Weston A. Price Foundation

The Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF) was co-founded in 1999 by Sally Fallon and nutritionist Mary G. Enig. It is a US 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to "restoring nutrient-dense foods to the American diet through education, research and activism." [Sally Fallon, Mary Enig & Bill Sanda, " [http://bachlab.balbach.net/wap_senate2005.pdf Comments to the 2005 US Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, 16 January 2004] ", p. 4. ] Its goals include disseminating the research and dietary advice of dentist and nutritional researcher Dr. Weston A. Price, who studied the foods and health of isolated non-industrialized peoples around the world, and supporting the scientific validation of traditional diets.

On 4 July 2007 the Weston A. Price Foundation launched the [http://www.farmtoconsumer.org/ Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund] , a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the rights of farmers to provide meat, eggs, raw dairy products, vegetables and other foods directly to consumers. [" [http://www.naturalnewswire.com/2007/07/legal-defense-f.html Legal Defense Fund To Defend Direct Farm Sales] ", 23 July 2007 Press Release on [http://www.naturalnewswire.com/2004/10/overview_of_nat.html NaturalNewswire.com] . (Retrieved on 10 August 2008).]

Weston Price

Price was a dentist and nutritionist from Cleveland, Ohio, whose 1939 book "Nutritional and Physical Degeneration" describes the fieldwork he did in the 1920s and 1930s among various world cultures, with the original goal of recording and studying the dental hygiene and development of pre-industrial populations including tribal Africans and Pacific islanders, Inuit, North and South American natives, and Australian aborigines. His book contains numerous photographs of the people he studied, and includes comparison photographs of the teeth and facial structure of people who lived on their traditional diet and people who had adopted or grown up on industrialised food. In certain instances it was possible for Dr Price to examine and photograph traditional and industrialised eaters from the same family. [Weston A. Price DDS, "Nutritional and Physical Degeneration", 8th ed. (2008), ISBN 0-91676-420-6 & ISBN 978-0916764203.]

The Weston A. Price Foundation

The WAPF has seven board members and numerous honorary board members, most of whom have medical or nutritional qualifications. [ [http://www.westonaprice.org/board.html The Weston A. Price Foundation - Board of Directors] ] [" [http://www.westonaprice.org/journal/ Wise Traditions in Food, Farming and the Healing Arts] ", Vol.9 No.2 (Summer 2008), p. 2.] In 2008 its membership numbered 10,500 and was growing at an annual rate of 10%, according to "The Washington Post". [cite news |author = Jane Black |title = The Great DivideWho Says Good Nutrition Means Animal Fats? Weston A. Price. |work = The Washington Post | page = F01 |date = 6 August 2008 |accessdate = 2008-08-10] It has over 350 community-driven chapters across the United States, and international chapters in Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Pakistan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and various other countries. [cite news |author = Jane Black |title = The Great DivideWho Says Good Nutrition Means Animal Fats? Weston A. Price. |work = The Washington Post | page = F01 |date = 6 August 2008 |accessdate = 2008-08-10] [" [http://www.westonaprice.org/journal/ Wise Traditions in Food, Farming and the Healing Arts] ", Vol.9 No.2 (Summer 2008), pp 98-107.]

The main sources of support for the Weston A. Price Foundation are the dues and contributions of its members. The Foundation does not receive funding from the government or the food processing and agribusiness industries. It does accept sponsorships, exhibitors and advertising from small companies by invitation, whose products are in line with WAPF principles. [ [http://www.westonaprice.org/funding.html The Weston A. Price Foundation - Funding] ] [ [http://www.westonaprice.org/conference/2007/index.html The Weston A. Price Foundation - 2007 Conference Sponsorships] ]

The WAPF states it is dedicated to "restoring nutrient-dense foods to the human diet... [and] supporting particular movements that contribute to this objective including accurate nutrition instruction, organic and biodynamic farming, pasture-feeding of livestock, community-supported farms, honest and informative labelling, prepared parenting and nurturing therapies. Specific goals include establishment of universal access to clean, certified raw milk and a ban on the use of soy in infant formulas. The organization actively lobbies in Washington DC on issues such as government food triangle definition and composition of school lunch programs." [Sally Fallon, Mary Enig PhD., Bill Sanda, " [http://www.westonaprice.org/federalupdate/testimony/comments_dietaryguidelinesrep.pdf Comments on the Report of the 2005 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, 27 September, 2004] ]

ally Fallon

Sally Fallon is the co-founder and president of The Weston A. Price Foundation. According to the WAPF, she received a B.A. in English from Stanford University and a M.A. in English from UCLA. [ [http://www.westonaprice.org/board.html The Weston A. Price Foundation - Board of Directors] ] She co-authored two cookbooks with WAPF co-founder Mary G. Enig -- "Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats" [Sally Fallon, with Dr Mary Enig (contributing editor), Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats, (NewTrends Publishing, October 1999). ISBN 0-96708-973-5, ISBN 978-0967089737] and "Eat fat, Lose fat: lose weight and feel great with three delicious, science-based coconut diets," the latter of which are diets based on coconut. [Dr Mary Enig and Sally Fallon: "Eat fat, Lose fat: lose weight and feel great with three delicious, science-based coconut diets", Plume, ISBN 0-45228-566-6]

