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]]>During the first few years of college my eyesight was progressively worsening to the point I became legally blind. Unbeknownst to me it was a result of an undiagnosed degenerative eye disease called Keratoconus. I failed out of college after my third year at The Ohio State University and, after a year, was readmitted only to drop out that same semester.
Two corneal transplants and several eye surgeries later I finally graduated from college (after almost a decade spent as an undergraduate) and went on to complete my Masters and PhD because I surrounded myself with incredible, caring, inspiring people who supported me on my journey no matter how circuitous or crazy it seemed.
Today, Christina and I revisited the site where I called my parents from a pay phone to tell them I had officially failed out of Ohio State minutes after I left my academic hearing. She urged me to film a quick video while we were there – and, I am so glad she did.
https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/924721165
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]]>The post the latest superfoods list appeared first on Dr. Bill Schindler's Eat Like a Human.
]]>Yet another superfood list just hit on social media, “Top 10 Superfoods for 2024.” If that’s not enough to get you excited, then perhaps the description that followed will be, “This year the following 10 foods were named the most worthy of superfood status, according to hundreds of nutritionists who participated in the ‘What’s Trending in Nutrition’ survey.” Christina sent me a link to this list a few days ago and, as soon as I read through the food on the list, I had a visceral response. The list was as follows:
To most of us consumers a superfood designation would suggest that it is a food so incredibly nourishing, in every sense of the word, that it dwarfs any other possible food option. And, for most of us, it logically follows that if eating some of it is beneficial then buying and eating a lot of it is somehow going to make us superhuman? That mentality is exactly what the modern industrial food system is counting on.
The stark reality is that the term superfood is complete nonsense. There is absolutely no substance to the term and any recommendations stemming from it is certainly not anything we should rely on when making important dietary decisions. It is simply another marketing gimmick disguised as something that is supposed to empower us to make healthier decisions. We all know deep down inside that there is no magic bullet that is going to single handedly save us from the current health crisis we are facing.
Our disconnect is essentially what perpetuates the system. What gives terms like “superfoods” credibility is the vast length of our current food chain which forces us to ask others what we should eat. The gaps in our understanding are readily filled by industrial food system marketing campaigns designed to make profits with complete disregard for our health.
A quick internet search revealed that there are a ton of conflicting definitions for the term “superfood.” I have a very difficult time relying on an ambiguous definition to determine what I should eat when no one, not even the “experts,” can decide on a definition.
Nevertheless, as a mental exercise, if I were to create a definition for anything remotely close to deserving a title like, “superfood” it would be a food that is simultaneously:
Using that criteria, the ONLY food on the original list of Top 10 Superfoods for 2024 that even remotely meets all three is the very last food mentioned, salmon. And, that is only if it is wild.
Otherwise, every other food fails to simultaneously meet all three criteria. Sure, there are a few foods on this list I think should be part of a nourishing diet including fermented foods, avocado and mushrooms. But, they fail to be nutrient dense enough to warrant a title of super food.
And, many of the other foods on the list including seeds, nuts, pulses and grains can be downright dangerous if eaten in large quantities, over a long period of time, and if they haven’t been processed properly.
Instead of this nonsense, we should be basing our diet on truly nutrient dense, bioavailable, safe foods. Here is my list of the top 5 foods that meet all three criteria (in no particular order) that are much more deserving of a superfood title. If, of course, I believed in that term…
Check out how we make ALL these things at the Modern Stone Age Kitchen!
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]]>The post Own your approach to food. Don’t let it own you. appeared first on Dr. Bill Schindler's Eat Like a Human.
]]>I was taken aback and slightly insulted at the time. But, I get it now. I considered my rattling off a list of his accomplishments as a way to honor him, but he saw it as constraining. He saw himself as so much more than anything I could have ever captured through a 2 minute introduction. He wanted the opportunity to convey to the audience his own message during the 45-minute interview without them coming into it with preconceived notions.
And, if he was to be labeled by something, he made it very clear that the title was – human.
The industrial revolution changed our entire value system by creating an environment where a person’s identity was intricately intertwined with their profession – their job defined who they were. And, it worked. In fact, it was one of the reasons the industrial revolution was so successful. And, this new value system has persisted for hundreds of years.
Even today, when people meet one another or make introductions one of the key pieces of information shared is what they do for a living. Whether they are a plumber, a pilot, a professor, or a housewife, their place in the world is filtered through the lens of their job. And, correspondingly, different professions project messages of value, status, education, wealth, and even politics to the world around us.
This is very unfortunate because all of us are so, so much more than our jobs!
