holland as a child, John always knew that after retiring, he would buy some land and start raising beef cattle.  He figured it would be way easier than engineering, at least from an intellectual standpoint.  Boy was he wrong!  Managing the grasses, diet, water, herding, and grazing of the cattle is a complex operation.  Building a sustainable system also takes a great love of nature and the ability to explore, understand, and try to reproduce natural ecosystems in a farmed setting.  For this John uses a system developed by the infamous Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm.

Following this system, John's cattle start each day on a new paddock of lush green grass.  The cattle graze to their hearts' content, depositing manure as they go, and stimulating the plants to grow, absorb more carbon from the atmosphere, and transfer it to the earth. The next day, the cattle are directed to their new paddocks, and John moves the chickens to the freshly vacated area. There the chickens spend the day scratching through the cow patties in search of their favorite treat, fly larvae.  Chickens are omnivores so they need a diet rich in both plant and animal foods.  A vegetarian-fed chicken is not a "natural" chicken, while a chicken who eats an omnivorous diet will not only be healthier itself, but tastier too, with greater health benefits for the consumer.  In addition to insects, John's chickens also feast on whatever grass is left after the cows leave, as well as some non-GMO grains, all of which are components of the chicken's natural diet.  So the chickens scratch and spread the manure around the pasture, while adding some of their own fertilizer too, further stimulating the growth of fresh green grass and the sequestration of carbon from the atmosphere.  The next day the chickens follow the cows, the grass grows thicker and stronger behind them, and the cycle continues.  

John has temporarily suspended his egg operation due to great losses from predation, and he's currently working on a system to better protect his flocks from coyotes, bobcats, and raccoons.  Over the last 2 years he's lost about 500 birds, and most of them weren't even eaten, just killed.  John plans to invest in some dogs to keep away the predators.  But before he can do that, he needs to construct  a fence around the pastures.  The fence won't keep the predators out, but it will keep the dogs in, and on the job.  In addition, John keeps the chickens in mobile enclosures that he can move from paddock to paddock.  Predators are currently digging their way into the enclosures, so the plan is to reinforce them with some protective rubber sheeting so the predators can't dig through.  Hopefully with the improved enclosures, new fencing, and trained dogs, John will reduce his losses and start selling eggs again.  His eggs are absolutely delicious and won second place in the September 2011 issue of LA magazine for best farmers market eggs in LA county.  That contest didn't even account for nutritional value, but if it had, Dey Dey's eggs most certainly would have won. 

Another issue which John touched upon was the current drought in California.  Normally, every winter, John keeps his cattle on non-irrigated pastures which receive enough rain during the winter to grow the grass and feed the cattle.  Unfortunately this year, there was so little rain that the grass didn't grow, so John was forced to relocate some of his cattle, and move the rest to the irrigated pastures that he normally reserves for summer use.  This definitely puts pressure on his resources, as his water bill is already $40,000 per year in a good year.  We learned that no matter who owns the land, the water beneath it belongs to the state of California, so there's always a price to pay.  Let's hope John's ranch survives this drought without any loss of animals and without too much of a price increase for his consumers.  We need more grass-fed cattle, not fewer.  I know my family depends on it, since I refuse to feed them grain-fed beef.  The nutritional value of grass-fed beef is priceless, and supporting local sustainable farmers like John not only helps the local economy, but is also good for the animals and the environment too.  I wouldn't choose any other meat. 

One thing John did mention is that no one really knows if this drought is temporary or permanent.  It has to do with the migration of the jet stream, due to a change in what John calls the "Delta -T," or difference in temperature between the poles and the equator.  When this number changes, so does the position of the jet stream.  Once the jet stream moves, it takes the weather with it, and the result is climate change in the land below.  That's why so much of the USA and Europe had more precipitation this year while southern California had far less than our usual amount.  So all we can do is cross our fingers and wait.  I hope for John's sake, his cattle, and the communities he feeds, that the rain comes back soon.  We did have quite a bit of rain during past few days, but one good rainfall is never enough to alleviate a severe drought.  We need the jet stream to move back to its original position for that. 


On a final note, there was some discussion about regulations for small farmers, and John encouraged everyone to please make our voices heard by our government and local representatives.  Regulators tend not to differentiate between large industrial farms and small sustainable ones.  First, the two types of farms have completely different contamination risks, that of factory farms being quite high compared to that of small sustainable farms.  Second, the measures necessary to keep the meat safe are completely different; so to require a small sustainable farm to use the same safety measures as a large industrial one is not only unnecessary, but also puts a huge financial burden on small farmers, which tends to put them out of business. 

