Last week, I attended the Weston A. Price Foundation‘s 23rd annual Wise Traditions Conference. This was my fifth conference in total and my first one since 2019. This year the Conference was held in Kansas City, MO at the Kansas City Convention Center.
The Wise Traditions Conference is a fantastic annual event for many reasons from the presentations to the meals to the likeminded people there. For me, the exhibitors are also always a major aspect of the event. As the focus of my blog is the best natural products, I attend many conventions and conferences to learn about new businesses. The Wise Traditions Conference is unique in that many natural product companies exhibit here before they’re found at retail trade shows. As a good amount of previous vendors are now well known brands, it’s always exciting to discover new products as they may be the next big thing. 
This year’s Wise Traditions Conference had its largest amount of exhibitors ever. With so many different businesses there, I was able to connect with a number of them who were on the floor of the conference for the first time.
In alphabetical order, here are my 12 product discoveries at the 2023 Wise Traditions Conference:
1984 Farms
At the Wise Traditions Conference, Alex Miller of Lick Skillet Farm said direct-to-door delivery is a huge change which is under way in the retail industry. The presence of online farm shops could be felt at the Conference as several vendors were local farms who have begun delivering across the country via their websites. Being based in the state where this year’s conference took place, 1984 Farms was there to let WAPFers know about their farm. At just about every conference, we’ve seen local ranchers exhibiting, but this was the first time people not local to the area had the opportunity to order from them online. 1984 Farms uses regenerative farming practices to raise grass fed beef & lamb and pasture raised pork. Plus the owners wore some awesome T-shirts.
Barefoot Microgreens
A new subcategory I found at this year’s Wise Traditions was microgreens. Microgreens are tiny sprout versions of vegetables and herbs. They allow people to grow food anywhere. But unlike hydroponics, microgreens use soil, making them more nutrient dense. The microgreen companies included Barefoot Microgreens. Founded by a homesteading family in Illinois, Barefoot Microgreens offers micro broccoli, micro salad mix, and sunflower shoot seeds.
Captain Soup
The options for soups still consist of mainly shelf stable products made without a real bone broth base. So I was thrilled to stop by the Captain Soup booth and taste all of their savory products. Captain Soup was founded by former army pilot Brian Gaudette. It’s director of nutrition is Mary Ruddick. Mary is described as a modern day Dr. Weston A. Price. Her talk at this year’s conference was one the favorites of the attendees. Captain Soup has soups consisting of beef, chicken, lambs, and even a vegetarian option of multiple green. I’d gladly board Captain Soup’s plane.
Carnivore Bar
I’m all about being The Appropriate Omnivore, but my next discovery could be described as The Appropriate Carnivore. Many have found healing by going on the carnivore diet. While the main focus of the carnivore diet is eliminating plants, it’s also important to source meat which is grass fed and grass finished. The Carnivore Bar has a meat bar which fills that need when it comes to snack time for carnivores and meat eaters. Choices for The Carnivore Bar come in varieties of zero carb and honey sweetened.
David’s Pasture
Another door-to-door farm delivery vendor at Wise Traditions was David’s Pasture. David’s farm is in Missouri about an hour from where the conference was held. Husband & wife David & Kim Kesten founded the farm after having enough of corporate America and the food lies they had been told. What began with raising a single batch of chickens in 2019 is now a farm filled with cows, chicken, pigs, turkeys, and lambs.
Fermented Homestead
Another Missouri native, Anna Hill runs a YouTube channel called Fermented Homestead where she makes videos giving fermenting demos. More recently, she’s started selling her ferments with a business of the same name. At Fermented Homestead vendor booth, conference goers could purchase all types of ferments in various flavors, including sauerkraut, kimchi, curtido, pickles, carrot sticks, kombucha, jun, and even sourdough starters.
Garden Goddess
While we now see many fermented products on the market, beet kvass is one which is still severely underrepresented. Garden Goddess founder Suzette Smith is concentrating most of her business now on beet kvass, but also produces several types of sauerkraut. Suzette is devoted to the fermented foods of ancient civilizations as these foods can fix so many of the rising illnesses we see today due to the Standard American Diet.
Instafarm
Microgreens are an area which are still new to me, so I had the pleasure of talking to two microgreen producers at Wise Traditions. Instafarm sells both the seeds needed to grow your own microgreens at home and an automated in-home growing appliance to sprout those greens in. Instafarm has nine different types of microgreens, including such unique ones as chives, mustard, and chia. Their appliances fit under most cabinets and use less than one square foot of countertop space.
Midwest Mermaid Muse
I love the name Midwest Mermaid Muse for a couple of reasons. First off, alliteration always woos me in. Secondly, I’m originally from the midwest, so I always appreciate midwest pride. And I love the products themselves which they make. We can all use more herbs and spices in our diets. Midwest Mermaid Muse has blends of herbs & spices plus seaweed & mushrooms. And their cleverness doesn’t stop with their brand name. Midwest Mermaid Muse labels their blends Land & SEAsoning.
Naked Chicks Pasture
There seems to be no shortage of greats names at Wise Traditions as my next discovery is called Naked Chicks Pasture. Originally, they were a farm of pasture raised chickens, as well as ducks and pigs. More recently Naked Chicken expanded into beekeeping with their honey and honey products. The honey varieties include everything from infused honey to vanilla extracts to lip balm to sparkling water. The honey drinks were what my caught my attention the most as I’m always looking for better alternatives to soda pop.
Simply Grassfed
At the 2023 Wise Traditions Conference, there was not one, not two, but three farms who now offer online delivery and were first time vendors. I was ecstatic to find out that so many ranchers are now able to provide their wonderful pasture raised meats to people all across the United States. Simply Grassfed is an online service for two amazing farms. Burke’s Garden Farm in Virginia is where you can find grass fed beef, lamb, & goat, and pasture raised pork, chicken, & turkey. All of the animals are free of GMOs, antibiotics, hormones, and mRNA vaccines. And Alpine Heritage Creamery in Lancaster, PA sells raw A2/A2 cheese through Simply Grassfed.
Stone Sisters Organics
To Your Health Sprouted Flour Co. has been a long time supporter of the Weston A. Price Foundation and has sponsored many Wise Traditions conferences. At this conference, I met the three sisters who make up Stone Sisters Organics, a supporter of To Your Health. Stone Sisters use TYH’s spelt flour in their pizza crust for their line of Happie Cheese Pizzas and Happie Organic Sprouted Spelt Crust Packs. The aroma of the pizzas drew me to their booth. Plus you have to love all of the great color everywhere from their exhibit station to their products’s boxes to the outfits the Stone Sisters were wearing.