While profession continues to play a large role in the identities of my generation I feel like our diets have now become the new vehicle to convey the message of who we are and what we stand for to the outside world.
I have mixed feelings about this phenomenon.
On one hand, I fully believe that everything about how we approach food and nourish ourselves is uniquely and powerfully human. And, that everything about who and what we are plays a role in our approach to food. Our values, our heritage, our family traditions, religious beliefs, socio-economic status, and political beliefs that make us who we are also translate into where we shop and dine, what we eat, and how we prepare it. That is the way it should be and is inherently a healthy way to exist. In fact, it is a must! The manner in which we eat has to align precisely with who we are in order to be fully nourished biologically, culturally and emotionally through food. The danger is when the reverse is true.
When the situation moves from “who we are defines how we eat” to “how we eat defines who we are” something is very, very wrong – especially when how we eat is really modeled from someone else’s approach to food.
Mindlessly adopting some else’s approach to food and all of the baggage that comes with it essentially translates into “how someone else eats determines who we are.” This is powerful – and not in a good or nourishing way at all!
A diet devised by someone else – especially one that has been marketed enough to have a label and a plan is, by default, someone else’s diet.
We are all human and if everything that we are helps define how we approach food then mindlessly adopting someone else’s approach is bound for failure. In addition to everyone’s biological nuances, we have all sorts of unique, individual cultural and emotional nuances that must be taken into account for a lifetime of genuine health and nourishment.
Critically thinking about what is important to you – from social justice issues to the environment to politics to religion – and building your approach to food around those issues is a recipe for success (pardon the pun!).
After all, these are some of the most important aspects of what makes you you.
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]]>The post Take care of your local businesses . . . please appeared first on Dr. Bill Schindler's Eat Like a Human.
]]>Instead of a typical blog post that Bill writes on here every week, we decided to share this social media post we did over the weekend with you all, because it impacts us ALL – regardless of where we are in the world or what you are shopping for. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy and our small towns and extreme weather can drastically impact them. |
From Christina: As a former public school educator, I used to get so excited for snow days! Pjs backwards. Ice cubes in the toilet. Spoons under the pillows – the whole 9-yards with the kids.
But now as a small business owner who employs over 20 people, snow and ice bring sleepless nights.
Please stop out this week and support our awesome local businesses!! It’s gonna be 60 and we all could use a little extra love
Here’s our MSAK post:
Saw this post online and just had to make it our own (yes that’s the front of our shop on Saturday) because this is 100% true and we are feeling it right now.
We had to close early on Friday due to snow but already had a bakery full of sourdough products since it takes us 3+ days to make them. Had to offer our 1st ever Buy 1 Get 1 1/2 off sale which worked out well for our customers but was a hit for us.
Then had to cancel pizza night (which we only do once a week since we make everything 100% from scratch).
Plus we had to cancel a wine tasting and cheesemaking class for our non-profit, the Eastern Shore Food Lab on Friday evening.
Then Saturday was a snowy mess but we are so grateful to everyone who made the trek out – you have no idea how much it means to our team who works tirelessly to hand-craft, one-of-a-kind, scratch-made items.
We are committed to keeping our amazing staff employed over the winter months with the same hours they get in the height of the spring, but snow days make it difficult.
We hope to see you this week at our family-owned and operated restaurant, while you visit all the other locally-owned establishments in Chestertown. We see a forecast of 60 towards the end of the week – with some rain – so please put on your rain boots, and take a walk around our beautiful town and frequent the shops and restaurants. We all could use a little extra love during these cold, slower winter months
P.S. We’re open at 8am all week and would love to see you for breakfast or coffee or both!
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]]>The post Christina’s Side of the Story appeared first on Dr. Bill Schindler's Eat Like a Human.
]]>It’s only fair that I have the chance to share my side of the story though, so here it goes.
I still remember the first day of my sophomore year, walking into my world history class with my friend Liza. As we settled into our seats at the back, I couldn’t help but notice an incredibly handsome and mature-looking guy sitting directly in the middle of the front row. I leaned over to Liza and questioned whether he was really a sophomore at the age of 19. She assured me that there was no way he was 19, so I couldn’t help but be intrigued by this mystery man. Little did I know that this encounter would lead to something truly special.
The semester began with a question from our professor: “What is the oldest form of alcohol?” As the class pondered the answer, the handsome guy in the front row confidently raised his hand and declared, “Mead, the ancient honey wine.” Little did I know that on our wedding day, less than two years later, we would celebrate with a toast of mead. It’s funny how life works, isn’t it?
As fate would have it, we crossed paths again that evening in Princeton, New Jersey. He was the new bartender, and I was the new waitress. However, contrary to what he may have told you, I didn’t actually see him waiting outside the classroom on that first day.