We need more small farms, not fewer, and while there are plenty of folks who would argue that the government should just stay out of everyone's business, to be more realistic, we need to make sure our legislators know that small farms need their own set of rules and regulations that are consistent with their products, their operations, and their budgets.  It's up to us to educate our legislators and let them know that there is a demand for sustainably-raised meats, that the operations and products of small sustainable farms differ greatly from those of large-scale factory farms, and that law-makers need to make provisions for this in their regulations.  If we don't make our voices heard, our small farms will be in great jeopardy, and fewer and fewer prospective small farmers will enter the business.  We need regulations that are appropriate, manageable, and encouraging to the growth of small sustainable farms.

That was the resounding take-home message for the night.  And with that, I highly encourage  you to become a member of the Weston A. Price Foundation and its sister organization, the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, where your dollars help support small sustainable farms.  As a member of the Weston A. Price Foundation, you'll also receive our wonderful quarterly Wise Traditions journal, and most importantly, email advisories on upcoming legislation, with contact information for your local legislators.  Please join us in our mission to bring more healthy food and animals to our country and our plates!  

Until we meet again, don't forget to think about where you put your food dollars and what type of health care system, animal care system, and environment you are supporting.  Collectively, where we choose to spend our food dollars could either make or break a strong network of small sustainable farms in both southern California and throughout the USA.  The choice is yours!

In good health and good conscience,

Your chapter leader, Karen

Our January 2014 Potluck Dinner Meeting: In Organic We Trust

by Aaron Zober

The Weston A. Price Pasadena Chapter kicked off the new year with its January event.  The first potluck meeting of 2014 had a large turnout with about 30 people, consisting of some long time attendees as well some new people finding out what the group is about.  As usual, the meeting started with the potluck dinner where people brought everything from local pastured meats, raw cheeses, fermented veggies, and a great variety of grain free desserts.  

After the dinner, we moved upstairs to watch the documentary In Organic We Trust.  The film opens with interviewing people on the street as to what they know about organics.  Many people didn't know exactly what it involves, but believe that it's the healthy way to eat.  

In Organic We Trust then goes into explaining specifically what it means to be organic.  The doc emphasizes that being certified organic doesn't mean that foods can't be sprayed with anything.  Certain sprays are allowed, such as ones to wash the produce.

In Organic also delves into the government regulations companies have to go through to get certified as such.  The film additionally makes the point that some organic products can be heavily processed as well as can be transported from far away before they make it to supermarkets.  

After discussing some aspects of organics that the general public might not be aware, In Organic We Trust then works its way into the advantages of this type of agriculture.  The doc explains how organic certification outlaws the use of many toxic pesticides. In Organic also brings up how the procedure forbids hormones and antibiotics from being administered to livestock. 

The overall view taken about organics by In Organic We Trust is that this system of farming has many advantages, but they can get lost with government involvement and corporations cashing in on the term.  The last part of the documentary brings into play further things we can do, such as having classrooms teach more about nutrition and starting school gardens.  In Organic also stresses the importance of local farmers markets.  

There's a lot of invaluable information that we as Weston A. Price members can get out of In Organic We Trust. The doc had a segment in it that mentioned the importance of mixed farming, using livestock to fertilize fruits and vegetables.  This concept is a major part of the WAPF and the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund's mission.  

Another part of In Organic We Trust that registered with me was sequence of shots containing processed foods found in the supermarkets that have USDA organic certification.  Any food containing organic canola oil, agave syrup, or textured soy protein is still best to be avoided.  Also while organic cookies are better than cookies filled with GMOs, they're still cookies and should remain occasional treats.

Thanks to all who attended the January potluck and got the chance to start what will be another great year of learning about nutrient dense foods and natural living.  I hope to see you at the end of this month where Dey Dey's Best Beef Ever founder John DeBruin brings us the latest news about the pasture raised cows and chickens at his Lompoc farm.  

Our December 2013 Potluck Dinner Meeting: A Review of the 2013 International Wise Traditions Conference

Pasadena Chapter Members Dustin Emmons, Janet Freund, 
Aaron Zober

by Aaron Zober

Every December potluck since the Pasadena Weston A. Price Chapter started in 2010 has been an end of the year celebration.  For the 2013 holiday celebration, the Pasadena Chapter joined together with the West Los Angeles/Santa Monica Chapter for what was the first joint event of the two prolific groups. 

