Tuesday 6 January 2015

A Weston A Price Foundation Conference here in Limerick!

It's been so long since I wrote ANYTHING that I've almost forgotten how to write! I have some really excellent excuses this time for my long sabbatical. Firstly I became involved in a fantastic project in Limerick city to open the first urban co-operative grocery store. It has been such an uplifting experience, working with a truly dedicated and motivated group. Our little project started as a buying club with only 19 members and has, within a year, grown into a full co-op shop with almost 300 members. We stock organic fruit and vegetables, sourdough breads, free-range eggs and chickens, and a small range of whole-foods. And things are only getting better! We are expanding this year, kitting out the shop properly and hoping to open 6 days a week. Exciting times. I'll write more about the co-op later in the year as things progress.





The last post I wrote was about my trip to the Weston A Price Foundation conference in London last February. Near the end of the post I mentioned that those of us who made up the Irish contingent were so impressed that we decided to put on a conference in Ireland. And that's about to happen. Next month on the 7th and 8th February, Sally Fallon Morell, Dr Natasha Campbell-McBride, Darina Allen, and more speakers will make their way to Thomond Park Conference Centre in Limerick to share their expertise and knowledge about REAL nutrition. I am proud to be a part of the organising committee that has made this happen. It's a huge event and has taken a massive effort but I couldn't be happier that it is happening in my home town. We are blessed to  have such a brilliant venue in Thomond Park and I can't wait to see it bustling with nutritionists, parents, farmers and speakers alike.

This means so much to me, to bring a conference like this to Limerick. After my own incredible success story with the GAPS diet, I really hope that this conference will encourage and enlighten others to take the same leap I did. Trying GAPS was a huge step for us but it has proven to be a total life-changer. My son is happy, and ridiculously healthy! And he is no longer on full GAPS! He eats potatoes now, and he loves mozzarella cheese! We are trying non-GAPS foods, one at a time, and all is going well. The Weston A Price Foundation diet is a perfect one for him to transition to, full of nutrient-dense foods, still including the core GAPS foods like bone broth, fermented foods like yogurt and kefir, offal meats and healthy fats. He loves his food and has a huge appetite. I hope when he is older he will carry on the good habits he has now and pass on this wealth of knowledge to his own children.

When I started out on the GAPS diet, I would have so loved to hear Dr Natasha speak. It would have spurred me on!  She is a truly inspirational speaker and will fire you up with her passion and drive.  Sally Fallon Morell, the president of WAPF and the author of Nourishing Traditions is a wonderful speaker too, with an enormous wealth of knowledge. Her talks on Dr Price's research will thrill and shock you, all at the same time. Joe Fitzmaurice will tell us all about the wonders of sourdough bread, which he makes in his wood-fired oven in the eco-village in Cloughjordan, Co Tipperary. Dr John McKenna will discuss whether antibiotics are curing us or killing us. Elisabeth Ryan will chair a panel discussion on raw milk, I'm particularly looking forward to this as I love my raw milk so much and I couldn't imagine not being able to have it! David Wetzel will inform us on fermented cod liver oil and why it was considered a sacred food among traditional cultures for centuries. And our own legend Darina Allen will open the conference. How lucky are we that this is happening in Limerick?

More information and tickets at the event website: www.wapfmunster.com.