I've listed below a number of websites and books I've found to be useful on my journey to better health.
I've divided the list into categories, although many of them could fall into several categories. I think that's just the way of the world though - everything is connected to everything else. We can't just focus on our health, because the health of the planet has a huge bearing on it.
Organic, health food & other sources
Chantal - Organic wholesaler based out of Napier, New Zealand. Chantal distributes to stores and supermarkets across New Zealand. Individuals can now sign up for a Chantal account to get organic food delivered direct to their door.
Ceres - New Zealand organic food distributor. Ceres distributes to organic and healthfood stores, supermarkets, wholesalers, manufacturers and co-ops across New Zealand.
Nature Foods NZ - A great NZ source of foods recommended by the Weston A. Price Foundation that are difficult to find in stores, eg. fermented cod liver oil.
waterkefir.co.nz - A New Zealand website where you can order kefir grains, sourdough starter, Caspian Sea yoghurt and kombucha.
Ecomoon - An online store for New Zealand-made alternative products like menstrual cups, cloth pads, cloth nappies, amber teething necklaces, etc.
Koanga Gardens shop - A New Zealand online store where you can purchase Koanga Garden seeds (including heirloom and heritage varieties), some animal products and a wonderful selection of books and DVDs to do with permaculture, organic living and nourishing food preparation.
Going green
I've divided the list into categories, although many of them could fall into several categories. I think that's just the way of the world though - everything is connected to everything else. We can't just focus on our health, because the health of the planet has a huge bearing on it.
Organic, health food & other sources
Chantal - Organic wholesaler based out of Napier, New Zealand. Chantal distributes to stores and supermarkets across New Zealand. Individuals can now sign up for a Chantal account to get organic food delivered direct to their door.
Ceres - New Zealand organic food distributor. Ceres distributes to organic and healthfood stores, supermarkets, wholesalers, manufacturers and co-ops across New Zealand.
Nature Foods NZ - A great NZ source of foods recommended by the Weston A. Price Foundation that are difficult to find in stores, eg. fermented cod liver oil.
waterkefir.co.nz - A New Zealand website where you can order kefir grains, sourdough starter, Caspian Sea yoghurt and kombucha.
Ecomoon - An online store for New Zealand-made alternative products like menstrual cups, cloth pads, cloth nappies, amber teething necklaces, etc.
Koanga Gardens shop - A New Zealand online store where you can purchase Koanga Garden seeds (including heirloom and heritage varieties), some animal products and a wonderful selection of books and DVDs to do with permaculture, organic living and nourishing food preparation.
Going green
Green urban living - Oh my goodness. So much inspiration in one place. Learn about green design, bee-keeping, raising chickens and more. There's also a fantastic online shop where you can buy heaps of neat products you won't easily find elsewhere.
The story of stuff - A 20-minute web-film that explores the hidden environmental and social consequences of our love affair with buying things.
Animal Vegetable Miracle - Barbara Kingsolver's book about the year she and her family deliberately ate food produced within 100 miles of their home. Humorous, eye opening and motivating. Read my review here.
The Omnivore's Dilemma - A book by Michael Pollan where he follows food from source to eater and discovers what it is we're actually eating. Conclusion - our food chain is not coping under industrialisation. Read my review here.
Health and nutrition
Nourished Living Network - A group of real and traditional food blogs focusing on nutrient-dense, nourishing foods. I'm part of this network, which consists of blogs dedicated to real food recipes that follow the teachings of Dr. Weston A. Price in his book, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration. We also discuss natural family living and natural health.
Wendyl's Green Goddess - New Zealand website of Wendyl Nissen - packed full of natural DIY recipes for you, your babies and your home. Wendyl is the author of Domestic Goddess on a Budget, A Home Companion and most recently, Mother's Little Helper. You can order all her books via her website.
The Weston A. Price Foundation - A comprehensive website full of information from Weston A. Price's research into the health & food preparation techniques of indigenous peoples.
DietNet - A New Zealand website full of genuine health information on a number of topics. DietNet regularly features notices about seminars and meetings.