The event was held at the 8 Espressos Coffeehouse in West LA, which is the regular meeting place for the Westside chapter.  The potluck was filled with lots of great treats to close out the year, including bison kidney, raw milk latte, turkey bone broth, gelatin fruit snacks, homemade sourdough bread, and grass fed chili meat.

West LA Chapter Co-Leader/Founder Victoria Bloch

For the West LA Chapter, this was also their first event since the Wise Traditions Conference in Atlanta last November.  Chapter co-leader/founder Victoria Bloch gave a detailed recap of the recent conference.  Victoria has been to most of the conferences and said this one ranked as one of the best.  She talked about everything from the Farm-to-Consumer debate with Joe and Joel to the speakers to of course, the food served at the meals. 

Along with Victoria speaking about the highlights of the conference, three other West LA chapter members came up and spoke about their experiences at the conference all from very different perspectives. 

Wise Traditions Conferences Attendees Alison Cohn, Melissa Henig,
and Hannah Crum

Alison Cohn talked about how this was her first conference as she had recently discovered WAPF.  Raw Food Stylist Founder Melissa Henig has gone to a couple conferences now and spoke about how she finds the conferences beneficial in being a WAPF member and a primal dieter.  Lastly, Kombucha Kamp founder Hannah Crum spoke about her experience not only attending several of the conferences, but also now being a speaker and exhibitor at Wise Traditions.  All three of the ladies great points of view of the conference that supplemented what Victoria had to say.

The joint event between the Pasadena and West LA Weston A. Price Chapters was a success.  In the new year, the two chapters are looking at doing more events together.  Stay tuned for more  information about what these events will be. Also, please join us for our first potluck of 2014.  We kick off the new year, back at our usual location of the Nature Friends Clubhouse in Sierra Madre on Tuesday January 28 as osteopath Dr. Yoshi Rahm speaks about nutrition and health from a doctor's perspective.  

Our December 2013 Potluck Dinner Meeting: A Holiday Gathering with the West LA-Santa Monica Chapter

All reports indicate that our December potluck dinner meeting was a big success.  After a last-minute change that moved our meeting from Thursday 12/19 in Sierra Madre to Tuesday 12/17 in Los Angeles, many of our devoted members were still able to trek down to the 8 Espressos Coffeehouse in LA to mingle with our friends at the West LA-Santa Monica Chapter. Though I wasn't able to attend the meeting, my loyal co-leader Aaron Zober did, and will be posting his report soon.  Many thanks to the founding leader of the West LA-Santa Monica Chapter, Victoria Bloch for enthusiastically encouraging a chapter mingler for the holidays.  The combined meeting went so well that we're already talking about doing it again.  Just keep an eye on the schedule for updates.

Happy New Year!  May you make many joyous and healthy leaps forward in 2014!

~ Your Chapter Leader, Karen

Our November 2013 Potluck Dinner Meeting: A Review of the 2013 International Wise Traditions Conference

by Karen Voelkening-Behegan

A small group of energetic souls braved a cold dark rainy evening in the canyon to attend our November potluck dinner meeting.  I missed the dinner portion myself, but when I arrived, about 8 people were gathered at the table listening intently to stories from the 2013 Wise Traditions conference told by fellow member Rolf Hastrup.

The conference which took place this year in Atlanta, Georgia, was an inspiration to many.  As always, it offered an amazing assortment of local foods, vendors, speakers, classes, special events, and field trips.  If you are among those from our area who could not attend the conference this year, you may be interested in ordering conference recordings. Just check in regularly to keep track of when the recordings are posted.

Though your Pasadena chapter leaders Karen Voelkening-Behegan and Aaron Zober could not attend the conference this year, we did share some highlights from the conference at our local meeting.  Read on for some important announcements from the conference, the latest news from the Farm To Consumer Legal Defense Fund, and a link to some interviews with 8 prominent conference speakers.

Here are the announcements I shared from the conference:

1) The Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF) is coming out with an app of their Shopping Guide.  It will give the WAPF more visibility and enable everyone with a smart phone to carry the guide wherever they go.    One very generous donor funded the development of the app which is scheduled to be available at the App Store on December 10th.  In the meantime, if you'd like to order a hard-copy of the Shopping Guide, just go to the main Weston A. Price Foundation website and click "Order Materials" in the side menu of any page.

