Transcription of Harvest and Health #264
Speaker 1: You are listening to Love Maine Radio, hosted by Dr. Lisa Belisle and recorded at the studios of Maine Magazine in Portland. Dr. Lisa Belisle is a writer and physician who practices family medicine and acupuncture in Brunswick, Maine. Show summaries are available at Lovemaineradio.com. Here are some highlights from this week’s program.
Stefanie: You think back 20 years or so, there was a lot, a lot going on. Then fast forward 10 years ago to when we had the opportunity to purchase the Miss Portland Diner from the city. Ten years ago is really when the food scene was taking hold. What’s funny is that the same year that we established the new Miss Portland Diner was the first year of Harvest on the Harbor.
Alban: It’s funny you mentioning arnica too because Roberto Forleo who’s an international ballet dancer that will be in the panel discussion in the afternoon along with Dave Cowens was mentioning arnica, whether it’s in gel or in its homeopathic form, as a natural go-to remedy to prepare for those types of injuries.
Dr. Lisa: Autumn is a time for gathering what we have grown, for nourishing ourselves in preparation for the winter ahead. Today, we speak with guests who are offering events during which we can nourish ourselves. Stefanie Manning is the new co-owner for Harvest on the Harbor, a multi-day food and drink event being held here in Portland. Alban Maino and Dr. Sarah Kotzur will be discussing the upcoming Symposium on Integrative Health in Sports Practice being presented by the Center for Health Leadership. Thank you for joining us.
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Dr. Lisa: My next guest is an individual who is helping make new and exciting things happen in the city of Portland. Today, I have Stephanie Manning here with me who along with Gabrielle Garofalo is one of the new producers of Harvest on the Harbor. Their partnership began over 20 years ago and they started working together at Newsweek Magazine in New York City. Since then, they have remained business colleagues and friends with a passion for marketing events and all things culinary.
In 2010, when working together on a multi-day event for O, the Oprah Magazine, they’ve decided to put their talents and resources together to create their own business. In 2016, that was realized with the purchase of Harvest on the Harbor from the Greater Portland Convention and Visitors Bureau who created the event in 2008.
They’re honored to have the opportunity to take this brand to the next level. Their vision for Harvest on the Harbor goes well beyond a multi-day food and drink festival. Their mission is to use this event to celebrate everything about the food and drink culture in Maine and to have a lasting and residual impact on the Maine food economy. Thanks so much for coming in here today, Stefanie.
Stefanie: Thanks for having me, Lisa.
Dr. Lisa: It’s really exciting to be watching you take something that has been successful and already bringing people to the city of Portland for really enjoying what Maine has to offer but taking it into a different direction and maybe to a whole new level.
Stefanie: We hope to do both of those things. I was presented with the opportunity when I had heard through the grapevine that the Convention and Visitors Bureau was looking to get out of the events business which is not really their primary business. Considering my background and really passion for bringing people together in an experiential way, it was just one of those opportunities where I was like, “This sounds like it could be the thing for me,” so I just jumped at it. I was fortunate enough that my friend and business colleague, Gabrielle, wanted to do it with me. Together we’ve got years and years of experience producing multi-day, national scale events and we really feel like we can bring that expertise to bear for the city of Portland which we’re really, really excited about.
Dr. Lisa: You currently live in Cape Elizabeth with your husband who grew up on Munjoy Hill and actually is the owner of the Miss Portland Diner.
Stefanie: Correct. My husband is a Mainer through and through. The first time I visited Maine in the early ’90s, I knew this was a place that eventually I wanted to come and live and raise a family and was thrilled to have the opportunity to do that. The diner really was the thing that propelled us to moving our family here from New Jersey.
We did that in 2013 and in addition to the diner, I’m the VP of Marketing and Circulation at the Portland Press Herald which is a big job. We’re doing really fascinating things there. Our business has changed a lot in the last three years. Then, this opportunity cracked up and here I am producing a four day culinary experience about 12 events that are going to really touch on all of the key pieces of what makes the food and drink culture here what it is.
Dr. Lisa: Well, tell me what it is about Maine that got you so excited and maybe about Maine food specifically.
Stefanie: Right. When I think back to the first time I was here, I remember walking around the old port and just being so fascinated with the development that was going on. You think back 20 years or so, there was a lot, a lot going on. Then fast forward 10 years ago to when we had the opportunity to purchase the Miss Portland Diner from the city.
Ten years ago is really when the food scene was taking hold. What’s funny is that the same year that we established the new Miss Portland Diner was the first year of Harvest on the Harbor. My whole world is connected by those three things, I remember reading the newspaper and hearing about this multi-day food festival and being like, “There’s just something going on in Portland.” Watching that happen and evolve over the years and being a part of it has been really thrilling.
Dr. Lisa: Harvest on the Harbor has been around since 2008 and a lot of things have changed in that period of time and you have a new and different vision for this. What is it that you and Gabrielle are hoping to accomplish?
Stefanie: The Convention and Visitor’s Bureau created Harvest on the Harbor as a marketing platform. As a way to showcase what was going on in the food culture here to people from away. That’s their job is to drive tourists to our town and to put people in hotel rooms and to get them into the restaurants and to get them into the retailers.
I go around town and a lot of people haven’t heard of Harvest on the Harbor which is actually pretty amazing considering it’s been around for all that time but when you really think about it, it had been marketed to people from away. It hadn’t really been marketed as an opportunity to bring the community together to celebrate.
