Whither Traditions??

A post at the LQ's place got me going, and rather than post this lengthy query there, here it shall reside:

You know there are a couple of things I'm interested in from a fellow mutt perspective. Perhaps you, or someone reading this, can direct me to some resources on these subjects.

The first thing I am somewhat concerned about it diet. Every culture seems to have fine tuned its diet based on several factors. There was a lot of healing wisdom throw in with the day to day task of preparing meals. In our "culture" there is little such wisdom passed down with the Betty Crocker Cookbook. This is one reason I *love* the bunny's blog :)

The second thing I find interesting is that child birth and rearing was a much more communal undertaking than our present system of 3 days in the hospital, you're on your own. (caveat, if you're really lucky, Grandma can come help or friends bring meals and help with babysitting for a while, which is *lovely*.)

In Japan, I think it is, mothers are given quiet solitude to bond with their bambinos for many weeks. Hebrews had fascinating rituals that allowed for bonding and healing.

In any case, I am very interested in learning more about traditional cultural practices in the kitchen and during the early childbearing years.

One of the problems with being a mutt is, what is the best thing to do? How do we accomplish that in this day and age?

Many of us come from families that were separated from a traditional approach, and just muddled through. I thought this was a recent phenomenon until I found a book by Better Homes and Gardens from the 1930s on how to handle babies.

Enough... just curious and looking for info.