Weston A. Price Foundation: Using Traditional Foods and Therapies to Heal

Saint John’s cows grazing on organic pasture.

Keto. Paleo. Vegetarian. Carnivore. Plant-Based. Carb cycling. Anti-Inflammatory. GAPS….Ancestral?

All of these are familiar diet labels we frequently hear about. But what really works to have thriving, healthy people?

Many people today find themselves on a journey for better health, and they are wise to start with optimizing their food. There is an overwhelming amount of information, much of it conflicting, about what diet is the healthiest for each person. The truth is complicated, but it’s well within our reach to find what works.

The diseases of modernity are more pervasive than they once were, and are often called “lifestyle diseases”. Most medical professionals are woefully uneducated about how nutrition and lifestyle factors impact health, and there are many people who can improve their conditions and overall health by changing their food, movement, sleep, and sunshine.

There’s an adage that if your great-grandmother didn’t eat it, you shouldn’t recognize it as food either. There is wisdom to be found in eating an ancestral diet, the diet of your pre-industrialized ancestors and the diet your genes expect.

The Weston A. Price Foundation is a pillar of the ancestral nutrition movement, and is dedicated to spreading information about how to use traditional foods and therapies to heal from the diseases of modernity.

Weston A. Price, DDS. Photo copyright Weston A. Price Foundation

Who was Weston A. Price?

Weston A. Price, DDS was a Cleveland dentist who travelled the globe and documented the diets and health of isolated, nonindustrialized peoples untouched by modern foods. As a dentist, he was naturally interested in palette formation and dental health and how traditional foods supported healthy skeletal development.

Astonishingly, he found a variety of tribal peoples were in excellent health with no cavities and no need for orthodontia. He observed their facial structure was beautiful and their elderly lived long and healthful lives.

“The photographs taken by Dr. Weston Price illustrate the difference in facial structure between those on native diets and those whose parents had adopted the “civilized diets of devitalized processed foods. The “primitive” photos on the left show a wide, handsome face with plenty of room for the dental arches. The “modernized” children on the right show children born to parents who had abandoned their traditional diets, have narrow faces, crowded teeth, and reduced immunity to disease.” - Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation, photos copyright Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation

All About the Weston A. Price Foundation

The Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF) is a nonprofit charity dedicated to disseminating information about the work of Weston A. Price, specifically information related to food, farming, and the healing arts.

The WAPF is dedicated to “restoring nutrient-dense foods to the American diet through education, research, and activism, and it supports a number of movements that contribute to this objective including accurate nutrition instruction, community-supported farms, organic and biodynamic farming, honest and informative labeling, pasture-feeding of livestock, prepared parenting, and nurturing therapies.”

The WAPF publishes information about the characteristics of traditional diets found by Dr. Price and they make it easy by keeping a trove of recipes and shopping guides.

Why this Matters for Grass Fed Beef

One of the pillars of traditional diets is “eat beef, lamb, game, organ meats, poultry, and eggs from pasture-fed animals.”

For most of human history, we have thrived on grass fed beef (and other meats) because grasses are the species-appropriate diet for cows and other ruminants.

We know that, compared to grain fed beef, grass fed beef is:

• 10X higher in vitamin A

• 3X higher in vitamin E

• Substantially higher in calcium, magnesium, potassium, & B vitamins

• Lower in cholesterol

• An abundant source of anti-cancer conjugated linoleic acid

• Free of GMOs

• Free of synthetic fertilizers

• Free of hormones and antibiotics

• Free of glyphosate and other pesticides or herbicides

We support the efforts of the Weston A. Price foundation because we know that nature cannot be improved upon, and returning to traditional ways of eating has restored the health of many in our community. We are proud to continue our family legacy of offering quality organic, grass fed, grass finished beef to the Treasure Valley.

Is Organic or Non GMO Better? The Truth about Food Labelling

Saint John’s cows grazing on our organic June pastures.

