Raw Food, Right Now! The raw food blog about the Raw Food World.

Pure Market Express Review [Raw Delivery Service]

2009-11-04T02:00:00.000-06:00

We hear the cry all the time..."I like raw food... but I don't have time to make this stuff!" And for the most part, we're going to actually agree with you. Making raw dishes takes time. A lot of time, especially when you are just starting out and have never made raw food recipes before. Despite what you see when you first learn about raw food, most raw food dishes are time consuming to make.

We've seen so many people give up on eating a high or all raw diet once they encounter the "making the food" obstacle.

You have three choices in this case:

Grin and bear it.

Make the dishes, and spend many hours in the kitchen. Hey, this is how some people do it. They make it their lives. Many raw foodists are stay at home moms or people who work at home. They practically sleep in their kitchen!
Go simple.

This is how we do it. We eat a high raw diet and we spend some quality time in the kitchen, but not much. The easier, the better. We don't really enjoy making recipes that often and we probably never will. So we have "hacked" our raw food diet to take as little time as possible.
Get your stuff made for you.

If you live near a raw food restaurant, you can go there whenever you want to eat raw food. But before you say anything....... we know what you're thinking. You don't live in L.A. or New York. Raw food is not on every street corner or at your local Whole Foods or co-op that you can just "pick-up". No prob, now you've got yourself an excellent and fairly priced raw delivery service at your hands: Pure Market Express.

Local For Us, Delivered Right to You

When we first saw that a new raw food delivery service was being created practically in our backyard, we were ecstatic. In case you don't know, Raw Food Right Now is based in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area in Minnesota. There aren't a lot of raw food options around here when you want someone to make something for you. Once Pure Market Express was announced and we found out that it was about 20 minutes from where we live, we knew that the raw food scene in the "Twin Cities" had changed for the better.

Pure Market Express is not a raw food restaurant. The owners, Quentin and Rebecca Irey, knew that making a local raw food restaurant probably wasn't a very marketable idea here in the Twin Cities. So instead of the typical raw food restaurant business model, they decided to have a bigger vision, and create a raw food delivery service to the continental 48 states.

Now, there are a few other raw food delivery services out there, but they haven't always been affordable for everyone. However, a quick look at the large variety and low prices for what you get at Pure Market Express will quickly expel the myth that deliverable raw food is expensive: http://shop.puremarketexpress.com/category_s/2.htm

The Process

How does this all work?

To put it simply: Pure Market Express is a new online raw food delivery service that features over 100 menu items that can be shipped directly to your door within 48 hours of ordering.

They offer gourmet dishes, pies, chips, snacks, and even smoothies! They also have an assortment of excellent raw ice creams.

The shipping is quick and arrives in reusable containers, with all the food properly chilled and extremely fresh. They guarantee delivery within two days of your order.

Every week they rotate a selection of dishes from their full menu of over 100 items. You can then either choose to order a full "week's worth" of items, or you can pick and choose and make your own selections. You can also order only raw ice cream, or you can stock up on pantry items like raw crackers and trail mix too. The choice is yours.

Check out their always changing weekly menu: http://www.puremarketexpress.com/thefood/nowserving.html

They've Thought of Everything

Every aspect of Pure Market Express has been carefully considered to be of the highest quality. To ensure this, Rebecca and Quentin hired a classically trained chef (Chef Jacob) and helped teach him the language of raw. Together they have created classic raw recipe favorites and new gourmet raw food masterpieces.

Since we live in the Twin Cities area, we were recently invited for a tour and private tasting at Pure Market Express. We were able to sit down with the owners, Rebecca and Quentin, and get to know them better. We had a lot of questions about their history of getting into raw food, their process of creating the business, and their current food philosophy and vision for Pure Market Express and beyond. While we were talking, Chef Jacob was bringing out dish after dish of incredible quality raw plates for all of us to enjoy.

Here is a peek at some of the food we tasted. Some of these items are available through the delivery service and some was special just for our dinner together. Let's take a look at the food, shall we?

Coconut Water, infused with mint: This is a simple recipe you can make at home! Simply take coconut water into a glass jar, and place fresh mint leaves into the container. Let it infuse for a while. In a way, it is a cold infusion of mint tea! Very refreshing.

Heirloom Tomato Salad: The simplicity of this dish brought out the bursting flavors of the heirloom tomatoes. The vinaigrette on the tomatoes was absolutely divine.

Jalapeno Poppers: These are one of the most popular items on the Pure Market Express menu, and after one bite, we understood why. For all your Jalapeno popper fans out there, these are perfect! I don't know how they perfected this recipe, but it makes my mouth water just thinking about these. The heat in the jalapenos is just hot enough to make your mouth tingle. Highly recommended. (FYI: You can order these at Pure Market Express!)

Caesar Salad: Have you been missing that particular Caesar salad in your favorite restaurant? When you order from Pure Market Express, you can enjoy that salad in a whole new way. After all, a delicious salad is all about the dressing! PME specialty fake bacon crumbles on top make this salad a winner with everyone...maybe even carnivores.

Tostadas: These were the best tostadas we've ever had. Even better than "non-raw" tostadas. Topped with a rich macadamia ricotta and walnut "meat" seasoned with their own Sassy Salsa!

Scallops with Red Pepper. This is even too good to comment on. Like a ravioli, but crunchy and sits in your stomach perfectly. Highly recommended!

Mushroom "Steak" with sweet corn salsa. We were both surprised when this dish ended up being our favorite of the night. Perfectly flavored and textured, we literally savored every single bite. Also highly recommended. (FYI: I think you can order this dish, or a similar dish through Pure Market! Yum!!!)

3 layer Mudslide Pie "Parfait". No raw food meal is complete without desserts. Everyone's favorite raw dish to eat and make usually involves some sort of sweet tasting dessert. This mudslide was very filling and tasted equally full in flavor. We spooned up every last drop, including the white chocolate mousse on top. (FYI: The mudslide is available as a pie through the delivery service, but we were served the pie in parfait glasses for an extra special treat. You could order the Mudslide Pie and do something similar at home!)

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Of course, we loved all the food, and were totally stuffed when we left. We recommend everything we had inside of Pure Market. It was all delicious. Besides everything on the menu, if you want to get a fun experience and are feeling wild and free, you can even select the "Chef's Choice" option, in which Pure Market Express will ship 25 items chosen by Chef Jacob, and shipped to your door, for 175.00. Wow. That is an excellent value with a lot of food!

In particular, the Chef Choice would be a great option if you are traveling somewhere and don't have access to a kitchen, or can't bring your kitchen equipment with you. Perhaps it would be a good option for you if you are going somewhere for the holidays? Can you say Christmas with the family?! Um, hello!!

Getting to Know Quentin and Rebecca

A very happy group of pleasantly full people
Us with Quentin, Rebecca and our friends
Vince and Jinelle

Pure Market Express - A Company Run By People Who Care

We had a lot of fun getting to know all of the Pure Market Team, especially Quentin and Rebecca.

While we happily enjoyed incredible dish after dish, we got to hear the entire story about how Rebecca found raw food. In fact, Rebecca has been a long time reader of Raw Food Right Now, and grabbed a copy of our Thanksgiving ebook when it was first released!

We also got to hear the hilarious story of how they decided to start up a raw food business while they were already running a business together as a married couple! Instead of trying to re-tell the story, we will let them tell you their story in their own words. Read their story here: http://www.puremarketexpress.com/ourstory/ourstory.html

When we asked Rebecca Irey to explain how she found the inspiration to create her new business called Pure Market Express, she simply told us "It all started on a road trip with a husband, 6 kids, and a mother-in-law."

Hey, all good adventures start with a crazy road trip, don't they?

In her own right, Rebecca is a trained raw food chef. After a couple years mastering the basics of raw food creation, she found herself raw during the pregnancy of her 6th child. After taking a road trip with her husband and her children, she found it hard to stay raw while traveling on the road.

So Rebecca's husband, Quentin, wanted to do something special for her birthday while they were on this long vacation, and paid for a large order from an undisclosed raw food delivery company. When it finally arrived, she unpacked bags of various sauces that looked like green gooey astronaut food. While the food tasted all right, it wasn't the same as the raw food she makes at home.

After her first experience, she then tried another online raw food delivery company. While the food looked more presentable, "it tasted like cardboard", she told us.

At that moment she was determined that there had to be a better way.

When Rebecca and Quentin arrived home, they both realized that making fresh, healthy food available to anyone, anywhere, was important to both of them. Even though they already owned and managed a successful company, it was time to start a new business. One completely from the heart.

And thus Pure Market Express was born!

Getting the Behind The Scenes Tour

When we visited their facility for the tasting (which is an old bread bakery in Chaska converted to an incredible raw kitchen) and had an opportunity to have an amazing tasting and complete tour of their operation, were able to see their business from the inside out.

Everything is extremely clean, well-thought out, and organized. Every detail has been anticipated and fulfilled. These two are dedicated to integrity and quality. They even have an entirely separate room completely dedicated to sprouting wheat berries so as not to mix it in with their regular menu to ensure those who are gluten intolerant are safe.

There's just one thing we want to let you know.. not everything is organic. Although they are striving to make everything organic someday, you may want to check with them first if you are concerned about all of your food being 100% organic. Even many raw food restaurants are unable to be 100% organic. At least Pure Market is being up front and honest about it.

Wrapping it All Up

Having raw delivery service options to everyone is a fascinating and much needed service. Pure Market Express is different because they are focusing on this particular need so they can provide for those who find it hard to stay raw in their area, don't have time, or are on the road and want to guarantee quality raw food wherever they go. In fact, if you are going on an extended trip, Pure Market can guarantee to have food delivered to you, on time and in each area you arrive. You can even plan ahead and get it delivered to your hotel or other location before you arrive. Now that is service!

Visit Their Website and Learn More:

http://www.puremarketexpress.com

~ Heidi and JS
Raw Food Right Now

P.S. Attention Minnesotans! If you are in the Minnesota area near the Twin Cities and want to do a pickup, make sure to order online first and let them know you will be in to pick it up. If you have any questions about how the process works, simply call the Pure Market Express team at 952-452-4865 and they will answer any questions you have. And if you are near Lakewinds Co-Op...they now have a Pure Market Express refrigerated case with fresh raw food deli items available for take out! Raw food deli items in a grocery store - one giant leap for Minnesota!

P.P.S. Special hello to Joe and Jeanne who are long time Raw Food Right Now readers. Joe scored an awesome job at Pure Market Express and was just promoted to a full-on Sous-chef! Congrats Joe!!

Victoria Boutenko: New Books, New Interview, New Controversy

2009-10-29T01:20:00.013-05:00

Raw Food books were the foundation of the raw food movement.

One of the first books I read about the raw food diet was Raw Family, which is now considered a classic in the raw food book genre. Both JS and I found this book to be an inspirational read about the real life story of an entire family that went on a raw food diet together to help heal all of their varied health problems.

It has been many years since Raw Family was first released. The kids are all grown up now and now the name Boutenko has become synonymous with green smoothies since raw food mom and matriarch Victoria Boutenko released Green For Life in 2005. The family dynamic must have changed a lot since those early days, but Victoria keeps going in her passionate quest to share the message of green smoothies with the world.

In fact, Victoria has recently released two books in the past few months and North Atlantic Books sent us review copies. Most people would be eager to know that Victoria has finally published the much awaited sequel to Green For Life, a book entitled Green Smoothie Revolution. In addition, Victoria has released an innovative recipe book that is perfect for raw food beginners, called Raw Family Signature Dishes.

