Sustainable wellness

Sustaining good health
The Chico-Butte Valley Chapter of the Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF) recently announced an upcoming two-day intensive seminar—Jan. 21 and 22, starting at 8 a.m. each day—on homeopathy, to be presented by widely known homeopath, lecturer and author Joette Calabrese, from Buffalo, N.Y.

According to the National Institutes of Health’s National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, “The term homeopathy comes from the Greek words homeo, meaning similar, and pathos, meaning suffering or disease. Homeopathy seeks to stimulate the body’s ability to heal itself by giving very small doses of highly diluted substances. This therapeutic method was developed by German physician Samuel Christian Hahnemann at the end of the 18th century.”

Homeopathy—or homeopathic medicine—has been practiced in the United States since the early 19th century to treat a variety of diseases and ailments. The local WAPF chapter, known for its work championing a healthful lifestyle centered around food made with locally sourced, organic ingredients, supports homeopathy as a way of relying less on ingesting prescription drugs, which can cause unintended side effects, as well as wreak havoc on the digestive system with extended use.

“The ancient art of homeopathy is effective and carries no side effects,” according to the local WAPF chapter, co-led by local food activists Carol Chaffin Albrecht and Kim Port. “It is an art that has been pushed by the wayside as we turn to modern wonder-drugs. It is our chapter’s belief that society as a whole would be much healthier if we learn to employ this wonderful method of care in our daily lives.”

Cost for the two-day seminar, which includes breakfast and lunch (sponsored by Oroville’s—and Chaffin Albrecht’s—Chaffin Family Orchards) both days is $115. Single-day attendance, which also includes both meals, is $75. Vendors for the event are also still being sought. The seminar will be held at the Chico Family Masonic Center (1110 W. East Ave.). Go to http://chicowapfjoettecalabrese2day.eventbrite.com for more information and to register.

For more info on Calabrese and the practice of homeopathy, go to her website: www.homeopathyworks.net. More info on homeopathy can be found at http://nccam.nih.gov/health/homeopathy, and at http://abchomeopathy.com.

Wellness through mindfulness
Care2.com writer Laetitia Mailhes wrote a nice piece recently called “Celebrate 2012 With Food Mindfulness.” In it, Mailhes lists seven things that she will do this year to be mindful about the food she consumes. We can all learn from her list, which includes choosing to buy foods that do not contain pesticides or other agrichemicals whenever possible, never buying or eating meat unless it is labeled as not containing antibiotics or growth hormones, and cooking “at least two new recipes every month in order to incorporate more and more fresh products in my diet, and to reduce my consumption of processed food.”

Mailhes also advocates buying from local producers and being mindful of the socio-economic impact of buying cheap food. “Low prices typically imply cheaply produced food, including cheap labor,” she writes. “Farm workers in America do not enjoy the same rights as everyone else in the workforce, hence the need for consumers to pay attention to the kind of labor conditions they support.”

Read the entire article at http://tinyurl.com/mindfulfood.