For me, that’s the missing piece. What we’ve built here is incredible, there are so many people from so many walks of life and so many different parts of Maine who are working really hard to keep this food economy growing. We need a party, we need an opportunity to celebrate and to bring all those people together and to bring the community together to support them in their efforts. For us, it’s really about highlighting the key things that make our food economy what it is and just having a really good time doing it.
Dr. Lisa: What are the days for Harvest on the Harbor?
Stefanie: Harvest on the Harbor will take place here in Portland from Thursday, October 20th through Sunday, October 23rd.
Dr. Lisa: Tell me what people can expect over that period of time.
Stefanie: Sure. We’re producing, I guess, it’s about 10 custom events on our own and then, we’re also working with the community to have opportunities to promote other people’s events that are going on during the same time as well as shopping opportunities that will be going on all over town during the same time so really trying to infiltrate Portland and really create a lot of ways for people to get involved. Our scheduled events, everything that we’re producing will happen at 58 Fore Street – The Portland Company and we’re really excited for the opportunity to bring people together.
Dr. Lisa: I remember over the years seeing part of the big tent peaks of Harvest on the Harbor right on the harbor itself and 58 Fore Street is not that far away but it is a slightly different venue. Why did you decide to choose to go there?
Stefanie: They actually stopped doing the tents a couple of years ago and I think for us, 58 Fore Street gives us the same squire footage that a tent would and it really takes away the weather factor. At the end of October, who knows what we can expect? For us, while 58 Fore Street is what it still is, we just figured that we would take advantage of the big cavernous space that’s there. We’ll be utilizing different parts of the building for different events to change up the experience and the look and feel of things.
Dr. Lisa: Why October? Why was that chosen to be the time when Harvest on the Harbor to take place?
Stefanie: We purchased Harvest on the Harbor in February and that just seemed too late to be rethinking the timing of the event. It originally was put post-Columbus Day to extend the tourism season. Again the CVB, it was a marketing platform and they had their reasons for picking the timing. That’s definitely something that we will think about and consider going into 2017. For us, ’16 is about executing with excellence. It’s about changing the way that we talk about Harvest on the Harbor and change the events themselves and really to executive with excellence and to prove to the community, both from the chef’s standpoint and our sponsor’s standpoint and also the attendee’s standpoint, that these are going to be fantastic events no matter what time of year they are. Then going into 2017, we’ll rethink the timing probably.
Dr. Lisa: Who are some of the partners that you’ve been working with?
Stefanie: The first event that we’re going to do is called The Sustainable Seafood Soiree and Supper and we’re thrilled to be working in partnership with the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. The Gulf of Maine Research Institute promotes all of the seafood that is pervasive here in Maine and they’ve got a bunch of partner chefs so we’ll be bringing those chefs together to curate a fantastic passed hors d’oeuvres cocktail party and then, a plated multi-course sit down dinner. We’re so fortunate to have Steve and Michelle Corry leading the charge on that event. Their chef, Kyle Robinson, will be one of the chefs who works on the event. We also have Melissa Bouchard from DiMillo’s and Andrew Chadwick from Inn by the Sea. All of whom are culinary partners of the GMRI so we’re really psyched about that event. I think it’ll be a really great way to start four days of fantastic food events.
Dr. Lisa: What I understand, sustainable seafood really is focusing on maybe the under loved species of fish. I’m trying to get away from species of fish that are overfished and showing people that we can actually make something really great and tasty out of something that we have more of rather than anything we have less of.
Stefanie: Exactly and that’s what will be on our menu.
Dr. Lisa: Who else? What else do you have going on?
Stefanie: Typically at Harvest on the Harbor, there has been a Maine lobster chef competition and we have decided, in our first year, to take the competition out of play. What we learned from the community is that local chefs don’t really like to be putted up against each other like, “We’re a community and why should we be competing with each other.” Obviously, the nature of the business is to be competitive but we don’t need to do that in an event format. We’ve decided, instead, to do a lobster chef celebration.
We’re working in partnership with the Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative. We’ll bring together about a dozen chefs to feature 12 very different lobster recipes. It’ll be a pretty traditional tasting event where we do pairings with beverages of all sorts, the timing is happy hour on Friday and that’s going to be a fantastic event also. Participating in that, we’ve got Nick Krunkkala from Liquid Riot and Isaac Aldridge from the Pilot House at the Sebasco Harbor Inn, Matt Ginn from EVO who actually is the raining champ of the Maine Lobster Chef Competition. We’re pretty psyched with the line-up for that too.
Dr. Lisa: You’re not just bringing people from the Portland area, your reach goes far beyond that.
Stefanie: Yeah. I think ultimately, we want to be a representative of the Maine food economy. It’s very easy here in Portland to be Portland-centric and because this is where we live and work, it’s easy to connect with these folks but yeah, by all means, we are more than interested in representing Maine as a state.
Dr. Lisa: You have a few more days of events.
Stefanie: I know, I feel like I could go on and on and on. On Saturday, our signature event is called Market on the Harbor. We’re doing this in two sessions and for all intents and purposes, it’s the biggest food sampling opportunity there is. We’ll bring together about 100 food purveyors to sample their products but also to vend their products.
We’re really excited to be partnering with Whole Foods who’ll be bringing a bunch of their local suppliers in and doing a pop-up experience where you can taste and purchase their products. .
There are so many people doing such amazing work in the food space and not in restaurants, people who are making fantastic energy bars and amazing granola and potato chips and foods of all sorts and we really want this to be the opportunity for them to showcase what they’re doing, give people a taste and sell.
