I have nothing against the foundation itself… I think most of the hard line comes from Sally. Don’t know that for sure, of course.

I very much appreciate the light the foundation has shown on issues, and it seems to be catching on more and more, which is great. BUT… I really hope they finally notice how many people they are alienating with their uncompromising attitude.

I totally hear you and I get what you’re saying.

I appreciate all that you do to support traditional food!

Ann Marie

I no longer feel that the WAPF is worthy of support because the miss the boat is this area that is perhaps the most critical area of all. That combined with their inability to discourse and history of attacking and eating fellow traditional food supporters such as what has happened here with Nina and many others before her.

Maybe this controversy will draw more attention to the book, and she’ll sell even more. Go, Nina!

Previously I’d been making some dietary changes from Nourishing Traditions, but at the time it was a struggle just to get dinner on the table, let alone make sure it met the NT standards. I was ready to toss it all out the window for a couple of months. Nina’s book was a breath of fresh air to me because it was full of things that I could practically implement during that crazy season of life rather than discouraging me with all of the things that I “had” to do if I wanted healthy children.

I breastfed exclusively without introducing solids until my daughter was ten months. She breastfed till she was 3.75 years old. We healed her cavities with WAPF nutrition and her teeth are very solid and strong.

Her new adult teeth however are crooked.

Not all vegetarian families come to see this truth. They much prefer to read John Robbins and the China Study. John Robbins has made some rebuttals on some of the WAPF articles and recommends high soy intake (up to 2-3 servings a day including processed soy). It all comes down to who you want to believe.

But I see the difference in these children. My eyes analyze their teeth and I can see how well nourished the child is.

My first daughter had tiny baby teeth. The dentist worried how well the adult teeth would come in. Her adult teeth are huge, strong and healthy but crooked. My veggie friends who have children (all breastfed and mainly organic foods) their kids have small teeth and crooked and have gaps in between teeth. I don’t know if they have cavities or not. I could also list many other symptoms of nutritional deficiencies that I see but we are talking about teeth here.

From experience and how I see veggie kids teeth develop I have to agree with WAPF. If the formula recipe that they provide can produce straight and healthy teeth then that is the formula that babies thrive on.

My exclusively breastfed baby did not thrive on veggie breastmilk. However I don’t think that I could have given up breastfeeding but rather supplemented with the homemade formula.

Thanks for bringing up this topic. I’m glad to see a lot of good discussion. I too was shocked to see the thumbs down review in Wise Traditions. As others have pointed out, there has been a lot of controversy about the WAPF take on pregnancy, birthing, and breastfeeding. I know at least one WAPF chapter leader who left WAPF over this subject alone, long before this book came out.

I agree with Ann Marie that we need to take a larger perspective when viewing this subject. We may not all agree on every detail. But in my view what is expressed by WAPF is a guideline and many aspects are not really proven yet. Unfortunately, there just isn’t enough good scientific research devoted to nutrition and diet. So, there will be differences in opinion on some matters that may not have clear solutions and this is common in any large group. But in my view the overall benefits of banding together as a group outweigh a few negatives of disagreement.

So I will continue to support WAPF even though I don’t always agree with every detail. I don’t expect perfection from anyone or any group, including WAPF.

I feel like I need to jump in and say that as shocked as I was by this book review, I didn’t look at it as a big negative toward WAPF in general – I only saw this as one reviewer and one issue that I disagreed on.

As I said in the post above, that review made me feel as if one of my friends (WAPF) wasn’t so nice to another friend (Nina), but now I sort of feel like my “other friend” (WAPF) is taking a bit of a lashing here in the comments now, too.

As Ann Marie said, remember that we’re all on the same team, even though we may not always agree on every single issue. I do think Nina’s book deserved a thumbs up, but it doesn’t change the fact that the WAPF changed my whole life! I’ll always be grateful to them for that, not to mention all the work they continue to do on behalf of us “Real Foodies”.

Kelly