2) The Weston A. Price Foundation is working towards establishing a food research lab at the University of Illinois to serve as a resource for accurate information about the nutritional value of nutrient-dense foods.  The Foundation needs donations of $300,000 per year to make this happen.  Today when most funding is profit-driven and geared towards patenting drugs or selling highly-processed nutrient-poor synthetic foods, we need to find a way to scientifically test the real foods that no one can patent.  Finding donors who stand nothing to gain from funding the research can be quite difficult, so the Weston A. Price Foundation has taken the Public Radio approach by asking the public for their support.  Just as we make donations to public radio because we want accurate news, we also need to fund nutritional studies if we want accurate information about the food we eat.  In order to be truly non-biased, scientific studies need to be supported by individuals and groups whose only agenda is to discover the truth.  So please help spread the word, go to the Weston A. Price Foundation website, click the biggest button on the homepage, and donate whatever you can!  Then Chris Masterjohn, PhD and the esteemed Dr. Fred Kummerow can continue the work of Dr. Weston A. Price and lead the nutritional studies we’ve been waiting for. 

At our November potluck dinner meeting, I also spoke about the latest news from the foundation’s sister organization, the Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund (FTCLDF).  The FTCLDF is spearheading the effort to defend farmers, vendors, artisans, and consumers who produce and consume sustainably-raised nutrient-dense foods from government harassment, both local and federal.  Every year on the eve of the conference, the WAPF holds a fundraiser dinner and special program for the FTCLDF.  A recording of this year's 1-hour-45-minute-long program is available online at:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bv_oydmwVls.  If you don't have time to watch the whole thing, here are some of the highlights:

At the fundraiser, FTCLDF president Pete Kennedy spoke about the Fund’s latest accomplishments and goals.  There are now 35-40 states where consumers have access to raw milk, up from 25 just a few years ago, the most recent additions being North Dakota, Arkansas, and Michigan.  Close to ¾ of the states in the USA have passed cottage food bills for the unregulated sale of a variety of homemade foods, while other states have allowed for small-scale on-farm cultured processing, which is mainly unregulated.  Also, in most states people can produce and sell eggs without a permit. 

Pete Kennedy, President of the Farm To Consumer
Legal Defense Fund

Pete’s most passionate message was about the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (aka FSMA) which puts unreasonable burdens on small farmers, and would essentially put them out of business and establish a 2-tier food system in the US:  one that offers regulated food produced by factories and factory farms, and unregulated, highly processed, imported food.  Pete encouraged everyone to contact their representatives and ask them to preserve the Tester-Hagan exemption, which would protect small farmers from crippling over-regulation.  Pete’s ultimate goal is to establish an alternative 2-tier food system, one that protects consumers' rights to obtain the food of their choice from the source of their choice, whether regulated or unregulated, and one that encourages the growth, development, and consumption of sustainably-raised nutrient-dense foods. 

Another important mission of Pete Kennedy and the FTCLDF is to inspire all of us to work towards passing Food Freedom legislation at the state level in all states.  As an example, the Commonwealth of Virginia has just passed two Food Freedom bills, and is currently working towards 5 more:  the creation of zoning regulations which support the production and distribution of real foods, the protection of on-farm sales with no regulation, the protection of home processing, the legalization of the sale of raw milk, and the protection of consumers’ rights to obtain the food of their choice from the source of their choice.   Everyone needs access to sustainably-raised nutrient-dense foods, unhindered by over-regulation.  In Pete's estimation, the health and well-being of all our children and grandchildren depends on it!

Vernon Hershberger receiving the "Never A Doormat"
award from Pete Kennedy and the
Farm To Consumer Legal Defense Fund

At the end of his talk, Pete gave out the 2013 “Never a Doormat” award, given annually to the individual who stands up against government harassment to carry on providing sustainably-raised nutrient-dense food to their community.  This year the award went to Vernon Hershberger of Wisconsin, who paid the price for his beliefs when he stood up to the government during 3 raids against his farm and farm store, and still kept the raw milk flowing to his consumers in spite of being charged with 4 misdemeanors generating 7 thousand pages of documents.  Mr. Hershberger was acquitted of 3 out of the 4 charges, and Pete is confident that they will succeed in having the 4^th charge dropped in appeals.  To see Mr. Hershberger’s response to receiving the award, you may want to forward through the video of the fundraiser program.

