New Zealand was once a country of many backyard gardens.
Janice talks about how NZ used to be a very localised, cooperative community-orientated country that used to grow a lot of its own food. That many people had gardens and orchards and that today with urbanised living and houses squeezed on to small sections - farmers markets have become more common as urban people still want to purchase fresh food that is preferably organic as well.
She said that up until 1996 NZ was self sufficient in growing its own wheat, a good healthy wheat, like you would find in Italy as they as a pasta making country grow good quality wheat. However in 1996, Fonterra the NZ dairy giant took over the wheat fields and turned them into dairy and instead NZ now imports a more unhealthy wheat into the country as to fill our bread eating needs. This is when 'gluten free' started to really emerge. She says if we go to Italy they have a very clear understanding of wheat as they are a spaghetti, lasagne and pizza eating country and she said we need this type of wheat to grow back here once again. (preferably organic).
Educating the local public in Natural Health
Very early in her life Janice became a qualified naturopath, who assisted people to get well and who lived on a lifestyle block on an acre of land with her 4 children. She had lost her husband - and to supplement her income, used to have bus tours drop in to look at her herb garden because she had the Herbal Education Resources Centre which she still has today.
Janice also put on some small Health Expos and the media would show some interest - as she was self sufficient with her large organic veggie garden and orchard - doing her own preserves and baking her own bread and home cooking. However, due to her ‘different' life style she was visited by Social Services who came to her house one day because some unknown person complained that she was neglecting her 4 children's eating needs. Yet, though she had food that she could pick, prepare and cook, they noticed that her deep freeze did not have any ice cream, green peas and white bread - and because she did not have - what they called 'the basics’ - she was taken to court for medically neglecting her children.
The need for more Health Information lead her into Publishing
Keen to share her herbal knowledge Janice continued to give talks to community groups as well as church gatherings and youth clubs and so on. This was when, she began to notice kids turning up with inhalers and she realised that in a number of ways this is a world going unhealthily crazy. That seeing she had a corporate background she started a little newsletter and published more health information because in the mid to late 1970s to have a plate with many greens on was unusual especially for the standardised commercial NZ family. It was from these humble beginnings Healthy Options came into being - and when she focused on meditation etc Rainbow News became an additional holistic publication.
The Old Ways from Grandmothers
One of the main features of Healthy Options was about the old ways - Grandmother recipes, stories and cures were printed as they were being forgotten and also being whitewashed by the sanitised medical profession. Yet, today scientists are starting to track back and investigate old grandmother cures. Because over the last 3 generations or so, many of them have been forgotten yet they are a very rich repository of century old remedies that not only work they also have no side effects either. She also states that old recipe books were disappearing off the shelves and forgotten.
Even the NZ Women’s weekly magazine, up until 1975 always had home tips in it and the magazine thrived - however in those days women would go to their doctor and say that they were using some kawakawa or calendula on their leg - or whatever herb they chose and the doctor would rubbish them! As the allopathic medical (drug) model was what doctors had only been trained in. This was one of the critical reasons why Janice started Healthy Options.
So with Healthy Options and Rainbow News it was in many ways a networking arrangement that gave out all sorts of suggestions for simple living, and easy to use tips for a healthy body. These cures were for basic as well as even more chronic ailments. Also, that while moving around interviewing people and networking she would hear of or meet practitioners who had actually had their officers raided and all of their stuff taken. This being sanctioned by the Government. Listen
The Rise of the Medical Establishment and the drug culture.
Whilst the NZ media spent a good couple of decades rubbishing natural health (and organics too) - the Medical establishment was made to be seen as the truth - the way and the light! But, in reality it was just creating more drugs, more reactions and more health statistics - that dramatically increased.
This is when it became very noticeable that the pharmaceutical industry started lobbying politicians …
Natural Medicine then morphed into Alternative Medicine - that changed to Complementary Health and has now morphed again into Integrated Medicine - when once upon a time it was simply called Natural Health. Listen to this little story ...
Natural Health = Traditional Medicine
Janice tells how this came about yet she mentions that all 'these names' actually are what the World Health Organisation calls - Traditional Medicine. As Janice says, that 80% of the world’s population still follow traditional medicine. That they will use their traditional medicine first before turning to drugs.
