Over the last century, our refined, Western foods have crept into most societies world wide. What has been the impact of these foods on the health and wellbeing of ancient cultures and peoples? In this podcast, we discuss the work of Weston A. Price and the foundation that carries his name, and how they are helping cultures all over the world to return to traditional, healing foods.

Background:

Weston Price was a dentist with an interest in nutrition and health, who travelled extensively in the 1930’s, observing the dietary habits of diverse cultures including the Lötschental in Switzerland, Native Americans, Polynesians, Pygmies, and Australian Aboriginals, among many others.  His extensive research materials include some 15,000 photographs, 4,000 slides, and many filmstrips.  He observed that various diseases endemic to Western cultures of the 1920s and 1930s were rarely present in non-Western cultures, and that as non-Western groups abandoned indigenous diets and adopted Western patterns of living, they showed increases in typical Western diseases. He concluded that Western methods of commercially preparing and storing foods stripped away vitamins and minerals necessary to prevent these diseases.

Initially, the medical and scientific communities vigorously rejected this controversial work as lacking scientific precision, nevertheless, as time went on, research has confirmed his observations and modern medical orthodoxy is slowly accepting that lifestyle and diet are a major factor, perhaps the major factor, in the degenerative diseases that plague the developed world.  Many have credited his book, “Nutrition and Physical Degeneration: A Comparison of Primitive and Modern Diets and Their Effects“, with greatly improving their health. [via amazon.com.au]

This Episode:

Jo interviews Hilda Gore of the Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF) in the US about her work, the foundation’s commitment of sharing knowledge and research around “food, farming, and the healing arts”, and her upcoming trip to Australia. They talk about this non-profit group’s dedication to restoring nutrient-dense foods to the human diet through education, research and activism. WAPF 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 labelling, prepared parenting and nurturing therapies.

Bonus – Intro with the cooks at the Hope for Health “Together Retreat”!

Jo is recording this episode from Noonamah, NT, where she and her friends and cooking at an Indigenous health and cultural learning retreat – the perfect place to talk about traditional cultures, the effect of a western diet on indigenous people, and the importance of traditional healing foods!! Jo, Leah and Shantell share their experiences of cooking for and with the Yolngu people of East Arnhem Land – fascinating indigenous foods, knowledge and bush craft were shared with the Balanda (non-indigenous) people at the two week retreat, and much connection, learning and healing took place. Such a beautiful experience for all who attended. (You can find more info about the “Together Retreats” here.) Jo and the girls were adopted into the Yolngu clan, and Jo is looking forward to travelling with Hilda up to Elcho Island to spend time with the Yolngu people in September, learning more about their traditional foods. You can check out Jo’s photos and videos of this retreat on her Quirky Cooking Facebook page, here.

Useful Links:

Learn more about The Weston A. Price Foundation

Visit Hilda’s Website, Holistic Hilda

Listen in to Hilda Gore’s Podcast, Wise Traditions

Help support Hilda’s upcoming trip to Australia

Learn more about the work of Hope for Health in Australia