Real Foods, Real Health

Last week, we had a great time hosting Doug Flack for a talk on “Real Foods, Real Health OR Why We’re in a Real Pickle.” With a packed room at the Fletcher Free Library (almost 60 people turned out), it was clear that we were tapping into something that people are curious and interested in right now – farm-fresh foods, raw milk and cultured dairy products, lacto-fermented vegetables, pastured eggs and meat, and more.

Doug Flack during sauerkraut production days on Flack Family Farm

Doug spoke at length about the traditional foods eaten by people all over the world that promote good health and nutrition. While most of us are familiar with the idea of "whole foods," we probably think in terms of whole grains and maybe whole fruits and vegetables (peel on, thank you). But in fact, whole foods are much more far-ranging, including whole animal fats (including whole milk yogurt, cream, and butter), whole nose-to-tail eating when it comes to pastured beef, chicken, and pork (especially organ meats and bones), and whole microbiology while we're at it: all sorts of cultured and fermented foods teeming with health-producing bacteria to replenish the ones in our digestive systems.

Coming from a farmer, it's amazing to hear, as he said, that agriculture is essentially the production of grain, and grain is essentially the downfall of the modern diet, since our digestive systems aren't adapted to deal with the quantities and kinds of grains we're eating. Eating less grain, and soaked/fermented grains, supplemented with lots of healthy fats, fish oils, and fermented foods (hey, I think I stumbled on the 3 "F's") will set people on track to better nutrition. Oh, and kale, You always have to eat more kale.

Earlier in the last century, a dentist by the name of Weston A. Price was interested in why modern people had such poor teeth and jaw formation, and travelled the world researching and writing about his findings. This is how the concept of "traditional foods" came to be. You can read more about his work and about traditional foods at the Weston A. Price Foundation. For information about  raw milk, which can currently only be accessed through direct sales from farms, visit Rural Vermont.

Here are some key foods that Doug mentioned in his talk that can be found in the aisles of our store.

CULTURED BUTTER, PREFERABLY FROM PASTURED COWS: Other products like this include whole milk and whole fat yogurt, heavy cream, and cultured raw cheeses

WILD SARDINES AND SALMON: Other products like this include fish roe, cod liver oil, sea vegetables, and other Vitamin D, omega 3, and iodine-rich foods

WHOLE COCONUT OIL AND COCONUT MILK: Avoid vegetable oils made from seeds (like canola and safflower oil) which upset the balance of omega 3/6's in our bodies; coconut oil is a very stable fat for cooking, like lard or ghee

PASTURED ORGANIC EGGS:

PASTURED MEAT: Other products like this include pastured pork, chicken, and lamb: Look in particular for beef/chicken liver and beef bones (for soup)

LACTO-FERMENTED VEGETABLES: Other products like this include lacto-fermented pickles such as Bubbies, lacto-fermented kimchi, and lacto-fermented carrots/beets from Deep Root in the Produce department

WHOLE-GRAIN SOURDOUGH BREAD: We carry a variety of whole-grain sourdough breads from local bakeries like Bread & Butter Farm, Red Hen, O'Bread, and more

SPROUTED NUTS AND SEEDS:

KOMBUCHA AND OTHER LACTO-FERMENTED BEVERAGES:

This is just the tip of the iceberg, but I think it's cool to see how many healthful, minimally processed, whole foods full of Vitamins A and D, Omega 3 fatty acids, esssential minerals, and beneficial bacteria/enzymes can be found in a downtown grocery store.