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Chapter Update--Winter 2006Chapter Leaders' Meeting at Wise Traditions 2006Following the 2006 Wise Traditions conference, 130 current and potential chapter leaders attended our second annual Chapter Leaders' Meeting on Monday, November 13. For some, this meeting is the highlight of the conference. As with last year, this meeting was replete with inspiring reports of work our chapter leaders are doing in different parts of the world. Sally Fallon began the meeting by sharing some ideas for future Foundation projects. One long-term goal for the Foundation is to prepare a restaurant and travel guide. The Foundation is also setting up a Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund modeled after the Home School Legal Defense Association. Chapter leaders will be called on to help by publicizing the fund and helping to sign up members. The success of the fund will depend on having as many members as possible--one million members is the goal. The next presenters were Larry Wisch and Jessica Prentice who described their Three Stone Hearth Community Kitchen project. Visit www.threestonehearth.com to view the excellent news coverage by ABC. Five owners have pooled their talents to make and sell nourishing traditional prepared foods from local farms. Products include hamburger mix that includes organ meats, stock and stock-based soups, sourdough bread and cereals, and lacto-fermented condiments and sodas. They host a monthly dinner, engage local farmers and bring in volunteers to help in the kitchen. They have taken over a commercial kitchen and have had health inspectors visit who have been delighted with what they are doing. They got started with small loans from individuals amounting to $115,000 and they are well on their way to financial success. Sandrine Hahn reported on her project "Nourishing Our Children," a one-hour Powerpoint presentation designed for parents of children in schools. The presentation is available for a donation of $25 to the Foundation. It reviews Price's discoveries, the idea that we can be well-fed but malnourished, the importance of Vitamin A and D, the role of saturated fat, the truth about milk, soy and extruded cereals, ideas on healthy meals, first steps and community resources. The presentations have been received with great enthusiasm. Nourishing Our Children also offers monthly support groups, cooking classes, mentoring programs and books. Joan Roberts provided an update of her work on a nutrition curriculum, a textbook for upper level high school and junior college. It is divided into five parts: Wise Nutrition, The Key to Healthy Babies; The Challenge Ahead; Nutrient-Dense Foods to Boost the Health of Parents and Babies; Nutrition Basics; and Food Preparation. Carrie Hahn presented strategies for farmers markets. She is involved with the Buy Fresh, Buy Local Campaign, which now has 11 participating organizations. At her farmers market stand she sells local food products and also attempts to educate people about buying seasonal produce and about the Foundation's principles. She has succeeded in getting high schoolers and non-profit groups like Girl Scouts to volunteer at the market. The demand for local, seasonal food products is increasing. David Grunberg presented his web-based ordering system developed for the New York City milk club but that can be used by milk clubs all over the country. Members use the site (wprice-nyc.org) to select products, save, edit and place orders. Two years ago their milk club had 30 members; now there are over 360 with five delivery sites and monthly orders totaling about $8,000. Errors in orders have been cut in half and farmers now have a way to track ordering trends and purchases by area and season. Peg Beals described her classes on "The Safe Handling of Fresh, Unprocessed Milk." Peg has found that people are not well versed on cleaning jars used to store milk. Realizing the need for the class, she began the four-part series to cover topics such as how to clean bottles, how to store milk, what to look for when visiting a farmer prior to ordering milk, how to accomplish hygienic practices at home, etc. CDs are available for those who wish to give this presentation. After a delicious lunch sponsored by New Trends Publishing, chapter leaders broke into focus groups to discuss the projects mentioned above. In one additional focus group Shan Kendall explained her six-part class on nourishing traditional cooking. She charges $125 for the series and enrolls about a dozen students for each series. Each class is about three hours long and offers a little history and instruction, hands-on food prep, eating, questions and clean up. Shan teaches many principles, such as seasonal eating, time management, getting children to help, using a transitional menu approach, etc. For each class she has a checklist for herself stating what she needs to buy, to prepare, and to take to the class. She sells books and has WAPF brochures available. The last class is a fun potluck dinner. The meeting ended with comments and suggestions for next year's conference and chapter activities. Kathy O'Brien, CN, is the office manager for the Weston A. Price Foundation. <Back | Home | Tour | Calendar | Contact Us | Funding | Join Now |
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