Both books offer the same level of quality as you would expect from all the other books from Victoria Boutenko. In Green Smoothie Revolution, Victoria has truly created a companion guide to Green For Life. Once Green for Life was released and became very popular, people wanted more green smoothie recipes. The idea of Green Smoothie Revolution was born. Together, both of these books create all you need to know about Green Smoothies. There are a vast amount of recipes included in this book, with bonus recipes for pets!

And if you are just starting out on a raw food diet, Raw Family Signature Dishes is truly the best recipe book for absolute raw food beginners. In this unique book, Victoria shows, step by step and in full color photographs, how to make standard 100% raw food recipes. It includes a step by step guide on how to make a salad, a soup, a cookie, a pie, a raw burger, nut milk, cakes, and more. If you are a visual learner and you have no idea how to make raw food, this book is just for you.

There's Just One Other Thing...

That being said, there has been something very obvious that has been so difficult to talk about. We didn't know what to say, because there is a lot of gossip going around about Victoria....it's about her weight.

Many people have tried to tell us stories of Victoria caught binging on cooked food right in front of their eyes. And there are other stories too. We didn't know what to believe, and we don't report on gossip, so we didn't say anything at all.

Many years ago, Victoria lost a lot of weight after starting a raw food diet. There are amazing "before and after" photos of Victoria inside Raw Family. But Raw Family was originally published in 2000. It has been nearly 10 years since that book was been released...a lot of time to re-gain all of that lost weight.

Photo Credit: Raw Food Videos

Everyone in the raw food community knows that Victoria has gained weight. But since she was the one that brought green smoothies to nearly mainstream status, no one has wanted to say anything.

Last year, health blogger Kevin Gianni tried to ask her about her weight in an exclusive interview with Victoria during the amazing Rawkathon event. At the time, Victoria admitted that she didn't know why she had gained weight and had consulted with all the top raw food experts to ask for their advice. She claimed to still have no answer for her puzzling weight gain.

There is something I have wanted to say for a very long time on Raw Food Right Now, and I am going to say it, right here and now:

A raw food diet does not guarantee weight loss.
You do not always lose weight on a 100% raw food diet.

It is difficult when Victoria, one of the leaders of the raw food movement, has been telling people that they can lose weight on green smoothies and yet she herself struggles with weight.

Last week our friend Matt Monarch announced that he is going to personally interview Victoria Boutenko ~~this Friday, October 30th~~ on Friday, November 27th on his radio show. Matt is going to ask Victoria these very important questions...Are you 100% raw, and if so, why do you have extra weight?

These are the tough questions no one has wanted to ask....until now. We could have interviewed Victoria for RFRN radio, but I do not have the guts like Matt to ask tough questions like these.

I urge you to take time out this Friday night and tune in to Matt's radio show and hear Victoria answer these questions live.

Let's Get This Weight Thing Out of the Way

I have personally consulted with people who have been 100% raw using perfect organic, properly combined food and still they have not lost weight. I have seen people with my own eyes who have gone on 90+ juice feasts yet gained the weight back.

Other weight loss inspiration stories in the raw food movement are not true for everyone. Angela Stokes and Philip McClusky are inspiring stories, but they do not represent everyone out there. There are people out there who are perfectly raw, and still they are suffering, not only with excess weight, but other health problems as well.

In fact, we've heard many people tell us directly that they gained weight right after starting a 100% raw food diet and stopped eating raw because they didn't want to gain weight.

My heart goes out to Victoria, because I know what it is like to struggle with weight and body image. Victoria and her family have offered so much to the raw food movement. We don't want to ever hurt her feelings. I think none of us in the raw community want to do that. We as a community just want to know the truth.

If you are struggling with your weight, and you've tried 100% raw food diet but you still have not lost all your weight, I want you to know that you are not alone. There are other people out there, mostly silent people out there, too ashamed to admit to the raw food world that 100% raw is not helping them lose weight.

Keep trying. Keep searching. Keep looking for what works just for you.

I hope you can tune in Friday and listen to Matt's radio show. If not, please take a moment and send some loving energy and appreciation to Victoria Boutenko. After all, she is our generation's Ann Wigmore.

~ Heidi
Raw Food Right Now
http://www.RawFoodRightNow.com

Free Recipes from Raw Magic by Kate Magic [Raw Recipes]

2009-10-22T01:11:00.000-05:00

Free Recipes from Raw Magic

In one of our last posts, we reviewed Raw Magic by UK based raw food author, advocate, superfoodist, entrepreneur, and mother Kate Magic. As we mentioned in our review, Kate has given us permission to give away three free recipes from her book to our readers!

We had you vote for your top recipes from a list of five we gave you to choose from. These recipes are an excellent way to get superfoods into your diet and to experiment with superfoods if you have yet to experience their fun and power.

And here are your winners!

Supersexy Curry
Broccoli Bonkers
Hi-cake

Enjoy your free raw superfood recipes!

Supersexy Curry

1 large avocado
3 small tomatoes
3 sticks celery
1/4 red onion
1 lemon, juiced
2 tbsp hulled hemp seeds
2 tsp curry powder
1 tbsp maca powder
1/4 tsp suma powder
1 cup cauliflower
1/2 red pepper
1 cup spinach
1 tbsp goji berries

Peel and pit the avocado, and put the flesh into the blender. Halve the tomatoes and chop the celery sticks into eighths, and put them in the blender too. Add the onion, lemon juice, hemp seeds and curry powder and blend into a thick puree. Add in the maca and suma and blend briefly (if you blend maca for too long it goes bitter). Remove the sauce from the blender and put in a bowl. Chop your cauliflower into small bite-sized pieces, and dice your pepper into pieces the same size. Stir the cauliflower, pepper, spinach and gojis into the sauce. Eat straight away.

Broccoli Bonkers

1 small head broccoli
1/4 red onion
2 tbsp spirulina
2 tbsp olive oil
2 lemons, juiced
1 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
1 tbsp tahini
1 tbsp Seagreens

Chop the broccoli into small pieces to fit into your blender. Put all the ingredients apart from the Seagreens into the blender together, and give it a good going until it's creamy. If it's too much like hard work for your blender, you can add a little water or some extra oil. Once it's turning over and there are no lumps of broccoli left, stir in the Seagreens by hand. Keeps for a few days, or you can dehydrate leftovers and crumble them into croutons for salad.

Hi-cake

Cake:

2 cups cacao nibs
2 cups brazil nuts
2 1/2 cups lucuma
6 tbsp agave nectar
2/3 cup water

Icing:

2 avocados
1/3 cup raw chocolate powder
2 tbsp agave nectar
1/4 cup water

Decoration:

2 tbsp goji berries
2 tbsp dried cranberries

Grind up the nibs and nuts separately in a high power blender or coffee grinder. Transfer to a mixing bowl with the lucuma and agave. With your hands, mix the all the ingredients so you have an even powder. Add the water gradually, kneading the mixture into a ball with your hands. It should end up as a fairly thick dough-like consistency. Press into a springform cake tin, and leave in the fridge to set for a few hours.

To make the icing, put the avocado flesh in the blender along with the chocolate powder, agave and water. If you havenít got chocolate powder, you can substitute carob or mesquite. Blend until you have a thick cream. Once your cake is set, you can remove it from the cake tin, and spoon the icing evenly over the top and the sides. Decorate with dried goji berries and cranberries sprinkled over the top. Uneaten cake can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two weeks.

Once your cake is set, you can remove it from the cake tin and spoon the icing evenly over the top and the sides. Decorate with dried goji berries and cranberries sprinkled over the top. Uneaten cake can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two weeks (but only if no-one knows it's there).

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If you like any of these recipes, you will love the rest of Kate's recipes in her book Raw Magic. If you want more free recipes published here on RFRN, support Kate and other amazing raw chefs and authors by purchasing their invaluable books. Kate has made special arrangements for her books to be sold in the US with the help of Matt Monarch and his store, The Raw Food World. You can buy Kate's books without having to pay for UK shipping if you shop here.

We love Kate's energy and passion for superfoods and for this movement. Make sure to check out her sites here and here.

Kate has also recently published the much talked about and racy book Ecstatic Beings with Shazzie. Although it is not technically a "raw food book", we are considering giving it a full review here on RFRN. What do you think?

~ Raw Food Right Now!
Visit our site at http://www.RawFoodRightNow.com

Raw Food Right Now - Book and Product Review Policy

2009-09-17T04:01:00.007-05:00

Review policy for Raw Food Right Now

Over the past few years, we have been doing book reviews and product reviews. In fact, we did our first book review within the first month of starting Raw Food Right Now.

Here is what we have always believed to be our review policy.

We only write reviews for things that we are passionate about.

We write reviews for books, products, services and people because we truly and honestly believe that the things we review will help others. We have read almost every single raw food book out there - even the really bad ones. Yes, there are some books out there that have horrible disgusting recipes that make us spit. We have read books with such poor grammar we wanted to burn the books. And some people are just trying to make a quick buck off of a raw food book with "raw" or "detox" in the title. That's why we don't want you to have to waste your money like we did buying books that are useless and food that isn't worth the money.

We are not directly compensated or paid for our reviews.

We sometimes spend literally hours on reviews, especially considering tens of hours of reading time on each book chosen for a review. Unlike other reviewers out there, both of us actually read the books that we review. We don't just quickly flip through it and make something up.

In the case of food and other products, we set aside special time to "test" and "sample" everything. We take the time to taste the food that is sent to us. Most food is sent to us in small sample quantities. So for those of us who have sent hate mail - no. There is no money "slipped under the table" to get reviewed by RFRN. We either want to review your stuff, or we don't.

We put up an affiliate link for most of the products and books we review. We feel that if you found our review helpful, it's only appropriate that we, as a business, get compensated for our hours of work. We filter the books and information and review them to save you time and money. Plus, we enjoy it!

We do not review everything that is sent to us.

Yes, currently more than half of the items sent to us usually are reviewed because they are of the highest quality. But we do not review 100% of everything that is sent to us, mostly because a) we do not have the time to review everything sent to us, and b) not everything sent to us is of the highest quality.

If something is not reviewed by us, it does not necessarily mean that we do not approve of it. We are at times overwhelmed with too many things sent for review at once. But if something is reviewed, it does mean that we feel positive and passionate about it.

Our reviews are 100% honest.

People send us things, and expect that we will always give glowing praise. While we have been fortunate to have read books that inspire us and food that makes our mouth water, that has not always been the case. David Wolfe's book Superfoods was an amazing book, but the cover still makes us want to cringe. We vow to give you, the reader, complete and total honesty. We only share what we honestly believe about anything we review. Sometimes the truth hurts, but we have to be honest.

Our reviews take time.

We put so much heart and soul into everything we do with Raw Food Right Now, that honestly it can leave us exhausted. This is not our full time business. We take time to carefully write reviews that express our heart and soul, honest feelings about everything we review. Each review comes from both Heidi and JS. There is no deadline for reviews. They are incubated over time, and when we feel the review is ready, it is released to our website.

We only review things that we stand behind and believe in.

Consider a review on Raw Food Right Now to be a badge of quality.

Why read a review written by Heidi and JS Ohlander of Raw Food Right Now?

We have experience. We have knowledge.

We want you to be informed of that which we have found to be informative, inspiring, and helpful on our raw journey and in the journey of others.

With this site we are dedicated to sharing with you the knowledge we have learned so we can pass that knowledge and wisdom to you. And with our product reviews we have literally helped hundreds if not thousands of people in the history of our site, informing people about books, products, and resources to help make the raw food lifestyle better for others.

You may not see us flaunting ourselves on YouTube, or see us on tour in your city every other week, but we are real people who live our own unique philosophy of the raw food lifestyle, and have been living a healthy way of life for over 10 years, and 5 of those have been with a raw food focus. We've always been here. You can always contact us.

This policy may be changed over time, but the overall message will stay the same - we vow to give you honest reviews from our heart.

