Tim making Fortsonia

At this point, we make three styles of raw milk cheeses. As a result, they all have to be aged for at least 60 days before sale.  One is a bloomy rind cheese (Harmony Crème de la Crème), one is a blue cheese (Elberton Blue) and one is inspired by the best Gruyere (Fortsonia).  Other well known cheeses in the bloomy rind category include Constant Bliss by Jasper Hill Farm in Vermont, and Green Hill by Sweet Grass Dairy in Georgia.  Both of those cheeses are made from pasteurized cow’s milk and can be found online or at Whole Foods for $30-$35 per pound, although you can get Green Hill for much less (about $20 per pound direct from their website).  They are both very well made cheeses that we have tried and enjoy very much, and I’m very confident that if you enjoy these cheeses you’ll also love Harmony Crème de la Crème.

Compare these cheeses to a well-aged alpine cheese like Gruyere, which is one of my favorite cheeses and indeed is my inspiration with Fortsonia.  The best reserve cheeses aged for 16 months by Rolf Beeler can be purchased online for about $32 per pound, which is comparable in price to the bloomy rinds mentioned above.  But does this make sense?

In making Fortsonia yesterday, it was an all-day commitment that was quite physically demanding.  By contrast, when I make Harmony Crème de la Crème tomorrow, I’ll start at 9:00 a.m. or so and be done by 2:00 p.m.  There’s no doubt that the Alpine cheese is a tougher make, so this is a disadvantage to the cheesemaker relative to making the bloomy rind.

Crème de la Crème on the Draining TableLet’s turn our attention to yield.  When I make Harmony Crème de la Crème, I consistently get a 15% or better yield. This means that for 100 pounds of milk I get at least 15 pounds of cheese, and I have yielded as much as 17%+!  Part of the high yield is thanks to the Jersey cows, but the real thanks goes to the fact that we only feed our cows grass or hay. No grain, ever. Like many people, I was shocked to learn that other grass-based dairies feed grain to their cows.  Our department of agriculture inspector described other grassfed cheese makers and how they feed a daily ration of grain (twice per day) when the cows are milking.  I guess that’s why they’re “grass or pasture based” rather than “100% grassfed”.  But I don’t have a problem with that, as long as everyone is just upfront about what they’re doing so consumers can decide what makes sense to them.  We only get just over a gallon per day per cow, which would put us in the hall of shame among other Jersey dairies, where 5-6 gallons per day are the norm.  Naturally this results in MUCH higher costs for us, but we believe the milk itself has better flavor and nutritional qualities, and we think the cows are healthier.

So…where was I?  Ah yes, yield. The Forstonia I made yesterday yielded 11.5%, typical for an Alpine make.  This resulted in 4 pounds LESS cheese per 100 pounds of milk than with the Harmony Crème de la Crème.  So much for all that work.  This makes sense given that bloomy rinds like Camembert typcially have a moisture content of 50%-55% compared to 38%-41% for Gruyere, with blue cheeses falling between those two.

After the cheeses are made, the bloomy rinds need only be aged for 60 days in our case since it’s raw milk, or about a month in the case of the others who are pasteurizing their milk.  The Fortsonia and Gruyere’s on the other hand have to be hand turned, hand smeared and aged for well over a year, resulting in much higher labor costs and cooling costs during that time.

So let’s add this all up. 

Right now, farmstead cheesemakers can make a bloomy rind, age it quickly, sell it for over $30 per pound and the consumer gets 50% moisture.  Or, the cheesemaker can handcraft an Alpine or similar cheese, age it until it’s marvelous and get the same or a lower price, work much harder and have a much lower yield.

I think I understand why it’s the fresh cheeses and bloomys that artisan or farmstead cheesemakers focus on then.  Easier to make, shorter cash flow cycle and consumers are, curiously, willing to pay more.

So how will this impact our pricing strategy?  Simple…we’ll reverse this model.  It costs us less to make a very good bloomy rind and we’ll price that accordingly. We’re hoping to hit a price of $20 per pound for raw milk, organic, no fine-print Harmony Crème de la Crème.  Elberton Blue yields less than Harmony Crème de la Crème, must be aged longer and tended to more carefully and therefore will be slightly higher in price. However, the pricing on Fortsonia will reflect the effort to make, the reduced yield and the time and care it will take to age it properly. It’s too soon to tell, but I suspect it will be in the $35 per pound range next year when we offer it.

The tough part about this is it makes it difficult to estimate how much Fortsonia we should make.  Given that we’ll age it for 12-18 months, if we make too much now and run into resistance in the marketplace next year, we would have made quite an investment with a limited return. We could instead just focus on making Harmony Crème de la Crème or Elberton Blue, both of which offer the ability to get a “report card” much more quickly.  On the other hand, if the market really likes and wants Fortsonia, and believe me, they’re aren’t very many really well made and carefully aged cheeses of those types around, then we’ll quickly be out of cheese and 12-18 months away from having much more.

So what’s a cheese farmer (ha!) to do?  Make what the wife likes I guess.  Probably 40% Harmony Crème de la Crème, 30% Elberton Blue and 30% Fortsonia and see what happens.  I already know our bloomy rinds are coming along VERY nicely, but I’m still not sure about the Elberton Blue and what adjustments will be needed. As for Fortsonia, initial tests are promising but we won’t know for a long time…but I’m pretty optimistic. 

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Elberton Blue

The “but” in this case is that we meant to make it with whole, raw milk, “but” we didn’t agitate the tank first, and as a result pumped out skim milk to make our Harmony Crème de la Crème, leaving us with pretty much high fat cream with which to make the Elberton Blue.  If that sounds yummy, it is, but it creates a problem.  The problem is that the blue mold won’t grow too well in that high fat environment.  So what we have in our first attempt, our friends, is a wonderfully delicious creation that tastes more like raw milk butter with a little salty/blueness to it rather than blue cheese.  Anyway, these journeys are what make farmstead cheese making fun and interesting.