AND he forgot to tell you all that he had a GIRLFRIEND!!
If I had seen him, I definitely would have struck up a conversation.
Over the next two years, we created countless memories while working together in the restaurant business. Late nights after closing, he would introduce me to different varieties of alcohol, allowing me to sample and learn (don’t tell anyone – I was underage but truly liked a Bahama Mama). Those were simpler times, without the complexities of today’s computerized systems, so we could easily comp items and taste-test after hours. But amidst the fun and laughter, there was also a dark side to the industry.
The high-stress environment and constant anxiety were overwhelming at times. However, the allure of good cash, particularly for two young individuals saving for a wedding and their future, was undeniable. It was addictive. Yet, there were aspects of the business that I wish customers understood.
Let me share something personal that I probably shouldn’t, but I feel compelled to do so as we are trying to create a “counter-culture.”
During my college years, while working at an Italian restaurant in South Jersey, I experienced a very uncomfortable encounter. My manager, who was significantly older than me, made inappropriate advances when I went to turn in my cash at the end of the night. I found myself alone in a closed room with him. Thankfully, I managed to extricate myself from the situation and never returned to work there – ever.
Then my next restaurant experience was where Bill and I met. I didn’t have the “closed door” experience there, but a theme that continued in this next job was the amount of choice words and pans thrown around the kitchen. You could truly feel the stress as soon as you pushed open that swinging kitchen door. Apparently, it was accepted as “restaurant life” but I still can’t figure out why.
Regardless of the behavior I witnessed as a server, there was one incident that will never leave my memory. I had to fire a ticket (that means you need a course made so you go into the kitchen to “fire” it – remember this is before you could do it via a computer so you had to verbally “say”fire” it). The chef came around the counter, gestured with two hands toward his groin area, looked me dead in the eye, and said, “only if you suck my xxxx.”
I can still vividly remember the feeling of complete disgust, shame, and horror as I spun quickly out of the kitchen. Not only did I have to put on a fake smile for a room full of customers, but also for a very loving fiancé (who was a Division I wrestler and would have crushed that chef if he heard that comment). Later that evening, I told Billy what had happened and literally had to hide his keys so he didn’t drive back to work.
After reading our two blogs (here is a link to Bill’s from last week), you have a better understanding why we have said for over 20 years, we would never own a restaurant. You know might even understand why we hesitated even calling the Modern Stone Age Kitchen a restaurant. It’s been called a “foodery” for years as we did not want to be associated with the restaurant culture. In our minds, verbal and sexual harassment, went hand-in-hand with the restaurant industry (late ’90s early ’00s).
Fortunately, things have changed over the 20+ years since we left the restaurant industry, but there is still work to be done. We must expect more as customers and employees. No one should be subjected to harassment in the workplace – any work place.
After sharing last week’s blog post, we received messages from numerous individuals who have witnessed or experienced similar incidents themselves. It is simply not acceptable and needs to change.
When hiring staff, we tell them upfront, – we are NOT your typical restaurant. There is no pan throwing, no degrading comments towards colleagues, everyone is included and welcome. We do share that sometimes a curse or two might slip out but never in a volatile way 😉 Staff have remarked have refreshing it is to work in such a positive environment.
Despite the challenges, working in the restaurant industry over the past 20 years has allowed me to meet my husband, create cherished memories with fellow servers and customers, and truly help get us started financially. Now, we are ridiculously proud of the restaurant culture that we are consciously creating as a family together here in our community of Chestertown, MD. At the Modern Stone Age Kitchen, we value individuality, celebrate our employees strengths, and support their growth in positive and meaningful ways.
Over the past two weeks, we have been conducting personal, uninterrupted interviews with each MSAK team member. One of our questions is, “what is your favorite thing about working at the MSAK?” Unanimously everyone shared a sediment about our team, the atmosphere, the customers, the vibe, the message/mission. Here are somethings they shared:
As we like to say, we hope you #TasteTheDifference of our food at the Modern Stone Age Kitchen, but equally important, we hope you can #FeelTheDifference when walking through the doors of the MSAK.
And maybe we need some mead on the menu? What do you think??
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]]>The post Building a Restaurant Counterculture – and proud of it! appeared first on Dr. Bill Schindler's Eat Like a Human.
]]>January 19, 2024 marked the very day, 26 years ago, I walked into Professor Karras’s history class at the College of New Jersey and laid eyes on Christina for the first time in my life.