Thank you for taking the time to read our policy. We hope with this policy you can understand us better, so we can serve you better.

With Love,
- Heidi

Raw Food Right Now
http://www.RawFoodRightNow.com

Raw Magic by Kate Magic Review [Raw Book Review]

2009-09-11T03:23:00.002-05:00

Recipes for the Revolution!

"It is not possible to eat these foods on a daily basis and not feel altered." - Kate Magic - Raw Magic

For some raw foodists and health conscious individuals, superfoods have changed their life and brought their health to the next level. Other people scoff at superfoods as expensive supplements that are not worth the money.

Whatever your thoughts are on superfoods (and ours are very positive), it seems that people that eat superfoods have more fun. And Kate Magic, Shazzie and their friends are living examples of using superfoods to take "fun" to ridiculous levels.

What do we mean by that? For example, if you haven't seen Shazzie's steamy durian video, go to YouTube right now and take a look. Or have you heard of Kate & Shazzie's newest foray Ecstatic Beings? Yow!

Bottom line is, Kate Magic has created quite a different raw recipe book with Raw Magic.

Meet Kate Magic

Kate has been around 'the movement' for quite a while. Many of you may know her, but if you don't, allow us to introduce her to you.

Kate Magic is a UK based raw food author, advocate, superfoodist, entrepreneur, and mother who has also been teamed up with Shazzie for quite a while. Together these two have taken raw foods, superfoods and raw chocolate to the next level in the UK...and beyond.

Kate Magic is also the author of two other raw food books Eat Smart, Eat Raw and Raw Living.

You can find out more about Kate Magic at her website Raw Living. She is also currently very active on Twitter and Facebook.

Raw Magic is a different kind of raw food book.

First off, this book is beautifully laid out. Full color on each and every page. Each page is bright and vibrantly bold. The book is adorned with many artistic photos of Kate and her friends playing with their food. Just flipping through the book is fun and makes for an interesting read in the kitchen just by itself without even touching the recipes.

Many of us forget that food is meant to be enjoyed as well as a means to a healthy body. You've heard that food digests better when it's presented more eloquently, right? Kate and her crew are well aware of the effect that having the best time you can possibly have while eating the best foods you possibly can is a powerful combo.

The book may be a bit pricey than other raw food books, but the full-color printing on each page was not wasted. And for a book full of colorful superfoods and images, the information and recipes alone are definitely worth more than the price tag.

This book also brings out Kate Magic's personality more than Eat Smart, Eat Raw and Raw Living, which neither of us were very impressed with honestly. We feel like we can know Kate a lot better through this book than her previous titles.

Over 160 Quality Raw Superfood Recipes

"Every recipe in this book has been invented and tested and retested at least three times. So they definitely work!" - Kate Magic - Raw Magic

"I think it's important that we use [superfoods] as any other kitchen ingredient...rather than reserving them for special occasions or only putting them into sweets or smoothies." - Kate Magic - Raw Magic

There are over 160 quality superfood recipes in this book, and if you are bored of getting superfoods in you diet by throwing them in your smoothie every morning...get ready for something different! This book has covered just about every angle of getting superfoods in you as possible.

And these are quality recipes. We can't tell you how many times when we first went raw that we'd try out a recipe that turned out completely disastrous (even following the directions exactly), only to realize that this recipe was probably never even actually made, but designed straight from the author's mind. Kate and her team have striven for perfection in each of these recipes, and it shows when you actually make them.

These recipes are chock full of superfoods. Instead of throwing a couple goji berries on your raw dessert, these recipes are truly made out of superfoods! With over 160 superfood recipes you will no longer not know what to do with your them besides throwing them in your smoothie or elixir. Kate has created a slew of creative superfood recipes for you to choose from. The variety really is truly amazing and anyone who buys this book who is a fan of superfoods will be very happy with the value they will get out of it.

One thing we should let you know about. Do you see the amazing looking superfood cake on the cover? Sorry, that recipe is actually not in the book but is Kate's special secret recipe. Kate does offer the actual cake for sale on her site, but the recipe is too sacred for her to give away in the book. Bummer.

Raw Magic and Superfoods by David Wolfe

We can't get away from talking about superfoods without mentioning their biggest proponent: David Wolfe.

This book can be considered a counterpart to Superfoods by David Wolfe (read our review of Superfoods here). Even though Raw Magic was released first, the books are very similar in that they both talk about the benefits of superfoods. Kate's book includes more refined and tested recipes than what you will find in Superfoods. Superfoods is not designed as a recipe book like Raw Magic is, however. It is more informational, with deeper research into David Wolfe's top superfood picks. These two books do support each other and both are recommended if you are getting into superfoods or want to deepen your understanding and knowledge of them.

Raw Magic is the perfect companion book to David Wolfe's Superfoods. Get your recipes from Kate's book and get a full college level education on superfoods by reading David's.

(Bonus Superfood recipes: You can get some free recipes we posted from David Wolfe's Superfoods book here.)

However, if you're new to superfoods or want to widen your knowledge on them, the first part of Raw Magic has plenty of information to educate you. Each superfood used in her recipes has a corresponding detailed section about it. You will get a great overview of each superfood, what the value and range of nutrients are, and the history of each one is.

In addition to explaining how superfoods will take your nutrition to the next level, Kate brings a spiritual component to using superfoods in your diet as a vehicle for enabling higher consciousness. From how eating superfoods opens and further activates the right-brain, to synchronicities, and moving to trust and abundance over fear...once you read the book you'll see what we mean.

Our Thoughts and Experiences

As a reference, neither of us are keen on making a lot of recipes, but we have to say that these recipes are created to be quite easy and it's hard to say no when they look so damn good in this book. If nothing else, reading Raw Magic will give you a lot of inspiration for how to use superfoods in your diet.

As a testimony, we've both been really getting into superfoods in the last two to three years and it's taken our quality of health (and life!) to the next level. There truly is an evolution going on in the raw food world and superfoods are absolutely part of it. It's safe to say that superfoods are here to stay and most of us have gotten on board with them, even if for some people that means it's just a little maca in their smoothies.

Should you buy this book?

If you love superfoods and want to extend your alchemical kitchen knowledge on how to use them in a huge variety of ways, absolutely.

If you are new to superfoods and are very curious, this is an excellent book to start with.

If you don't like superfoods or don't care about them, then this book is obviously not your cup of tea. Then again, neither is our site since we love superfoods too. :)

And if you are bored of all the standard raw food recipe books out there, this one is certainly a raw food book that stands out from the rest with its bursting full color photos, and the energetic essence of Kate Magic's personality infused in this book. The book will double as a raw inspirational book along with a superfood education and recipe book.

Vote for Free Recipes!

What we usually like to do when we review raw recipe books is to ask the author for permission to post some free recipes. Kate has graciously allowed us to give you three free recipes. Like we usually do, we are going to have you vote on your top three recipes picks from the list below. Leave your vote in the comments on this post (on the blog, don't just respond to an email if you are on RSS). Pick your top three and we'll tally up the votes and post the free recipes in an upcoming post.

The following recipes are chosen as candidates, chosen by Kate Magic herself.

Pick your top three and leave your vote in the comments below:

Cacaomole
Supersexy Curry
Camu Believe It
Broccoli Bonkers
Hi-cake

~ Review by Raw Food Right Now
http://www.RawFoodRightNow.com

Bonus! Here is a handy list of all the superfoods included in Raw Magic:

Have fun with superfoods! They are fun and good for you!

Celebrating Three Years of Raw Food Right Now

2009-09-03T00:01:00.000-05:00

RFRN turns 3!

Get out the birthday cake and candles...it is time to celebrate three years of raw food blogging here at Raw Food Right Now.

Here are some of our accomplishments so far:

Three years of truly honest blog posts by people who have been living the raw food lifestyle for over five years.
Over 500 blog posts.
Keeping the Ultimate List of Raw Food Blogs updated and current with the newest and most active raw food blogs.
Become one of the most respected and well-known sources for raw food news and information on the web.
Started a raw food radio show called Raw Food Right Now Radio where we've interviewed quality raw educators and authors like Carol Alt, Philip McCluskey, and the Raw Divas.
Released three quality raw food holiday recipe ebooks that have enormously benefited our readers have healthy holidays without binging (Raw Thanksgiving, Raw Christmas, and Raw Easter)
Started a quality newsletter with a free raw ice cream ecourse that has thousands of happy subscribers where we post exclusive information and articles that is not posted here on the blog.
Re-launched and redesigned (in conjunction with Daniel Vitalis) FindaSpring.com - the world's first free, user-generated online database of natural springs. Over 100 springs currently on the site - on more than 4 continents!

We know what we do best - letting you know what you really need to know about what is happening in the raw food world.

We know our strengths is in telling you how it is. We value your time, so we may not post quite as often as some other raw websites out there. We just don't have a spammy bone in our bodies. We're not wired that way.

So we're going to keep giving you the absolute best, coming straight from the heart, from us, to you.

We find it really amazing what we've done with the free Blogger blogging platform since we've started. Sure, we could switch to WordPress or other platforms, but Blogger has become an infinitely simple and effective tool to quickly get the word out to our readers. When we started this blog, we didn't really have any long-term plans for it, it just kept growing on us...you guys kept asking for more!

And even after all that we've accomplished...there is still so much more we want to do with Raw Food Right Now.

Plans for the next year of Raw Food Right Now

For the next year of Raw Food Right Now we are going to focus on the basics, and devote ourselves to answering your questions. In upcoming posts we are going to answer questions like these:

How do you "go raw"?
What equipment do I really need?
What does a raw foodist really eat?
What are the best places to shop for raw food?
What are the best raw food books to buy?
How can I save money on raw food?
What are the best websites?
Where can I get quality, free raw food recipes?

All this and more, coming up here, at Raw Food Right Now. In addition, we're going to keep bringing you raw and health related websites and information that are extensions of Raw Food Right Now, like FindaSpring.com. Both of us have plans for projects for the upcoming year. As always, we will strive to work on only the best and most useful information, services, products, and free content that we can provide.

Do you love Raw Food Right Now? What are your favorite moments and posts of the past?

Give us the birthday gift of love, say hello, and leave a comment.
It means so much to us to be able to be connected to people like you.

With love and gratitude,
- Heidi & JS

Raw Food Right Now

P.S. What do you want to see on RFRN next year? We're taking requests...

photo credit by soapylove

The Secret Life of Gabrielle Brick [Raw Food on Television]

2009-08-24T02:14:00.001-05:00

When we initially saw the email in our inbox, we feared the worst.

Uh-oh...what is mainstream TV going to say about raw foods this time?

We TV, the televison network for women with shows like Bridezillas and reruns of Dharma and Greg and the Golden Girls, have created a new season of all-new episodes for their popular original series The Secret Lives of Women. And this season they're exposing the secret life of being of women who eat 'Extreme Diets'.

Guess which diet made it into this episode?

Don't think about it too hard, just take a look at the URL of the page you are on right now...

After all....we have seen raw food highlighted in the media in a negative light more than once before. And since the title of the show is about "the secret life" of women, we wondered how they would slant raw food. Is raw food a cult? Is raw food "extreme"?

WeTV's PR people were kind enough to send us over an early DVD copy of the full episode before it airs this coming Tuesday, August 25th, so we're going to give you our full opinion on the piece.

Our Review of WeTV's 'Extreme Diets' - The Secret Life of Women and Raw Food

OK....yes, they call the episode Extreme Diets, but overall the show was very well produced and did not take an editorial slant for or against any diet or lifestyle in this episode. The producers intent in showing an honest and balanced perspective on how each woman lives their "secret" life comes through brightly in this episode.