Two nights ago I took some Elberton Blue and made a broccoli/blue cheese soup for Liz. She made some small round loafs of bread that I hollowed out for the bowl. To go with it, I pan seared some Ossabaw pork chops and made a simple blue cheese/cream gravy to go over it.  The cheese was great to cook with, but I have to admit I do cut off hunks of it and just sit and eat it. Always wanted an excuse to just eat gobs of butter!

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It’s basically a tower of plastic trays that have holes in the bottom.  You place one tray on the stand and fill it with some moist bedding material.  The bedding consists of some compost or loose soil, dried leaves, shredded paper and cardboard, and it came with some coir although you can substitute that with other fibrous material.  The bedding should be wet enough that when you squeeze a handful of it you just barely see water droplets.  Too wet and the worms can drown!  You fill the tray about half full with the bedding and then you tuck a handful of food scraps into one corner of the bedding.  You can feed the worms all types of scraps – even coffee filters and laundry lint!  You just need to make sure that if you use real green material like fresh plants from the garden that it doesn’t compost in the bin and heat up making it too hot of an environment for the worms.  The final step is to cover the entire surface area of the tray with 3-4 sheets of damp newspaper. 

I had the bedding tray prepared the day before the worms were to arrive.  The worms came through the mail in a cardboard box of similar bedding.  I put them in the tray and covered them back up with the newspaper.  I wasn’t supposed to check on them for 3 days so that they could get adjusted, but I must admit that I sneaked a peek!  They were busy working their way down through the bedding and into the food corner.  All was good!

I have had the worm factory going for almost two months now.  The only chores are to give them another handful of food everynow and then and to make sure the environment is at the right moisture level.  The booklet that came with the factory said that it could take up to 3 months for your factory to really get cranking and so I patiently wait.  So far, they seem really healthy and comfortable but they just don’t eat as much as I thought they would.  Maybe they need these first few months to reproduce and populate more?  Anyway, once they really start working, then they should fill this first tray up with good compost and castings.  Once full, I will just add another tray on top and put in some more bedding and food.  The worms should work their way up to the fresh level leaving the bottom level full of black gold for the garden.  I love peeking in at them and talking to them about their work.  Everyone needs a pep talk now and then.  The only thing is that worms hate light so when I take the cover off they all quickly tunnel out of sight. 

Worms can be a great way to get rid of some of your scraps and also make wonderful nutrients for your garden.  I can’t wait to see the effects as the factory grows! 

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Rob Endelman is a chef who, in addition to teaching cooking technique, empowers people with the knowledge to make better choices when it comes to buying and preparing food.  He believes that a lack of awareness about our industrial food supply has contributed to the increase in modern diseases such as obesity, diabetes and cancer.  Through his blog, The Delicious Truth, and business, Cook with Class, Chef Rob helps people understand, identify and avoid hormones, antibiotics, pesticides and synthetic additives.

Thanks to Chef Rob for giving us his grass-fed thoughts!

“The reasons for eating grass-fed meat and dairy products are many.  Personally, I base my decision on superior taste, health and food safety.

The last factor should be important to us all as the blatant disregard for accountability within our modern food supply becomes increasingly evident.

While our world becomes more connected and America continues to be a great melting pot, I don’t think our hamburger patties should be subject to a similar open-door policy.

An article in The New York Times last October exposed what, unfortunately, seems to be the norm: the compromising of our health for corporate profit.  How else to explain Cargill’s hamburgers made from various grades of beef, fat and trimmings from slaughterhouses and sources in Nebraska, Texas, South Dakota and Uruguay?  We are the victims, as thousands of us are sickened annually by E. coli in beef.

In addition, Cargill declined requests from The Times “to interview company officials or visit its facilities.”  What do you think the response would be to a normal consumer without the political and legal clout of The New York Times?

Small-scale producers take a slightly different approach.  There’s a good chance they will know the names and personalities of their animals.  The buyer-seller relationship is based on transparency and harks back to a simpler time when quality and service were essential components to a transaction.

Phone the U.S. Wellness Meats office during normal business hours and there’s a good chance John Wood will answer.  Call on a weekend and you are sure to get him as he’s usually the only person in the office.

The foods I derive the most pleasure from–outside of the vegetables from my garden–are the cheese, eggs, fish, meats and maple syrup I buy from people who I know as people. 

I try to share this logic with my students, many of whom are skeptical until they taste the difference.  When they realize that certain types of food have superior flavor and health benefits–in addition to being safer–they are that much closer to joining those of us already eating products from grass-fed animals.”

For more information about Chef Rob, check out his great blog: The Delicious Truth, or follow him on twitter!

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The information below is from Sally Fallon Morell, President of the Weston A. Price Foundation.

Dear Members,

The Weston A. Price Foundation has issued the following press release about the “Health Starts Here” low-fat, mostly vegetarian marketing program at Whole Foods Markets.

Please feel free to distribute this press release to your local media.  In addition, you can contact Whole Foods at customer.questions@wholefoods.com to share your experiences with low-fat versus traditional high-fat diets.

Sincerely,
Sally Fallon Morell, President

WHOLE FOODS PROMOTES MILITANT VEGETARIAN AGENDA
Has the Upscale Market Outlived Its Usefulness?

WASHINGTON, DC. February 3, 2010:  Whole Foods Markets has launched a nationwide “Health Starts Here” marketing scheme that endorses a low-fat, vegetarian diet, with promises that the diet will “improve health easily and naturally.” The plan promotes the books and private business ventures of Joel Fuhrman, MD, and Rip Esselstyn, both of whom worked with Whole Foods to formulate the new guidelines. Customers now receive a pamphlet urging them to adopt a low-fat, plant-based diet and to cut back or completely eliminate animal foods.  Many Whole Foods stores no longer sell books advocating consumption of meat, eggs and dairy products.