I remember it like it was yesterday. She was stunning and I was struck by everything about her – her gorgeous big eyes, her genuine smile, even the way her golden hair rested on her shoulders. I even remember being smitten by the way she laughed as she joked with a student seated next to her when I walked into the classroom. I wanted so badly to sit near her, but she was seated at the back of the class.
I was a non-traditional student who had already failed out AND dropped out of Ohio State and at 25 years old I knew this was my last chance to actually complete college so I wasn’t playing around no matter how beautiful she was. So, instead I sat front row center, right next to the professor’s podium.
Despite my proximity to Professor Karras, I couldn’t focus on anything he was saying. The only thing on my mind was creating ways to fabricate opportunities to turn my head and look over my shoulder to steal glances at her. I soon found out that there is actually a limit to how many times you can “accidentally” knock your pen off of your desk until it gets really annoying to everyone around you. . .
Once I realized I needed to stop looking at her, I shifted my focus to developing a plan to put me in the same orbit as Christina. I figured if I could exit the classroom quickly I would be able to stand in the hallway right outside of the door and she would have to pass me providing an opportunity to talk to her. So, a few minutes before class was over, I put my plan into motion. I quietly packed up my things early and was the first one out of the classroom. I stood against the wall as the entire class filed out, including Christina who walked past me without a second glance as if I wasn’t even there.
My heart sank.
The rest of the day was filled with other classes, a mediocre dining hall lunch, and then a quick trip back to my apartment to shower before starting my very inaugural shift as the new bartender at a restaurant called the Alchemist and Barrister in Princeton, New Jersey. The dinner shift of bartenders, servers and bussers all reported to work an hour before service began so that we could all have a team meeting, eat our pre-shift meal, and prep our stations before the diners arrived.
I literally almost fell over when I entered the A & B through the side doors for my first pre-shift meeting. Seated at the staff table eating her first pre-shift meal waiting for her first team meeting was Christina. I was the new bartender and she was the new waitress – and we both started on the same day! The serendipity was not lost on me, but I had no idea that this was truly the first day of the rest of my life.
We worked there for years together and created a ton of meaningful memories: post-shift late nights with our manager Chaz making all sorts of weird egg creations, stealing kisses in the downstairs walk-in when I had to go down and “change a keg”, and every St. Patrick’s Day when Christina would dress up in a Leprechaun outfit and serve Nutty Irishmans by matching customers shot for shot!
And, we loved the customers. In fact, we are still in contact with some of them. The Alchemist and Barrister was so important to us during our formative years as a couple that we celebrated our college graduation there and even invited some of our co-workers and the owners to our wedding.
But, there was also the other side of working in a restaurant that consumed us during the time we worked there and we couldn’t wait to get away from it.
The culture in far too many restaurants is toxic. It is a high stress, high volume, fast paced environment that feeds off of rushes of adrenaline and cortisol mitigated by coping mechanisms like drugs and alcohol. Everyone is overworked, sleep deprived and, despite working in food establishments, malnourished. It is the very definition of a chronic stress environment. And, to make matters worse, Instead of a workspace that fosters building one another up, it breeds insecurity. And, insecure people make themselves feel better by tearing others down.
Restaurant kitchens are notorious for the screaming, cursing, and degrading humiliation that run rampant in them – chefs screaming at chefs, chefs screaming at waiters, waiters screaming at everyone. And, a successful waiter, waitress or bartender then needs to be able to brush it all off as they walk out of the kitchen and manage a smile as they return to the dining room to interact with customers as if nothing ever happened.
To top it all off, the very shifts that make the most money are the shifts that everyone else around you are off from. We worked Friday nights, Saturday doubles and Sunday doubles because they were the most lucrative. While our families and all of our friends were out having fun, we were stuck in the restaurant getting yelled at.
I still cannot understand how the system survives when in so many cases both the workers and the consumers are worse off for participating in it? But, culinary schools still fill their seats with aspiring chefs and customers continue to flock to restaurants.
We all need to raise our expectations.
Christina and I were so immersed in “restaurant culture” during the formative years of our relationship that we vowed once we escaped that we would never return. Not only did we never expect to ever work in a restaurant again, but we certainly never expected to own one!
It is for all of these reasons that as the Modern Stone Age Kitchen organically grew, we resisted calling it a restaurant at all costs. We subconsciously didn’t want to admit that we owned a restaurant. That is the reason we hung on to the word “foodery” for so long. But, alas, we now realize that we do in fact own a restaurant and, we couldn’t be prouder.
Why? Well . . . because we learned a lot from our time working at other restaurants.
Here at the MSAK we are intentionally creating a culture that is the exact opposite from the toxic nature of what has become the norm in much of the restaurant industry.
