Some people say that raw
foodists are obsessed with pure food. I confess-- what they say
is true. Finding pristine sustenance in a world full of industrially-produced,
adulterated "food," can be an all-consuming affair. The
newspapers have recently coined a term for it, "orthorexia,"
an obsession with pure food. Funny, I don't feel sick. In fact,
I feel better than ever. In any case, the end result is worth the
affliction: the best tasting food, the healthiest bodies, the most
harmonious ecology.
Raw food is real food the way nature intended. The concept of eating
all, or primarily, raw food (raw foodism) is based on the premise
that this is the healthiest way to eat. Eating as nature intends
means eating only the purest food: organic, bio-dynamically grown,
unsprayed or wild. It means eating whole food. Therefore virtually
all processed and packaged food is out of the picture. It means
eating food as fresh as it can be-- primarily local and seasonal.
It means eating your food un-cooked. In a world of increasing ill-health,
more and more people are choosing to eat all or primarily raw food.
Raw foodists choose not to eat cooked food because heating food
above 118 degrees Fahrenheit, (the "raw" definition of
cooking), produces disease-causing compounds in food, makes the
nutrition in food less assimilable, and destroys the enzymes in
the food. When the naturally-occurring enzymes that all whole food
contain are destroyed by cooking, the body has to produce the very
same enzymes for digestion, thus diverting energy that would otherwise
be used for healing and cleansing. All forms of cooking kill enzymes.
The processing of food also destroys enzymes.
Raw food is also called "living" or "live"
food. That's because along with all the other detrimental effects
that cooking produces, it is also believed that cooking "kills"
the life-force of the food. Kirilian photography confirms that a
more radiant aura, or energy emanation, surrounds a whole food that
is uncooked than when it has been cooked. Try planting a cooked
seed-- it will not sprout. It can't produce life. Only an uncooked
seed, nut, or legume will sprout. Therein lies the essence of living
food: it is life-giving. According to the raw food paradigm, "dead
food" causes disease and pre-mature death.
Since industrial-style processing of food leaves the food less
than whole and generally occurs at high temperatures, processed
and packaged food are not living foods. That means raw foodists
steer clear of supermarkets. When you see raw foodists at the healthfood
store, you can recognize them by the fact that their shopping carts
are over-flowing with fresh fruits and vegetables-- and virtually
nothing else. Another good clue is a kitchen that has been transformed
into a sprout farm.
Sprouting is the key to preparing many food items that traditionally
are thought to need cooking. In order to make them optimally digestible,
a raw foodist will simply soak seeds, nuts, grains and legumes,
causing them to germinate. Sprouting these now-activated little
life forms makes them even more nutritious. What further processing
raw foodists do perform is usually done at the most local of levels--
at home! Ironically, here's where those "labor saving"
appliances earn their name. Raw foodists are famous for their state
of the art blenders, food processors and juicers.
Transitioning to raw foods, however, does not mean switching to
sprouts and salad exclusively. At a restaurant where I was a chef
we served sushi, burritos, pizzas, pasta, pudding, pie, cakes, cookies--
all raw and vegan! Talk about creative cuisine: our tortillas were
cabbage leaves, our sprouted grain bread was "sun baked."
Ethnic raw foods could be considered the true "culturally creative"
cuisine-- you don't have to give up the foods with which you culturally
identify; you just have to get creative with them!
Or you can live off of wild berries, soursaps, sapotes, cherimoyas,
and green zebra tomatoes. Going raw tunes you in to the delights
of wild and heirloom fruits and veggies that do not hold up in transport
or fit uniformly into a box. They don't have to-- freshness and
taste are paramount to the raw foodist. After going raw, you may
even become intimately acquainted with previously un-noticed fruit
trees in your neighborhood. Going for the yummiest connects one
to place.
Obtaining exclusively fresh, pure food from local sources can be
expensive, however. This is because one is paying the real cost
of the food. Shopping or foraging every day can be time consuming
as well. Therefore, many raw foodists work on organic farms, get
jobs at the farmer's market or at raw restaurants, or barter for
food. Economic imperatives become eco-opportunites. Frugally (guess
where the word comes from: "fruit") plugging into an un-subsidized
alternative economy that has few externalities yields ecological
benefits precisely because natural capital and social costs are
factored into the equation.
Many informal exchange networks thrive amongst raw fooders. A good
deal on a regional specialty becomes a valuable commodity to be
directly traded for that of another region: Mendocino sea palm,
(a delectable kind of seaweed), for example, for Ojai oranges. Since
the food is fresh and the deals are done by individuals, the trade
remains regional rather than global, and the benefits are tasted
and felt by the community. When an exchange is incidental to already-planned
travel, it becomes an ecological bonus, rather than onus!
Raw food can be prepared in radically sustainable ways too. You
can make sprouted hummus the "new-fashioned" way by substituting
pedal-power or elbow grease for electricity. At the National Rainbow
Gathering, Sprout Kitchen prepares raw meals for hundreds by harvesting
buckets of sprouted grains, seeds, beans and nuts and turning them
into scrumptious sustenance with hand-cranked grinders. All the
people at the gathering bring their own "blissware" (bowl
and eating utensils). Summer 2000, we fed fifteen thousand people
over two weeks and created less than two bags of trash!
