About December 4, 2007
I am a slave to cheese. Especially artisanal raw milk cheeses. I could live on good whole grain rye or sourdough bread and cheese. Okay, throw in some oysters and a good steak, eggs, chicken — and lots of organic fruits and vegetables. Chocolate every once in a while.
And coffee. I can’t live without coffee.*
This blog is about my obsession with food and everything connected to food: health, nutrition, raising a child, gardening, travel.
Actually, everything in my life is connected to food. Isn’t that the way it should be?
My name is Ann Marie and I’m a new mother to baby Kate living with daddy Seth and cat Rita in Los Angeles. I recently read the book “Nutrition and Physical Degeneration” by Weston Price and was profoundly affected by it. I’m now a card-carrying member of the Weston A. Price Foundation, and this blog is a reflection of that.
I am also doing what I can to reduce, reuse, recycle, shop local, etc. I want to do everything I can to preserve the planet for my daughter and her children and her children’s children. Plus it’s more fun to hang clothes on a line — you get to soak in the sun while you’re doing laundry.
I would like to move to a small farm with a cow and some chickens. Seth still needs some convincing…
* This may change soon… I am having problems with my adrenal gland. I think I need to reduce my coffee intake. I quit! And I don’t miss it! (Thanks, Dandy Blend!)
Love your blog, just fantastic. Just left another post on the Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride post. As I am the US distributor for her book “Gut and Psychology Syndrome” and her Bio-kult. Please spread the word that they can be purchased here in the US now at our website http://www.guthealth.info
I will post the link. I am planning to place my order for the book and the Bio-Kult on your site — I’m glad it is available now in the US.
My Friend,
sorry not to be in contact for so long - I have been lurking around. Love your new-look site and you have some great, great posts here.
Happy New Year to you all.
x x
Hey,
I just found your website today as an offshoot from the Body Ecology diet and I feel like I’ve found a kindred spirit, thanks so much for posting all this vital information here in one place. I’ve been reading about most of this all for the past 10 years or so since I was in my early twenties, struggling with candida. I’m truly inspired by your site and your commitment to the path of true health for you and your family, and to helping others learn about it.
And, Thanks for the recommendation for Tooth Soap, it sounds like just what I’ve been seeking and came to me just when I need it.
Green Blessings and keep up the heart-work!
Thanks very much! This blog is my refuge — a place to come over coffee (with raw cream and stevia
) in the morning — or at the end of a long day. It helps to write about the things I am learning and processing.
Having a baby changed my whole life. I, like you, overcame candida years ago. I kept a lot of the healthy dietary changes (very little sugar, very few processed foods, trying to eat organic, etc.). But since le bebe was born, I have really swung back to a healthier way of eating.
Thanks to my Uncle Roy (in his 80s) for sending me the link to the Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF) website.
Just found your blog and am loving all the good info. Especially about vaccinations. I don’t have kids yet but I am surely going to research this thoroughly when the time comes. It seems like the hardest part is finding a cooperative/supportive pediatrician! If you ever hear of one in San Diego I would love it if you would post their info.
Thanks!
Hi, thanks for reading! A good book is “How to Raise a Healthy Child In Spite of Your Doctor”. Good info in there about vaccinating. I recommend it.
I didn’t realize the olive oil from TJ’s/Costco was not the real thing. Can you say more about that, or send me to a site?
Thanks
Yes, I’d be happy to post about that. It is such an important issue.
In the meantime, here is the article from the New Yorker magazine where I first heard about it:
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/08/13/070813fa_fact_mueller
Thanks so much for publishing my letter to Hillary.
Would you do me a favor and insert this sentence near the beginning? When I originally wrote it, it was 7000 words long, and am concerned to be careful I do not give a wrong impression by having deleted too much from it.
Please would you replace:
Since the late 1990s (as industrial agriculture took hold in India),166,000 Indian farmers have committed suicide and 8 million have left the land, and it has increased since 2002 to an average of 1 every 20 minutes (P.Sainath,The Hindu). Farmers in Europe, Asia, Africa, Indonesia,South America, Central America and here, have all protested Monsanto and genetic engineering.
With:
Since the late 1990s (as industrial agriculture took hold in India?), 166,000 Indian farmers have committed suicide and 8 million have left the land, and it has increased since 2002 to an average of 1 every 20 minutes (P.Sainath,The Hindu). The reasons for suicides are always complex and Monsanto is not the only giant agribusiness now in India, but it is one of the largest in India, and the main one in Maharastra where the suicides are especially high. Farmers in Europe, Asia, Africa, Indonesia, South America, Central America and here, have all protested Monsanto and genetic engineering.
Thank you so much (and for your kind remarks, as well).
Absolutely! Will do right now.
Thank you so much for taking the time to write that letter. It has had a huge impact on me and many others.
Hello, I’m a mother of an adorable four year old boy who has been diagnosed on the Autism Spectrum. While researching how to reverse his condition, I stumbled on your site. Thanks for pulling all of this wonderful information together!
Hi, Cheray!
You are welcome. Have you started your son on any dietary changes or supplements yet? There is a Yahoo group called Healing Leaky Gut where many of us post about the GAPS diet. There are several moms on there with kids on the autistim spectrum.
Also I highly recommend you get a copy of Natasha Campbell McBride’s book Gut & Psychology Syndrome. I ordered it here:
http://www.guthealth.info
Also look on YouTube and type in natasha campbell mcbride — there are 6 videos on there where she explains more.
It is reversible! Dr. CMcB’s own son has completely reversed the autism.
Please keep me posted on how your son is doing.