Dr. Lisa: For people who are, say a vegetarian or gluten-free or have some sort of other dietary needs or maybe are just a little bit more picky, will there be lots of options to choose from?
Stefanie: The goal is lots of options, at all of our events frankly. We do recognize that crafting your culinary choices is definitely part of the food experience so we’ll work really hard to represent everybody. It’s hard to promise that because we’re really relying on a lot of people to help us execute well but that’s our goal.
Dr. Lisa: What else? Anything else going on in your line-up?
Stefanie: The only other event that I wanted to mention today is our Chef Showcase which will be our finale event on Sunday and we’re thrilled to have Harding Lee Smith helping us out and leading the charge on bringing together the top chefs around Maine, the people who really started all of these, who put a stake in the ground and said, “There is something here and we’re going to create it.”
This also will be a pretty traditional tasting event, we’re also really excited to have the opportunity to feature a handful of mixologists at this event because the beverage scene is equal to the food scene or at least, growing to be equal. We’re excited to have the opportunity to showcase some of the people who are doing amazing work in mixology. We’ve got Vena’s Fizz House signed on to do one of the bars. They’re doing pretty incredible work in selling a lot of local product also. That’ll be our grand finale event.
Dr. Lisa: Stefanie, I know that one of the things that chefs in our area really like to focus on is helping bring food to people who maybe don’t have the same access that maybe the festival goers, Harvest on the Harbor goers have. You have a charity that you’re working to support, tell me about that.
Stefanie: We’re working hand-in-hand with Full Plates Full Potential. We believe strongly as to working mothers that eradicating childhood hunger, specifically in Maine but also across the United States, is probably one of the most important things that we need to do. We are thrilled to be working with Full Plates, they do really incredible work, I think more than any other organization. They’re really spreading the love. They work hand-in-hand with the folks who are on the frontlines to make sure that the moneys are distributed in a way that really makes a difference. We couldn’t be prouder to align ourselves with the work that they’re doing.
Dr. Lisa: You also have some great sponsor partners that have come in to help you out.
Stefanie: Yeah, we’re so fortunate to be getting the reception that we are from folks of all kinds. Really, there’s not a person that I talk to that’s not encouraged or excited about what we’re trying to accomplish here. We’re thrilled to have Bangor Savings Bank onboard as a partner for our Sustainable Seafood event. We’ve got Whole Foods as I mentioned as a partner. We’re working with Native Maine who is the supplier to a lot of the chefs who are participating. Native Maine is a great partner and will be helping us to execute it at the highest level.
Dr. Lisa: If you’re someone from the Portland area or someone from away that is looking to do just an entire weekend full of fun. What would you personally envisioned that weekend to look like? Would it be not just the festival but also getting out into the old port doing some shopping, heading around town?
Stefanie: Absolutely. Thanks for bringing this up, we’re actually partnering with Portland Downtown which is an organization that is in collaboration with the city about really creating the downtown experience here in Portland. We will be working with them for ticket holders to have access to all sorts of shopping opportunities in town and that will include everything from specials at restaurants to discounts in shops, maybe even tasting opportunities around town in some of the places that won’t necessarily be at our events. There’ll be a whole list on our website, Harvestontheharbor.com, of the locations around town that ticket holders will be able to go into and benefit from as part of their weekend experience. We’re taking a very pointed approach with our events and we understand that not everything will appeal to everyone and part of the rationale for that is that we want people in the restaurants, we want people in the stores, we want people to make a weekend of it and really experience Maine outside of the Portland Company. What we’ll be doing will be fantastic but there’s a lot to do and see here.
Dr. Lisa: It seems as though the idea of a food and wine festival has really become more important to people, really, across the country and across the world. I know there are big festivals that take place in Charleston, I think in Aspen and San Francisco, New York. Why is it that we are so enamored of this idea, of the food and wine festival?
Stefanie: I’m sure that it rings true in most communities is that the food sector and I know this firsthand from watching my husband do the work that he do, it’s really hard work. It’s really super hard work. There just needs to come a time where the community pulls together to, not only support, but also to celebrate what has happened. I also think it gives us an opportunity and Portland is very much on the national food scope. We have the attention of national media and I think this is just another way to showcase who we are and what we do and gives me a voice and a look and a feel that’s packaged up beyond just a restaurant experience.
Dr. Lisa: I’m impressed with the fact that you and Gabrielle are just jumping into this with both feet. Well four feet, I guess, the two of you. In that you’ve really just transitioned into this in February. Once you’ve got this one under your belt and I’m sure it’s going to be very successful and everybody’s going to want to go to this event in October, what do you envision after that?
Stefanie: We’ve been bouncing around a ton of ideas. We went into this with the intention of really seeing through 2016 before we decided what it looks like afterwards. We’re learning something new every single day. This is no small undertaking and it really does require a ton of people banding together to make the vision happen. Honestly, right now, it’s hard to see beyond October 23rd but we have ideas and I don’t know that I’m ready to share them yet but we’ve got ideas.
For us, we don’t want it to be about a four day event experience, we want there to be an always on presence in a way that we can support the community on an ongoing basis. While we love the brand, Harvest on the Harbor, it does feel a little restricting to a certain time of year. We, again, are committed to doing this for October and then, have a bunch of ideas about how it will evolve going forward. We need to prove ourselves first and we know that and we’re excited to do it.
Dr. Lisa: Anything else you think that people who are listening might want to know?