We are proud of the restaurant “counterculture” we are building and confident in the way in which we are going about building it. We also realize there is so much more we can do and we are diligently working towards new goals. And, we are not alone!
There are a growing number of incredible chefs and even small family run restaurants that are realizing the restaurant industry can grow to be a source of nourishment, in all ways, for its staff and its customers.
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]]>The post The nourishing power of a pot full of bones and water appeared first on Dr. Bill Schindler's Eat Like a Human.
]]>In fact, I believe pottery technology ranks right up there with stone tool technology, fire technology and hunting technology in how it positively impacted our ancestral diets. With the advent of pottery our ancestors could cook food that included liquids directly on a fire for the first time.
Yes, I know some of you archaeology snobs are out there saying, “Hey! What about cooking in skin lined pits with hot rocks and using stone bowls to cook on a fire? Both of these technologies predated ceramic pots.” And, you are right. In fact, there is even an aboriginal tradition in a part of Australia when after a kangaroo is killed it is cooked whole, belly side up in a pit in the ground and when it is finished the belly is sliced open and the first thing consumed is the “broth” made out of the offal, blood and other fluids naturally occurring in the body!
Although I haven’t cooked kangaroo, I have cooked in skin lined pits using rocks and stone bowls multiple times and none of these methods compare to the versatility of being able to mold wet clay into almost any size and shape you like, fire it to transform it from clay into ceramic, then turn it over and cook directly in it whenever you need.
Almost 30,000 years ago we see the first examples of fired clay figurines in the Czech Republic. Although it remains a controversial site, archaeologist Scotty MacNeish recovered human hand prints preserved in clay that date to the same general time frame from a site known as Pendejo Cave in New Mexico. But, the earliest clay vessels date closer to 20,000 years ago and were found in China. And, clay vessels just like those made all the difference.
Armed with clay pots our ancestors could simply toss the entire lot in the pot! This included bones complete with any connective tissue, meat and fat still adhering to it, meat scraps riddled with sinew and silver skin, feet, etc. fill it with water, throw it on the fire, and forget about it. Over the next several hours or even days magical things happen in that pot to turn it into one of the most nourishing foods on the planet.
While our ancestors were off doing other things, the simmering liquid leached all sorts of amazing things from bones, meat, and connective tissue it surrounded.
According to Healthline the bone yields minerals like calcium, phosphorus, sodium, magnesium, and potassium. Bone marrow provides vitamins A, B2, B12, and E, omega-3 and 6, and minerals like calcium, iron, selenium, and zinc. Connective tissue provides glucosamine and chondroitin. And, perhaps most importantly, bones, marrow, and connective tissue are all made up of the protein collagen, which turns into gelatin when cooked.
It is one of the simplest things to cook and requires very little ingredients and very little active time. It can be made in a pot on the stove, a dish in the oven, or in a slow cooker on the counter. It is versatile in that it can be drunk like a cup of coffee as a way to start your day, the foundation of almost every soup on the planet, and a fantastic way to introduce flavor and nutrition into a variety of dishes.
Throughout the winter, we will have warm bone broth for you to sip each day and quarts to take home. You can take a class on bone broth at the ESFL or follow the recipe in Eat Like a Human. Or, to get a quick start, here is a quick video we filmed during COVID when we were drinking bone broth daily to ensure we stayed healthy throughout the pandemic.
. Or, to get a quick start, here is a quick video we filmed during COVID when we were drinking bone broth daily to ensure we stayed healthy throughout the pandemic.
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]]>The post Connection appeared first on Dr. Bill Schindler's Eat Like a Human.
]]>That was the WhatsApp message from Galia Kleiman in response to the photo I sent her of Sophia Eng and Sebastian Chagoya cooking together in preparation for our Asian Ancestral Weekend event this past weekend. It reminded me that all of us in this ancestral diet community are intricately connected. And, this was a great reminder less than one week after we announced our word for the year – connection. I was proud.
How did it come to be that a Weston Price Chapter Leader, health coach, nourishing food educator, and bone broth producer from Mexico City commented on a photo of a Vietnamese-American author, farmer, and nourishing food advocate cooking with our intern from Oaxaca, Mexico at the Modern Stone Age Kitchen in Chestertown, Maryland?
Well, that’s a great question. It’s a small, small beautiful world and a huge, passionate community of incredible humans working together to nourish one another. Please give me a moment to elaborate – it will become very clear:
After months of searching online to find someone to help me arrange an immersive research trip into traditional nixtamalization practices I learned about Galia online when I came across an advertisement for Ferment Oaxaca, a conference she was co-organizing with Raquel Guajardo that included workshop leaders and presenters such as fermentation guru, Sandor Katz and traditional cheesemaker, David Asher. As soon as I saw this conference, I knew I had to meet the person who was organizing it. So, I sent her an email.