In the episode, four women are featured who are on 'extreme diets'. The four women profiled include a woman who lost weight through faith in God and runs a faith-based weight loss business, a woman who has maintained a diet based purely on calorie restriction for 15 years, a woman who is a freegan and eats only food that others throw away...and a woman who is a raw foodist.

We in this particular community know this raw food woman as our own beautiful Gabrielle Brick.

Gabrielle Brick is a well known as raw food enthusiast, caterer, and instructor. She is also the creator of The One Chocolate Bar: a low-glycemic, raw chocolate bar created in small 1 oz sizes.

The episode follows Gabrielle as she is shown making food in her own kitchen, shopping at the farmers market, teaching a raw food class, and catering an event for spiritual and psychedelic artist Alex Grey. Hey, it even features Gabrielle's Mom!

Of all the women they profiled, it is our opinion that Gabrielle is probably going to be the most interesting to non-raw viewers. Her food was vibrant, her interviews with the show were honest and warm, and compared to all the other women, she looked very healthy, vivacious and glowing.

Usually when raw food gets some mainstream press like this, there is a large upwelling of interest from people new to this type of lifestyle...this show is probably going to get new people interested in raw food like when Angela Stokes was featured on CNN detailing her amazing weight loss story.

Which 'Diet' is Not Like the Others?

What we found particularly interesting about this show, is that that raw food is the only diet featured in this episode about "Extreme Diets" that is really about...well, a diet!

For example, caloric restriction is an idea based off of scientific studies of rats and fruit flies living longer on less calories. Caloric restriction has some amazing research behind it and is practiced and praised by many in the raw community (including Gabriel Cousens), but isn't really about the food at all...it's about eating a lower amount of calories.

Freeganism is more of a movement about wastefulness and eco-friendly living than about the food itself.

And the woman who runs the faith-based dietary movement is about using faith in God as the basis to not eat too much, too many fried foods, etc. You can see them eating a Standard American Diet throughout their segments. Meat and potatoes, anyone?

We find all of that extremely fascinating. Speaking of 'Extreme', we found it even more fascinating that a diet rich in superfoods, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, sprouts, seaweeds, and that has a massive variety of foods and nutrients is considered extreme by some people. Personally, both of us eat more variety of foods with a higher nutrient profile (probably in the thousands of times more than we ever have before) since eating a diet high in raw foods, superfoods, and herbs.

With that said...on to the show!

Watch a clip from the show featuring Gabrielle!

http://www.wetv.com/video/34919619001/extreme-diets-going-raw

Make sure you watch the show on August 25th. If you can't make it then or are unable to DVR or TiVo it, check out the times they will be broadcasting this episode by clicking here.

...
Are you reading this after the episode has aired and you saw it? Tell us what you think, whether you are raw or not!

- Heidi & JS
Raw Food Right Now
http:/www.RawFoodRightNow.com

Is Moldy Food Safe?

2009-08-13T14:21:00.002-05:00

If you're not sure if your moldy cucumber is safe, just check out this handy guide from the USDA. They have listings for a variety of foods...most of them are cooked foods like deli meat and bread.

Now you can tell your Aunt Sally that the sour cream in her fridge with the green fuzzy smiley face on top is NOT safe to eat.

There is fascinating information all about molds included in this in-depth article.

Who knew the USDA could be so much fun!

Molds on Food: a USDA Guide via BoingBoing

- Heidi

Raw Food Right Now

Raw Food News Roundup - July 25th 2009

2009-07-25T10:10:00.006-05:00

Happy New Year!

Here are some misc. things happening in the raw food world today!

Day out of Time 2009: Many of you may be familiar with the 13 Moon calendar, but for those who are not familiar, today is considered the end of the year to those who use the 13 Moon lunar calendar inspired by the ancient Mayan calendar. There are many celebrations going on all over the world to celebrate this event. To learn more here are some links for your enjoyment:

I think July is a perfect time to celebrate the new year... for all of us everyday is an opportunity to celebrate a new day, a new year, a new life. Just make the conscious choice to take that first step in the direction of your dreams.

Christmas in July Sale - our friend Alex Malinsky is having a sale at his store today and is offering free shipping on every single order, so you can order as little or as much as you want! He's always up to something new and innovative in the raw food world; he just sent us his brand new discovery called Tiger Nuts - we're going to be reviewing them on RFRN soon.

RawGuru.com - Free Shipping today July 25th!

Over 25 new Springs to Findaspring.com - We have just added 25 new springs to Findaspring.com. There is now listings in states like Kentucky, Utah, Wyoming, California, and even Japan! Go check out the site at Findaspring.com - and look at the videos page for oodles of free videos from Daniel Vitalis!

Speaking of Daniel Vitalis, his Invincible Health Mastery course just ended last night and was an inspiring journey for those who participated. We were a part of the entire course and it was very enjoyable and informative for everyone. It's not available for sale yet, but for those of you who have contacted us asking about it, we will tell everyone when the calls are available again!

Farmers Markets are in full swing: In most of the northern hemisphere, now is the time when the seasonal local produce is in full bloom. It is summer raspberry and blueberry season right now, as well as many exciting leafy greens. Check out our highly informative post on farmer's markets before you head out to your local market.

25 Awesome Farmers Market Tips and Tricks

Have a great weekend!

- Heidi

Best Raw Food Smoothie and Superfood Elixir Bases

2009-07-18T15:05:00.009-05:00

One green smoothie, coming up!

We love blended drinks!

Both of us have smoothies and elixirs for our first meal of the day about 90% of the time. A lot of people ask us what we make our smoothies out of.

As we sold boldly stated in our ElixirCraft review "Smoothies are so 2008...Elixirs are here to stay!"

Whatever you wish to call your nutritious and filling blended drink, you're going to want to have a variety of ways to make them.

Here is a helpful list of smoothie and elixir bases of liquid from which you can craft your own unique personalized drink any time of day or night.

Water - Nothing beats plain and simple water as a base, especially freshly harvested spring water from your local spring. Sometimes making your base out of water is great when you want to simplify your digestion and not make your elixir too filling.
Tea - Right after water is a base of some sort of medicinal or basic tea. You can use any tea as your tea base, but you do want to be aware of taste. Anything too bitter and you will need to add more sweetener and fats. Our favorite place to get great organic/wild herbs to make into teas is MountainRoseHerbs.com
Coconut Water - For hydration and electrolytes, coconut water is an excellent base for smoothies and elixirs. Although you may find young coconuts in your local asian food market, there are organic coconuts available online! You can read our review of young coconuts from an earlier post on RFRN here.
Nut milk or Seed milk - Nut milk is one of our favorite bases to our elixirs. Nut milk makes your smoothie creamy and filling, helping you go much longer on one smoothie than you normally would. Our favorite nuts and seeds to use: pumpkin seed, almond, cashew, pecan. Heidi's favorite is pumpkin. Justin's favorite is almond. Sometimes we do a combination of pumpkin seeds and almonds, and both of us are happy with a nut & seed milk that we drink together!
Fruit - Fruit is a great way to fill your smoothie up and make it taste amazing. We tend to do fruit smoothies less and less these days, but fruit can be an easy way to sweeten up your drink. Our favs: all berries (strawberries, cherries, blueberries, goji berries, etc.), mango, banana, peach. Fruit is perfect for green smoothies, or for the occasional fruity fruit smoothie, especially in the hot days of summer!
Chia Seed - This one deserves a special category. We've been eating tons of chia over the last year or so. There are so many incredible nutritional benefits to chia, and the fact that it's low in sugar, filling, and energizing. Chia seed makes the perfect base for smoothies. We usually make a chia "gel" by adding water to our chia seeds the night before. Chia gel can last in the fridge for a week or so, making it extremely convenient to grab when you want to throw it in your elixir.

In an upcoming post we're going to give you some of our favorite yummy editions to our elixirs.

Tell Us: What do you like in your smoothie and elixir bases?

-JS and Heidi
Raw Food Right Now

photo credit: Tiffany

The Raw Food Diet and Lifestyle - eBook by Markus Rothkranz [Raw Food Book Review]

2009-07-10T02:22:00.003-05:00

"It is insanely ridiculous I have to write a book about this. This is like having to remind people that breathing is healthy." - Markus Rothkranz

You may not familiar with Markus Rothkranz. If you're not familiar with who Markus is and what he is all about, we recommend you see his amazing video before you continue. It will help you grasp what he is about and his passion for the raw food lifestyle:

In fact, Markus has written a very unique raw food book that stands out from all the other raw books out there.

Markus's new book, The Raw Food Diet and Lifestyle, is a very straight-forward manual written in a conversational style on the raw food lifestyle. Markus pulls no punches in this book and gets down and dirty, telling you *exactly* what you need to do, in what order, how and why.

This is probably the most straight-forward no-holds-barred book on going raw we've ever seen.

We can honestly say that we've never seen a raw food book like this. And we've read almost all of the raw food books published out there. Interested?

What makes this book so different?

The basic information and concepts covered in this book may be what you have seen before. But with anything Markus creates, there is always "the Markus touch" to it.

I'm not quite sure how to emphasize this enough, so we will say it very clearly so you get it:

This book is extremely straight-forward, down-to-earth, and contains absolutely zero fluff.

A first in the raw book world for sure! (That alone may be a first in a health-related book world!)

Markus gets right to the point and his goal is to lay out a simple plan for the reader to follow. For those who want exact instructions, Markus gives them directly, outlining which steps to follow and in what order.

But this book is not just about food! Markus lays out a whole body, mind, and spirit approach by addressing multiple topics including:

massage
healing touch
specific yoga postures
breathing
enemas
exercise
sex
and more.....

This isn't a book with lots of pretty pictures and fun gourmet recipes either. Markus has written this book to take you from the very beginning and push you right through to optimal raw health, no holds barred. Sure, there are recipes included in this book but Markus puts his recipe focus on giving the reader what every beginning raw foodist should know: what the hell to eat every day!

Sometimes we want to tell Raw authors: Get to the Point!

And Markus actually does it. He gets to the point quickly and with razor-sharp focus the entire time in the book.

We've talked with Markus personally and know that everything he does comes from the fullness of his heart. He can be flashy at times, but he abhors gimmicks and unnecessary products as much as we do. He would not have written this book if he didn't think it was 100% necessary (see the quote at the beginning of this review to see what we mean).

We absolutely love the style of writing Markus has in his book. It is like listening to a long-time friend who gives you an honest and direct set of instructions on health directly from the heart.

Also worth noting is that Markus has a subtle sense of humor that we find extremely endearing. We both laughed out loud multiple times while reading his book!

The Direct, No-Fluff Approach

You may have heard this before from other book reviews by other people, but we are totally 100% serious: this is the book we wish we had when we started going raw!

One of the concepts that is very clear from Markus's videos and in this book is his approach to health and going raw. A large part of his time is focused on the importance of cleansing. His approach is to strip down and clean out the toxic junk from the body first and then only put the best stuff back in. 'Nuff said, right? A very extreme approach for most people, but definitely works for some. Don't worry, he knows that not everyone is ready for such a drastic change gives support for those wishing to ease into this way of eating/living in this book.

But this book is not going to be the only raw or health book you'll ever need. No book ever will be the only book you ever need, but with The Raw Food Diet and Lifestyle, you will get you much further and faster than any other raw book we've run across.

So many other raw books spend so much time "convincing" you that the raw diet is the best diet. Markus doesn't waste your time with a lot of lofty words. You've heard raw food is good, right? Sure, Markus gives you his version of the "raw tirade" in the book, but he blasts right through the crap that most other books spend way too many chapters on and just gets you started ASAP. Amen!

