Wise Traditions 2010 – I’m Going!

This year will be the first time I attend the Weston A Price Foundation conference, Wise Traditions. The theme of the conference is “The Politics of Food”. If you’ve ever tasted fresh raw milk, you would be interested in this topic. I’m really excited to meet all the wonderful people who are attending, including the Real Food Media gang. It’s always fun to be around people who just “get it” and have the same interests as you. I’ll also be dinning on some good food from the looks of the menu. Although not completely SCD/GAPS, there should be plenty for me to choose from.

Friday

I’m so torn what to attend this day! I’ll probably leave it to a last minute decision and hopefully people who attend the other lectures take good notes I can copy. Or, I can always get MP3s or DVDs after the conference is over.

• Seminar on Traditional Diets, Sally Fallon Morell - My main interest in Weston A. Price’s work is the traditional diets. I find it fascinating to see the pictures and learn about the food traditional people all over the world ate. I think if I go to Sally’s talk, I would just be sitting there completely overwhelmed (in a good way!) with interest and happiness.
• Gut & Psychology Syndrome, Natasha Campbell-McBride, MD - I actually feel like I am obligated to attend to this track, if only for the chance to see Natasha Campbell-McBride. I’m sure anyone following GAPS (or SCD, if you have heard of GAPS too) would feel the same way. At this point I don’t think I need to go, but it would be nice to share some of it on my blog. So undecided…
• Holistic Cancer Therapy, Nicholas Gonzalez, MD - This talk hits a bit closer to home. Cancer scares me and has taken loved ones away from me. This would probably be the most educational track to attend, but might not be something I’m prepared for taking on just yet.

Saturday

If I get up early enough, I’ll be at the 7:00am Relief for Neck & Shoulder Tension session. Much needed!

I will be attending the main session on the Politics of Food including the following talks:

• Introduction to the work of Weston A. Price, Sally Fallon Morell
• The Politics of GMOs, Jeffrey Smith
• The Politics of Food Safety, Judith McGeary, Esq.
• The Politics of School Lunches, Sally Fallon Morell
• Panel Discussions: Effective Food Activisim, Ann Marie Michaels, Kimberly Hartke, Kari Carlysle, Kelly the Kitchen Kop, Jill Nienhiser

Sunday

Again, I’m torn! The Native Diets track would be the most interesting, but the hormonal would probably be more useful for me. Hormone issues are my number one focus right now.

Native Diets

• Chinese Diet Theory, Ken Morehead, DOM
• The Frozen North, Anore Jones
• The Traditional Diet of Slovenia, Janez Bogataj, PhD
• Diet and Health in the Pacific Islands, Stephan Guyenet, PhD

Hormonal Track

• Fat: An Endocrine Organ, Stephanie Seneff, PhD
• Thyroid -Adrenal-Lyme Connection, Bruce Rind, MD
• Stress and Hormones, What’s the Connection? Anne Fischer Silva, CNT, LE
• Annette Schippel, DC

I might mix tracks and attend some of each. I think no matter what I should attend the “Stress and Hormones, What’s the Connection?”.

Monday

I would have loved to stay for the Farm Tour, but I’ll be heading home early Monday morning. I hope those attending take lots of pictures to share.

If anyone wants to help me decide on which tracks to attend, I’m open to suggestions! I feel like as my first conference (I hope to go to more in the future) I should just go to the talks that interest me the most. I find when I start trying to fix myself or research health topics in depth I get overwhelmed. I do love researching on my own time, which obviously led me to SCD, Weston A. Price, GAPS, and better health. But, there always comes a point where I end up spending too much time and focus on my own health. Might be best to leave that work to my Naturopath and just have a great experience at the conference.

Will you be attending the conference? Have you attended one in the past?