Mountain News & World Report

This episode of Mountain News & World Report considers the efforts of central Appalachians to create resources to address critical public health needs. From our very beginnings, we have had to develop our own way of caring for our communities. As illustrated in the audio for the third segment of this show, through trial and error, and a little ingenuity, we have found remedies that work to bring better health to the people. When John Long and Elizabeth Barret released Nature’s Way in 1973 through Appalshop Films, many mountain folks were still going their entire lives without ever seeing a doctor. Babies were born at home. Fevers were sweated out. Pain was treated with a poultice of herbs. Effort was put behind the troubleshooting of the communities’ healthcare needs and the successes were adopted and passed down through generations as tried and true. The need to give an effort to the crises of our people is evident in the story of our second segment – Beldon Scott Mullins. He is a twenty year veter