Sally Fallon

This book exists. It is unremovable. It was a gift for my wedding. Now it sits on my shelf, a monument to bad choices and family friends who think raw milk and conspiracy theories are suitable for polite conversation. I cannot get rid of it, but every glance reminds me that vaccines do not cause autism, the 1917 flu was not a plot, and yes, raw milk will ruin your digestive system. It’s simultaneously a curse, a relic, and a subtle guilt trip that I am contractually obligated to keep.

I have never marked a book so low before, but since this one is dealing with such important topic any potential reader should be warned of its content. This book contains some dangerous, dated information, primarily about breastfeeding and weaning. I won't even go into the whole vaccination bit. The advice in this book is not based on scientific research, and can be misleading and potentially dangerous.
One thing is to disagree with the parenting philosophy, but completely another is to give show more advice that could be harmful for babies and mothers (one of the most striking examples is that the authors advise women against getting a rhogam shot (anti-d) in case of blood incompatibility!)
There are much better books on the subject based on real facts, and which are also empowering women. This book is quite the opposite. show less

This book sets out to upset the traditional recommendations for food and nutrition; giving examples from tribal peoples and other studies. The authors give very detailed accounts of ingredients and nutrition. They believe that fat is not evil, but sugar is. Fermentation and enzymes are what our bodies are missing (removed from our diets by over-processed food), along with whole odd grains (because white flour turns into sugar in the bloodstream quickly), many varieties of vegetables, meats show more and so forth.

I have a hard time buying into all of it, or perhaps I should say that they overstated their case to the point that it sounded like hyperbole? However, the recipes are solid and tasty sounding. I am very tempted to buy a copy for that alone. I love fermented vegetables and there were many simple ways to make them in this. Actually, most of the ways to make them were the same, just switching out veggies. I appreciate the knowledge gained on various ingredients, and the ideas for continuing to cook wholesome food without waste. show less

As a cookbook, its ok. It has a few odd and interesting recipes, but nothing really that jumps out as memorable.

As for the rest. Its starts out by trashing fad diets while trying strongly to encourage you to believe it isn't a fad diet itself. Then rumbles on into telling you that packaged, prepared food is bad for you, you're gonna die of malnutrition. Packaged, prepared ingredients are bad for you, you're gonna die from malnutrition. Your only chance is to get hard to find and expensive show more raw ingredients. Which you must correctly prepare prior to consumption, else you're gonna die from malnutrition. Basically, you're gonna die from malnutrition, but this book is here to save you.

Overall, the book presents such an extreme viewpoint that it can be difficult to read at times. While there are maybe good ideas presented in the book, they are drowned out in the dogmatic preaching. show less