The plan will feature new Aggregate Nutrient Density Index (ANDI) labels for foods in the store; the index is designed to make plant foods to appear “nutrient dense” by favoring various phytonutrients in plants and ignoring many vitamins and minerals essential to health. “Whole Foods has stacked the deck against animal foods by choosing ANDI parameters that do not include a host of key nutrients, such as vitamins A, D and K, DHA, EPA arachidonic acid, taurine, iodine, biotin, pantothenic acid, and vital minerals like sodium, chloride, potassium, sulfur, phosphorus, copper, manganese, boron, molybdenum and chromium,” says Sally Fallon Morell, president of the Weston A. Price Foundation. “Many of the phytochemicals that Fuhrman includes in the index he developed for Whole Foods play no essential role in the body and may even be harmful.”

“Animal foods like meat, liver, butter, whole milk and eggs contain ten to one hundred times more vitamins and minerals than plant foods,” says Fallon Morell. “Plant foods add variety and interest to the human diet but in most circumstances do not qualify as ‘nutrient-dense’ foods.”

“For years before becoming deathly ill, I followed the dietary suggestions in the Whole Foods plan,” said Kathryne Pirtle, author of Performance without Pain. “I ate large amounts of organic salads, vegetables and fruits, lots of whole grains, only a little meat and no animal fat. I had chronic pain for twenty-five years on this diet, then acid reflux, then a serious inflammation in my spine followed by chronic diarrhea. Without switching to nutrient-dense animal foods, including eggs, butter and whole dairy products, not only would I have lost my national career as a performing artist, I would have died at forty-five years old! I am not alone in this story of ill health from a low-fat, plant-based diet, which does not supply a person with enough nutrients to be healthy and can be very damaging to the intestinal tract.”

“Consumers can send a message about Whole Foods’ misinformed scheme by voting with their feet,” says Fallon Morell.  “Most major grocery store chains now carry basic organic staples and a larger array of organic fruits and vegetables than Whole Foods markets. And citizens should purchase seasonal produce and their meat, eggs and dairy products directly from farmers engaged in non-toxic and grass-based farming. It’s not appropriate for Whole Foods to promote a scheme that has no scientific basis and that bulldozes their customers towards the higher profit items in their stores.” The local chapters of the Weston A. Price Foundation help consumers connect with farmers raising animal foods in humane, healthy and ecologically friendly fashion.

“The growing emphasis on plant-based diets deficient in animal protein also serves to promote soy foods as both meat and dairy substitutes,” says Kaayla T. Daniel, PhD, CCN, author of The Whole Soy Story: The Dark Side of America’s Favorite Health Food.   “Soy is not only one of the top eight allergens but has been linked in more than sixty years of studies to malnutrition, digestive distress, thyroid dysfunction, reproductive disorders including infertility, and even cancer, especially breast cancer.”

“Low-fat patients are my most unhealthy patients,” says John P. Salerno, MD, a board certified family physician from New York City. “The reason we are spiraling into diabetes and obesity is because of the low-fat concept developed by the U.S government decades ago. Low-fat diets have a low nutrient base, and phytonutrients in vegetables cannot be properly absorbed without fat.”

Fallon Morell cites recent studies from Europe showing that low-fat diets promote weight gain in both children and adults, and also contribute to infertility. A meta-analysis published January, 2010 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found no significant evidence that saturated fat consumption is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.

“Whole Foods CEO John Mackay has stated that eating animal fats amounts to an addiction. But in fact, animal fats are essential for good health,” says Fallon Morell. “The nutrients in animal fats, such as vitamins A, D and K, arachidonic acid, DHA, choline, cholesterol and saturated fat, are critical for brain function. In the misguided war against cholesterol and saturated fat, we have created an epidemic of learning disorders in the young and mental decline in the elderly.”

“Perhaps the vegetarian diet has affected the thinking powers of Whole Foods management,” says Fallon Morell. “It’s time for the stockholders to insist on leadership devoted to increasing customer base, not promoting a personal vegetarian agenda.”

Comments about the Whole Foods Health Starts Here scheme can be emailed to
customer.questions@wholefoods.com.

The Weston A. Price Foundation is a 501C3 nutrition education foundation with the mission of disseminating accurate, science-based information on diet and health. Named after nutrition pioneer Weston A. Price, DDS, author of the book, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, the Washington, DC-based Foundation publishes a quarterly journal for over 12,000 members, supports 400 local chapters worldwide and hosts a yearly conference. The Foundation headquarters phone number is (202) 363-4394, westonaprice.org, info@westonaprice.org.

CONTACT
Kimberly Hartke, Publicist, the Weston A. Price Foundation
703-860-2711, 703-675-5557 press@westonaprice.org

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This post and recipe are courtesy of Stanley Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat.

Liver from grassfed cattle is one of the healthiest foods you can eat. It is full of vital nutrients, including all of the B vitamins, Vitamin A and Vitamin D, most amino acids, and many other substances that are crucial for good nutrition. All of these nutrients are in a form that is easy to digest and absorb. It used to be the custom in the US and Europe to eat liver at least once a week. Today, most people never eat liver.
 
Why? For one thing, many people think the liver is used to store toxins. That is not true. The liver stores nutritive substances that are often used to remove toxins from the body. If you want to avoid toxins in your meat, one of the best things you can do is to eat only grassfed meat. Also, the liver from factory cattle is far less nutritious and very unappealing, to say the least. Many people have given up liver for good after one taste of the factory version. Even grassfed liver can have a taste and texture that many do not like, and can be difficult to deal with in its natural form, due to membranes and veins that are difficult to remove from the slippery meat.
 
The Europeans discovered the solution to the taste of liver long ago — butter and onions.
 
US Wellness has solved the texture and trimming issues by developing a wonderful raw sausage known as Raw Braunschweiger. This ground mixture is 60% grassfed beef and 40% grassfed beef liver. We made a meatloaf yesterday using this sausage, along with the European method of butter and onions. How did it taste? A picture is worth a thousand words, so here is a picture of the serving dish not too long after we started eating.