An Author That's Been There, Not One That's Perfect

We all love a good story, especially one that shows the author has been there. Markus is not someone who was healthy, then found raw food and got healthier. He spent the first 30 years of his life extremely sick! And if you imagine how much this amazing guy accomplished while being sick (beautiful artwork, working on Hollywood movies, special effects for movies, etc.), you would be astounded to find out how sick he was during those years. Compare it to how toned and healthy this man looks now at 47!

"I almost died half a dozen times in my life because of stupid things I did... most of them lifestyle choices. I never drank alcohol, smoked, did recreational drugs or anything like that. I followed all the rules like a good citizen. But my life still came very close to ending numerous times. Why? Not because I played with guns or jumped out of airplanes. No, I had heart disease, liver disease, lung disease, I was hemorrhaging and had a list of medical problems longer than this book... all because I ate what I wanted- the modern American diet. For the first thirty years, I ate candy, hamburgers, florescent sodas, macaroni and cheese, pop tarts, toast, spaghetti, TV dinners, pastries, canned food, cheese, bread, milk, sugar, sugar, sugar and more sugar. I had cysts before I was even out of my teens. I couldn't drive more than a few minutes without stopping, opening the car door and coughing up a gob of mucus so I could breathe. People didn't call me Markus, they called me Mucus." -- Markus describing his health transformation

It's pretty obvious that a huge chunk of Markus's passion for focusing his efforts on raw food and optimal health right now come from his radical transformation. He seems like he's just bubbling with his incredible story of personal healing, that he can barely get it all out.

Reading his book is much like sitting down with him in person and having him genuinely talk with you, passionately trying to help you understand and obtain radiant health, person-to-person. It's as if Markus is trying to speak to you through this book.

It's easy to get swept up into Markus's enthusiasm and passion for living a radiant life. While reading his book, you will probably find yourself feeling and saying...

"Yes! Let's get on this right now! I'm ready to live the best life ever this second and never hold back again!"

Personally, this is the stuff we love to read. Instead of reading fiction, we read books like Markus's over and over again.

But making an extreme change very quickly may not be for everyone. Markus isn't necessarily advocating such a quick, overnight change, but you can feel his push for his readers to seriously consider it! I challenge you to watch Markus's inspiring videos and read his book in one day and not to get caught up in the fervor to "change your life right now!"

What, Exactly, is in this Book?

When we get interested in a new book, we love being able to either look through it or at least check out its table of contents before buying it. Since right now Markus is only offering "The Raw Food Diet and Lifestyle" as an ebook, we're going to give you the table of contents right here in this review:

Table of Contents:

Intro - The Healing Starts Now
Here We Go
How Bad Can it Be?
The Transition
The Shopping List
Enema - The Miracle Cleanser
Fasting - The Universal Healer
Parasites - Everyone Has Them
The Plan
Recipes
Signs of Detox and Level of Health
Mistakes Many Raw Foodists Make
Bad Things to Avoid
Exercise
Stretching
Emotion
Stress
The Power of Touch
Make Love for Health
Alone Time and Place
Energy Work
Sleep
Spirituality
Sunlight
If it Isn't Working
The Biggest Healer of All
Final Word
Where to Get Stuff
Healing Centers

This book, clocking in at 135 pages, is very densely packed. In published book form this book would easily take up 350 pages or more. As we've said before, Markus pull no punches and leaves nothing out except the fluff. And since Markus currently charges $300 an hour for consultations, this book is akin to sitting down with him for a weekend and getting his entire wealth of knowledge and experience in health and nutrition for a fraction of the cost.

"The Plan"

The heart of the book is a section aptly simply named "The Plan", which itemizes in a step-by-step fashion how to put his raw diet lifestyle plan to use...even if you've never done anything like it before. Markus completely breaks everything down and directly tells you what you need to do.

How do you start "The Plan"? Markus recommends starting "The Plan" with a complete cleansing:

enemas
juicing
water fasting
and other healthful steps...before moving into solid foods to totally clean out a toxic body. This plan is very well laid out and can give someone a clear picture as to what actually needs to be done instead of just talking about lofty concepts of perfect health.

A lot of raw health books we've read spend miles of pages talking about the theory and concept of raw foods. Where else can you find a detailed plan for beginners? We've never seen one so well laid out like this until now.

Other sections include:

There is also a large section on parasites and parasites cleansing. See our review of Markus's Parasite-Free formula.
Troubleshooting section, a list of bad things to avoid.
Also includes a lengthy section on bodywork: massage, yoga, stretching, etc.
As well as the deep, intimate connection our emotions and stress has on our health.
And of course, the healing power of sex, sex, and more sex!
(Sex...and love. Markus is a total passionate romantic!)
The last section includes a very simple summary for those times when the reader needs a quick reminder or wants an easy breakdown of what to do and what not to do.
How do you know if it's working? section. We love this. How many times have you seen crazy ideas in a raw food book and you're always wondering if you're doing the right thing?! Markus shows you the signs to be looking for.

The Buying Guide -
How to find high quality raw foods at the best prices

One of our absolute favorite parts about this book is that Markus gives the exact sources for where he gets his bulk herbs, superfoods, and powders. Nothing is held back for "another product". It's all here. There are even sources we had not seen before in this book. As we like to say about Markus, he's done his homework! Both of us were in total agreement with Markus' suggestions.

So what kind of raw food diet does Markus recommend in his new book?

It's no secret that not one raw food advocate, expert, or author completely agree on what the "proper" raw food diet is. So what type of raw diet does Markus advocate? A mainly fresh-food, mostly vegan raw diet. Dehydrated foods and nuts are great, but not the ultimate health promoting raw food diet, in his view. Foods with more water and juiciness are preferred.

He also advocates a lots of greens, giving an ideal daily amount of greens to shoot for 2/3 vs. 1/3 fruit in blended green smoothies.

"So if you need to, then eat the transitional foods - like dehydrated crackers, burgers and cookies etc. But just know that it’s not as health-promoting as fresh fruits and vegetables plucked right off a tree or bush and eaten or blended."
- Markus on the ideal raw food diet

Should You Get this Book?

We've been toying with the idea of writing our own "Raw Foods for Beginners" book for years. And we've just celebrated our 5 year raw anniversary. While we may be writing a raw food book in the future, for the time being we will be recommending anyone interested in raw foods should read Markus' book.

Markus has done the research, he knows his stuff, and he is a breath of fresh air as he has written a book that is truthful, honest, and truly informational.

If you are just starting out with learning about raw food, read this book.
If you are struggling with "how to go raw", read this book.
If you have some health problems and want to feel better, read this book.

With total honesty, both Heidi and I can say that this book may change your life forever.

Can you tell we love this book?

Find out more about this book here: The Raw Food Diet and Lifestyle by Markus Rothkranz

~ JS Ohlander

Raw Food Right Now
http://www.rawfoodrightnow.com

Quick Update from Raw Union

2009-06-23T10:57:00.004-05:00

The honeymoon couple - photo by Penni Shelton

We had a blast at Raw Union! It was a wonderful time to see Matt Monarch and Angela Stokes get married right in front of us! This whole trip has been a whirlwind experience, it feels like a dream. Am I dreaming, or am I going to wake up? I'm still not sure, but I am making sure I am having as much fun as possible!

After all, this is our honeymoon, as we are celebrating 7 years as friends, 6 years married, and 5 years raw as of yesterday.

We have been having such an excellent time, but we have never been more busy. Literally not a moment to post on Facebook, but I have been on Twitter a few times.

I promise when we get back to town on Friday I will post some photos, and link to other photos and videos from the other people who were there, but for right now I had to share this photo that Penni Shelton took of the two of us.

I miss everyone who was in Oregon already.

Another busy day today...but somewhere in our schedule we are going to fit in a trip to Erewhon and later tonight we are going to Au Lac! So!

Impomptu RFRN meetup tonight!

If you can make it out to Au Lac, stay tuned to my Twitter account where I will be posting the info on the time tonight. Hope you can make it if you are out in California because we already have a party of 10 and I'd love for it to be more!

Lots of love to you, and although I am having lots of fun here, I can't wait to get back home...we are so excited to have a rawking summer of love!

~ Heidi
Raw Food Right Now

Raw Food Video Roundup for June 2009

2009-06-16T00:48:00.004-05:00

Before we leave for Raw Union this week, we're going to leave with you with of our favorite new raw and raw-related videos for you to watch. When we come back, we should have some of our own videos to post for you as well!

Beautify Your Life with Raw Foods

Our friend, the amazing Markus Rothkranz, has released another inspiring video in his raw video series. It's always good to get a dose of Markus's passion and inspiration through his videos!

Markus Beautify Life video: http://www.beautifylife.com

Also, Markus has recently launched an herbal product line called Body Force Products. This incredible line includes specific herbal combination's formulated by Markus and Raw Matt, including Parasite-Free (see our review here), Tox-Free, Stress-Free, and more. Markus knows his stuff and has been working extremely hard on formulating these products along with releasing a new book and a series of other ebooks that we will be reviewing soon.

We love our fellow workaholics like Markus, always coming up with something amazing.

How Fast Could You Eat a Pound of Durian?

At the recent Raw Spirit Festival in Santa Barbara, CA, Matt Monarch (who is getting married at Raw Union this week) and David Wolfe had a face-off contest to see who could eat the most fresh durian (provided by Alex of RawGuru.com) in three minutes! The video is hilarious and definitely worth a watch...or two. Will there be another face off at Raw Union? If there is, we will be there with our camera to capture it as well...

Alligator vs. Watermelon

Ok, this is not really a "raw food video", and we're not going to explain to you. You're going to have to watch it for yourself. If you don't enjoy it as much as we did, there's something wrong with you. :)

Watch Alligator vs. Watermelon

How to Slice and Dice an Onion Like a Pro

Our favorite productivity blog, Lifehacker.com, recently posted a really quick video from a professional chef who shows you how to easily dice an onion. An excellent and quick tutorial.

Watch how to slice and dice an onion like a pro.

Daniel Vitalis Tests a Hot Spring

Want to know how to test the quality of a spring? Watch spring water-proponent test a beautiful hot spring for its quality.

Spring Water News: The team here at Raw Food Right Now recently soft-launched the new version of FindaSpring.com with Daniel Vitalis! If you know of any local springs where you or others gather your drinking water, please submit one here: FindaSpring.com. We will be doing a full-launch announcement on RawFoodRightNow.com later this month.

Cute Video of the Day

Karen Knowler, the popular Raw Food Coach, has a uber-cute video of her and her son, Luke. Luke shows you how to make his favorite dessert!

Raw Mom Related News: If you're a health-conscious Mom who is into raw food, there is an incredible new free summit gathering some of the health world's top Mom's and other leaders (about 30 experts total!). This is the first event we've ever heard of that is exclusively devoted to raising your children raw and healthy and speaking are some of the top people who have been there and raised truly healthy, vibrant children. It's free to sign up and hear the interviews! Quite a wonderful resource. Check it out here: Raw Mom Summit.

What is Detox?

This is a great little video done by some of the staff at the Tree of Life on what detoxification is and some tips on making it easier.

BONUS!

David Wolfe has recently released a free new video about how to boost your immune system. It's 25 minutes long and packed for of really great information you may not have heard of. He's launching a new program of extremely detailed information and resources about longevity and health. Check out his new program here: David Wolfe's Longevity Now Program.

To get to the immunity video for free, you will need to go here and enter your email address: David Wolfe on Boosting your Immune System.
If you are sick of getting sick even though you just started eating raw food or if you're still raw and still getting sick, this information is truly honestly very helpful.

-----

That's our raw video roundup for June 2009! We'll be doing some blogging during Raw Union as well...and taking some videos with our new video camera!

~ Raw Food Right Now!
http://www.RawFoodRightNow.com

Big Announcement: Heidi and JS are going to Raw Union!

