Our Philosophy

Food is medicine. This is my oldest daughter, Alex. While she looks healthy and vibrant now, this wasn’t always the case.

One mom’s undying need to heal her child.

When Alex was 2 years old, she had been on round after round of antibiotics for recurring ear infections. She had over 30 known food allergies and had been diagnosed with a digestive disorder. As if that wasn’t enough, she also had terrible eczema, a skin condition that would keep her scratching, itching, and picking at her skin both day and night.

After endless trips to pediatricians and specialists, Michelle was advised that Alex would likely grow out of her ailments, but nothing could be done to heal her now. We were instructed instead to treat the symptoms with topical creams and strict rotation diets until she came of age to grow out of this “hyper-sensitive” phase. Michelle was not content with this instruction, as she believed there was a root cause that was not being addressed.

One evening, Michelle did a Google search for “eczema and diet,” as she had an inkling that diet was somehow related to Alex’s ailments. After scrolling through the results, she found a website called The Weston A. Price Foundation, a non-for-profit organization dedicated to a traditional foods diet education. The wisdom she gained from reading this website (and later a dozen books) allowed her to fully heal her daughter.

After two weeks of a regimen called the GAPS Diet (Gut and Psychology Syndrome), her once plagued daughter was symptom free. No belly aches, itchy skin, sniffles, allergic shiners, hives, or infections. Michelle was astounded and changed forever. It was this knowledge of the healing power of food that led her to re-think her entire family’s way of eating. 

While working her way through the cookbook “Nourishing Traditions” by Sally Fallon, she began making yogurt. These tiny batches were lovingly shared with family and friends, and later with the community. Her fascination for dairy continued to grow and she found herself making butter, yogurt, buttermilk, and kefir in her spare time. Soon the refrigerators were overtaken by rare strains of cultures, raw milk, and dairy products in both cow and goat. Michelle would learn how to make something, and then teach a class about it as a WAPF chapter leader. Her “students” sang high praises for her cultured dairy creations.

One day, Michelle mustered up the courage to bring a sample of her Honey Vanilla Greek yogurt to a local farmer’s market manager. The woman fell head over heels in love with Michelle’s product and helped her to become a vendor. In December of 2013, Mother Culture™ was born.