Liverloaf
Serves 4

1 pound U.S. Wellness uncooked braunschweiger
2 slices whole grain bread, (either sourdough or made from sprouted grains), cubed
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 tablespoons pastured butter
1 free range organic egg
¼ cup full fat cream, (raw or organic)

1.    Place the cubed bread in a blender and process into crumbs.
2.    Melt the butter over medium heat in a heavy bottomed frying pan. When the butter is hot and bubbly, add the onions and sauté for 5 minutes. Place the sautéed onions in a large bowl. Add all of the other ingredients, including the breadcrumbs, to the bowl. Mix well.
3.    Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the mixture into a 1 quart loaf pan and form into a loaf. Bake for 40 minutes.

Serve and enjoy this delicious liverloaf.

For more great recipes, check out Stanley’s cookbook Tender Grassfed Meat.

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To a true football fan, February 7th, 2010, is the Sunday of all Sundays!  One mention of the Super Bowl and their ears perk up, their eyes get misty, and (with our help) their mouths salivate!  Whether your team made it to the big day or not, the Super Bowl is a great time to get together and eat! 

Try these simple, yet tasty, treats to kickoff Super Bowl 44!

Mini Hot Dogs: cut our hot dogs in half and cook as normal.  Serve on mini hot dog buns with ketchup, mustard, relish, onion.
 
Mini Shredded BBQ Beef or Hickory Smoked Brisket Sandwiches: heat up the pre-cooked shredded bbq beef or hickory smoked brisket and serve on dollar rolls with our bbq sauce.
 
Mini Tostadas: heat up the pre-cooked shredded beef (no bbq) and mix with salsa and taco seasoning to taste.  Put meat on round corn tortilla chips, top with cheese and tomato, serve with sour cream, guacamole, and/or salsa.

Wings, wings, wings….they are a natural fit for football!  Click below for the different wing recipes.

Pictured: Sweet and Spicy Wings

Tropical Wings (fried with coconut breading)

Cheesy Baked Chicken Wings (variation: Crispy Wings)

Sweet and Spicy Wings (fried or baked – no breading)

BBQ Wings (fried or baked – no breading)

Enjoy the game (and the food)!

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Thank you for the opportunity to testify about this very serious subject today. Allow me to summarize the testimony I have submitted to the panel (posted at http://cerhr.niehs.nih.gov/chemicals/genistein-soy/SoyFormulaUpdt/pubcom/GailElbek12-02-2009.pdf).

ESTROGENIC EFFECTS

Several published studies, confirmed by CFSAN (Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition) director Dr. Mike Shelby, have concluded that soy is an active estrogenic endocrine disruptor. Proper functioning of the endocrine system, especially during developmental time-frames must not be jeopardized. Overwhelming numbers of published studies conclude soy repeatedly jeopardizes developmental health.

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) reports that soy phyto-estrogens demonstrate estrogenic effects equal to or lower than doses of DES estrogen; in 2002, NIEHS researcher Retha Newbold expressed concern when her colleagues demonstrated that soy genistein “triggers reproductive abnormalities. . . including uterine adenocarcinoma, a rare form of cancer.” And what is toxic to the reproductive tract is toxic to multiple hormone systems throughout the body and brain. Also like DES estrogen, the maternal consumption of soy products transfers estrogenic hormone disruptors to her fetus and again to her child while breast feeding. Several hundred studies overwhelmingly conclude soy phyto-toxic causation of an assortment of severe, painful and often irreversible neurological and physiological disorders, and these diseases are more often caused during developmental exposures. Soy-based formula as 100 percent of an infant’s dietary intake contains active estrogenic and anti-nutrient endocrine disruptors.

Alarmingly, milk formulas are increasingly contaminated with soy, and therefore “lactose intolerance” may more likely be a result of intolerance to soy phyto-toxins.

Soy is proven to mimic or antagonize estradiol, a most potent and dangerous endogenous estrogen. Soy phyto-estrogens also abnormally manipulate ER-alpha and ER-beta hormone systems, further disrupting extensive endocrine systems throughout the entire body and brain.

Largely during developmental exposures, soy endocrine disruptors disrupt the reproductive system and are toxic to multiple hormone systems. Along with all estrogenic chemicals, soy is established as extensively damaging to the reproductive system of both females and males. Soy is reported as an accumulative endocrine disruptor capable of multiplying endocrine disruptor adverse effects. And these effects are transgenerational, passing damaging endocrine disruptor effects from generation to generation. The FDA Poisonous Plant Database includes “Soy bean, genistein and daidzein [soy estrogens]” on its list of poisonous plants. Developmental exposures to soy estrogenic endocrine disruptors fail to meet several FDA codes and regulations.

SOY AND THE BRAIN

The fact that soy can feminize males and masculinize females is evidence of soy targeting the brain.

Overwhelming evidence proves that soy disrupts several neurotransmitter systems such as vasopressin, oxytocin, serotonin, dopamine, glutamate, choline and GABA, causing multiple direct and cascading damaging brain effects. Disrupted neurotransmitter systems are reported to cause autism, mental retardation, cerebral palsy, seizures, stuttering, ADHD and multiple other neurological disorders.

TRYPSIN INHIBITORS

Several important essential enzymes such as tyrosine and trypsin, which are critical during development, are dangerously inhibited by soy, resulting in an assortment of physiological and neurological adverse health effects.

The FDA Federal Register 1999 reports that trypsin inhibitors cause deleterious effects on the pancreas, with potential to cause hyperplasia and formation of nodules. Soy contains very high levels of trypsin inhibitor.

SOY AND THE THYROID

Many studies indicate that soy can cause hypothyroidism, which then contributes to an assortment of adverse effects, especially to the vulnerable fetus, infants and children. Soy inhibits thyroid peroxidase and disrupts thyroid hormones T4 and T3, causing abnormal thyroid development and function. Soy disruptions of thyroid hormones are also related to the cause of immune deficiency disease and damage to Purkinje brain cells. This damage is related to the cause of autism.

SOY AND THE THYMUS

Soy is reported to cause significant damage to the thymus, again leading to damaging effects to the immune system and cerebral cortex of the brain.