2009-06-12T01:14:00.006-05:00

How Would You Celebrate 5 Years Eating Raw Food?

In 10 days, JS and I will be celebrating our 5 year anniversary with raw food, as well as our 6 year wedding anniversary. And on the same day, Matt Monarch and Angela Stokes will be getting married in Oregon at an event they have called Raw Union.

Up until 24 hours ago, those celebrations were going to be held thousands of miles apart, but we have just confirmed that JS and I will be flying out to celebrate the big day with Matt and Angela!

We Never Had A Honeymoon.....Until Now!

This will be a big celebration for JS and I, as we never even got our own honeymoon back when we got married. At the time, Justin was set to go on tour with his music in Europe, but the tour ended up falling through. We never got our honeymoon.

I've always quietly been dissapointed that we never had a honeymoon. I watched other people go on honeymoons, and I wondered what it must be like.

And to be totally honest with you... we've never been on a vacation in 6 years, with the exception of a family gathering here and there.

Hanging out with your relatives isn't a honeymoon...but I can not imagine a better way to celebrate 5 years with raw food with our own raw family of raw friends on our RAW Honeymoon at Raw Union!!!!

I can't believe that in a few short days I will be on vacation, hanging out with all my best raw friends, and spending time in beautiful Oregon for the first day of summer.

Literally this is a dream come true!!! I am 1000% serious!

I was going to keep it quiet that we were attending, but I'm telling you right now because I want to hear from people who are going so I can plan to see you there!

Everyone Is Going to Be There...

I'm so excited to see my friends Matt and Angela in person, and other people like my good friends Alex Malinsky, Penni Shelton, Raw Matt, Bunny Berry, Steve Prussack, Cathy Silvers ...and 30 other amazing big names in the raw food scene I know you've heard of, as well as over 200 other guests who will be attending the wedding! I can't name them all here - go to the Raw Union website to see who's attending.

Our First Official Raw Event

This is going to be our first official raw food event that JS and I will be attending, and I am so excited and bursting with energy that I just might explode!

So - - - - I know you've probably seen other raw food bloggers talk about Raw Union.
I know it is kind of at the last minute.

Yep. So what. We're making our plans at the last minute and we want you to do the same!

I am urging you.....

If you can make it, I want you to come.
I want you to be there when we celebrate Matt and Angela.
I want you to be there when we celebrate the first day of summer.
And I want you to be there when Justin and I celebrate 5 years with raw food.

Here's the official link to Raw Union. Go check it out. This is really going to be an amazing event with food, lectures, demonstrations, healers, and a raw wedding with a raw wedding cake!

How can you miss out on that?!!

I totally sincerely hope you can make it because it is going to be such a joy to see everyone in person that I have known for years over the web.

I want you to come eat a ton of raw food with me!

Before I end this post, I have to give a big shout out thank you to Alex Malinsky and Cathy Silvers for urging Justin and I to make these plans at the last minute. I am so thankful that I have great friends who push me out of my comfort zone and helping me make my dreams come true!

Link to Raw Union Official Site

- Heidi
Raw Food Right Now

P.S. I wish I could convey how happy I am in this post but we'll be making videos at Raw Union so you'll see my excitement there!

P.P.S. We're hearing rumors of secret "surprises" that people are setting up for our anniversary while we are at Raw Union. I honestly have no idea what is going on, but I ask you that if you know about any secret plans, PLEASE do not tell us! As much as I want to know, I really want to be surprised! Thanks!

Raw Guru Hopping

2009-05-20T02:01:00.000-05:00

Guru Hopping: An Ongoing Raw Food Trend

We've been getting a lot of similar emails in our inbox here at Raw Food Right Now.

Here is the general scenario:

Someone emails us, telling us that they are fed up with raw food expert ______. Also they don't like experts _______, ___________, and especially ___________.

I would list the names of these experts, but there are so many different experts mentioned, that there is no one expert to single out on this post.

The person who emails us is fed up, and now they are going to try the raw food diet plan by _______, _______. Most importantly they have decided they need to do the the ____ plan from ________.

This is called "Guru Hopping". It's a term we have invented to describe this all common scenario in the raw food world.

Guru hopping is a side effect from not being satisfied with the current results from your raw food diet, or a lack of confidence that you are on the correct raw food path for you.

Sadly, a large amount of people who find raw food never succeed on the diet long term because they get themselves into guru hopping.

Even JS and I had quite a bit of guru hopping in our first year together with raw food. That whole year we read so much by so many different viewpoints that it made us temporarily confused about what is "right" for us. Sunfood Diet, 80/10/10, low fat vegan, Rainbow Green, LifeFood, gourmet raw as a transition, juice fasting, and on and on. All in one year. We became obsessed, and read so much our brains turned to mush. Finally we had to put the books, websites, and audio programs on hold for awhile until we could decide what felt "right" for us.

Guess what? There is no one "right" diet for every single person on the planet. That's why there are different plans out there. We all live in different climates. We have all been raised differently. We have genetic dispositions and previous lifestyle habits to consider. And to add to all these diverse factors, all of us assimilate food differently.

Reading a variety of raw food books is important for anyone whose goal it is to live a raw food lifestyle for the long term.

But guru hopping is dangerous because it makes a person vulnerable.

Once you start guru hopping you are angry at the guru that "betrayed" you. Keep in mind that you probably never met this expert in your life. You probably didn't even finish reading their main book. And you probably didn't follow the plan they laid out, although you did read it a bunch of times.

You're not happy with your diet, you want to change, and you want to blame someone else. So you tell everyone that this expert, _______, is wrong. You may even slander this author and say things that aren't really true. You might even say that this expert cheated you, swindled you, took advantage of you.

In reality, you never really took care of yourself.

You never kept in a state of awareness of how you feel as you are transitioning to raw or a different version of raw. Admit it: you probably didn't follow the plan, you were doing your own thing, but you're not happy and now you want to blame someone besides yourself.

But no matter what, now you are mad. You want a change, and you start guru hopping. The most common scenario is that now you will go and find the most opposite expert from your original guru. If you are angry at the 80/10/10 diet, now you want superfoods. If superfoods "didn't work for you", now you want green smoothies only. Your new guru "told you so".

Who is your new guru? Your new guru is another book by someone else, and now this is your new guru of the moment. Now you are going to become obsessed, reading everything by guru #2, and everything is going to be fine.......

Until you don't like guru #2.

Uh oh. Now you hate guru #2, and you go searching again for yet another guru who will come in and save the day for you. And the cycle continues until either

a) you finally go raw your way, or
b) you give up on raw food.

Guru hopping is dangerous because it makes people jaded and cynical about the raw food diet.

If you ever were to give up on raw food, you would make sure to tell everyone who will listen about all the bad "raw food experts" out there who never helped you. Raw food is terrible, it doesn't work, it is really hard, and it is really expensive too. You don't want anyone to go through all the pain you went through.

If you are struggling on the raw food diet it can feel this way.

This is where some people jump off the raw food lifestyle entirely and switch to other programs including Weight Watchers.

I feel for you. I've been there.

It breaks my heart to see people all mad about raw food authors out there who have dedicated their lives to helping people go raw. They don't want this to happen to you, and neither do I.

How to Avoid Guru Hopping

1. Determine your goals with raw food. What are you trying to accomplish? What do you really want to achieve by eating raw food? When will you feel like you have succeeded?

2. Read. Then read some more. Raw food is such a radical shift from mainstream nutrition that it takes some time to understand the raw food diet, and to learn all the new foods that you have never eaten before. If you can handle it, read a few different books by a few different authors. Keep an open mind about their philosophy.

3. Find a real person that can mentor you. There are many raw food experts out there that you don't know all their names. There might be one living in your town. If you like a particular guru, there is probably someone in your town that also shares a similar philosophy to a popular raw food expert out there. Go see how healthy and vibrant that person looks. If they don't look the way you want to look, move on.

4. Join an online community for ongoing support. While local raw food Meetups are great, online groups are even better because like minds can talk to each other no matter where they are located. Potlucks can be confusing for potential "guru hoppers" because so many different people with different philosophies meet up at the same time.

5. Before guru hopping, think about why you are "leaving" this guru. If you have dedicated years of your life to a particular type of raw food lifestyle, you need to take at least a few days and meditate on why you are now choosing to change your path. Are you leaving a particular raw food philosophy based on anger of someone you have never met, or are you not going to eat this way anymore because it is not giving you the results you desire? Don't switch your diet because you hate "so and so". Change your diet because it feels right to you.

6. Find a real person that can mentor you. I am saying this twice because it is important. More and more I am personally witnessing individuals who do not have support in their lives as they transition to raw food.

Gurus are great, they have excellent resources of information. But the reality is that most gurus and raw food experts out there rarely have the time to personally consult and coach people.

Even Karen Knowler, aka "The Raw Food Coach", rarely has time to coach people. That's kind of funny, don't you think? But Karen is not the only raw food coach that has very few clients. There are a lot of raw food coaches, experts, and authors out there who are busy doing so many other things that they rarely have the time to help others individually.

If you can't find a coach, at least find a raw food friend.

If you can not find a raw food coach or other expert to talk about your desire to switch diets, at least find someone in one of the online communities and get some support. Many times people decide to "guru hop" because they don't feel they are getting support. They feel lonely, abandoned, isolated because of their diet.

If you feel lonely, it's not your guru's fault. Do not blame your guru for things out of their control. It is time for you to go out there and meet some people.

The moral of this story is that Guru hopping is dangerous. JS and I had our share of guru hopping many years ago, but it was never out of anger or spite. We tried many different raw food diets, and continued to be unsatisfied with the results until we found an individualized diet that works for us, and continues to get better every day.

That is what I wish for everyone to experience.

I will say it now, and I will say it again:

Raw food is not a destination. Raw food is a journey.

There will be many people you meet in your travels on the raw food path. Some you will be able to cherish as friends. Others are teachers for one time on your path, and then you will move on.

Transitioning from raw food teacher to raw food teacher is evolution. Guru hopping is jumping from dogma to dogma with emotional pain attached.

When you know the difference, I assure you that you will have a more pleasant experience.

And remember, most important of all, a raw food guru is just like you. They aren't perfect either. Everyone is doing the best they can with the information and experience they have. Try not to get into "worship" mode. Hey, give the gurus a break, they make mistakes too (even if they don't admit it).

Wishing you all the best on your raw food travels,
~ Heidi

Raw Food Right Now

P.S. If you are a raw food expert and you do offer individualized coaching, please email us. We would like to have a list handy to give to people who are emailing us asking for support. Thank you.

photo credit: kwerfeldein

Farmers Market Tips and Tricks

2009-05-15T15:40:00.014-05:00

Downtown Minneapolis Farmers Market - photo by Metro Magazine

Farmers markets are getting more popular every year!

Your local farmers market is the best place to go for produce, herbs, berries and more during the spring, summer and fall months. And if you live in California and Florida or other warm climates, you probably have a farmers market year round.

Here are over 20 of our best tips and tricks on how to make the most of your local Farmers Market!

Farmers Market Tips and Tricks

Create Your Own Farmers Market Schedule:
Find out all the farmers markets in your area, within walking, biking or driving distance from other errands you run. Print off this schedule and keep it with you, and make sure to print out an extra copy to put in the car. Plan ahead and you can go to a market any day of the week.

Mid week markets are quieter, but weekend markets are usually bigger and have a better selection.

Bring Your Own Bags.
Most farmers don't have bags or containers for you to bring your produce home. Bring a big cloth bag, and multiple smaller bags for individual items. Another great bag to bring is a backpack for heavier items and to keep your hands free.