Stefanie: Just a plug really, our entire event schedule will be available on Harvestontheharbor.com which is also where you can see everyone who is participating, all of the shopping opportunities, you’ll be able to buy tickets from there. There’s a link to the Full Plates Full Potential and how to get involved in eradicating childhood hunger which we feel really, really strongly about. Everything you want to know is on Harvestontheharbor.com.
Dr. Lisa: Well, very good and on our show notes page, we will also have your website. If people want to go to Lovemaineradio.com, we’ll send them in your direction and I know that I will see you at Harvest on the Harbor. I’m very much looking forward to this event. I think you’re going to do a great job, you and Gabrielle. We have been speaking with Stefanie Manning who along with Gabrielle Garofalo is the new producer, both of them are the new producers, of Harvest on the Harbor right here in Portland which will take place in October. I encourage people to checkout the website and go to the event and make this a great success for this year and the years to come. Thanks for coming in.
Stefanie: Thanks for having me. Appreciate it.
Speaker 1: Experienced chef and owner, Harding Lee Smith’s newest hit restaurant, Boone’s Fish House and Oyster Room, Maine seafood at its finest. Joining sister restaurant, The Front Room, The Grill Room and The Corner Room, this newly renovated two story restaurant at 86 Commercial Street on Custom House Wharf that overlook scenic Portland Harbor.
Watch lobstermen bring in the daily catch as you enjoy baked-stuff lobster, raw bar and wood fired flatbreads. For more information, visit Theroomsportland.com. Portland Art Gallery is proud to sponsor Love Maine Radio. Portland Art Gallery is Portland’s largest gallery and is located in the heart of the old port in 154 Middle Street.
The galley focuses on exhibiting work of contemporary Maine artists and hosts a series of monthly solo shows in its newly expanded space. The current show schedule includes Ruth Hamill, Joanne Parent, Allen Bunker and Jean Jack. For complete show details, please visit our website, Artcollectormaine.com.
Dr. Lisa: One of the things that I enjoyed doing the most as a non-doctor because I like being a doctor, I like being a radio show host but I really like working with people during events. Today, I’ll get to speak with two individuals who I’m working with in an upcoming event. This is Alban Maino who is the program director for the Center for Wellness Leadership which is holding its 2016 Symposium on Integrative Health in Sports Practice on October 29th at the University of Southern Maine. Dr. Sarah Kotzur who is speaking at the Symposium has a Portland-based family practice, naturopathic doctor, author and teacher. I have both Alban and I’m sure I’m pronouncing your name incorrectly so you can definitely tell me if it’s wrong and also, Dr. Sarah Kotzur here in the studio with me today. Thanks for being here.
Alban: Good morning, thank you for having us.
Dr. Sarah: Good morning.
Dr. Lisa: Pronounce your name for me now.
Alban: Alban.
Dr. Lisa: Alban, that’s right because of the French.
Alban: That’s right.
Dr. Lisa: Because you’re from France.
Alban: Nobody’s perfect.
Dr. Lisa: Yes, well I’m definitely not perfect although with my French background, I should have a little bit better take on the accent. How long have you been in Maine?
Alban: I’ve been coming to Maine for about 25 years but I’ve been a resident of Portland, Maine for three years now, happily so.
Dr. Lisa: You have a link to Swan’s Island.
Alban: I do. Yes, I spent most of my summers for the past three decades on Swan’s Island. I had a house on Swan’s Island so it was a lot of fun attending the Sweet Chariot Music and art festival.
Dr. Lisa: Which I believe that Maine Magazine will be doing an article on next year.
Alban: I saw Maine Magazine there this summer, yes. Some great photographs of all timed sessions were taken there, yes.
Dr. Lisa: Which is intriguing to you because your background is in documentary filmmaking.
Alban: That’s correct. Actually, I started to go to Swan’s Island and to that festival in order to document it because it was extremely visual and since you cannot stay on Swan’s Island, the only way to get there is to actual go on boats, there is no restroom, there is no where to stand and so, the public actually arrives on beautiful schooners and the performers sings songs to them. I thought, “Wow, this is a documentary ready to happen,” but then I moved to Swan’s Island and it became my family so I stopped. I continued to document it for many, many years but I didn’t pursue the documentary idea.
Dr. Lisa: Dr. Sarah, you have come through Maine on a different avenue, a different channel. Tell me about that.
Dr. Sarah: I grew up in Northern Vermont and I went out west to get my naturopathic medical degree and I thought, “I’ll come back to Vermont and settle in in the woods.” I got to Vermont and I realized there was so few people, I didn’t think I can make a living so I started looking around in New England and I was looking for a place that had a walkable downtown and little cute coffee shops and bookstores that were independent. I drove into the downtown and I thought, “This is the place.” The next day, I signed a lease on a medical office space and then, I had to find a place to live and love at first sight. I’ve been here about nine years and love Portland.
Dr. Lisa: I’m intrigued by the work that you do as a naturopathic doctor because you’re working on the same field that I’m working in, family health but you approach it from a different angle. You have a lot of medical background but naturopathic doctors, they have a very different set of classes that they take in their training.
Dr. Sarah: That’s right. Naturopathic doctors are trained in the current medical sciences. We do human dissection, we learn about anatomy and physiology and all that but we start with the basics of the least invasive methods, first, with nutrition and lifestyle medicine and herbs and homeopathic remedies and physical adjustments like chiropractors do and mind body medicine. You try to use those tools before we use pharmaceutical medication. We are also trained in the use of drugs and here in Maine, we can prescribe some drugs. We have a limited formulary that we can use but it’s a great profession and I just totally love showing up and doing what I do everyday. It feels like a party.
