I'm happy to announce that I'll be presenting at the Weston A. Price foundation's 2010 Wise Traditions conference. The conference will be held in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, Nov 12-14. The theme is the politics of food.Sally Fallon Morell has invited me to give a talk on the diet and health of Pacific islanders. The talk will be titled "Kakana Dina: Diet and Health in the Pacific Islands", and it will take place on Sunday, November 14th from 4:00 to 5:20 pm. In preparation for the talk, I've read eight books and countless journal articles. Although some of the material will be familiar to people who follow the blog, I will not be rehashing what I've already published. I have nearly an hour and a half to talk, so I'll be going into some depth on the natural history and traditional food habits of Pacific island populations. Not just macronutrient breakdowns... specific foods and traditional preparation methods.
Learn about the health of traditional Pacific island populations, and what has changed since Western contact. Learn about traditional cooking and fermentation techniques. See unpublished photos from the Kitava study, courtesy of Dr. Staffan Lindeberg. Learn about the nutritional and ceremonial role of mammals including pork... and the most gruesome food of all.
I hope to see you there!
Kitava photo courtesy of Dr. Staffan Lindeberg
"and the most gruesome food of all"
ReplyDelete-haha, I am guessing this is in reference to that most taboo of subjects(cannibalism)
I was wondering if for those of us who can not attend, will there be a transcript or a recording of your presentation? I would love to learn more about the region as I have plans in the south pacific in the future.
Don't forget the yam! Polynesian culture was radically changed with the introduction of the yam. Population exploded as the islands could feed more people. Each island has an annual fertility ritual that centers around the yam. I learned this by reading "The Happy Isles of Oceana," by Paul Theroux.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the invitation! I'm sure your talk will be great.
ReplyDeleteHi David,
ReplyDeleteI'll be discussing the yam for sure. However, I believe Polynesians have had yams for as long as they've been Polynesians. That's because the root word for yam is very old and shared by most Polynesian cultures.
Would it be possible to upload a recording of the talk on the internet? That would be great for the people who cannot attend the conference.
ReplyDeleteGreetings,
David
If at all possible, would very much love to see a recording of the talk.
ReplyDeleteDang! I just moved from New Jersey to Florida. If I were still in NJ I would go for sure.
ReplyDeleteI second the request for some sort of recording. A YouTube video, or perhaps your slides (assuming you have any) + an audio of the talk would be great.
Aloha mai e,
ReplyDeleteYour talk is based on what you have read? Have you visited the islands or lived the life style at all? Have you experience the mana of the 'Ohana. It is a very important part of the daily life. I hope that your talk is based more on personal experience with the culture than on reading. Please be sure to give respect to the culture and acknowledge their Aloha 'Aina.
Me ka aloha pumehana
Stephan,
ReplyDeleteI'm happy to say that I will be attending that conference, and I'm looking forward to meeting you and hearing your talk.
Hi folks,
ReplyDeleteI assume the WAPF is going to reserve the rights to the recording, so I won't be able to post it. However, you can buy a copy from the WAPF after the conference.
I might be willing to give out the Powerpoint file for individual requests.
I lived on Puluwat in Micronesia for two years in the sixties, Peace Corps. They had three classes of meals: breadfruit or taro, breadfriut or taro with coconut, which they called afit, and breadfruit or taro with fish, which they called helieli. They seemed awfully healthy, and had a great many old people, who since they didn't track age, all claimed to be a hundred.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations Stephan, well deserved.
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ReplyDeleteStephan, it's a bit off topic, but... do you think nixtamalized corn tortillas (arepas) are fine as a staple? I normally eat them for breakfast.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could afford to go. I'll be sure to get a recording of your talk when it's available. Please let us know how it goes!
ReplyDeleteIt's unfortunate that they invited an activist like Jeffrey Smith to the conference - it's fine to show the dangers of GMOs, but resorting to political pull is like saying "my arguments aren't persuasive enough, so I'll have to force people to do what I believe is right."
Stephan,
ReplyDeleteI'll certainly make every effort to catch your presentation! It's about a six hour drive for me, but certainly well worth it!
If you can take questions from the audience, I'd hope to ask what we know about the gut organisms of Polynesians, and how it differs from gut bacteria of people elsewhere (see here), and, also, how gut bacteria might have rapidly evolved in Polynesians to suit their particular diet (see here).
And if follow-up questions or time permits, I'd hope to ask what was/is the Polynesian's consumption of fructose (monomers or fructans polymers) in terms of foods containing: 1) a proportion of fructose to glucose in excess of 45:55; or 2) when consumed in one sitting, total fructose in excess of some limit (see here).
Tying the two together, the (over-simplified?) connection may be that gut bacteria evolve -- in all animal populations and throughout time - in response to fructose from plants, and reach a "tipping point" when consumption of fructose exceeds the levels described above.
Thus, in evolutionary terms, fructose may be used by plants to "signal" gut bacteria in animals, as a way of maintaining homeostasis in both animal and plant populations.
Thinking it through, the implication here may be that glucose/dextrose is not an effective signalling mechanism for plants (being too broadly available), and therefore does not have the same "tipping point" effects on gut bacteria (and whole health!) as fructose.
October 19th, The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences will give a minisymposium on the topic of 'Food and successful aging'. The sessions is hosted by the The Swedish National Committee for Nutrition and Food Sciences.
ReplyDeleteProgram for the event can be found here:
http://kva.se/EventDoc.aspx?eventId=264&docId=249
The symposium will be Webcasted as well.
...don't let the title of the topic fool you.
Hi Stephan, I've decided I will start a rival food blog. It will be called "Whole Health Scourge" and I will advocate for a diet of processed food and sedentary lifestyle.
ReplyDeleteHow has the diet evolved over time? Has western food culture reached the islands?
ReplyDeletegood luck! I am so excited bout the tal
ReplyDelete