Nourishing Traditions - Based on the research of Weston A. Price, this comprehensive recipe book by Sally Fallon calls for a return to eating real, whole foods prepared the way our ancestors prepared theirs. Read my review here.
In Defense of Food - a book by Michael Pollan that encourages readers to stop eating imitation, food-like substances and get back to eating real food. Read my review here.
Keeper of the Home - Stephanie Langford uses this blog to share her journey as a Christian wife and stay-at-home mother. She cooks using the food preparation techniques set out in Nourishing Traditions, and shares others tips for living an eco-friendly, body-nourishing and God-honouring life. Read my review here.
The Healthy Home Economist - Sarah posts a weekly video demonstrating how to make various traditional, whole foods recipes such as those set out in Nourishing Traditions.
The NOURISHING gourmet - A website full of recipes based around the research of Weston A. Price.
Wild Health Food - The website of a New Zealand couple living a genuinely healthy lifestyle in Nelson. Both trained chefs, they share many easy whole foods recipes and tips.
Naturally Knocked Up - A blog dedicated to helping women reclaim their fertility and prepare to have truly healthy babies through nutrition and lifestyle changes.
Beyond Conformity - A New Zealand anti-vaccination website by the authors of Just a Little Prick and From One Prick to Another.
Top ten reasons to avoid SLS (Sodium Lauryl/Laureth Sulphate) - This site explains why it's wise to avoid using beauty and cleaning products that contain SLS.
The problem with parabens - This site explains why it's a good idea to avoid parabens in your health and beauty products.
Phytic acid: Tips for consumers - Amanda Rose, Ph.D., is a political scientist and author of "Rebuild from Depression," on the link between nutrient deficiencies and depression. Her own zinc deficiency led to a keen interest in phytic acid, a component in grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds that inhibits our digestion of zinc and other minerals. A thorough examination of kitchen remedies for phytic acid is in the Phytic Acid White Paper.
Gardening
The story of stuff - A 20-minute web-film that explores the hidden environmental and social consequences of our love affair with buying things.
Animal Vegetable Miracle - Barbara Kingsolver's book about the year she and her family deliberately ate food produced within 100 miles of their home. Humorous, eye opening and motivating. Read my review here.
The Omnivore's Dilemma - A book by Michael Pollan where he follows food from source to eater and discovers what it is we're actually eating. Conclusion - our food chain is not coping under industrialisation. Read my review here.
Health and nutrition
Nourished Living Network - A group of real and traditional food blogs focusing on nutrient-dense, nourishing foods. I'm part of this network, which consists of blogs dedicated to real food recipes that follow the teachings of Dr. Weston A. Price in his book, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration. We also discuss natural family living and natural health.
Wendyl's Green Goddess - New Zealand website of Wendyl Nissen - packed full of natural DIY recipes for you, your babies and your home. Wendyl is the author of Domestic Goddess on a Budget, A Home Companion and most recently, Mother's Little Helper. You can order all her books via her website.
The Weston A. Price Foundation - A comprehensive website full of information from Weston A. Price's research into the health & food preparation techniques of indigenous peoples.
DietNet - A New Zealand website full of genuine health information on a number of topics. DietNet regularly features notices about seminars and meetings.
Nourishing Traditions - Based on the research of Weston A. Price, this comprehensive recipe book by Sally Fallon calls for a return to eating real, whole foods prepared the way our ancestors prepared theirs. Read my review here.
In Defense of Food - a book by Michael Pollan that encourages readers to stop eating imitation, food-like substances and get back to eating real food. Read my review here.
Keeper of the Home - Stephanie Langford uses this blog to share her journey as a Christian wife and stay-at-home mother. She cooks using the food preparation techniques set out in Nourishing Traditions, and shares others tips for living an eco-friendly, body-nourishing and God-honouring life. Read my review here.
The Healthy Home Economist - Sarah posts a weekly video demonstrating how to make various traditional, whole foods recipes such as those set out in Nourishing Traditions.
The NOURISHING gourmet - A website full of recipes based around the research of Weston A. Price.