Dr. Lisa: Well, few people in the medical field say it feels like a party so …
Dr. Sarah: I know.
Dr. Lisa: It seems like probably something people should check out from a patient’s standpoint.
Dr. Sarah: Yeah, absolutely. There are about 30 naturopathic doctors licensed in Maine, we’ve been licensed for the last 20 years. We can operate as someone’s primary care physician if they don’t need certain drugs we can’t prescribe but we can diagnose and treat disease, we can order lab work, we can do physical exams and gyno exams that sort of thing. For some people, it’s a perfect fit and for a lot of people that have a conventional doctor and then they have a naturopathic doctor in their team to give them feedback about how they could be eating, what supplements they might want to take, a more alternative approach.
Dr. Lisa: Well, I have a number of patients that also have naturopathic doctors and it works out really well for me because I always learn from the patients. They’ll come back and they’ll say, “My naturopathic doctor said this, this and this,” and I’ll say, “Well, that’s really fascinating. I need to learn more about that.” It seems like it can be a really nice collaborative.
Dr. Sarah: Absolutely, it’s an effort.
Dr. Lisa: Yeah, absolutely. It’s not an exclusive thing where you can only see a naturopath and people can’t be on medications. It’s a very blended method. It seems as though what you are trying to do, Alban, from the Center for Wellness Leadership is this integrative type of care. The Symposium is actually called The Symposium on Integrative Health in Sports Practice. You’re trying to bring together the worlds of all the different health practices to see what you can offer to people.
Alban: That’s right. The Center of Wellness Leadership is a young organization but as Sarah mentioned during our conversation prior to here, it’s a world that has been in motion since several decades and we’re just newcomers here. We felt that there was a need to raise awareness and to bring together that community that has a really wide scope of practitioners. Maine is extremely rich. We have lots of incredible acupuncturers and Chinese medicine or healers and naturopath and homeopath.
We decided that we would start this organization around three pillars which were education, research and provide resources for also the general public to understand what is homeopathy. It’s for you who had been in the field for many years, when we talk about osteopathy or acupuncture. It’s something that seems very natural but I think there is a strong need for education and this is why we came here.
We decided to launch that organization about a year ago and had given birth with our main event which is coming, as you mentioned Lisa, October 29th at USM and focus on something that we all do here in Maine and in the States and focus on athletic performances and see how, from the point of view of prevention but also post-injuries, how those alternative health modalities can be used to prevent those injuries or to heal them quicker, faster.
Dr. Lisa: Sarah, you’re going to be speaking at the Symposium.
Dr. Sarah: I am.
Dr. Lisa: Give us a little pretty preview of what you’re going to be talking about.
Dr. Sarah: My colleague, Nancy Frederick, and I will be speaking about homeopathic medicine and its use in preventing and treating sports illness and injury. One of the things that we both specialize in in our practice is the treatment of head injuries with using homeopathic remedies. Often, while there are things that can be done immediately after a head injury from the conventional point of view, if there are lingering side effects from those head injuries, there are not a lot of options. People can get put on like anti-depressants because they aren’t functioning the way they used to or whatever.
I think homeopathic medicine really has a lot to offer in terms of that so we’re really excited to share the possibility of people living with head injuries and the use of homeopathy for that. Then, we’re also going to give people a short rundown about, first of all, what is homeopathy and how does it work but then, based on the types of sports people might be practicing, two or three common injuries that come along with practicing those sports and then, what remedies could be helpful for that so that if they want to try it at home, they can use some of these natural medicines on themselves. We could give them a little teaser about how to get started doing that.
Dr. Lisa: If I were to come to you as a patient and ask you, “What is homeopathy?” As a runner, what could you recommend? What would you give me for an answer?
Dr. Sarah: What is homeopathy? Homeopathy is a 200-year-old system of medicine that was discovered in Germany by a German physician and it is basically the use of highly diluted natural substances that stimulates the body’s self-healing mechanism in a very specific way. Each remedy is for a different type of injury or situation and so a remedy that I might use in a runner who, let’s say people who do long distance running, they overdo it, they can’t stop themselves, they might need a remedy called arnica which is for overuse. It’s for injuries like if you broke a bone, it would help you heal faster but also just for wear and tear on joints.
For people or a runner who let’s say says they do a run, the next day they’re so creaky and it takes them a half hour to warm up, they might need a remedy called Rhus Tox which is a remedy made from the poison ivy plant actually and that is a remedy that’s for joints that are much better once they get moving and also better from applications of hot water. When people say, “I’m so much better from the bath and my joints are better after I warm up a little bit,” then Rhus Tox is often a remedy that gets at the root cause of that and takes away those symptoms. I’ve also used that actually for cases of chronic Lyme Disease where people have that joint problem, that rusty gait kind of joint problem.
Dr. Lisa: This is interesting because I have used arnica for patients before with usually bruising. That’s what I think about arnica for.
Dr. Sarah: Yeah, it’s good for that but it can also be from surgery, it could be from a fall or a broken bone or just an overuse. Usually, the person who needs arnica feels like they fell off the back of a truck. They’re just sort of like achy all over, everything hurts. However, you get to that state, it could be helpful to help reverse that.