Foods at the supermarket commonly have a variety of labels, including gluten free, kosher, vegan, Organic, and non-GMO. These labels all have distinct qualifications and independent labeling and verification processes. The aim of this article is to help distinguish between USDA certified Organic and the Non-GMO Project’s “non-GMO” label.

Organic vs. non-GMO: Different goals, different requirements

Organic and non-GMO are often sought-after, important labels that many consumers trust when making purchases. While both labels are a step forward from conventional food, they are distinct labels striving to meet different goals.

Non-GMO Project Certification

Non-GMO certification is regulated by the Non-GMO Project and verified with NSF International. The mission of the non-GMO Project is to build and protect a non-GMO food supply. The Non-GMO Project describes itself as a “single issue organization” with a single issue label, which is to inform consumers about the absence of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in products meeting its standard.

Non-GMO Project requires that a product be verified by third party inspectors and testing laboratories to be compliant with their standard. This includes ingredients part of a product, diets fed to meat, egg, and dairy livestock, and possibility of contamination or contact with GMOs during the harvesting and processing of foods set for the supermarket.

This means that a food meeting the Non-GMO Project standard and sporting the non-GMO label could have been sprayed with glyphosate and other toxicants, and thus wouldn’t be organic. For example, eggs with a non-GMO label come from chickens fed a non-GMO diet, but those chickens could have been raised completely indoors in an unnatural caged animal feeding operation (CAFO).

Clear summer day behind the barn.

USDA Organic Certification

The goal of Organics is to preserve soil health, steward the earth, and grow the most healthful foods without the presence of toxicants. Organic certification is run directly by the governments of the United States and Canada. In the United States, Organic is certified by the USDA.

In order to proudly display the USDA organic label, a product must be free of additives, synthetic pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, and be non-GMO. For meat to be classified as organic, the USDA requires “animals must be raised in living conditions accommodating their natural behaviors (like the ability to graze on pasture), fed 100% organic feed and forage, and not administered antibiotics or hormones.”

Additionally, “The use of genetic engineering, or genetically modified organisms (GMOs), is prohibited in organic products. This means an organic farmer can’t plant GMO seeds, an organic cow can’t eat GMO alfalfa or corn, and an organic soup producer can’t use any GMO ingredients.

To meet the USDA organic regulations, farmers and processors must show they aren’t using GMOs and that they are protecting their products from contact with prohibited substances from farm to table.”

This is good news! All products with a USDA Organic label are also non-GMO.

While non-GMO is a label independent of Organic and doesn’t verify the absence of toxicants, the non-GMO label is an important step in the right direction to ensure our communities can make informed decisions about their food. Non-GMO Verified is a step in the right direction, and Organic is even better. One of the most powerful ways we vote is with our dollar. By choosing non-GMO and Organic, we are choosing a better future for ourselves and our planet.

Is Organic Certification Worth It? Yes... But There's More To The Story

Clover in bloom in our pasture.

Certified organic products are becoming increasingly available and prioritized in grocery budgets across the nation. Our family farm is certified organic, and it’s a priority for us to produce the highest quality foods for our family and community.

Organic certification requires time, money, and effort to stay up to date with requirements and regulations. Naysayers contend organics are not that different from conventional agriculture, and it’s not worth the price. Others may think organics is the ideal system for growing food.

Here’s our take on being certified organic.

What is organic?

Saint John’s cows eat grass in pasture year round.

Organic certified foods are regulated by the USDA and must follow all federal guidelines.

In general, this means that, for a product to be certified organic, it must be free of additives, synthetic pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, and be non-GMO. For meat to be certified organic, the USDA requires “animals must be raised in living conditions accommodating their natural behaviors (like the ability to graze on pasture), fed 100% organic feed and forage, and not administered antibiotics or hormones.”

Currently, USDA organic is mostly a list of “don’t”s rather than a list of “do”s. This system inherently leaves out critical descriptors in terms of soil quality and how that puts nutrients into our food.

