Have any of you homesteaders out there read Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon? It is a nutrition book and a cookbook in one. Interested in knowing what your experiences have been with this type of diet. For those interested parties - you can get info on www.WestonAPrice.org

-- Tiffani Cappello (cappello@alltel.net), January 25, 2001

Answers

I have the first edition and I truly believe the things she states in her book. However, I find the principles difficult to implement basically because in our society food like that is just not available without raising, killing, and cooking it yourself. I did try the sourdough bread recipe and found it most unpalatable. Basically I have tried to follow the principle of: no refined sugars, no refined grains/flours and no highly processed oils or fats. I started using butter and olive oil and no other type of fats and that is the easiest except when you go to a restaurant, which always has margarine or some other type of unacceptable oil/fat. I no longer feel guilty for eating delicious things like cream and animal fatty foods. And I have lost weight, not gained. There are a lot of the dairy recipes that I would like to try, but haven't because my goat is dried up now and after having fresh unpasteurized milk to drink, the grocery milk just doesn't do it for me anymore. She has out a second edition now with more recipes I believe and I would like to see it to discover how different or how much more information she has in it. I do recommend the book to everyone. If you don't buy the book at least visit the website stated above or http://www.price-pottenger.org/ is another good one. The book is a great eye opener in seeing how food conglomerates have made synthesized food palatable and attractive practically putting the small time farmer out of business, and in the meantime we have sacrificed our health on the altar of quick and easy. I have traveled quite a bit and I find that in some other countries they still hold on to a belief, however slim, that what we eat does have an effect on our health and there are certain things that should not be tampered with, natural things that God has given us in their natural state - fresh unprocessed foods, real honest to goodness natural fabrics such as wool, cotton, linen without chemical processing and blending with a synthetic for some desirable characteristic. I would like to hear how others have implemented some of the principles and recipes in the book into the life.

-- R. (thor610@yahoo.com), January 26, 2001.

I saw Sally Fallon speak at the Biodynamic conference several years ago and found her talk absolutely fascinating but I wondered about the practicality of some of her info because it is hard to get milk products that are not pasteurized if you don't produce them yourself. But she is one of the people that inspired me, along with Joel Salatin, to start examining the food I was eating from a chemical and nutrition perspective. It is very interesting stuff. I haven't bought the book but probably will see if I can find it in the library. At the time I saw her the book wasn't yet published but was going to be coming out.

-- Colleen (pyramidgreatdanes@erols.com), January 29, 2001.

I love this cookbook! I got my first hint about it in an old Countryside magazine a few years ago. I had to search to find it. Just implementing a few of the principles has proven amazing to me and my family. Can't do it all but doing even some of it is more than worthwhile. Soaking grains and beans is the biggest innovation for us. Even my little children feel the difference in the pancakes made from flour soaked over night in buttermilk. We are still staunch vegetarians and yet have gaines so much from this book.

-- Leslie Romano (LrkAsc@aol.com), January 30, 2001.

Leslie, Do you soak your grains for making breads also? I have tried this and found that the breads did not raise as well.

-- R. (thor610@yahoo.com), February 01, 2001.