The main feature of the evening was “the GMO debate of the decade” between Natural Health Expert Dr. Joseph Mercola and American Farmer, Lecturer, and Author Joel Salatin.  In the "Joe versus Joel" debate, Dr. Mercola argued for the urgency of implementing GMO-labeling to save lives and improve the health of our nation.  Based on the number of chronic debilitating diseases he has seen in his practice and the number of patients who get well when they remove GMOs from their diet, Dr. Mercola sees GMO-labeling as a form of triage to help the ill and dying have a chance at healthy lives.  Joel Salatin, to the contrary, argued against GMO-labeling as a form of government interference, and that we don’t want the government telling us what to do, defining our labels, or regulating us.  Joel’s philosophical position is that we should all take the responsibility to educate ourselves on our food choices, and not rely on the government to do that for us.  The debate was definitely a lively one that gave us much food for thought.  Tune in to figure out where you stand and see Sally Fallon's response to the debate.

Finally the president and founder of the Weston A. Price Foundation, Sally Fallon addressed the attendees of the annual FTCLD soirée.  Besides praising the work of the Farm To Consumer Legal Defense Fund, Sally also gave us a list of the top 5 goals she'd like to see realized before she dies “at the ripe old age of 105.”  Sally would like to be able to buy non-GMO Kombucha at a ballgame in National Stadium and at any airport in the country; she would like to see butter recognized as a healthy food everywhere, and reach the point where everyone laughs at anyone who speaks out against butter; she would like to see a wide variety of legumes eclipse soy in our food supply, see soy considered a cruel and unusual punishment in prison meals, and see it banned from school lunches and baby fomulas; she would like to see the memberships of the WAPF and the FTCLDF reach 100 thousand members each; and finally she would like to see raw milk available in every state in the USA.

Sally Fallon, President and Founder of the
Weston A. Price Foundation

To finish up the evening, Sally said she was very proud of the FTCLDF and the difference it has made in the availability of nutrient-dense foods in the USA since its founding in July 2007.  Though she gives considerable credit for this trend to consumer education, increased demand for real food, and a growing numbers of small farms, Sally truly believes that the Farm To Consume Legal Defense Fund is making the biggest difference.  The main reason we are able to get more sustainably-raised nutrient-dense foods now in more states, according to Sally Fallon, is that the FTCLDF is leveling the playing field, and federal government agents are thinking twice before harassing small farmers.  In Sally's words: "They think about it first before they mess with us."

At our November potluck dinner meeting, we also learned about 8 prominent conference speakers from our Chapter Co-leader Aaron Zober.  Aaron runs a radio show called the Appropriate Omnivore in which he explores the growth, preparation, distribution, and health benefits of nutrient-dense foods.  For the past couple years now, Aaron has made it a tradition on the Appropriate Omnivore to interview a number of conference speakers during the weeks preceding the annual Wise Traditions conference. This year, Aaron interviewed: 

 

Dr. Joseph Mercola - Osteopath, Mercola.com

Joel Salatin - Farmer, Polyface Farms

Chris Masterjohn, Phd - Researcher, University of Illinois

Hannah Crum - Owner, Kombucha Kamp

Sandeep Agarwal - Owner, Pure Indian Foods & Curator, Butterworld

Joann Grohman - Author, "Keeping a Family Cow"

Pete Kennedy - President, Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund

Sally Fallon - President, Weston A. Price Foundation

As a service to our chapter, Aaron created a Power Point presentation illustrating the highlights of each interview, complete with sound bytes.  To see Aaron’s presentation and listen to portions of the interviews, go to:  The Appropriate Omnivore Wise Traditions 2013 Speaker Series.   To read Aaron's blog and hear the full interviews, go to the Appropriate Omnivore. Thank you, Aaron for putting together this presentation and finding some key sound bytes for us to listen to.

To finish up the evening, Aaron announced the location of next year's 15th annual International Wise Traditions Conference: The conference will take place in Indianapolis, Illinois in November 2014.

Thank you to everyone who attended our November potluck dinner meeting, and thanks again to my Co-leader Aaron for helping me share some important messages from the 14th annual International Wise Traditions Conference.

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving with plenty of good food and harmony among family and friends.  Enjoy the rest of this holiday season, and please join us for our upcoming Holiday Potluck Dinner Meeting in December.

Your Chapter Leader, Karen