When the organic movement first came to North America, it was centered on the idea of “feed the soil, not the plant”. The focus on soil and microorganism health means that plants will have the nutrition and growing environment to produce optimal food. Modern agriculture has this backwards and is currently steeped in a paradigm of “feed the plant, not the soil”.

By spraying toxicants to kill pests and weeds and administering fertilizers to “feed” the plants, there have been unintended consequences in harm to the life present in the soil. Soil is absolutely teeming with life. Microorganisms, worms, bacteria, and networks of fungi are present and they work together to give life to the seeds we plant.

Unfortunately, liquid “plant food” and toxicants have done significant harm to these lifeforms. The original organics movement sought to change this by putting soil health at the center of the system.

Problems in Organics: Revolving Door of Industry and Regulation

Saint John’s calf, curiously looking at the camera.

Organics is not perfect. People and systems are imperfect and require pressure, patience, and time to change.

Over time, there has increasingly been a drive for production of organic foods that can sometimes be at the expense of the nutrient content of the food. However, we know that while producing an adequate amount of food does matter, the quality of our food matters more than production and volume.

An example of the production for quality trade-off in organics is hydroponic and aeroponic systems. These systems create a very high yield for minimal inputs or maintenance. Hydroponically and aeroponically grown plants are not grown in soil but typically in shredded coconut husks and given “organic” fertilizer for the plant’s nutrients. This is the antithesis of the organic mantra “feed the soil, not the plant”, and fundamentally an opposing system to organics. Nevertheless, hydroponic and aeroponic producers are able to label their products as “organic”. You’d be hard-pressed to find an organic tomato, pepper, or berry at the grocery store that isn’t hydroponically grown, but that information isn’t on the food label.

We deserve to know the quality of our food and how it was grown, and these systems are piggy-backing off of the organics movement to make big bucks. One of the most unfortunate consequences of these hydroponic and aeroponic practices is that they are able to produce food so cheaply that they undercut organic farmers that are growing their tomatoes and strawberries in the soil. Real food takes real soil and real work, and this is reflected in the price, the true cost of food.

Ninety-nine percent of meat, milk, and eggs come from concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) in the United States. Organics should not be part of this, as the requirements state animals must have access to pasture in order to accommodate their natural behaviors.

There have been several instances of enormous “organic” operations that are using CAFOs and not giving animals access to pasture. Some of this information was leaked by whistleblowers while other instances were reported by investigative journalists. Sometimes, when information on organic farms has been reported to the USDA or media, the infractions don’t come to the attention of the supermarket buyer, the companies get off the hook by paying fines, and little to no change is made to the farm’s practices. Functionally, the farm is “organic” in name only. It’s a far cry from the picture of the happy eating grass on the carton of milk.

A serious consequence of all this is how difficult this makes charging a fair price for quality food. When everything is “organic”, the differences are difficult to distinguish for the unaware consumer. Huge organic farms are able to cut corners and undercut small family farms that are producing food higher in quality.

Real Organic Project: Part of the Solution

The Real Organic Project (ROP) is part of the solution because, rather than fighting within the current bloated system, it creates a new label, certification process, and network that people can trust. The Real Organic Project builds on USDA certified organic by focusing on traditional organic systems with an emphasis on “feed the soil, not the plant”. This focus is of utmost importance because the soil will feed the plant and steward the soil for generations to come.

The ROP standards and network remind us that we are accountable for the soil health, the products we grow, and for our communities.

Take a look at the Real Organic Project difference, with insightful side-by-side photos demonstrating what “real organic” looks like.

Our take on organic certification

Sunrise at Saint John’s Organic Farm.

We think USDA organic certification is a needed and necessary first step in ensuring a quality food supply and doing our duty to steward the planet. There are many USDA certified organic farms producing high quality food. Avoiding toxicants and other harmful substances is a big and worthwhile step in the right direction. Unfortunately, certified organic is simply no longer the gold standard of healthy food.

It all comes back to accountability. We are accountable to ourselves, our community, future generations, and to God. If we act with this in our minds and in our hearts, then we can say that we are doing “our part.”