Keep Things Cool.
Going to be driving somewhere after the market? Bring an insulated bag or cooler with ice packs to keep things cool until you get home. Buying flowers? Bring a 5 gallon paint bucket or other container with water to keep flowers fresh.

Go early for best selection.
Overall, the best time to go to a market is when it just opens. You'll get the best selection, but rarely a bargain price. Small crops and very popular crops run out earlier in the day. If you want something special, go as early as possible to beat the crowds. This is especially true if you only buy from organic growers in your area, as demand is usually higher than the supply.

Go late for deals.
If money is a concern, shop 15-20 minutes before the market closes. You can try to haggle on prices, and sometimes if you get to know your farmers you can ask for blemished produce or other produce they want to give away. Just know that if you try to hassle them on prices, you will rarely make a new friend.

Don't go expecting everything is cheap.
From our experience with farmers markets, produce in season at farmers markets are cheaper than supermarkets. That being said, don't expect 1.00 a pound for hand picked blueberries. Be reasonable.

Always pay in cash.
Farmers don't take VISA. They rarely take checks. Bring ones, fives, and change. Farmers love exact change. Remember - they are not a retail operation like a grocery store. Save them time and they will save you money.

Walk through the market once before you buy.
Make a mental note of the prices you see and the produce you want. Once you've walked through it once, you are ready to make selections. Sometimes you might find that one seller has a better price on the other side of the market, but you've already made your purchases!

Farmers Market Prices Vary.
If a farmer sells to multiple farmers markets, some farmers charge different rates depending on the neighborhood. If you think the prices are too high at a downtown market, ask if the farmer sells in other parts of town. You just might save yourself a few dollars or more!

Buy what you know you will use.
You can save lots of money by not buying things you're not going to eat. Make a list early in the season of all the fruits, vegetables, and herbs that everyone in your household loves to eat. Keep this list with you to use as a guide when you shop.

Establish a relationship with growers.
Thank them for what they do. Get to know them, and have them get to know you. In the future they may save that special crop of heirloom tomatoes so you can have the first pick, or give you special "friends and family" prices.

Tell farmers what you want!
Farmers need to know what you want. If they don't sell enough kale, tell them. If they keep running out of their heirloom basil that you love, tell them. The farmers market is their time for "market research", literally. The more they hear from customers will help them make decisions in the future.

Not everyone is organic - they have their reasons.
Many farmers have been in using organic or biodynamic methods for years, but the price of becoming "certified" can be very expensive for small farmers. When you ask the right questions you can determine if they are growing produce in an ethical way. We always support transitional organic farmers...and they usually are the friendliest too.
Farmers Market does not always mean local.
If local food is important to you, ask if the produce is local. Some farmers actually import produce from other states and even other countries. If local food is important to you, make sure to ask where the produce is grown.

Don't be afraid to ask!
You have to ask the right questions to find out the truth. Organic, biodynamic, no-spray, non certified organic, transitional organic, and other terms are just some of the names you will have to keep in mind as you start an informal interview with your local farmer and their employees.

Here are some questions to ask:

Is your produce organic?
Do you use any chemicals or pesticides on your produce?
Are you transitioning to organic?
Where is your farm located?
How long have you been farming?
How long have you been using organic practices?
Why have you chosen to go organic?
Can people visit your farm to see what you do?

Farmers markets are full of surprises.
Never had a lemon cucumber? You might find it for the first time at a farmers market. When you try something new at the market, buy a small amount. You could even nibble on it while you shop the rest of the market and decide if you want to buy a larger amount.

Ugly can be delicious:
Most "ugly" varieties are usually plants that have been around for a very long time that were bred for flavor, not beauty. Seek out the ugly heirlooms out there and you'll be sure to have tasty flavor experiences you'll never forget!

Try One Before You Buy in Bulk:
Offer to buy one of something before you buy more. When you try a small amount you can decide if you want to buy more. Just because it is local doesn't mean it is delicious. Then again, you may find that something is so delicious you have to buy lots of it and share it with your friends!

Buy in Bulk:
When you buy a lot of produce, the farmers market usually has the best deals around. Ask how much it is to buy a bushel of tomatoes or other mass quantities of something, and they will start dropping prices.

Bonus tip: If you buy in bulk you may want to buy a wagon, stroller or wheeled cart to carry your bounty of goodies. 10 pounds of cucumbers are big and heavy!

Buy in season, then plan your recipes:
We're all spoiled having grocery stores with pineapples all year. When it is farmers market time, the produce tells us what to eat. Buy your produce at the market, then go home and look through recipe books to decide what to make. It is a culinary adventure!

There you have it!

Now you are ready to go out there and make the most of your local farmers market!

We want to hear your farmers market stories or other farmers market tips: If you have a story about your local farmers market, or if you have some extra tips we missed, email them to us and we will add them to upcoming posts on farmers markets during the summer.

Related Links:

Serve Your Country Food
Tips for Shopping and Eating Locally
7 Ways to Make Produce Last Longer

- Heidi
Raw Food Right Now

David Wolfe's Vision of Paradise

2009-05-13T14:06:00.006-05:00

David Wolfe recently was recorded on video for the website Green Planet Paradise as part of an ongoing video series on YouTube. In the video series they have recorded videos with many visionaries and asked them to talk about their own Visions of Paradise.

David's video is truly inspiring, not only for raw foodists, but for those of us out there who want to focus on solutions, and not on doomsday problems.

I am turning this blog post into a personal mission for each of us.
There is two parts to this mission.

MISSION:

Personal Vision of Paradise

Part One: Watch this video, or read the transcript below.

Transcript

If you can not view the video of David speaking,

I have transcribed his vision for you.

Please take a moment, read the transcript, and visualize it in your mind.

"Part of the paradise situation is that everybody is actually doing what their mission is.

And their mission is always different, for each individual person.

Somebody's mission might be to be the best carpenter ever.

Somebody might be the best mom ever.

Somebody might be the best 2nd grade teacher ever.

Somebody might be the best food grower ever.

Somebody might be the best horticulturalist ever.

That might be their goal.

And each person who is incarnated on this planet

each soul,

has a unique mission that is unique to that person.

So when everybody is accomplishing their goal and their mission

what will inevitably happen is that we will be immediately turned into paradise.

Because when we're not in our mission

when we're doing a false identity, then we're in stress, we're in pain,

we're reaching for food that's not good for us,

we're frustrated

we're angry

we're stressed out

All of that stuff is related to not doing what you love everyday.

We got to get onto what we love everyday.

The picture of what it looks like on the Earth itself is

fruit trees everywhere in massive abundance for everybody

superfoods and superherbs in abundance for everybody

all grown with ORMUS

fragrances and herbage in people's homes

so that when you walk into someone's home

you are wafted with the most glorious scents of lavender, sage,

and other...yerbiscant (sp), other great aromatic herbs.

All houses are constructed out of recycled materials

that have been pulled out of landfills

We've taken all nuclear waste and we've launched it

either to the center of the sun,

or imploded it with Brown's gas, and gotten rid of it.

We've used fungi to clean up all the oil spills

all the petroleum messes that have ever happened.

We use fungi to clean up landfills.

We use the technology of using spores and fungi to re mediate

pesticide sprayed land because the fungi and spores,

the "medicinal mushrooms" can actually eat up the petrochemicals

and convert them into nutrients.

We can definitely see that all our oceans would be completely pure

Totally pristine and clean

There would be no more radical corporations that are

- like a chicken with their head cut off -

running around like crazy destroying everything in sight

That would all disappear.

We would end up in a situation where everybody would be somewhat agrarian

connected to the food they are growing, and living on

all ORMUS technologies would be available for everybody to grow

the best food ever.

Pure water for every being.

and the restoration of pure water, for everybody on Earth.

We would be in a situation where the population...

maybe we'd have to get to a place where "hey, you can't have 18 kids."

Maybe 2 or 3, or something.

So that we don't overpopulate ourselves, so we don't get ourselves into

a similar mess like today.

And obviously we would get off the spontaneous combustion engine

and go completely to solar, wind and/or zero point/free energy technologies...

so we're not spewing all kinds of gunk into the atmosphere.

We would come completely off fire.

We wouldn't need fire anymore to cook our food and do all that kind of stuff,

because cooking is a complete waste of resources and time.

And actually turns our food into poison in most cases.

In addition to all of that, we would get into re mediating and purifying

all the air on planet Earth, by restoring the natural balance of the atmosphere

by stopping chemtrails, and nuclear explosions in the atmosphere.

as well as the use of depleted uranium.

All nuclear weapons would be completely banned on the Earth.

It would be eradicated.

Either launched into the center of the sun, or taken away, or something.

Get rid of all nuclear weapons completely.

We would have to eradicate/ban all wars.

Actually, we'd be at no wars at that point anyways.

All wars are really caused by centralized banking.

Once we got rid of centralized banking there would be no reason for

wars to be happening, and that would all dissappear.

The military industrial complexes of the world

would convert all their efforts into

planting fruit tress on every road, and on every stretch of land that had been

mowed down for cities, or growing wheat, or something irrelevant.

So we would replant fruit tress across the entire earth

using the power of all the world's militaries

- instead of drop down and give me 20 pushups

it's drop down and plant 20 fruit trees.

We go into that role.

We get into a situation between beings where

before anything would break down to a

cataclysmic fight...war...whatever...

that communication and mediation would be the first step.

And, it would probably be important for all to get onto one language,

so that we could all communicate with each other.

Because lack of communication seems to be at the real core

of almost every problem.

And probably it is going to be English, because English is so wide spread

on the planet.

And the internet language is English.

That's probably a big factor as well.

The internet would become a ground, where all scientific information,

all film, data, media; could be available for everyone, for free.

It's going that way anyways.

Everybody would be able to get that stuff for free.

We'd have to come off the whole money system, as we know it...

...where everybody is just trying to climb over each other to get more money.

...money for what? To get more trash in the ocean?

We just get out of that complete abberation or miasm, and drop it.

Each being would be responsible for their own health.

We'd get completely out of this idea of goverhment sponsored health,

and it's each person is alone, is responsible for their own health.

All pesticides, herbicides, larvicides, fungicides, artificial fertilizers

we would ban from the Earth forever.

That is a complete disaster, it's the worst thing ever.

Thank God that's over with.

We would finally come to a place where

each person in their own life would be

experiencing peace and bliss, most of the time...

...and actually wanting to be here.

The reason why we have chaos and disease and dispair is because

they don't even want to be here

they want to blow other people up and get out of here.

We'd get out of that.

So people would want to be incarnated on Earth

And we'd get into a religious state , or spiritual state

where there's not heaven "over there" somewhere

because we have all these religions that say

heaven's over there, and hell's right under here

because it IS like that right now.

People are in such pain that they want heaven to be far away from here.

But in fact really heaven is right here right now

and hell is right here right now

So we would get out of this "religious idea" that we are going to "ascend"

over there

but in fact, we would "inscend" and stay right here

because this is where we want to be

because this is actually paradise, finally.

And we're going to get there!

We will eventually get there....

...some of us will be dragged, kicking and screaming

...some of us will be stoked...to get there....soon."

- David Wolfe, 2009

Part Two: Write Your Own Vision of Paradise.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to write your own personal utopian vision for the planet. David's vision is great, and I agree with many of the concepts presented, but it is missing a few things from my own personal vision of paradise.

So. We each have to create our own vision. It starts with you.

Here are some questions to get you started on your own vision:

What is your vision of how to change the world?
What would you like to see happen on the planet?
What energy would you choose for people to use instead of petroleum?
What kinds of vehicles would you want people to drive?
Wind? Solar? Hybrid? Electric? Fuel Cell? Ethanol? Greasecars?
What technology would you want everyone on the planet to have?
ORMUS?
Would everyone be farmers?
What about people who want to live in cities?
What would we do with all the cooked food SAD people?
Love what David said? What will you start doing today?
Hate what David said? OK? What would you do differently?