Being of Health Boards gives Janice an Overview
Janice mentions that she was also on certain boards that oversaw the natural health industry so she had an overview of what was happening especially who were the main players as well as the forces at play.
The NZ 'Round Table’ (of Top Industry Leaders) in researching successful businesses realised that with such a large number of New Zealanders taking supplements etc that if the National Government made laws against the 'natural health industry' - they would lose a huge number of voters - so they did a 180 turn and instead supported the industry here.
Fending off Australian Trans Tasman Harmonisation Control
Listen to this story on how we stopped the Australians from taking over our medicine regulations. This was a 12 year battle with thousand of people protesting (sound familiar?) Because the Regulatory Board was made up of big Pharmaceutical and medical appointees lock-stepped with MultiNational Corporations. This was the reason for wanting to conduct a ‘harmonisation proposal (between Australia and NZ).
Invoking an 1835 Aotearoa Maori Trade Agreement
In 2009 the Pharmaceutical Industry lost the chance to monopolise NZ - where they had been more successful in Australia - so they called up a meeting with the Trade Ministers and due to a particular 'trade agreement with Maori’ back in 1835 - NZ is now in a situation that the NZ Government can not make any legislative changes in our food and medicine. We are instead being influenced by other pressures - Listen
Becoming Aware of Industrial or Factory Food
Spraying of Round and Glyphosate - Bees are being destroyed.
In her practice today she is seeing malnutrition because New Zealanders are eating ordinary sprayed standardised crop food. Better known as Industrial or Factory food. For example, broccoli and lettuce are very high in organic phosphates. Saying, for good health you MUST eat organic broccoli, organic lettuce and organic green vegetables. Also, they are a greens that the insects just love - hence the spraying of them.
The best quality food grown in NZ is Exported
Supermarkets - basically all the best food in NZ is exported. Supermarkets get the best of the 2nd grade and then the 3 grade usually goes to independent grocery stores (with a few exceptions)
NZ’s Unconscious Health Priorities?
Note that the top two commodities sold in NZ supermarkets are Coca cola - because it is often cheaper than water. But, it does give you an understanding of the consciousness or the lack of consciousness of the average New Zealander - hostage to both advertising and being a 'walking desire body.'
After those two we have bread - white bread and then ice cream following up. So there we have it. An unconscious consumer base self sabotaging themselves for short term indulgences. Yet gluten free products are selling more now as a result of consumers starting to become - more conscious.
Organophosphates are getting into our food chain and Janice says they affect our memory. Organophosphates are a group of human-made chemicals that poison insects and mammals. Organophosphates are the most widely used insecticides today. New Zealand fruit and vegetable growers are using three pesticides restricted in the United States. ... A fourth organophosphate, chlorpyrifos, has been banned for home garden, non-agricultural use in the United States but is widely used in New Zealand.Jan 13, 2005 (Taken from latest Google search).
Janice introduces her very powerful and compelling book: Ocean of Drugs - the demise of healthy options. She talks about patients who show up at her clinic who are taking up to 12 different medications.
For so many people today are awash in pharmaceutical drugs that to be healthy is really a challenge - because many people do not know what these particular drugs are actually for! Plus the side effects are in many case very pronounced.
Janice still has her own garden and grows much of her own food and she says we have to become very aware of what's happening across the spectrum and that todays chemical input is extremely obvious and that we must take steps to eat a clean diet of organic produce.
Especially as cancer is increasing at an astonishing rate - that we have to ask the question, why is this so and what am I eating and what are we doing to ourselves to cause cancer to manifest? Especially that my body has rebelled against me.
There is so much more in this interview - that I realise Janice has a huge amount of knowingness on healthy living and choices that the imperative is to interview her again in the very near future.
This interview is a must for New Zealanders wanting to reset their health priorities and embark on a new regime of healthy options. To download and listen is only the equivalent of about 7 photographs.
For her Book - 'Ocean of Drugs' or Health Enquiries:
JanicePriest.com
HealthyOptions.co.nz
