Back in the mid-1800s a man by the name of Dr Semmelweis used his power of observation to discover why women were dying of puerperal fever in a maternity ward staffed with male doctors and medical students at a rate of 5 times higher, compared to women delivering with midwives, in another ward in the same hospital. After trying a few different approaches, and a lot of frustration, he hypothesized that cadaver parts were getting left behind on the hands of the doctors that were doing autopsies and they were then infecting the patients. He ordered everyone to start washing their hands before working with women, and the child bed fever dropped dramatically. You would think everyone would have been thrilled, but they weren’t. Doctors were actually upset that he made them look bad, and eventually dropped the handwashing again for a time.

Geese have been used throughout history as “guardians.” We added two male Chinese geese to our farm this spring. They are supposed to be the best guards. According to Myers Hatchery this breed of geese, “Obtained the nickname “swan goose” because of its elegant long graceful neck. White Chinese geese are frosted white and have a prominently raised knob and orange feet. They are prolific egg layers with a great personality. This is a very talkative breed that makes a great guard goose. They are perfect for alarming when intruders are near or when they feel threatened. Due to their small stature, White Chinese geese also make great weeders.”

I used to think that children shouldn’t have to work, and that kids that had to were like slaves. After all this is their time to have fun. I’m so thankful that God changed my heart on this issue several years ago, and that my husband didn’t waiver in his own beliefs that kids need some work. I now realize that if children don’t have meaningful tasks to accomplish that they will quickly become bored, ungrateful, lazy, and be more likely to become slaves as adults. I do want to be clear that I think it’s important for kids to have fun too and be able to have plenty of time to work on their own projects, but the habits we develop as children will be very hard to overcome as adults. I didn’t appreciate it at the time, but I have also realized how thankful I am to my mom for demonstrating and encouraging me in my work as a kid (although I was very spoiled).

This week I’m offering another replacement for processed white sugar or corn syrup (you can see week 12 here for more information about refined sugar) and that is organic sucanat. Sucanat is dehydrated cane sugar juice that still retains its molasses and nutrients and contains less sucrose. It’s been used for thousands of years by people in India. It’s still sugar so we shouldn’t eat too much, but at least it hasn’t been stripped (processed) like white sugar so it still contains trace nutrients like calcium, B vitamins, and potassium. Refined sweeteners like sugar and corn syrup rob us of our health and contain no nutrition, just empty calories. Artificial sugars are even more damaging to our health and should be avoided completely.

I had not heard of sucanat until a friend recommended it several years ago. It took a little getting used to, but we really enjoy the flavor now. It’s a great substitute for white sugar or brown sugar in a recipe. I used to buy this from Azure in a 50-pound bag, but found that we don’t go through it very quickly so I buy this size now. I use honey and maple syrup the most. Do you have a natural sweetener that you enjoy or a recipe to share? We love to hear from you!

If you are working toward a more traditional, clean, whole foods diet, and would like to take small steps to get there, then you are at the right place. Week one was get your salt right, week 2 was get your sleep right, weeks 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 were get your fats right, we had several weeks about seasonings and herbs, and we are now getting our sweeteners right. Join us next Tuesday for Get Your . . . Right.

When things get crazy busy on the farm, and I forget to take something out for supper, there’s no need to worry because we have plenty of eggs. Even though we eat eggs every day for breakfast, this is still one of our favorite quick and easy meals. They are filling, flavorful, and loaded with nutrition that leaves us feeling energetic. Do you have a favorite meal to make on a busy day?

“We all know by now that sugar can lead to weight gain and cavities. But there is a lot about how sugar operates that we may not have realized before. The truth is that it ages us on the inside and out (causing wrinkles, for example). It shortens our lifespan. It leads to many modern diseases rooted in mitochondrial and metabolic dysfunction.”

Weston Price Foundation

White Death

When I was young, I loved to bake and cook with my grandparents. I remember my grandma helping me up on the step stool so I could help her make cookies. I recall her telling me, “The recipe calls for 2 cups of sugar, but I never use that much sugar.” Every time I see a recipe with sugar, I always remember that and think of her wisdom. After learning how harmful white sugar was to our health several years ago, I started gradually cutting back and eventually eliminating it from our diet completely (except for our organic ketchup that I haven’t been able to figure out yet).

White sugar (or white death as I heard it referred to at one time) is stripped of its nutrients and fiber, and this causes it to rob our bodies of magnesium and B vitamins to name a few, it feeds pathogens and yeasts, and elevates our blood sugar quickly which causes a multitude of problems in the body. Eating sugar releases opioids and dopamine in our bodies, and this could be the link between added sugar and its addictive qualities. Refined sugar (white sugar) has been shown to paralyze white blood cells for 5 hours, and white blood cells are those important cells that fight infection and disease. No wonder we were sick so much of the time before changing our diet! Another interesting fact about sugar is that in order to do a PET scan, radioactive glucose is administered into a vein, and then a scanner rotates around the body to take a picture of where the glucose is being used. Malignant tumor cells take up more glucose than normal cells. In other words, cancer cells LOVE sugar!