Hi! I'm Devon. I am a certified Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, permaculture design and food systems advocate, and hobby trail runner. I was raised in Louisville, KY, moved to Burlington, VT for college, traveled across the great divide through Colorado then back to lovely New England where I spent a year on Nantucket before moving to the metropolis--Boston. In the spring of 2018, I made the decision to move to my grandmother's property in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. I tell you all of this because the places I have lived help weave the fabric of who I am. I have a reverence for tradition, but I often go against the grain. I find strength and inspiration in the mountains, but I find peace and rejuvenation by the ocean.  

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How did I get here?  I was a freshman at the University of Vermont when I first became intrigued with the connection between our food system and our human and environmental health. After graduating, I moved to Colorado to complete an apprenticeship on an organic farm. It was here that I first discovered "Nourishing Traditions" by Sally Fallon. From the very first pages, the cookbook offered many "a-ha" moments and agri-based solutions to over-complicated theories in nutrition. For example, all red meat isn't bad for you-it's' the type of red meat that matters (i.e. grass-fed vs. conventional). Its subtitle, "The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats" has become a motivating philosophy for Nativewise Nutrition. 

 

While at the ranch, I was experiencing birth control pill-induced PCOS. This is a condition in which women do not return to their normal menstrual cycle after stopping hormonal birth control, which in turn reveals itself as Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. I was even on the lowest dosage possible and it took me 16 months to get my period back. This caused a significant amount of emotional stress, under-currents of physical stress, and a sensation of not feeling comfortable in my own skin. I didn't feel "woman" enough. The frustrating part of this process was that the doctors had no answers or at least ones I was satisfied with. Blood work was fine...enough. The condition was considered "very common". But it shouldn't be, I remember challenging my OB-GYN. Her solution was to put me back on hormones. That was out of the question--was she even listening to me?

 

Instead, I decided to heal myself with food. I put myself on a liver detox protocol, eliminated refined-sugars, replaced simple grains with more complex ones, and drank a lot of herbal teas! I'll never forget the day things went back to normal. A sense of relief showered over me. I cried. I laughed. I was me again. And I did it by listening to my body and researching holistic solutions to PCOS. 

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So here I am. I am committed to helping men and women advocate for themselves so they too can find solutions that work. Solutions that address not just symptoms, but root causes. My clients work toward their optimal health through honest, evidence-based nutrition, as well as farm-based education and local food systems. Together, we renourish from the roots up. 

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Interested in learning more? I would love to hear your story too. Book a quick call with me here!