Dietary recommendations

The foundation's recommendations include the consumption of unprocessed or minimally-processed foods, traditional fats (animal fats, dairy fats, olive oil, and fish oils, among others), raw dairy products, soured or lacto-fermented dairy and vegetables, organic vegetables and fruits, soaked or soured grains, and bone stocks. [ [http://www.westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/dietguidelines.html Basic Nutrition: Dietary Guidelines] ] The Foundation is known for its positive stance towards the consumption of saturated fats from traditional foods. [ [http://www.westonaprice.org/knowyourfats/index.html WAPF:Know Your Fats] ]

Campaign for Real Milk & the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund

The foundation is one of the primary advocates for the legal availability of raw milk, maintaining a specific advocacy website for that purpose. [ [http://www.realmilk.com/ WAPF Campaign for Real Milk] ] It has submitted material to the 2005 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (US Department of Health and Human Services and US Department of Agriculture) [Sally Fallon, Mary Enig & Bill Sanda, " [http://bachlab.balbach.net/wap_senate2005.pdf Comments to the 2005 US Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, 16 January 2004] "] [" [http://www.health.gov/DietaryGuidelines/dga2005/report/ The Report of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee on Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2005] "] and it presents a counter-view to the strong official opposition to raw milk from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. [FDA News, " [http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2005/NEW01278.html FDA Warns Consumers to Avoid Drinking Raw Milk] ", 16 December 2005. (Retrieved on 10 August 2008.] [WAPF, " [http://www.realmilk.com/press-release-12mar07.html FDA and CDC Bias Against Raw Milk–-No Facts Provided in Recent Reminder about Raw Milk Consumption] ", 12 March 2007. (Retrieved on 10 August 2008.]

Established with the help of the Weston A. Price Foundation in July 2007, the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund aims to help protect the rights of farmers to provide meat, eggs, raw dairy products, vegetables and other foods directly to consumers. This includes protecting consumers' "freedom of choice to consume raw milk," according to Taaron Meikle, president of the fund. In the first year of its operation, the Fund raised over $350,000 and receives around three requests for assistance per week from farmers across the United States who are facing legal and/or bureaucratic challenges in relation to sales of raw milk. [cite news |author = Mary B. Worthington |title = Fighting For A New Freedom Of Choice |work = The Bulletin | date = 8 July 2008 |accessdate = 2008-08-10]

Criticisms and responses

The anti-vegetarian and anti-soy views of the foundation have attracted counter-views by some in the vegetarian and vegan communities. [ [http://www.foodrevolution.org/what_about_soy.htm http://www.foodrevolution.org/what_about_soy.htm] ] [ [http://www.vegsource.com/talk/soy/messages/126.html http://www.vegsource.com/talk/soy/messages/126.html] ] The foundation's views were expressed by Stephen Byrnes on [http://www.westonaprice.org/mythstruths/mtvegetarianism.html "The Myths of Vegetarianism"] . This was followed in an article by Andrew Paterson, entitled [http://www.energygrid.com/health/2002/06ap-stephenbyrnes.html "A Response to Stephen Byrnes' 'The Myths of Vegetarianism'"] .

ee also

*Biodynamic agriculture
*Health freedom movement
*Joseph Mercola, WAPF Honorary Board Member & editor of the Mercola.com health website
*Local food
*Organic food
*Raw foodism
*Slow Food
*Terra Madre
*The International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics
*Michael Pollan, "The Omnivore's Dilemma" (from "The New York Times"'s "Best 10 books of 2006" list that asks "What should we have for dinner?"; the WAPF is mentioned)
*United States raw milk debate

References

External links

* [http://www.westonaprice.org/ The Weston A. Price Foundation's Web Site]
* [http://www.farmtoconsumer.org/ The Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund]
* [http://www.westonaprice.org/journal/ Online articles from "Wise Traditions"] (the WAPF quarterly journal)
* [http://www.radiantlifecatalog.com/prod.cfm/ct/9/pid/1017 Back copies of "Wise Traditions"] (commercial site, 3rd party)
* [http://www.price-pottenger.org/ The Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation]
* [http://www.realmilk.com A Campaign for Real Milk]
* [http://bachlab.balbach.net/wap_senate2005.pdf WAPF's "Comments to the 2005 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee"]
* [http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/report/ 2005 US Dietary Guidelines of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services] .