I don't remember exactly what turned me to it, but I suspect it may have been in about 2000, and it had something to do with ACRES, USA, an ecologically minded monthly farming publication, but I ran into a book, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, by Weston Price. This book, along with many other thoughts and ideas I had previously had, created an inflection point in how I viewed the world relative to food and food production techniques. This post is primarily about learning what foods are good to eat. There will be a post at a later time about gaining perspective and insights into food production techniques.
Price was a dentist at the turn of the century in Canada. About the turn of the century he started noticing a change in his patients. There was a marked increase in the number of cavities his patients, particularly his younger patients, were having. Additionally, for the first time ever, his young patients had started to develop crooked teeth. What?! I thought crooked teeth were a genetic phenomenon. Wouldn't the parents of children with crooked teeth most likely have crooked teeth? Apparently not.
Price hypothesized that the source of both the increase in dental caries and the newly emerging crooked teeth were related to a change in the dietary patterns that were occurring in Canada at the time. For a period of years, he laid out a plan to investigate this phenomenon.
After his retirement in the late '20's, he and his wife set out on several years' worth of investigative travel, armed with a new-fangled 35mm camera, notepads, and pencils. He sought out populations that had been isolated from modern foods, that also had a correlary population that had easy access to modern foods. A most common scenario was where a harbor existed where there was easy access to modern foods, but there was an isolated population with the same genetic base up over a treacherous mountain pass. In this situation, Price could effectively test the same genetic base with the only real difference being those eating traditional diets for their region vs. those eating a modern diet.
What he found, with remarkable consistency, was stunning. People eating a traditional diet for their region had well developed facial bones, straight and beautiful teeth, few if any cavities, and overall excellent health. People of the same genetic base eating a more modern diet, with an emphasis on white flour, sugar, canned goods, etc. had a marked tendency towards narrowly developed facial bones, crooked teeth, many cavities, and relatively poorer health. Price traveled the world to many places and peoples, including, but not limited to Switzerland, Seminole Native Americans, Africa, Inuit of Canada, Polynesia, Australia (Aboriginies), Peru, etc. He found the same thing wherever he went.
So what foods are good? Traditional foods. Think back 150 years ago or more. In the 1890's, the annual per capita sugar consumption was about 7 pounds. Today it approaches 170 pounds. 170 pounds! In other words, he found people who ate vegetables, game, whole grains, whole dairy, eggs, fish, fruits, insects, etc. Related to grains and dairy in particular, he saw certain preparation techniques that were used related to lacto-fermentation. What he didn't see was Coke, Twinkies, TV dinners, McDonalds, Cocoa Puffs, Wonder Bread, etc. Traditional diets are the good ones.
The good news is that traditional diets can be largely grown and produced on a homestead or farm, which fits very nicely into my overall idea of farming, and actually pushed forward the idea that it can be extermely beneficial to one's health to have access to well-grown, traditional foods. The next post will explore some of the key things related to production techniques and processes to ensure that the foods that you may choose to eat are as nutrient dense and healthy as possible.
I would suggest that you take a look at the book, read it, study it, and develop your own opinion about the approach Price took and his reporting of his findings.
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