A mobile raw classroom and concession that I facilitate, the Sun
Kitchen, toured the western US last summer using solar dehydration,
pedal-powered blenders, hand-cranked food processors, and solar-powered
refrigeration. This year we are converting our vehicle to run on
vegetable oil. Our motto is: "Sustainable Cuisine produced
sustainably!" The newest raw restaurant on the scene, Roxanne's,
is a subversive chic affair that serves a gourmet prix-fixe menu.
The whole place is powered by solar.
Within the context of eating raw foods, the composition of "eating
as nature intends" is debated. (This debate reflects anthropological
evidence indicating that while we descended from fruitarians, we
may be either vegan or omnivores.) Exactly how a raw foodist eats
is based on individual food choices. "Instinctive" eaters
and those on "the primal diet" choose to consume raw meat
and dairy. Raw vegans eschew animal products for health, ethical
and ecological reasons. Natural Hygienists forgo anything you cannot
consume a full plate of. That means that for them, all condiments
and onions, garlic, ginger, hot chiles and most spices are out.
Mono eaters eat only one type of whole food at a time. For them,
dinner may be a half-dozen cucumbers! There are even raw foodists
who refuse to use untensils or cut food with metal knives.
No matter how you slice it, most people initially "go raw"
for health reasons. People on the live-food diet report increased
energy, freedom from illness, clearer minds, and longer lives. It
is documented that people have cured themselves from serious diseases
including cancer by going on a strict raw food diet. From an ayurvedic
perspective, a diet high in fresh fruits and vegetables is considered
to be sattvic. It promotes consciousness and harmony! Jesus was
a member of a community called the Essenes who preached that eating
living foods and practicing proper bodily hygiene were the foundation
of a life aligned with spirit. A friend of mine who lives according
to the doctrine of "ahimsa," or non-violence, eats only
salad greens, and fruit that has already fallen to the ground.
It turns out that eating in a way that is beneficial for one's
health is also beneficial for the planet. Raw foodists reject industrial
food. That means less packaging, less transportation of food, fewer
chemicals added into the food chain. Processing of food is done
at the most local of levels: at home or by regional small companies
that produce small batches of high-quality products. Because raw
foodists value the freshest produce, many visit the farmer's market
regularly or belong to a CSA (Consumer-supported Agriculture)[******did
I translate that right?]. That way they are supporting local economies
and sustainable agriculture. The vast majority are vegetarian or
vegan. That means they don't support the biggest polluters and wasters
of resources: the meat and dairy industries. Raw foodists do, on
the other hand, produce a lot of compost!
As they become more conscious of their food choices, many raw foodists
crave contact with the land and supportive community. In that context,
there is an emerging raw vegan permaculture movement that may just
prove raw foods to be the missing ingredient in sustainable community.
Members of the Rawganique homestead in British Columbia grow their
own food and participate in the complete food cycle by embracing
the practice of humanure, (safely composting human excrement). Their
"Raw, Vegan, Unique" lifestyle extends to wearing only
natural fibers. They have a website site that promotes raw food,
publishes an e-zine on simple sustainable living, and sells natural
products.
For those who choose to remain in an urban setting, almost every
metropolitan area in the US has a raw support group that host monthly
potlucks open to the public. A lively virtual community thrives
on the web as well. The Portland Living Food Group hosts an annual
raw food festival every summer. There are also plenty of retreats,
a handful of raw resorts and rejuvenation centers, more and more
raw restaurants, and plenty of raw foods preparation classes out
there. To find out what is going on in your area, look for notices
at your local healthfood store or search on-line.
Raw foods offer a model of eating that is the opposite of the fast-food
consumerism being pushed on the rest of the world. Yet, you may
be wondering: if it's that simple, why does 99.99 percent of the
world eat diets heavy in cooked food? Anthropological evidence indicates
that as humans spread to colder regions of the world, they employed
fire for heat and to treat (rotting) meat that entered the diet
at the same time. Fire also proved useful to detoxify many wild
plants in these regions that had not co-evolved with humans. The
raw-foods perspective begs the question whether or not these are
still valid reasons for cooking. Refrigetaion and greenhouses make
sure that we can enjoy fresh food year round. For detoxifying wild
foods, raw foodists prefer marination.
Some raw foodists view the habit of ingesting cooked food as an
addiction. Just as we need to break our addictions to other harmful
substances and ways of living, so do we need to dispense with the
no-longer useful habit of cooking our food. I believe a forward-looking
approach will prove that it is possible for humans all over the
planet to sustain themselves on raw food. From an ecological perspective,
it may turn out to be a necessity.
It has been said that an idea whose time has come is initially
ridiculed, then violently opposed, and finally accepted as fact.
As an avowed "orthorexic." I am used to jokes about surviving
on a diet of sprouted lentils. In response; I defer to nature as
the ultimate teacher and healer. Observation of organisms interacting
as positive participants in their feeding web affirms my dietary
choice. Look around: every other animal on the planet eats a diet
of entirely raw food. No other animals suffer from the debilitating
diseases that we do or act as destructively as we do. I believe
that getting back in touch with our wild nature would go a long
way toward re-balancing our ecology. Raw foodism offers a delicious,
life-affirming pathway back to our sustainable selves.
Bruce Horowitz, a.k.a. "Chef Sprout,"
is a certified composting educator and master raw foods chef dedicated
to the global proliferation of sustainable cuisine. Formerly head
chef at Organica and executive chef at RAW in San Francisco, he
is writing a master's thesis at New College of California on the
nutritional ecology of raw food. He teaches un-cooking classes,
caters and tours the country with the Sun Kitchen. chef_sprout2001@yahoo.com
or 877-661-8117.