Alban: It’s funny you mentioning arnica too because Roberto Forleo who’s an international ballet dancer that will be in the panel discussion in the afternoon along with Dave Cowens was mentioning arnica, whether it’s in gel or in its homeopathic form, as a natural go-to remedy to prepare for those types of injuries. We’re going to be talking also about very practical ways of dealing with that from, not only, the practitioner and the provider and healthcare provider but also from the other hands when athletes or you and I really actually need that, what do we do?
Dr. Lisa: Yeah and how do you take it and …
Alban: How do you take it?
Dr. Lisa: Yeah, where do you find it and …
Alban: Where do you find arnica?
Dr. Sarah: You can find arnica at the Whole Foods or a natural food store. They’re very inexpensive. A little bottle of arnica cost about $7.50.
Alban: Is it reimbursed, Sarah?
Dr. Sarah: It depends. I think if you have a health savings account and your physician says that it’s a required medicine, you can usually use your health savings account money but I don’t think an insurance company will cover your arnica.
Alban: This is one of the things that we actually would like to see happening in the future. The CWL’s work and advocacy for more free healthcare and alternative ways of dealing with our health and not only the pharmaceutical companies doing that. Coming from France where we have a free education and free healthcare, I think, this is the model that we should be trying to implement slowly. I think it’s coming slowly but we’re going to be working at it.
Dr. Lisa: During the Olympics this summer, I was watching with my daughters and occasionally, my son and they’re all have been athletes or are athletes and we saw a lot of cupping going on. They almost look like bruises, often on backs or shoulders or knees of swimmers and I was explaining to them that this is acupuncture, this is moxibustion, these are things that are being done which had been done for thousand of years in other parts of the world and we’re bringing them now into the mainstream. That must be encouraging to see it when you’re watching the Olympics.
Dr. Sarah: It’s awesome.
Alban: It is. We just launched what I called the Media Vault Journal on Wellnessleadership.org on our website where you can find all sorts of really interesting approach to different modalities but also very practical. We did blog articles about cupping during the Olympics and you’re right, it’s something that has been used for a long time. I remember in these flea markets, finding old cups from 1940s and I bought some decades ago, I didn’t know they were actually used. You’re right, Chinese medicine has been around for thousands of years and they’re used so this is why we’re here for is to say there are so many different ways in which we can help.
Dr. Lisa: I think the thing that I like the best about the integrative approach is that you’re offering things that people can do for themselves and I think, naturopathic medicine is particularly good at that because you talk a lot about diet, lifestyle, homeopathy and I would like to see mainstream medicine get closer to that because I like the approach a little bit more than, “Come see me, I’ll give you a medicine.” I like it when people engage in their own care because I really think that that’s ultimately how they’re going to become the healthiest.
Dr. Sarah: Absolutely, because if you can teach them how their body works and why it’s doing what it’s doing, then they have more buy-in for like, “I’m exhausted, because I’m not eating or my digestion is off or something.” They can fix that on their own, it’s not that they’re in this passive role of, “I’m ill and now, you have to come rescue me with some high and mighty medicine or something.” Yeah, it’s great to see a patient learn about themselves.
Dr. Lisa: Alban, tell me what else we can expect to see at the Symposium. Who are some of the other speakers?
Alban: Well, first of all, we wanted this day to be exciting for all of us so we made and had a really fun path. We wanted to interactive and most of the speakers will come and speak for 15, 20 minutes and we’ll have time to get Q&As during and after. There will be vendors, it will be really something that anyone should attend, not only practitioners that want to enhance their practice or learn about new practice but also, students. I want to mention that it’s free for all students and it’s a very affordable day for everyone who wants to attend so go on Wellnessleadership.org and you can find the whole detail.
We’re going to have a crescendo day. We’re going to start with Dr. Schneider who is going to tell us about integrative health and what has been happening in Maine for the past 20 years and then, Dr. Gillespie who was actually the Maine Red Claws head physician, will come and tell us about how, from a very practical point of view, western medicine was used and is used currently for athletic performances. Following those two great keynote speakers, we’ll have Dr. Diane Hayden from Natural Nutmeg will come and tell us about what can transform an athlete into a champion which is, I think, a really fascinating topic.
Then, we’ll have a little coffee break and after that, Sarah and then she will come and tell us about homeopathy. Then, we’ll lead on to some, actually, case studies, a very short interactive case study with Dan Katz. He’ll come and tell us about acupuncture and Chinese medicine and then, Tom Gilson will come and tell us about osteopathy. I’m sure some of your listeners are not familiar with that, lots of them probably are. After our lunch break in the afternoon, we’ll move onto a fun, interactive panel discussion. Dave Cowens from the Celtics will be there, we’ll have also, thanks to Maine Live Events which was incredible, I met … Help me out.
Dr. Lisa: Julia Clukey.
Alban: Julia Clukey accepted to come and will come and be a speaker as well along with Robert Forleo for an hour talk where we can get some very practical feedback from international athletes on how they use integrative health in their daily practice. That’s most of the sense of the day.
Dr. Lisa: I think I’m interested lately and not just in preventing injuries or dealing with injuries that one has but also optimizing performance and I think you mentioned this a little bit. [In Title Nine, 00:42:52] women have been involved in sports more actively and we never really realized how much the variations in women’s cycles actually could impact what was going on athletically. I just read a book about this and it was really fascinating to me and it’s something that I would assume that people who are doing naturopathic medicine have probably paid closer attention to for quite some time.
Dr. Sarah: Wow, what were the basic findings about performance in women cycles?