Ann Marie
Just stumbled onto your blog while searching for “Nourishing Traditions” style recipes, and it hits very close to home for me…in more ways than one! I live in Santa Monica, have an almost 11-month-old daughter, was diagnosed hypothyroid when my first daughter (now 2) was 8 months old, and my name is….Anne Marie. Haha. I’ve also just given up coffee for the umpteenth time, but it’s so hard to resist strolling through the Farmers’ Market with a big cup.
Wait, are you sure you’re not me? LOL!
That is amazing.
We should get together sometime and go to the farmer’s market.
Which ones do you go to?
I’m not sure if we’re the same person…that would go a long way in explaining the voices, though, LOL.
The girls and I are slaves to the Wednesday and Saturday Santa Monica markets, mainly because we can walk there from home. I love the Sunday market, but we don’t make it there very often. We should definitely meet up! We can chat about cloth diapers, travel, and filling removal (which I’ve just done, though with a different dentist). And food, of course; I’m a relative newbie to this eating style, I still have so much to learn!
BTW, I use Peachhead, too. I’m SURE I’ve seen some of your posts there before.
I was planning to meet up with a couple of WAPF friends (another mom and our local west side WAPF chapter leader) at the Santa Monica farmer’s market a couple of Saturdays from now… lemme look up the date… OK we are planning to go April 12
I will email you.
Hi, I can’t stop reading your wonderful website. I just stumbled across it and am so happy to have found a kindred spirit. I have an 8 month old son and am absolutely against vaccines. I’m appalled at how so many of my friends just don’t think and vaccinate. I can identify with so much that you write about, I even take Congaplex when I’m sick
I am so intrigued by all of the info on fermented food and probiotics, you have inspired me to give up eating sugar (breastfeeding seems to make me crave it) and I’m going to go get a bottle of Kefir today! Thanks for your website, I have so much more reading to do.
Hi, Lauren, thanks so much for your compliments. I get a lot of criticism, too, so it’s wonderful to hear that I sometimes help people!
Congaplex is the bomb!
Kefir is so easy to make — and homemade tastes much better. It’s cheaper too. However, I like you, started first with buying a bottle at the HFS. I didn’t like it so much at first but then I did get used to the taste — now I crave it! It is soooo good for you, too — and wonderful for your breastmilk. I say drink as much as you can!
Also, if it is too sour for you, make it into a smoothie. Add some organic fruit (banana, strawberry, etc.) and maybe a little raw honey. That would also be very good for your breastmilk.
BTW where are you located? — just curious.
Ann Marie
Hi Ann Marie,
Sorry it has taken me so long to respond but I went to a lecture given by my chiropractor last night, so much great info on just about everything natural health related. I live in Michigan, suburbs of Detroit. It’s a challenge to find anything natural here, doctors, food etc. I envy you and the Farmer’s Markets. I started looking into making my own kefir, I wonder if I could find what I need in my area. I still have so much to read on your great site! Thank you!!! Lauren
Hi, Lauren,
You can often find keir grains online. Have you connected with your local Weston A. Price Foundation chapter?
Ann Marie
Great articles, thanks for sharing it! Would love to feature you on Wellsphere.com, a site that helps people to live healthier. Can’t find a contact form so thought I’d comment; look forward to hearing from you. Thanks, Larisa
OK. I LOVE YOUR SITE!! Thanks for the awesome articles! Keep up the great work!
September 13th, 2008, Sally Fallon, Dr. Natasha Campbell McBride, Jerry Brunetti and Karen Lubbers will be speaking at the Deidre Currie Festival in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It’s an all star line up of holisitic nutrion speakers. And if that is not enough of an enticement there will also be a Gourmet Farmers Market featuring local sustainable farmers and food artisans with crafty cheeses, cured meats, wines, dried fruits, pate, veggies, meats, teas, coffees and much more. $45 to attend any of the speaker sessions. Log onto http://www.deidrecurriefestival.com to learn more about my gorgeous Deidre and the festival celebrating her life.
Ann Marie,
I have a good deal of questions about implementing the GAPS diet. You seem to have quite the grasp of it. Is there any chance that you would be available to answer some questions over e-mail?
Do you make your fermented dairy products with raw milk??
Yes
Your blog is awesome. We’ve been WAPF members for years now, and it’s great to see more and more people fighting back against the incredible hoax of “nutrition” that’s been fed to us by the industrial food complex. I should know - I was part of that complex for a long time, and I left the industry to start a fermented food company that we just got off the ground - Zukay Live Foods (www.zukaylive.com). It’s nice to know we’re not the only ones (outside of the local Amish here in Lancaster County, PA, most of whom are big WAPF supporters) trying to make a difference in the right way -
Hi, Scott,
Thank you!
Wow I just looked at your website and your products look terrific! Congratulations! I’ll have to try some one of these days. When will you sell in CAlifornia?
Pretty soon - we’re presenting the line to independent natural food stores in San Francisco over the next 6 weeks, and hopefully Whole Foods out there will take it in after January. Hopefully, it’ll be in Northern California starting in late October. We’re pretty cash poor right now, so we have to expand slowly, but it’s hard to limit it, since I want to get the word out about lacto-fermented goodies to everyone. We’re also setting up an online ordering part to the site - I think that should be up by the end of August -
We’re glad you like it - our goal is to reintroduce the health benefits of lacto-fermented foods to everyone using foods people already eat, and hopefully through that, make it easier for them to come around to the full WAPF diet. Or so we hope.
Another question - we just made beet kvass (my wife and I, not the company) for the first time this week, and it kind of stinks. Is that normal?