SOY AND CANCER

Soy also inhibits topoisomerase II (Topo II), another essential enzyme, causing DNA distortion and breakage, resulting in chromosomal alterations. Leukemia is reported in detail as caused by Topo II inhibitors.

In 2004, the US Department of Environmental Molecular Medicine reported soy causation of oxidative DNA damage, which can lead to tumor initiation and cell proliferation. Soy is reported as capable of causing leukemia, testicular, breast, uterine, bladder, stomach, colon, intestinal, pancreatic and kidney cancers as well as lymphomas.

Oncologists often suggest the elimination of soy products during cancer treatment due to soy’s estrogenic ability to promote cancers or to interfere with chemotherapy.

ANTI-NUTRIENTS

Soy is loaded with anti-nutrients: the FDA Federal Register 1999 reports, “GRAS status of soy did not include a thorough evaluation of the safety of potentially harmful components, e.g. lysinoalanine, nitrites and nitrosamines, trypsin inhibitors, phytates and isoflavones.” This list includes several, but not all of soy phyto-toxins that are well known to damage multiple systems throughout the body and brain, especially during development.

Soy phytates inhibit the assimilation of multiple essential minerals necessary for proper brain and body development. In addition, processed soy products contain an assortment of heavy metals also known to cause neurologically and physiologically damaging effects.

There are no established FDA acceptable levels of multiple soy phyto-toxins during developmental exposures.

Alarmingly, soy phyto-estrogens and anti-nutrients can largely fluctuate plant-to-plant, thus product-to-product, so that no one knows how much of these soy phyto-toxins they are swallowing or placing in the mouths of their children.

Dog and cat food manufacturers are proud to label their healthiest pet foods with “Does Not Contain Soy,” while at the same time the American marketplace increasingly promotes soy products during pregnancy, to infants and to children, while sorely misleading the public with claims that these products are “nutritional.”

OTHER INGREDIENTS

Soy infant formulas also contain an outrageous amount of corn syrup and sugar, also known to be developmentally debilitating. High levels of corn syrup and sugar lead to pancreatic damage, which interrupts insulin production, leading to infant and childhood diabetes type 1 and type 2. High levels of sweeteners also damage the thyroid and thymus glands.

ADVERSE EFFECTS

Medwatch Adverse Health reporting system exposes numerous severe and potentially fatal diseases reported by parents who had fed their infants soy formula and are now confronted with the resulting severe and irreversible adverse health problems.

My neighbor Carol’s daughter is autistic, Vicki’s adult daughter is infertile, Kath’s adult son is infertile, Stephanie’s infant son has type 1 diabetes, Jean’s teenage son has extreme allergies, Janet’s son has immune disorders, Pam’s son has severe asthma. All of these children have one thing in common: they were all fed soy-based formula as infants. Two of the moms had also consumed soy-based diets during pregnancy.

RECOMMENDATIONS

In conclusion, trusting American parents deserve the right to know that soy is loaded with harmful phyto-toxins which scientific studies have shown to be highly capable of reversing the health of their children into a diseased and handicapped state.

In accordance with the Food Safety and Modernization Act of 2009, I request that the Expert Panel enforce warning labels on soy products during pregnancy; withdraw soy-based formulas from the marketplace, or at the least enforce soy formulation prescriptions with mandatory physician follow-up as required in some European nations; stop the soy-added contamination of milk formulas and the daily increase of marketed soy-containing food products that target infants and children; and enforce a careful and precise physician reporting system of infants currently exposed to soy formulas, as well as the children and adults who have been exposed to soy formulas and are now experiencing severe and potentially life-threatening physiological, reproductive, and neurological adverse health effects.

Thank you for your time and dedication to ensure the best health of the fetus, infants, and all children.

SIDEBAR

TESTIMONY ON SOY INFANT FORMULA

On December 16, 2009, the National Toxicology Program (NTP) Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction (CERHR) panel on soy infant formula (a division of the National Institutes of Health) heard public testimony on soy infant formula. Only two individuals presented information on the dangers of soy formula, Gail Elbek, a private citizen who had traveled all the way from Santa Barbara to give testimony (summarized above), and Sally Fallon Morell from the Weston A. Price Foundation. The other speakers were all from the industry or were taking part in government-funded research, including Thomas Badger, PhD, and Martin Ronis, PhD, of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Haley Stevens, PhD, of the International Formula Council, David Bechtel, PhD, CANTOX U.S., Inc. (a consulting firm dedicated to “facilitating timely regulatory approvals”), and Larry Williams, MD, Abbott Nutrition (maker of soy infant formula). Without blushing, these “experts” assured the committee that soy infant formula was safe and did not have estrogenic effects. Stevens of the International Formula Council insisted that there was “no new evidence” that would warrant a re-evaluation of soy formula and complained about “alarmist” literature that was scaring parents away from this “safe and healthy choice.”

The good news is that many parents have been scared away. Over the last ten years, the proportion of formula-fed babies has declined from 22.5 percent to 12 percent. As Fallon Morell pointed out in her testimony, the tragic consequences of soy infant formula are falling most heavily on minority mothers participating in programs like Women, Infants and Children (WIC), where soy formula is routinely given to black, Hispanic, Asian and Native American mothers presumed to be “lactose intolerant.”

The final vote of the committee was one vote for “no concern,” twelve votes for “minimal concern” and one vote for “some concern.” Requests for warning labels on soy infant formula were completely ignored. The Weston A. Price Foundation has issued a press release on the hearing, posted at http://www.westonaprice.org/Soy-Formula-Panel-Caves-to-Industry-Pressure.html.

This article appeared in Wise Traditions in Food, Farming and the Healing Arts, the quarterly journal of the Weston A. Price Foundation, Winter 2009.

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1. Has anyone had a baby with soy/milk protein intolerance that grew out of it in a few months?