Dr. Lisa: Well, the interesting thing was that as the cycle begins, you would expect that women would feel more depleted when they’re out running a marathon for example, but really, what they’re finding is once the hormone levels changes and the cycle is happening, women are actually more similar to men in their performances. That’s actually not the most difficult time to be out running a marathon and I think we’re fairly early on in trying to understand what actually does happen over the course of time with women and their hormones but it’s a no brainer, why weren’t we paying closer attention to those from the very beginning?
Because hormones can impact muscles and bones and joints and ligaments and all of our internal organs, our respiratory rate, our heart rate. I think until women really were in the mainstream doing athletics, nobody was really thinking about it at all. Also, aging. That’s another thing that I think I’m fascinated by too probably because, like everybody, I’m aging. There are things that happened to our bones, joints and muscles. It happens to everybody as we get older so how do we maximize and optimize the performance, no matter who we are, male, female, older, younger. I’m assuming that some of these conversations at your Symposium will start to touch on this.
Alban: Absolutely. You mentioned aging and I thought this was a very important topic to address by all means because we all are in the process of using an integrative medicine approach as Sarah described it, a holistic approach to health in general. It’s also very related to very concrete things that we do everyday, the way we eat, the way we exercise. It’s not necessarily something that’s provided by a provider. You need to go and see a physician to get better. There are very simple remedies that we do apply and as we’re getting older, there are also very simple things that we can do to exercise and act upon it. Yes, hopefully we’ll be tapping into that. I wanted to have a speaker that would come and speak specifically about that, maybe it would be for another Symposium where we can address those issues.
Dr. Lisa: Sarah, circling back to the conversation about head injuries. I’m wondering if there is a larger conversation that will be generated about things like dementia which I know Alban, you have a special interest in, and seizures and some of the other strokes, some of the other neurologic things that have happened which I know that Chinese medicine has dealt with really well over the years. Then Alban, you had done some work with music and memory and dementia but is there a broader application, Sarah, to what you’re going to be talking about at the Symposium?
Dr. Sarah: Absolutely. My dad actually had a stroke a couple of years ago and so, it has been a learning journey with me helping him regain some of his language and his functioning. He’s in his mid-70s and it’s a challenging road but to look at him, he’s sort of the case study of someone who’s really in the conventional world and also, we’re trying to keep his functioning as high as it can be, keep the quality of his life as high as it can be.
Yeah, I have a special interest in these sort of neurological kinds of conditions because it seems to me that, and maybe this is just that I don’t know, but it seems to me like the allopathic approach, there’s a certain limit to what’s hoped for, what can you regain after you had a stroke, what can you get back after you have a seizure disorder and now, you just have to be on all these medications and I don’t necessarily think that’s true.
I feel excited to be in a position to be able to offer another possibility and certainly, I never tell people, “Just go and get off your meds and do whatever you want,” I like to work in conjunction with other physicians. It’s a dance that we do and the patient directs that dance but also, I think there is the potential for people to get themselves back after these really life-threatening, life changing kinds of either injuries or accidents. That, to me, is exciting to share that because life can be really good even after some of those things.
Dr. Lisa: What’s your thinking on this, Alban?
Alban: I was reflecting about my own personal experience. My brother passed away when I was 20 years old from a disease that is very similar to ALS and I was involved in that palliative care approach very early on. That’s what kept me excited about alternative medicine because I realize that allopathic health in general didn’t have any solution to take care of those people. I started documenting it because I wasn’t a physician myself and later on when my grandmother, a few years ago, was affected by dementia and Alzheimer’s.
I realized that we could really have a direct impact on the well-being of people by using alternative methods such as meditation and meditation is a very easy thing to do, breathing is a very easy thing to do and when you’re affected by dementia or Alzheimer’s, whatever level it is, we can help people dream. I use my background as a cinematographer, as a music passionate to bring together those two worlds, the world of virtual reality to, for the lack of a better word, using guided imagery and passive meditation.
Bringing back the music, the sound, even the olfactory stimulation to a pathological situation and geriatric physicians got really interested in the work that we were doing because we realized that the impact was directly in correlation with diminution of medication, for example and that we were able to increase the well-being of people. We’re talking about a specific pathology but I think this can be applied to anyone of us.
Using integrative medicine in our daily life can improve our productivity at work, our interaction with other human beings everywhere we go and it’s a natural exercise that is not very complicated to do. When I discovered that a few years ago, I said, “Wow, this is good. This is something that I can work on and help disseminate and use my diminutive expertise as a storyteller to tell the world.
Dr. Lisa: I encourage people to learn more about the Center for Wellness Leadership. We will have information about the center and also, the 2016 Symposium on Integrative Health in Sports Practice on our show notes page. We’ve been speaking with Alban Maino who is the program director for the Center for Wellness Leadership and also, Dr. Sarah Kotzur who is speaking at the Symposium. Thanks so much for coming in today, we’ll see you at the Symposium.
Alban: Thank you.
Dr. Sarah: We’ll see you there. Thanks for having us.
Dr. Lisa: You’ve been listening to Love Maine Radio, show number 264, Harvest and Health. Our guest have included Stefanie Manning, Albon Maino and Dr. Sarah Kotzur. For more information on our guests and extended interviews, visit Lovemaineradio.com. Love Maine Radio is downloadable for free on iTunes. For a preview of each week’s show, sign-up for our e-newsletter and like our Love Maine Radio Facebook page. Follow me on Twitter @drlisa and see my running, travel, food and wellness photos as @boutiful1 on Instagram. We’d love to hear from you so please let us know what you think of Love Maine Radio. We welcome your suggestions for future shows. Also, let our sponsors know that you have heard about them here. We are privileged that they have enabled us to bring Love Maine Radio to you each week. This is Dr. Lisa Belisle. I hope that you have enjoyed our Harvest and Health show. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your day, may you have a bountiful life.
