From Processed to Pure…
I’m not naturally an outspoken person and growing up, my family ate conventional foods, like chicken nuggets and frosted breakfast cereals. We lived in metro west Boston and after high school, my parents and I packed my stuff into the station wagon and we drove East 15 miles to Boston College. I maintained a very mainstream life, getting married soon after grad school and starting a family soon after that. However, when a doctor told me that my third child was “allergic to the world” and he had multiple environmental allergies, and a moderate hearing impairment because of it.
I probably would have accepted this horrible diagnosis and the limited lifestyle it predicted for my son, except that medications were not helping. Doctors kept prescribing stronger and stronger doses, yet he was still sniffling and he wasn’t eating or growing. He had deep, dark circles under his eyes. Nighttime was the worst. His breathing was even more compromised when he lay down. He would scream and cry every night because he couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t sleep and he was exhausted. And, every parent knows, if your child can’t sleep, you aren’t sleeping either.
None of the traditional medical professionals had answers for me, so I went to the Naturopath and the Chiropractor. We had to find new homes for all or our pets. We removed the carpets from the floors and the curtains from the windows. I wrapped his bed in plastic and had HEPA filters all over the house. I doused the furniture with dust mite spray and vacuumed constantly. All of these steps improved his situation, but didn’t cure it. Charlie still sniffled and struggled to breathe. None of us slept well. And we lived in constant fear of a serious set back or attack.
Then, one day, I was walking through Whole Foods and someone handed me a free copy of Patient…Heal Thyself, by Jordan Rubin. I took it and read the entire thing that night. Jordan, who can be seen in the movie Farmageddon, almost died from Crone’s Disease. Luckily, he met a man who helped him heal through food. This concept of solving health problems through food gave me hope for the first time in months.
I started Jordan’s program slowly. He recommended the Weston Price Foundation and the cookbook, Nourishing Traditions. I was always an avid cook and loved cookbooks, but once I had four children under the age of four, food preparation revolved around the freezer and the microwave. This cookbook restored my love for preparing food and absolutely changed my family’s life. This book explained the healing effects of raw dairy products, healthy fats, bone broths, raw and fermented vegetables and drinks. It also talked about the kinds of foods to avoid. In a matter of months, I went from struggling to reduce the presence of allergens in my house to exploring new, pure foods to increase the health and well being of my son Charlie and the rest of my family.
Today, Charlie is thriving. He is a junior in high school, with a passion for playing hockey. Despite the dire prognosis of his allergists and other physicians, Charlie is leading an active life and does not need medications. He no longer shows signs of a depressed immune system and is no longer allergic to grass, dust, trees, bees, flowers and animals.
We share our house with two dogs and a cat. There are carpets on our floors and curtains on the windows. That’s the good news. Along the way to this wonderful outcome, I discovered that many of the small, family farms that provide organic, fresh foods and access to raw dairy are threatened. This experience led me to produce a feature-length documentary called Farmageddon. This film tells the story of farmerss that were providing safe, healthy foods to their communities and were forced to stop by the agents of misguided government bureaucracies. Defending our right to access to local, fresh food is becoming a full-time job. In addition to raising teenagers, I’m becoming an advocate for small farms. Farmaggedon is available on Amazon and continues to be screened in theatres across the country. It’s been an incredible journey.