The entire Schindler family met Galia’s family in person for the first time the day before Christmas Eve in Mexico City for a nixtamalization workshop we organized at a tortilleria, Cal y Maiz. We spent Christmas together and all of us took a hot air balloon ride over the pyramids over Teotihuacan. Our families bonded so well and it was such a magical experience that we offered for them to come visit us in Maryland. The Schindler family continued on to conduct research in Oaxaca the Galia helped coordinate where we learned more about traditional nixtamalization and the art of making quesillo (Oaxacan string cheese).
April, 2019
Galia took us up on our offer! We brought Galia and her family to Chestertown to present at the Eastern Shore Food Lab while it was still a part of Washington College. The title of her presentation was: Pulque – the ultimate fermented drink. The abstract on the advertisement read: Rediscover a flavorful connection to the advanced culture of ancient Mexico in pulque, the fermented agave beverage that nourished humans since pre-Hispanic times.
It was a fantastic event that embodied everything I was hoping to accomplish when I first created the Eastern Shore Food Lab. It was an event designed for the students, faculty, and staff at Washington College as well as for the larger community of Chestertown and the surrounding area. The ESFL student interns, Shane Brill (the assistant director) and I spent weeks preparing by nixtamalization, grinding, pressing and cooking tortillas; making Quesillo (Oaxacan string cheese), fermenting, cooking and everything else required to cater the event with traditional tacos – talk about project based, hands-on learning! Pulque is hyper local and hyper seasonal; you can only get genuine pulque at the right time of the year very close to where it is produced. I don’t know how she pulled it off, but Galia even organized for fresh pulque to be shipped overnight from a ranch in Mexico where it is made to us so that everyone in attendance could sample some of the real thing after hearing about all of its amazing benefits from her presentation. I am confident it was the first genuine pulque ever consumed in Chestertown, Maryland! After the event our families had a blast exploring the area together including stops at Rolph’s Wharf and Washington D.C.!
Galia invited me to teach a workshop at her annual Ferment Oaxaca Conference (yes, the very same conference I first noticed online three years earlier where I learned about Galia). I was so honored! The workshop was on Fermenting Offal.
At the conference, I met Sebastian Chagoya. His mother owns a health food store in Oaxaca which hosted one of the conference workshops that year. Every year Sebastian helps with logistics during the conference. And, since his English was so amazing, we spent a lot of time together. He was a fantastic tour guide and translator. And, his work ethic was amazing.
Christina and I traveled to San Miquel de Allende to teach a cheesemaking workshop and deliver a presentation for a brand new conference Galia had organized with Raquel Guajardo and Hilda Labrada Gore.
Sebastian reached out to inquire about the possibility of interning with us after seeing us post online about our renovations at the Modern Stone Age Kitchen. He was very interested in learning how to cook nourishing foods from scratch and the opportunity to improve his English.
Sebastian arrived at Philadelphia International Airport and began interning with us the next day!
I was contacted by Chelsea Green to write a blurb, a short promotional description, for a new book they were publishing titled, The Nourishing Asian Kitchen: Nutrient-Dense Recipes for Health and Healing written by Sophia Eng. The publishers were excited about this book and, after reading the manuscript I was too! It was written from the heart and chock full of great information and recipes. Here is the blurb I wrote:
Finally, an ethnic cookbook that truly celebrates the nourishing qualities of traditional diets! Through The Nourishing Asian Kitchen, Sophia Nguyen Eng empowers the home cook to rely upon ferments, broths, high-quality fats, and even offal to create authentically healthy dishes. This book is exactly what we need to help confront a global foodscape that has been cheapened by the industrial food system to the point that it is making us sick.
October 2023
Christina and I co-presented at the Nourishing Traditions Conference in Kansas City, Missouri. This is the annual Weston Price Foundation Conference that draws approximately 1,500 attendees each year. You can imagine our surprise and delight when Mexico City’s Weston Price Foundation Chapter Leader, Galia Kleiman took the stage right before our presentation to introduce us!
Later at the Chelsea Green Book table in the vendor hall we met Sophia Eng in person for the first time. We had a great conversation and, after meeting her we wanted to share her passion and enthusiasm with our community. So, we invited her to Chestertown and the three of us brainstormed and planned a weekend worth of events to run through the Modern Stone Age Kitchen and the Eastern Shore Food Lab.