Traditional wisdom requires mashing and blending early foods for baby. However, as baby matures, allowing him to enjoy the foods from the family table is easy and enjoyable. Baby-led weaning, or what I like to call the “less-stress method” of feeding baby, allows the older baby to confidently feed himself with many of the same foods the rest of the family is eating. Besides time-saving benefits, allowing baby to take charge of feeding himself also supports speech and motor development and encourages an overall more accepting attitude toward wholesome foods. So let baby join in at the family table and dig in!

Chase heartily enjoying a bowl of soaked oatmeal with butter, blueberries and raw honey.

KEEPING TO TRADITION

Cultures still living their traditional ways offer real, whole foods to their weaning babies with special preparation to ensure that they are soft and digestible. Cynthia Lair details a sampling of traditional first foods in her book Feeding the Whole Family: “Around the globe, babies start solids on a variety of foods. In Oceania babies are given pre-chewed fish, grubs and liver. The Polynesians prefer a pudding-like mixture of breadfruit and coconut cream. Inuit babies are started on seaweed and seal blubber, while Japanese health care providers recommend a thin rice porridge, eventually made thicker and topped with dried fish, tuna, tofu and mashed pumpkin.” Closer to home, traditional foods included “milk” made from bone marrow, liver (often pre-chewed), soft-cooked egg yolks and well-mashed tubers (along with breast milk or homemade formula). Pre-chewing food, usually meats, softens the food and adds enzymes from the saliva to aid digestion. Mashing also makes food more digestible, ensures that baby gets enough to eat and—most importantly—protects against choking.

Nutrition pioneer Adelle Davis says in Let’s Have Healthy Children, first published in 1951, “As soon as our children could sit up comfortably, they were usually put in the high chair near the dining room table during meals; thus they were included in the family social life and since children learn by imitation, they could observe how they would eventually be expected to eat. After teeth appeared—the signal that a baby is physically and emotionally ready for solids—I started offering tiny bites of nutritious foods prepared for the family; they were usually placed on the high-chair tray for finger-feeding. Thus solids were gradually introduced, but neither of my babies ate meals until about the age of eight or nine months. No foods were purchased or prepared especially for them; and neither was allowed baby cereals or canned baby foods.”¹

It is natural to be nervous about feeding baby solid foods, yet it need not be complicated or an overwhelming drudgery in the kitchen. For details on the ideal baby feeding principles and guidelines, see the article “Nourishing a Growing Baby,” found in the Children’s Health section at www.westonaprice.org. As early as four months but definitely by six months, puréed foods can be introduced. Meats puréed with broth, soft boiled egg yolks with a touch of grated liver and salt, liver mousse, and ripe banana mashed with whole yoghurt are superior choices for baby’s nutritional needs. But these first few months go quickly; before long, it will be time to include baby at the family meal table and let her eat the very same foods the others are enjoying.

The age at which baby starts to feed himself depends on his maturity and your own tolerance for mess! Some babies can feed themselves as early as eight months, others not until a year. A good compromise for moms who find spoon feeding a baby less stressful than cleaning up a messy infant and high chair is to feed mashed foods to baby before the family sits down or at the beginning of the meal and then let baby amuse herself with a few pieces of soft vegetables or a chicken bone to chew on while the family enjoys their dinner.

The one caveat to this way of feeding baby is you must be serving your whole family nourishing, real foods! In other words, offering the most nourishing foods to baby means studying up on traditional foods and giving yourself the time to prepare them in your own kitchen for everyone.

FEEDING BABY FROM THE TABLE 101

Is your baby ready for table foods? The simple way to answer this is to let baby show you. There are signs and stages for readiness, but the best way to know is his just to gauge his interest. Although teeth are indeed a sign of readiness, some children don’t cut teeth until later and some children with teeth are not ready to feed themselves. Gums are fine for chomping, sucking and masticating. Exploration comes naturally to babies and is all part of learning, which is really how to view their first encounters with food. Below is the basic progression.

1. Include baby: The first step is to include baby in meal times early, hold him in your lap, give him a baby spoon and talk about the foods in the meal. Eventually, out of simple curiosity, he will grab at food and want to do what the rest of the family is doing. When the time comes, set him upright in the highchair at the family table. And to make this early experience even better, ask Dad or an older sibling to be in charge of baby and allow Mom to sit and simply enjoy the meal and company.

2. Blend baby’s very first foods: Until eight to ten months, baby’s foods should be blended and spoon fed. Mashing and blending makes foods easier to digest and ensures that baby gets enough to eat. This is a time when baby figures out the process of chewing, sucking and swallowing. These skills will develop on their own. As time goes on, add new foods with lumpier textures. Blended table food is even appropriate at this time, such as finely cut up vegetable stew, soups, sweet potatoes with liberal amounts of fat or the liver mousse or pâté. Invest in a small food processor or baby mouli (http://www.amazon.co.uk/CKS-Stainless-Steel-Baby-Mouli/dp/B000LCLV28) to make this job easier.

3. Let baby grab and choose: When baby reaches eight months—sometimes sooner, sometimes later—his ability to grab food with his little pudgy hand will mature. Before you know it, one of his attempts will do what he will with food (except toss, in my opinion), will encourage an interest in different tastes, textures and smells. This is quite a shift from the typical baby food blends, where it is all puréed together. Help her if she shows frustration and wants assistance, but don’t press.

Once baby can sit up, chew without choking and efficiently get food into his mouth, the principle of baby-led weaning really takes off. Food is becoming a fun experience; baby can pick and choose what tastes good, what feels good and what is right to nourish him at the time. Now you can offer longer, thicker finger foods that baby can hold and that will stick out of his clenched fist such as:

• Steamed, sautéed or roasted veggie sticks: carrots, sweet potatoes/yams, squash, green beans, parsnips
• Sticks of fruits: papaya, banana, pineapple (with skin to help grip)
• Thick slices of avocado
• Cheese sticks
• Thin slices of meat (stewed is often softer); consider making fish or beef fingers
• Chicken leg bones, lamb or pork chops (especially helpful for teething discomfort)

As time goes on, baby will become more proficient at this new skill and hit the target with more precision. Good timing too, as baby’s need for calories and nutrients is growing. Breast milk or homemade formula (see Nourishing Traditions or www.westonaprice.org for more on formula recipes) still make up a majority of baby’s calorie and nutrient needs. Stay flexible while finding the balance between milk and food. Each baby will be different. If baby seems fussy without milk beforehand, feed it first. If she is happy to grab at food for a while and get a good helping down and still takes a good portion of milk, great! Just as with the gradual increase in food, baby will slowly give you signals to help you figure out this balance. Eventually, the complementary foods you offer will begin to make their way into baby’s tummy and count for more and more calories. And with this method of feeding, you get to decide what to serve, but baby chooses how much and how fast.

