Part 119 - The Batwa (Pygmies) of Uganda - What We Learned From Our Time with Them (w/ Mary Ruddick, CNC)

Hello my friends, it’s time for another episode with the wonderful Mary Ruddick on our journey through Africa. This episode we make it over to Uganda and travel 10 hours to the Bwindi impenetrable forest to visit the Batwa tribe, better known as the Pygmies. This group used to live in the forest and hunt & trap animals and eat all natural foods until 1991 when they were forced off their land by the government. They now have to rely on corn and beans and other crops and are losing their health and their culture. The group we stayed with are mixing in with the other people in the village and are definitely losing their heritage.

It was great to visit them while that’s still possible. I don’t know how many more years they’ll be around. You’ll definitely want to listen to this one and hear about the 120 year old great, great, great, grandmother dancing and stomping around with her (youngest) 91 year old daughter. We also got to trek in the forest and hang out with the few remaining mountain gorillas which was another once in a lifetime experience. At the end we talk about how the modern foods and oils are coming into the cities in Uganda and it’s causing some big problems that are going to be devastating if it continues.

Mary and I mention our new organization to help groups like the Pygmy, Maasai, and Chagga that we visited get back to their ancestral diets. It’s called Cows4Kids and we do exactly that! Go to http://cows4kids.com and learn more and click through to the Indiegogo page that just launched today. We’re putting in our own money to buy cows, goats, pigs, and chickens for these communities but are opening it up for others to do the same. This is not like a normal non-profit where there’s all kinds of middlemen and administrative stuff. It’s just us and you directly buying animals for the specific communities we visited. Mary is going to simply take whatever funds we raise and buy that many animals for each group. 

She knows many other groups personally who are in need and we can expand if people support the project. These people are not getting enough nutrition from animal foods and having a cow and chickens can supply them milk and eggs year round that will vastly change their health trajectory. 

What I’m most excited about is seeing the difference between the groups we support and neighboring villages who only have the corn flour, oil, and sugar, for example. This is all the Maasai school we visited had for their meals all day. If the community (and the world) see the differences in the health of the kids that get something as simple as milk in their porridge each day compared to those who didn't, maybe people will wake up, change their thinking, and stop dropping off sacks of grains for aid and get some cows instead!

Go to http://cows4kids.com and support the project along with us. You can click through to the Indiegogo campaign there or search for cows 4 kids. Thanks everyone, we’re very excited to get more of the animal foods they wish they had back in their diet.

If you want to get some quality animal foods for yourself there’s http://NoseToTail.org where we ship out boxes straight from our ranch in Texas to your door. We’ve added great products like biltong (which is a sugar free and additive free grass fed jerky), skin care from beef tallow which is absolutely amazing, and seasonings. There’s free shipping options as well and that’s at http://NoseToTail.org

Also go to http://sapien.org for everything else. You can book something with Dr. Gary, join our Sapien program if you’re ready to make some significant changes in your health and/or want to lose weight, or join the Sapien Tribe to get all the bonus content, private Zoom sessions with myself and Dr. gary, and much more. That’s Sapien.org

Now it’s time for the show with Mary Ruddick and the Batwa of Uganda! Make sure to watch the video version on the Food Lies youtube channel for the photos and videos from the trip. You won’t want to miss the 120 year old lady dancing!

 

GET THE MEAT! http://NosetoTail.org

GET THE FREE SAPIEN FOOD GUIDE! http://Sapien.org

 

SHOW NOTES

• [1:00] Their trip to Uganda to see the Batwa (Pygmies) tribes.
• [9:30] Origin story of the Batwa and other tribes. 
• [12:15] The incredible health of the Batwa women. 
• [19:00] What their diet and lifestyle is like. 
• [23:20] How they capture their animals and how often they eat meat.
• [25:20] The economic hardships they have been experiencing.
• [30:30] The current politics of Uganda.
• [38:20] General health of the Batwa.
• [41:40] Transition to city life.
• [48:30] Some closing words from Mary.
• [50:00] Sneak peek into the new project Cows 4 Kids.

 

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