Sophia’s book launched
Sophia and her family traveled from East Tennessee to the Modern Stone Age Kitchen for the Asian Ancestral Eating Weekend that included a special pizza in honor of Sophia Friday night, a Oxtail Pho workshop Saturday morning, a special dinner directly from the pages of her book Saturday night, and tons of preparation, conversation, and book signings in between. It was during preparation for the event that I snapped the picture of Sophia and Sebastian and sent it to Galia.
So, why was Galia so excited to see Sophia and Sebastian together in that photo? It is not just because Galia and Sophia also met one another in person at the Nourishing Traditions conference in October. No, much better and more “full circle” than that….
This upcoming September, Sophia will be in Oaxaca leading her own workshop at Galia’s Ferment Oaxaca Conference and Sebastian will be back by then helping with logistics and ensuring the conference runs smoothly! What a small, small world.
This is just one of so many similar situations that we have been fortunate to experience as a part of this incredible community. And, our experiences are most certainly a small representative sample of how many are actually occurring all over the world.
One of the many facets I loved about being a professor was that I was expected to conduct research. Research provided me the opportunity to learn new things, meet new people, and be inspired. Being a professor also meant that I had the opportunity to teach, which meant sharing my research with my students which included not just what I learned but also the people I met and all of the inspiration I received from both.
This was such a rewarding part of my life that Christina and I have intentionally structured what we are building here with the Eastern Shore Food Lab and the Modern Stone Age Kitchen to be able to continue this pattern for the larger community in and around Chestertown.
Everything written above is a direct reflection of what this approach can accomplish.
and we can not wait to connect with YOU!!!
This year’s Ferment Oaxaca Conference is taking place on September 26. It is a powerful, one of a kind experience and I highly recommend attending. It is a great opportunity to learn all different types of fermentation techniques, meet like minded people and do it all in Oaxaca, a colorful, beautiful place with incredible people and some of the most delicious, nourishing, traditional food in the world! Here is a link for more information and tickets: https://www.fermentoaxaca.com/
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]]>This recent instagram post made me laugh. Then it made me think. And, then I realized it contained an important lesson for all of us as we enter 2024.
On the first slide it reads:
On the second slide it read:
I just bake bread
There is always a hint of truth to anything funny. And, that is 100% the case with this post.
Except for the husband serving thing, there is nothing wrong with any of these qualities the author is reacting to. In fact, they are virtuous. Someone who embodies all of them is thoughtful and most certainly working hard towards nourishing themselves and their families. But, what this post is responding to is the perception in the ancestral/traditional health communities that if one of these things is important to you then you automatically need to be all of them to somehow be complete, or whole, or genuine. Shattering that artificial expectation is exactly what made the Instagram post so great. The reality is you DON’T HAVE TO BE ALL OF THEM to still be a part of this amazing community of people that care deeply about their health, their families, their communities and the world around them. It is not an “all or nothing” club.
We need to focus on what we all have in common instead of aspects of our lives that can cause division. Especially, when we are all after the same end goal – nourishing ourselves and our families.
I know I have written about this before, but I am bringing it up again here. This type of “all or nothing” approach to food, diet and health is polarizing. It is alienating. It is exclusive. It may help you and the people around you, but your circle of influence will be very, very small. The idea that someone who believes in the nourishing qualities of meat has to be a full carnivore is ridiculous. Or, if someone is keto and indulges in an occasional slice of sourdough bread they are no longer part of the keto world. Or, that if you hunt or believe in food sovereignty or raw milk that automatically aligns you with a particular political affiliation is ludicrous.
I agree with the underlying message that being genuinely healthy and nourished requires so much more than just a healthy diet. After all, nourishing us complex humans is complex in and of itself. But, creating an artificial set of requirements for someone else to live up to simply sets them up for failure. The human experience and what it takes to achieve full nourishment is individual. What is required to nourish you biologically, spiritually, socially, and emotionally is and should be very different from someone else. And, moreover, it is contextual. What is required to nourish you today will ultimately change during a different stage in your life.
Nourishment comes in many different forms, but begins by being true to yourself. Goals are important. But, they need to be selective and purposeful to be a powerful force in your life driving you towards a better YOU. When you select goals based on an identity that is not your own you don’t create a healthy future, instead you create the opposite – an unrealistic expectation of yourself that is most likely unattainable. And, in those rare circumstances it is attained, it is not a genuine place to be. There is nothing nourishing about that.
It is about being thoughtful. Thoughtful about where our food comes from. Thoughtful about nourishing ourselves, our families and our communities. Thoughtful about the consequences of our actions. Individual agency is expressed through the way in which we put into action our own set of beliefs – but the fact that we care, think deeply, look to the past for inspiration and information, and do something is what creates the common ground that binds us all together.
