Jo – I was raised in California where I received a degree in History and Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley in the late 60’s. In the early 70’s I moved with my husband to a small outport in Newfoundland where we lived off the grid, tending a large organic vegetable garden, chickens and 3 small children. In the 1980’s we moved to Sooke on Vancouver Island. On the grid, smaller gardens and bigger children.
I had been studying nutrition since the 1960’s and formalized my training after 3 years’ study in 1996 with certificates in Beginning and Advanced Nutritional Consulting from the Canadian Nutrition Institute and a designation of Registered Nutritional Consulting Practitioner (R.N.C.P.) from the International Organization of Nutritional Consultants (I.O.N.C.). Just prior to that I completed a nursing course at Camosun College and became a Registered Nurse, working initially on a surgical floor in the hospital and then, for over 20 years, as a Community Nurse.
In those ensuing 20 plus years I have seen the strengths and the weaknesses of pharmaceutical and surgery-based medicine. And I have seen the supplements, “nutraceuticals” and healthy diet field open up into new territories. People have become more interested in learning how they can work with the body’s innate healing abilities. I have, over the years, by attending conferences and courses and reading books, articles and studies on the latest discoveries in nutrition, gathered a plethora of information on how diet and nutrient deficiencies can cause myriad health problems that no one should have to suffer.
Over that time I have presented many 1-3 hour long workshops (for a list see “workshops”) at Camosun College Continuing Education, Alcohol and Drug Society day program in Victoria, the James Bay Community Project, School District #62 Wellness Days, Odyssey Health and Fitness and Ahimsa Yoga in Sooke, among others. I have also done private nutrition consults.
I retired from nursing in 2015 and moved into a lovely house across the field from the main house of Orveas Creek Organic Farm, occupied by my daughter Glyse and her family. Thus began my part time career as a farmhand.
I have NOT retired from my interest in and learning and providing information about nutrition. Au contraire. I have more time for it than ever before.
In a nutritional consult I will listen to you describe your symptoms and make a note of any illnesses, surgeries and/or exposure to toxins you may have had, your typical daily meals and any medications or supplements you are taking. I may give you a “symptomotology test”, which asks you to check off any symptoms (e.g. leg cramps, bruise easily, trouble falling asleep) you have experienced from a 15-page list. A high score for a specific group of symptoms can indicate as possible deficiency of a particular nutrient. We would then explore how it might have occurred in your life and, of course, ways to correct it focusing on diet and, if needed, supplements.