FULL-FLEDGED TABLE OCCUPANT

As baby approaches one year (again, sometimes sooner, sometimes later), she eventually will be able to scoop and dip and might even be interested in using a little bowl and spoon on her own. Use your best judgment about which foods to offer (see basic principles in “Nourishing a Growing Baby” available in the Children’s Health section at www.westonaprice.org). If there are allergies in your family, use more caution in introducing new foods. (For all babies, hold off on grains and egg whites until baby is at least one year old.) If not, include baby in with your family meals and offer what you are eating with the exception of certain choking hazards that persist for the older child: whole nuts, whole grapes, whole cherry tomatoes and boney fish).

Keep quick nourishing foods handy, including:

• Dried anchovies
• Nut butters (preferably made from crispy nuts)
• Cheese (highest quality, raw if possible)
• Summer sausage
• Cooked meats, poultry, fish and bratwurst coins
• Ripe fruits, especially berries (frozen blueberries are yummy and sometimes soothing to hurting gums) and bananas (kids love to grasp them)
• Dried and freeze-dried fruits, especially during the winter when fresh are less available
• Flaxseed/nut or seed crackers, properly prepared
• Pieces of dates or date logs
• Nori sheets for making quick rolls ups with leftovers
• Liver mousse
• Full-fat yogurt (ideally homemade)
• Carrot and cabbage sauerkraut (or other fermented veggie combo your family enjoys)
• Fermented apple butter

Having foods such as these readily available will make feeding baby and your entire family easier.

OUR PERSONAL JOURNEY

With my youngest son, Chase, this less stressful method of feeding happened unintentionally. I had less time and less of a desire to make separate baby foods. It felt more intuitive to feed him what we were eating than with my first.

Around six months, for his very first foods, he was very accepting of spoon feeding. We started with soft boiled egg yolk with grated liver and sea salt. Banana fried in bacon drippings mixed in yogurt, and liver mousse were two other favorites. Instead of the typical ice cubes of food, my special baby food preparation involved two tasks. One was liver mousse, which I made in large batches and froze in small glass Pyrex containers with plastic lids. The other was small dollops of grated liver frozen on a cookie sheet and then transferred to a glass container so they were easy to pull out and stir into warm egg yolks. The rest of the food I offered Chase was either generally available in my pantry or fridge or a mashed up portion of the family’s meal.

More solid finger foods were introduced about five or six weeks later and his eagerness was a hoot to watch. It helps that he has a big brother he wants to emulate. Not long after that, Chase’s meals turned into much like what they entail now at twenty months, I am just less involved. I will toss a new selection of foods—three or four choices—on the highchair tray to see what is desired. His raw milk is in a sippy cup (sometimes spiked with raw cream, baby probiotics, acerola powder or an oil or two), which he drinks as desired. Most foods are from the family table, such as bits and pieces from a pot of stew made with bone broth, veggies and chunks of grass-fed meats, broken bites of a cornbread muffin, a clump of chicken and chard casserole or broken up pieces of bacon and tomato frittata. If we are eating a salad, I will offer selections of what’s in our bowls, such as hunks of chicken, halved cherry tomatoes and sticks of salted avocado. If the food can be eaten with a spoon, I toss it in a bowl and let him at it. I will also often include a selection or two from the handy foods listed above. Don’t be shy about herbs and seasonings: your child’s likes and dislikes may surprise you.

Some of the foods I place on the highchair tray are eaten, some aren’t. There is a lot of smiling, sorting through his options and looking around at the rest of the family. If a food is devoured, I give more. The foods that are left on the tray are either eaten by another family member, go back to where they came from until another meal or become chicken feed. Sometimes my sensor goes off when he doesn’t eat much, but I step back and remember that he will eat what he needs.

RELAX AND STAY COOL

Being a first-time parent can send one into a tailspin of worry—deciding on the best first foods, choosing the best diapers or the ideal music to boost brain power. Many questions I receive center on finding that “perfect meal plan” for one’s baby. I wish there were a way to telepathically transfer some of the sense of calm that comes with just good ol’ experience. However, it is these challenging experiences that make us who we are, and nothing compares to the learning acquired during the day-in-and-day-out raising of our own little angels.

What I can say is that babies have been eating traditional foods for millennia, so do your best to relax. Make sure you are setting aside the time needed to procure and prepare the highest quality, most nourishing foods for the whole family and then include baby when the time is right. Enjoy your baby, smile a lot and use your mommy-sense. The vibes you send—intentional or not—will speak volumes, and staying relaxed will make it much more pleasurable for you and baby.

One side note: do not allow this self-selection method of feeding babies to become an excuse for pickiness (see the article Taking the “Icky” out of Picky for more on this subject in the Children’s Health section on www.westonaprice.org). I do not believe we should be a personal short order cook for each member of the family. Fortunately, this early baby-led weaning method reduces the chances of a picky attitude as a child grows and his palate matures.

Just like the nurses in Dr. Clara Davis’s experiment, stay emotionally neutral. Give off the sense “eat it, don’t eat it, it makes no difference to me…” For example, if you, the parent, don’t enjoy the taste of fish roe, avoid the “yuck” facial expressions. Or if baby just won’t pick up and try something, don’t force it into her mouth because “it’s good for her!” Smile, glance like you do at other family members during the meal, refrain from commenting much at all or even doing the “food rumba” when she willingly eats that first flake of seaweed. And most definitely avoid being cross in any manner. Do your best to let her figure it out on her own. Being overly interested in any direction may turn her off to experimenting and being adventurous with food. Just like walking and talking, it will happen in your baby’s own unique time.