Kitchen Stewardship - A website dedicated to the idea that working in our kitchens, like everything we do, is an opportunity to love God and serve our families.
Wild Health Food - The website of a New Zealand couple living a genuinely healthy lifestyle in Nelson. Both trained chefs, they share many easy whole foods recipes and tips.
Naturally Knocked Up - A blog dedicated to helping women reclaim their fertility and prepare to have truly healthy babies through nutrition and lifestyle changes.
Beyond Conformity - A New Zealand anti-vaccination website by the authors of Just a Little Prick and From One Prick to Another.
Top ten reasons to avoid SLS (Sodium Lauryl/Laureth Sulphate) - This site explains why it's wise to avoid using beauty and cleaning products that contain SLS.
The problem with parabens - This site explains why it's a good idea to avoid parabens in your health and beauty products.
Phytic acid: Tips for consumers - Amanda Rose, Ph.D., is a political scientist and author of "Rebuild from Depression," on the link between nutrient deficiencies and depression. Her own zinc deficiency led to a keen interest in phytic acid, a component in grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds that inhibits our digestion of zinc and other minerals. A thorough examination of kitchen remedies for phytic acid is in the Phytic Acid White Paper.
Gardening
NZ Gardener's Get Growing newsletter - Part of NZ Gardener's campaign to get more New Zealanders growing food in their backyard, this weekly e-newsletter gets sent straight to your inbox and is full of gardening tips that are relevant to that week.
OOOOBY - Out Of Our Own Backyards is a social network website for gardeners where they can share stories and give each other advise. OOOOBY's stall at the Grey Lynn Farmers' Market in Auckland offers gardeners an outlet to sell their home-grown produce, and OOOOBY aims to expand this offer to Farmers' Markets around New Zealand, and eventually the world.
King Seeds - A New Zealand company selling a wide range of seeds, including heirloom, heritage and organic options (and no GM or terminator-gene seeds in sight!)
Koanga Gardens - A New Zealand company selling a wide range of seeds, including heirloom, heritage and organic options (and no GM or terminator-gene seeds in sight!).
Frugal living
OOOOBY - Out Of Our Own Backyards is a social network website for gardeners where they can share stories and give each other advise. OOOOBY's stall at the Grey Lynn Farmers' Market in Auckland offers gardeners an outlet to sell their home-grown produce, and OOOOBY aims to expand this offer to Farmers' Markets around New Zealand, and eventually the world.
King Seeds - A New Zealand company selling a wide range of seeds, including heirloom, heritage and organic options (and no GM or terminator-gene seeds in sight!)
Koanga Gardens - A New Zealand company selling a wide range of seeds, including heirloom, heritage and organic options (and no GM or terminator-gene seeds in sight!).
Frugal living
Frugal Kiwi - A New Zealand blog about how to live well and spend less, with lots of DIY tips and recipes.
Money Saving Mom - A blog by Crystal Pain, a financially astute Christian wife and stay-at-home mother. She and her husband have managed to pay 100% down for their first house, and she offers lots of financial tips to motivate others to get out of debt and set themselves up for the future. Read my review here.
Penniless Parenting - Lots of great frugal tips by a young mother living under the poverty line. Her article on reusable toilet paper will get you thinking.
Parenting
Penniless Parenting - Lots of great frugal tips by a young mother living under the poverty line. Her article on reusable toilet paper will get you thinking.
Parenting
Modern Alternative Mama - A blog about a mother striving to follow the Bible's direction in how to live, including how she eats, parents, cleans, uses money and cares for her family's health.
Counting Coconuts - Fantastic blog by a trained Montessori teacher who is now home-schooling her son using Montessori techniques. This site has so many wonderful ideas and tools for teaching your littlies - you will come away inspired.
Simple Mom - If you want to get organised, this is the blog for you.
Counting Coconuts - Fantastic blog by a trained Montessori teacher who is now home-schooling her son using Montessori techniques. This site has so many wonderful ideas and tools for teaching your littlies - you will come away inspired.
Simple Mom - If you want to get organised, this is the blog for you.
