Today, I went digging in my very full refrigerator for any soured milk to use to soak my organic wheat flour. I need to make lots of crispy pancakes for our family’s houseboat trip. We have plenty of raw milk, and I just needed to culture some of it to make ample sour milk for the recipe. I found about 1/4 cup of kefir and a jar that looked like it was full of whey, so I knew it was milk that had soured or clabbered over time (and neglect) in the fridge. Read More »
Raw milk, which I prefer to call real milk, is very controversial today. This is a story of two kinds of milk: the swill milk made from distillery garbage that caused death; and the real milk from grassfed cows, that gave life. These two milks had a tremendous impact in the life of my grandfather, who became the first member of his family to be a dairy farmer.
We have been focusing a lot lately on U.S. dietary guidelines, so from the mailbag comes a request from a British citizen on how to conquer her weight problem with nutrition. Looks like we are not the only nation struggling with the obesity crisis. I have asked two of the experts whose USDA oral comments were published on this blog to answer her query.
Having found your web, and reading through your info find it very interesting, I have a question I hope you will be able to answer.
I was told by my G.P., that I am morbidly overweight so went on a diet. I decided to cut out sugar, and in 7 months have lost 2 stone which is very good for me but still have 2 stone to go. Read More »
Well, when you work on these heavy food politics issues, day in and day out, sometimes it is fun to have a good laugh at it all. Weston A. Price Foundation president, Sally Fallon Morell just sent me this hilarious video (which she is not in the habit of doing), so you know she got a good laugh out of this!
Let’s wage our war for local, grass based agriculture with grace, humor and intelligence. As I often tell our facebook fans, be nice! Snarky comments will not win people over, but reasoned debate with kindness will. Read More »
Claims Scientist in Testimony before 2010 Public Hearing on Dietary Guidelines
by Dr. Richard Feinman, Nutrition and Metabolism Society
I am Professor of Cell Biology at State University of New York Downstate Medical Center.
I am speaking for myself, for the Nutrition & Metabolism Society, and I think for many Americans who find little guidance in the recommendations of of the Dietary Guidelines Committee or other government and private health agencies. The previous guidelines have failed to halt the epidemic of obesity and diabetes. Read More »
My comments pertain to Safety and Effectiveness of Low Carbohydrate Diets. To establish credibility on this topic since there seems to be no shortage of experts in nutrition, I’m a PhD-trained researcher and registered dietitian, and I have conducted a large amount research on low carbohydrate diets including author/co-author of 23 peer-reviewed scientific manuscripts examining how humans adapt to low carbohydrate diets, 7 studies in animals, and 14 review papers.
The key statement in the DGAC Report is:
“Diets that are less than 45% carbohydrate or more than 35% protein are difficult to adhere to, are not more effective than other calorie-controlled diets for weight loss and weight maintenance, and may pose health risk, and are therefore not recommended for weight loss or maintenance.”
In other words the DGAC report is telling ALL Americans to consume at least 45% of their calories as carbohydrate, and there is no benefit of consuming less than this amount. Read More »
Adele Hite, who is about to begin a PhD nutrition program at the University of North Carolina has closely followed the work of the USDA Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. As an academic project she accessed their online evidence library and much to her surprise, found that the final report contradicts the scientific evidence. She spoke with fervor and was a lightening rod at the public hearing last week. Here is the complete text of her remarks.
My Testimony to the USDA and HHS Regarding the Proposed 2010 USDA Dietary Guidelines
Obesity and diabetes in America have reached crisis proportions because the US government, through its Dietary Guidelines, continues to send mixed messages about what healthy food really is—messages that support the food industry, rather than the health of the American public.
While I commend the Committee’s recommendation to reduce consumption of processed foods and their new focus on the social and environmental causes of obesity, they nevertheless remain entrenched in the nutritional status quo that has shaped the toxic food environment that has produced our obesity and diabetes crisis in the first place. Read More »
Committee for a Healthy Nation at USDA Hearing: Kathryne Pirtle, Morton Satin, Sally Fallon Morell, Pam Schoenfeld Not Pictured: Alyce Ortuzar, Richard Feinman, Jeff Volek
My Testimony at the June 8, 2010 Hearing on the USDA Proposed Dietary Guidelines
by Alyce Ortuzar, Well Mind Association
Since the first published U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Dietary Guidelines for Americans in 1980, epidemics of disorders such as diabetes, asthma, cancer, and obesity have characterized Americans today as our sickest generation. The dietary guidelines fail to acknowledge man made products and processes that are highly processed, nutrient deficient, adulterated foods approved under the science-based paradigm this report applauds. The highly processed products parading as food that these guidelines recommend are in fact devoid of the nutrients that make whole foods healthy and bio available. Read More »
Many Voices Raised Against the Food Pyramid and the Unscientific “Plant-Based” Diet
by Kimberly Hartke, Publicist, Weston A. Price Foundation
I just googled DGAC to see what this dietary guidelines acronym means. What comes up is Dangerous Goods Advisory Council. I had to google again to find what I was actually looking for, Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. But, this browser snafu points out exactly the problem with our U.S. government’s approach to food policy. Instead of recommending traditional food, the USDA is pushing increasing amounts of fake foods (dangerous goods) by an unsuspecting public!
Five years ago, Sally Fallon Morell of The Weston A. Price Foundation was the lone voice opposing the USDA’s anti-saturated fat prescription for America. Read More »
Experts Testify that USDA Dietary Guidelines Advisors Ignored Science, Poor Health Indicators
More experts than ever before have come out against the proposed USDA dietary guidelines, saying that the pyramid concept has flopped, and produced the degenerating diseases that are crippling our nation. Here are some of the highlights from the critics at the July 8, 2010 public hearing.
I plan to post many of these testimonies in their entirety on my blog but here are some excerpts of the pithy and pointed arguments voiced by opponents of the DGAC’s plan. Read More »
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FTC & FDA Disclosure Statements
Kimberly Hartke is a homemaker, not a health professional. She also serves as the publicist for a nutrition education non-profit, the Weston A. Price Foundation.
This information is designed to amuse, challenge, even provoke you to explore beyond the conventional food and health system.
We each need to make and be responsible for our own lifestyle choices by doing our own research and consulting with our family and other trusted advisors.
And, if it is a medical opinion you seek, by all means, call a doctor (maybe two or three)!
--Kimberly Hartke,
blogger and health advisor to my own family
Please Note: Any statements or claims about the possible health benefits conferred by any foods or supplements have not been evaluated by the Food & Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
Love your blog, by the way. What a great, centralized resource for all real food and local farm info.