As I worked through the draft of this post I realized something else. This post was just as alienating as the message it was responding to. I wondered what if the author of the post reacted in a different way? What if she took a step back and focused on larger intentions behind making the decisions to homestead, homeschool or even bake sourdough bread? Take, for example, the carnivore/vegan debate which, on the surface, are polar opposites of one another.
If we step back and look at what the members of each “camp” are trying to achieve with their dietary decisions we can find a ton of common ground. Thoughtful vegans and carnivores, regardless of their decisions to be meat- or plant-based, are working towards creating a nourishing, ethical and sustainable food system, and, as a result, share a lot of similarities. How they put their goals into practice is what separates them.
Instead of:
Perhaps an alternative wording could have been:
That message is different. That message creates a set of goals we can ALL aspire to and, most importantly, reach in our own, nuanced ways. That message is inclusive.
So, this is the year to own it.
Whoever you are.
Whatever you are.
However you chose to nourish yourself and your family and your community – if you are doing so in a thoughtful, caring, inclusive way you are a part of our community.
And, I look forward to cooking, eating, and living our way toward the most nourished year ever!
Bill
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]]>As we made our way uptown Sebastian was checking off his list:
Everything was festive. Lights and holiday decorations were everywhere. The windows of shops were full of displays that were not only holiday themed, but incredibly hi-tech. Faces of the window shoppers even appeared in some of the displays themselves. We even had an opportunity to get our own faces plastered across an electronic billboard in Times Square by uploading a photo through a QR code. Sure, all of this was marketing. But, brilliant marketing indeed. It made everyone feel part of something larger.
But, despite all this holiday magic, we encountered a number troublesome things during our adventure. The PATH and subway stations were just plain filthy. In fact, much of the city felt dirtier than I remember from my last visit. The plumes of marijuana scented smoke smacked us in the face every time we walked out of a store onto the street was overwhelming. But, the most disgusting experience of the entire day took place in Macy’s of all places.
Yes, of course we took Sebastian to Macy’s (we couldn’t let him miss the Miracle of 34th Street). And, we made it all the way to the top to see Santa (who knew they had a wooden escalator and so many floors). On the way back down we stopped on the mezzanine and I simply couldn’t believe what I saw. The entire mezzanine was nothing but candy. But, what bothered me more than the refined sugar, preservative, artificial flavoring and coloring-laden food was the messaging around all of it.
Did we mention this was right outside of “SantaLand?” Check out the middle pic below of Christina walking in with SantaLand right there!
This dangerous messaging carried over to the packaging of the products as well. For example, despite its cute name, “Dingle Bearies” the package of the milk chocolate covered gummy bears boasted that it is, “A Delicious Part of Your Unbalanced Breakfast”
The blatant messages were absolutely disgusting. It is not as if the majority of our population is walking around healthy and in need of such an advertising campaign that advises to not be so hard on ourselves and embrace the candy canes and sugar plums that only come around once a year. We have far surpassed that. The hedonistic indulgence of sugar has morphed from once (or a few times a year) to EVERY SINGLE DAY for far too many of us and this type of messaging isn’t cute any longer.
This is no longer an issue of our consumption of junk food resulting in a little acne or a few extra pounds. We are now witnessing how our modern consumption of junk food has resulted in a widespread diabetes that, at best, results in insulin dependencies and foot amputations, and, at worst, death. In fact, it is cruel. It is criminal.
I can hear some of you right now telling me it’s the holidays and just loosen up. Believe me, hear you. But, concern for what we put into our mouths during the holidays can no longer be taboo. We must talk about these things if we are going to create the type of change in our food system that we so desperately need.
People actually listen to these messages, if even subliminally, and use them as license to splurge. It doesn’t bother me so much that these food companies are making money. However, it angers me that they are making money while ruining the lives of their customers. I believe they have a responsibility; in fact, I believe we all have a responsibility.
Imagine a world in which anyone with an opportunity to share their voice widely – whether a movie star, tik tok celebrity, head of a marketing firm, blog author, podcast host, or even classroom teacher – also believed they had a responsibility to use their platform to improve the lives of their audience. What sort of messages would they send? What sort of positive change would it create?
We take our responsibility very, very seriously at the Modern Stone Age Kitchen and Eastern Shore Food Lab and want to use this as an opportunity to send a message to all of you by sharing our word for 2024: CONNECT.
We are making it a priority this year to connect to ourselves, one another, our family, our community and the world around us in the deepest, most meaningful ways possible. We hope this all inspires you to do the same in your own way and to make this the healthiest, most nourishing year of your life.
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