Because we believe in accountability, we are certified organic with USDA and with the Real Organic Project. 

I hope you are encouraged to seek out and support organics, including the Real Organic Project. Connecting with local farmers can be a true joy and eating nutritious, organic food is a pleasure. 

Why Organic Matters

Curious Saint John’s cows enjoying the organic, lush pasture.

What is organic?

In order to proudly display the USDA organic label, a product must be free of additives, synthetic pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, and be non-GMO. For meat to be classified as organic, theUSDA requires “animals must be raised in living conditions accommodating their natural behaviors (like the ability to graze on pasture), fed 100% organic feed and forage, and not administered antibiotics or hormones.”

Why choose organic?

Organic food used to be the standard, the way our great-grandparents and earlier ancestors ate. It wasn’t called “organic food”, rather, it was just “food.” Today, our conventionally, industrially grown food has been contaminated through the use of herbicides, pesticides, fertilizers, hormones, and additives. Instead of being a source of nutrition for our bodies and families, conventionally grown food has been shown to harm our health by increasing our toxic load, promoting inflammation, altering our microbiome, and possibly increasing cancer risk. By choosing organic, we choose pure and nutritious foods that restore our health and enable us to live to our fullest potential.

Why buy organic meat?

Saint John’s cows on a beautiful day.

Sourcing high-quality animal foods is important because the pesticides, antibiotics, and hormones an animal is exposed to are present in the meat we consume.

1. The animals are fed 100% organic food.

In conventional agriculture, many animals are fed diets that are unnatural for the species and food that does little to promote good health in the animal. The lack of quality nutrition for animals in addition to poor living conditions necessitate the use of antibiotics and other drugs to keep animals alive and growing. At Saint John's Organic Farm, we take the greatest care in feeding our cows a 100% grass-fed and grass-finished diet that is free of chemical pesticides, herbicides, and commercial fertilizers. They receive natural health care that avoids antibiotics, stimulants, and growth hormones, and they are looked after by our family. This care creates exceptionally healthy animals that yield the highest quality beef.

2. Free of antibiotics and other drugs

Preventative antibiotic administration is a matter of routine in much of the livestock industry, especially for beef. The overuse of antibiotics in conventional agriculture may be a major contributor to poor gut health in Americans and the development of "super-bugs" that are antibiotic-resistant. Steroids are also commonly given to increase the rate animals grow in order to improve profit margins.

3. Avoiding additives

Many meat producers inject their meat with a solution of water, salt, and sodium phosphate in order to add moisture, improve meat tenderness, and extend shelf life. These additives are not permitted under the USDA's organic label, and avoiding them is likely beneficial to human health.

4. GMO-free

By choosing meat that is certified organic, you are choosing meat that comes from an animal that is not genetically modified and is fed a diet that is not genetically modified.

5. Animals are humanely raised

Because the USDA requires certified organic meat to come from animals with "living conditions accommodating their natural behaviors", these livestock are much more likely to be raised in a humane way. At Saint John's Organic Farm, our cows are raised on diverse pasture grass, sunshine, and quality care from our family.

6. Environmental preservation

Conventionally grown meat uses an abundance of pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers that deplete soil and harm the surrounding environment. Our grazing practices add to the fertility and health of our soil, instead of constantly taking nutrients that need to be replaced with synthetic fertilizer. We use less fossil fuel, have less water runoff, and run into fewer pest problems than our industrial counterparts. As providers for people and caretakers of the earth, we seek what is best for you and the world we inhabit, and will continue to offer a vision of sustainable agriculture for future generations.

How to Shop for Organic Produce

Source: Wellness Mama

It is possible to greatly reduce exposure to pesticides and herbicides from produce by sticking to the Environmental Working Group (EWG) Clean 15 and Dirty Dozen list. The EWG created these lists by looking at the spraying practices of conventional agriculture and also testing produce from supermarket shelves.

In summary, organic, grass fed beef is superior for our health, the planet, and for future generations.