Cultivating a Natural Foods Diet by Quaker Anne At our farm, we produce most of our own food. Pasture raised meats, chemical free produce, free range eggs, raw honey and even raw milk, most of which have provided us with the staples of our diet for over 20 years. Our lifestyle, strongly based on the Christian ideals of simplicity and stewardship, was led by grace to learn and put into practice the principles of living as closely to God's plan for man as possible. Among other things, this meant cultivating a family diet consisting of natural foods produced as chemically free as possible. Our feeling has always been that the human body can be in the best health if properly nourished on truly wholesome foods. The challenge became finding food sources we could trust and ultimately led to our raising most of our own meats, fresh produce and dairy. Unable to find a local source for raw milk years ago, we began to raise our own dairy herd of goats. Pasture raised, hormone and antibiotic free, our goats have produced healthful nutritious milk which we've consume raw for almost a quarter of a century. Our children were all raised on raw goats milk (and raw cows milk when available) and over the years, we've thoroughly enjoyed a wide variety of delicious products made from our milk such as yoghurt, cheeses, butter and more. The results have been optimal health for the entire family. Click here for interesting information about raw milk. Maintaining a strong immune system has resulted in the ultimate life perk, we seldom need doctors because we're rarely ever sick. The advantages of exceptional health earned through a truly natural diet has been of such value to our family that little else can compare to it. We want to share with others the things that have served us so well and we encourage you to make healthful life choices that fit and benefit your family. We are often asked how to make good food choices and we recommend becoming pro-active. Here are a few helpful ideas. Learn more about making healthy dietary choices through research and reading as much as you can from a broad variety of sources. Your local library is a good start and so is the Internet. Invest in memberships in organizations such as the Weston A. Price Foundation and help support groups that provide real education. Purchase your food from local farms and growers where produce is assured natural by being either organic or Certified Naturally Grown. Spend time getting to know those farmers and producers. Farmers and producers of natural foods are often more than happy to share their enthusiasm and those pearls of wisdom are priceless. Recognize the true value of natural foods and don't compromise that value with price comparisons to "cheap" foods. That's like comparing organic apples to artificially flavored orange soda. If the assurance of knowing where your food actually comes from and how it is raised really matters, be willing to pay those farmers accordingly. The real bargain can not be measured in dollars saved, but is realized by the investment of better health through consuming natural products, as well as the community support you provide to your local growers. Help sustain them and they will continue to sustain you. Of course some may not agree. Individuals willing to purchase soda pop, that has not one single nutritive quality of any kind, for $1.00 or more per bottle generally can not comprehend for instance the real value of naturally produced farm eggs from pastured chickens that sell for $1.50 per dozen, little more than $.12 apiece. A paradox indeed. Join your local co-op. You will meet like minded people from whom you'll learn a great deal. Grow your own produce. Where ever you live, country, town or city, break your own ground and plant whatever you can no matter how minimal it may be. Even city dwellers have access to a sunny window, a porch or a roof top where growing a pot of herbs or bucket of luscious tomatoes is possible and easy to manage. You simply can't beat produce you grow yourself. Shop at farmers markets in your area and be selective about your choices. Ask sellers about their garden management practices to ensure the real quality of their produce. Create a pantry of your own fresh preserves. Wether from your garden or the farmers market, learn how to can and freeze vegetables so you can preserve your very own store of nutritious goodness to enjoy throughout the year. If you don't know how, ask a local farmers wife to help you learn, or take a class. Share what you learn with others and become part of the solution. Activists effect change - perhaps not everyone will respond to your enthusiasm but how many does it take to matter? Is effecting just one persons life really less important than effecting 10?