Put first things first: lovingly prepare each meal for your whole family and then modify ingredients to make them work for baby. Start moving away from the idea that baby needs to eat baby food after those first few months; simply include him in the family table. It is easier, more time-efficient and better for baby in the long run. And even though the messes may need a little extra attention, get the camera out because they sure do make for some sweet memories!

REFERENCES
1. Davis, Adelle. Let’s Have Healthy Children. New American Library, A Signet Book. 1972, p 217
2. Ibid, pp 218-219

SIDEBARS

DO THE FAMILY A FAVOR—TEACH YOUR BABY TO SIGN

Teaching baby to use sign language has a host of benefits, the best being reduced frustration, especially when it comes to feeding time. Both of my boys learned basic signs early, such as “food, eat,” “milk,” “all done” (one of the most important), “more” and “please” (although not necessary, I do like good manners!). Others we added to their repertoire included signs for mommy, daddy, banana, cracker, various animals (monkey is especially fun), shoes, etc. Not only do children get a kick out of it, but some experts believe that learning sign language early actually improves later vocabulary skills.

My little 20-month-old uses his food signs in other parts of life, such as telling me I need to be “all done” with reading a book because he wants me down on the floor to play. And our oldest, who now has a large vocabulary, will occasionally include a well-known sign when he speaks just because it comes naturally. I find that it is useful when I am trying to keep a reminder discreet, such as saying “thank you” for a nice gesture or gift. I simply use the sign to remind Tate instead of saying, “What do you say?”

Baby sign language materials abound; you’ll find information just surfing the web. However, there are fun tools to help out. One of our favorites is Signing Time books and DVDs (www.signingtime.com). The songs are catchy and they teach American Sign Language (ASL). Check out your local library to preview their collection.

SMORGASBORD EXPERIMENT

Back in the 1920s, a pediatrician by the name of Dr. Clara Davis conducted an experiment that illustrates two important points. First, sacred foods—such as eggs, liver, fish roe—are ideal for baby to thrive. Second, babies have an intuition about their nutritional needs. Dr. Davis’s experiment took place in a time when food recommendations for babies were becoming more rigid and unappetizing. Babies were clearly not enjoying these new “healthier” standards, as evidenced by the opposition experienced by many parents. Dr. Davis believed these new standards were not what babies needed, and her experiment confirmed her suspicions.

Davis evaluated fifteen orphans between the ages of seven and nine months, who were given free rein to choose what and how much they wished to eat from a smorgasbord of real foods with little preparation—no mixing foods and no refined or processed ingredients. Foods offered—thirty-three to be exact—included whole milk (sweet and sour), hard-cooked eggs, meats, fish and fish roe, cooked cereals, raw and cooked veggies and fruits. The foods weren’t salted, but a bowl of salt was set out for the babies to partake of if desired. The nurses involved in the study made no comments, didn’t send spoonfuls of “airplanes” in for a crash landing in baby’s mouth, and refrained from scolding when a baby declined a new food or ate “too much” of another.

With no refined foods to muck up their palates, these children demonstrated an innate wisdom to self-select the foods that met their nutritional needs to create vibrant health, which was monitored by extensive testing. Food selections were not always pretty. One day a child ate seven eggs, while another opted for a handful of salt. Some children ate more fruits, yet others gravitated to the meats. A child with poor bone structure was partial to cod liver oil one hundred thirteen times, on his own accord. While each day’s meal did not provide a perfect “balance,” over the long haul, their nutritional profile conformed to just what they needed.² Not surprisingly, none of the children chose to eat a diet dominated by grain and milk.

Although small, Dr. Davis’s study gives good reason to consider baby-led weaning. Setting out thirty-three different food choices at each meal is a little over-the-top, but feeding a reasonable variation of traditional foods to baby at each meal is doable. Being able to consider several choices and having the opportunity to decide on his own, baby will pick and choose what is best for his growth and development at that specific time. To me, the findings from this experiment offer freedom to relax. Babies know. A key element to this experiment was the fact that Davis provided healthy foods and let children eat as much or as little as they wanted. Would the study have turned out differently if Davis had included processed, sugary foods laden with fake fats? Perhaps, but we don’t know and are not likely to find out since this setting might not fly with today’s research criteria.

Sometimes baby will chug down a sippy full of raw milk, another day not so much. One week he might eat two fried eggs each day, the next week pass them up. Don’t panic if food selections seem a little irregular at times—it all balances out in the end. And since you are feeding from the family table, none of the food goes to waste.

THE UPSIDE AND DOWNSIDE TO BABY-LED WEANING

The advantages of this less stressful method of feeding baby are many. For example, it:

• Gives baby a chance to experience different textures, smells and shapes.
• Encourages confidence and an adventurous attitude about food.
• Makes mealtime more enjoyable for baby and less frustrating for parents.
• Promotes chewing skills and muscle development, which is important for speech, digestion and choking safety.
• Allows baby to be more in control of likes and dislikes and to exercise instincts regarding nutritional needs.
• Puts appetite in baby’s own control because there is no coaxing or cajoling.
• Improves dexterity and eye-hand coordination due to more grasping and handling of foods.
• Involves baby at the family table, which supports the need to mimic and learn by example.
• Makes eating away from home easier since baby is accustomed to eating table food and a wide variety of choices (for example, sushi was no sweat with our little guy a little after one year).
• Discourages pickiness later in toddlerhood because table foods are already the norm and there have been so few battles over mealtime.

The only downside to this process is the mess, particularly when the family is eating something goopy, like porridge. So stock up on little thin washcloths to keep handy in the kitchen and, when the weather permits, feed baby outside in the buff (baby is adorable and easier to clean)!

This article appeared in Wise Traditions in Food, Farming and the Healing Arts, the quarterly magazine of the Weston A. Price Foundation, Winter 2009.

About the Reviewer

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