Speaker 1: Love Maine Radio is made possible with the support of Berlin City Honda, The Rooms by Harding Lee Smith, Maine Magazine, Portland Art Gallery and Art Collector Maine. Audio production and original music have been provided by Spencer Albee. Our editorial producer is Paul Koenig, our assistant producer is Shelbi Wassick, our community development manager is Casey Lovejoy and our executive producers are Kevin Thomas, Susan Grisanti and Dr. Lisa Belisle. For more information on our host’s production team, Maine Magazine or any of the guests featured here today, please visit us at Lovemaineradio.com. Here’s an excerpt from next week’s interview with Carol Noonan.
Dr. Lisa: You’ve been doing this for how long now?
Carol : We had our 10th anniversary in August so it’s pretty amazing. If I had ever thought, I would say Lyle Lovett and Aaron Neville would be in my backyard, I would think you are crazy but everybody else thought we were crazy and we did do it, I guess but it’s been great. It’s a respite for artists which was a thing I really wanted to do. I wanted it to be special for artists and for the audience. It’s definitely different, it’s a little frozen in time, we’re not on Facebook, we’re not connected socially like everybody else is.
We’re just up there in the middle of nowhere and when people drive up, I’m still shocked that they drive up the road and they come. When the room fills up, it is that, “Oh my God, what were we thinking and how lucky did we get that they actually did come.” This could have been a really stupid idea. I think the bigger shows, that was always something I wanted to do was bring big artists to a small room so you would get to see them in that original way of seeing them perform when they used to play small rooms and small clubs.
You get to see their hands and their face and they talk to the audience in a way they don’t do in a big room because you just can’t. It’s a very different experience to see those kinds of artists up close and it’s been awesome. They really love it and they love the way we’ve made sure that they have what they need. There’s nothing there so we have everything from batteries to anything they could need, Rolaids. Everywhere they go, little pockets of things that they might have to stop at a store for but we’ve got for them and we feed them like crazy and they come back and that’s the whole idea.
Dr. Lisa: I’ve been out to Brownfield, believe it or not, many times. We used to go regularly to Sacopee Valley, we used to go on the Saco River and you’re right, there isn’t really a lot out there but it was really very beautiful. I remember it, there’s a lot of fields and trees and there are these body of water that just spring up and there’s something very, I don’t know, peaceful about it in a way that doesn’t seemed frenetic like the coasts can be sometimes.
Carol : Yeah and I love the coast. It’s not us versus the coast but I think more people are living there year round, I think just the economy in those rural towns versus the coastal economy, it’s different. The people that are coming to our place are also working in our hospitals and our stores. I always say there’s a carpenter for every tree in Brownfield, everybody’s a carpenter, everybody that works there, that lives there is the same class too. I think financially, people are closer in their income bracket than a lot of towns in Maine. It’s not that extreme like some towns in Maine. There’s a feel there that’s normal, that’s constant. It doesn’t get that changed by the seasons or the tourist seasons.
It was really important to me. When I would come off the road, there would be nothing to do in the area unless we came to Portland or travel. I used to rent this church nearby and do a Christmas concert and I thought, “I can’t be so great that people are coming to see me every year for this stupid thing. They’re coming because there’s nothing else to do. It’s Saturday night, it’s near their house and they’re coming.”
It just made me feel like in rural towns, you have to make your own world and you’re own entertainment and they do in many ways. That’s what the Grange Halls have always done in those kinds of places but I did want to take it a step further. I wanted really great music to come up to our area in a special way so I hope I’ve done that and I think we have. It’s really become a tourist place too. I would say 75% of our audience is coming from outside of Maine which is amazing. Lots of Massachusetts folks coming up for the weekend to see an artist they love in this way. I’m hoping it also helps the local economy. It’s getting people in hotels and restaurants and that kind of thing so hopefully, it’s a trickle down place too.
Dr. Lisa: What kind of feedback do you get from the artists who come out and perform with you?
Carol : They really love it. It’s not like any place else and they know everybody. The artists, the big artists that have come back, remember people’s names, they have a routine. When Bela Fleck comes, he always says, “Did you make the veggie chili?” They remember the food or they remember how they’re taken care of and they say it on stage and I think really mean it. Artists always say, “Hey, we love Brownfield,” but there’s a way that they speak about our place that’s so moving. We had our 10th anniversary, lots of them sent us little clips and little photos just saying, “We love Brownfield and we love Stone Mountain.”
They’re more involved with us, I think, than most venues. When Mavis Staples come, it’s like our aunt is here to visit. Every time she comes, she calls me up on stage and I end up singing a tune with her which if I died tomorrow, I would have already done such a great thing in my life and that would be it. That would be the thing you just, “Okay, I’m good. I can go now.” Singing with her and being involved with her and she’ll come out on stage and say hi to everybody and thank everybody and remember my mom and remember by sisters that were only there a couple of times when she was there. It’s a very personal experience for the artists when they come to us. They talk about it a lot. We hear other artists that come see us for the first time said, “We’ve been hearing about this place for a year. We’ve been on the road and that’s all we ever hear about,” so that’s great.
Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to Love Maine Radio. We hope you can join us for next week’s program.