Take on this personal mission.

Write your own Utopian vision.

This is your chance to recreate the world as you see fit.

Use your imagination.

Your vision does not need to be long.

Your vision just needs to come from your heart.

How to Fulfill Your Mission:

Leave a comment on this post by clicking here, or
email us your vision.

If you email us your vision, we may choose to post it in a future blog post, as we want to share the visions of other people besides David's hopeful vision for the planet.

Either way, we hope these ideas will inspire you to be looking towards a beautiful planetary future, instead of many "doom and gloom" ideas out there.

The future is not set in stone. We create our own realities.

Let's create our new world. Starting today.

- Heidi

Raw Food Right Now

P.S. For those of you with raw food blogs or websites out there, I am giving you this opportunity so you can get some free press. Write your vision so we can make you shine!

Free ebook Dominant Health from RawMatt.com [Raw Book Review]

2009-05-11T01:24:00.004-05:00

Ex-Professional Cage Fighter Matt Nailor
Wants You to Dominate Your Health

Matt Nailor has been on the raw food scene for years, but you may have never heard of him.... until now.

Matt has lived a fascinating life so far, including his beginnings in the professional cage fighting circuit since the age of 17. In 2002, while he was still fighting, one conversation with someone while eating a sandwich changed his life forever, and he jumped head first into a raw vegan diet.

Now over 7 years later, Matt has brought his passion and dedication from his career in fighting and transformed his experience into sharing his knowledge with the raw food community.

We've been fortunate to be in contact with Matt for years through our mutual friend Markus Rothkranz and have kept in touch with him as he has been quietly formulating his official launch onto the raw food world at large (congrats Matt!).

After years behind the scenes, the time has come for Raw Matt to appear to face the world.

He's recently launched a clean and crisply designed website that shares more information about his work and vision, including an informative series of videos he has been posting on YouTube.

Here is just one of his many YouTube videos that you can watch on his YouTube channel:

Most exciting of all is that Matt has released an incredible free book called Dominant Health, which is in it's second version. This book has an enormous amount of high quality nutritional information about the raw food diet. It's obvious through reading his book and seeing his videos that Matt is the real deal. He's spent serious time experimenting, delving into scientific research, and refining his approach to pinpoint the absolute highest levels of health he can obtain.

Matt has been working on other numerous products and projects. Recently, he helped to formulate and release the Body Force line of raw herbal products with Markus Rothkranz. Matt also has created a line of "beegan" wildcrafted herb infused, honey-based elixirs called Epic Elixirs. He's gone to extreme lengths too, from raising his own bees in the most ethical and supportive environment, to harvesting the honey himself only at night to maintain its pristine alchemical properties.

Oh, and if you ever get a chance to see Matt in person, ask him to eat poison ivy. It's one of his amazing abilities that Raw Spirit Fest thought was too controversial to let him perform!

We love people who continually push the boundaries with diet and health, and if you love it too, Raw Matt is right up your Immortal Alley. Check out his book here and get informed: Dominant Health by Matt Nailor.

- Heidi and JS
Raw Food Right Now
visit us on our site: http://www.RawFoodRightNow.com

Free Recipes from Everyday Raw by Matthew Kenney [Raw Recipes]

2009-05-11T00:54:00.002-05:00

Free Recipes from Everyday Raw

In our last post we reviewed Everyday Raw by raw gourmet chef and restaurant entrepreneur Matthew Kenney. As we said before, Matthew has given us permission to give away three of the recipes from his book to our readers!

We had you vote for your top recipes from a list of ten we gave you to choose from.

And here are your winners!

Chipotle Mayo
Golden Tortilla Chips
Mango Wraps

Thank you to everyone that voted. As a reminder, for each contest we do in the future, you will need to go to the blog directly and vote on the post in the comments. For those of you who are reading this through RSS or email, the blog address is rawfoodrightnow.blogspot.com.

Here are the recipes!

Chipotle Mayo

1 cup macadamia nuts, soaked 1-2 hours
1 chipotle chile, soaked 1-2 hours
1 cup soaking water from chile
1 1/2 cups olive oil
Sea salt to taste

Blend all ingredients in Vita-Mix until completely smooth. Yields 3 cups.

Golden Tortilla Chips

1 3/4 cups flax meal
4 cups frozen corn, thawed
1 1/3 cups water
2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon cumin
3/4 small red onion
1 clove garlic
1/4 tablespoon sea salt + more for sprinkling
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon lime juice
Pinch cayenne
2 teaspoons chili powder

Place flax meal in a large bowl. Blend all remaining ingredients except chili powder in a Vita-Mix or high-speed blender until smooth. Stir in flax meal and chili powder. Spread one cup of batter over the entire Teflex sheet to no more than 1/8 inch thickness and place in dehydrator. Approximately 30 minutes later the chips will be ready to be removed and marked with a paring knife into the size and shape you desire. Sprinkle with salt and dehydrate 12-24 hours, until completely crispy. Yields 4 trays.

Mango Wraps

MANGO WRAPPERS:

4 cups chopped fresh mango
2 cups fresh young coconut meat
Pinch cayenne
Pinch sea salt
1/4 cup cilantro, roughly chopped

Place all ingredients except cilantro in large container. Blend well until smooth. Spread mixture thinly on Teflex sheets and sprinkle with cilantro. Dehydrate 4 hours, until dry but still very pliable. Cut each sheet into 4 squares.

ASSEMBLY:

4 Mango Wrappers
4 romaine lettuce leaves
1 cup julienned young coconut meat
1 cup julienned carrots
1 cup julienned red bell pepper
1/4 cup fresh mint, roughly chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, roughly chopped

Place 4 Mango Wrappers on a work surface, shiny side up. Place romaine leaves in center of each wrapper and top with equal portions of coconut, carrots, bell pepper, mint, and cilantro, in that order. Roll tightly and secure with a bit of water. Serve with your favorite creamy thai dressing or whatever else you like. Serves 2.

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If you like any of these recipes, you will absolutely love Matthew's recipes designed with the home chef in mind. If you want more free recipes published here on RFRN, support Matthew and other amazing chefs by purchasing books. Matthew Kenney's book can be purchased here.

By the way, Matthew is a real down-to-earth gentleman. Awesome man full of integrity, creative genius, and a slew of cool recipes to share with the world!

Make sure to check out his sites here and here.

~ Raw Food Right Now!
Visit our site at http://www.RawFoodRightNow.com

Everyday Raw by Matthew Kenney Review [Raw Food Book Review]

2009-05-05T00:54:00.000-05:00

Raw Gourmet Chef Gives You Everyday Raw Recipes to Make at Home

Shortly after Matthew Kenney's highly successful raw food recipe book Raw Food Real World was released, the two authors of the book (Sarma Melngailis and Matthew) had a falling out. Sarma took over the restaurant they started together, Pure Food and Wine, while Matthew went off in a different direction.

After opening a string of restaurants (with some that closed shortly thereafter), Matthew Kenney started to come back on the raw scene when his new and much anticipated book, Everyday Raw, was announced and then released in March of 2008. Matthew followed Everyday Raw up with Entertaining in the Raw a year later (RFRN review to come soon).

Recently, Matthew has been very active in the online "raw scene", starting his own blog over at http://matthewkenneylifestyle.com and signing up and being active on currently popular social networking sites Twitter and Facebook.

Matthew's new books have been gaining quite a buzz in the raw blog scene, with lots of raw bloggers making his recipes and reviewing his new books. Combining his excellent taste for raw cuisine with the beauty, elegance, and style of a New York chef and restaurateur, his books and recipes appeal to a very broad raw audience.

Matthew is known for inventing a lot of raw gourmet recipes that have become raw restaurant and budding home chef staples. Matthew and his team are a part of a small handful of chefs responsible for taking raw cuisine to the next level.

Here at RFRN, we are very much into the simple and elegant solutions to the same question that every raw foodist faces every day: what should I eat today?

Everyday Raw is Matthew Kenney's answer to that question.

What's Inside Everyday Raw?

"If an ingredient does not have a real purpose in a recipe, I prefer to leave it out." - Matthew Kenney in Everyday Raw

Everyday Raw is a much smaller and more focused book than Raw Food Real World. Most of the book is focused on the recipes (of which there are many), but there is a brief introduction to the raw foods lifestyle, what equipment will be needed, etc. The book does not go into as substantial detail about the raw food diet as most raw food books usually do. It seems like Matthew wrote this mostly for existing and established raw foodists, but threw in the introduction to at least get a newbie started in the right direction.

The recipes are logically laid out by recipe type in sections for easy perusing and selecting. Smoothies and juices, snacks, crackers and chips, main dishes, desserts, etc...everything you would expect in a standard day-to-day raw food diet.

Matthew Kenney's gourmet experience as a raw (and non-raw) chef bleeds through in the recipes. There is a section for starters and main dishes that shows off his brilliance and style, but may not be a part of an average raw fooder's daily staples. Still, you can't help but want to find time to make these amazing looking recipes to indulge and impress your friends and family.

Our favorite part of the book is the little tidbits given at the beginning of each of the recipes. Each tidbit is designed to heighten your understanding of the ingredients you are using or when best to use the recipe without going into excruciating detail. These cool tidbits make reading a recipe book like this educational, which is a nice bonus.

For example, the tidbit for the raspberry vanilla-almond granola states: "This addictive recipe is best suited for summer when berries are at their peak, and you are interested in a brighter, lighter version of granola. The red flecks give it a nice vibrancy, and it is great with any nut milk or an ice cream as a dessert."

The book is laid out in a simple and clean manner. Every page has enough white space to be easy on the eyes and allow you to focus on each recipe. Just enough beautiful pictures are offered to accentuate the recipes and to keep your eyes dazzled while you move through this book.

Should You Purchase Everyday Raw for Yourself?

This book really is suited for just about everyone. If you're looking for a slew of Matthew's raw gourmet recipes, skip this book and buy Entertaining in the Raw instead. If you are like us and love simple, everyday recipes, definitely pick this book up.

If you are very new to raw foods, this is not the book to start with. To get more information about the science and research behind raw foods, pick up The Live Food Factor. To get a great overview of how to make raw foods in your kitchen with a bunch of great recipes, grab Raw Food Real World or RAWvolution.

Whether you are a newbie or an expert, there is always more to learn about raw cuisine. Everyday Raw fits the bill by offering excellent daily home-based recipes, a smattering of more gourmet recipes, and great bits of information to inform the reader while he or she is making the recipes.

**BONUS! Vote for Free Recipes from the book!

We asked Matthew if we could give you some free recipes from Everyday Raw and he said yes!

We know it would be overwhelming to look through every single recipe listed in the entire book, so we're saving you time and picked a few recipes we thought would give our readers the most benefit. We tried to pick things that are slightly unusual, or something that is a quality recipe you will learn to use in your kitchen all the time.

Here are ten of the recipes we chose from the book. We are going to post three of them in a few days. Vote for your top *one* in the comments below!

The top three recipes with votes will get the full recipes for each in an upcoming post.

Which recipe do you want to see??

Mint Cacao Cooler
Curried Cashews
Blueberry-Almond Granola Bar
Super Goji Cacao Maca Bars
Golden Tortilla Chips
Chipotle Mayo
Mango Wraps
Mocha Pudding
Vanilla Creme
Vanilla Mint Flan

~ JS & Heidi Ohlander
http://www.RawFoodRightNow.com

Live Chat with Daniel Vitalis This Sunday at Raw Food Friends

2009-05-01T16:43:00.007-05:00

Raw Food Friends - The Fast Growing Online Community

We recently told you about Alex Malinsky's new website called Raw Food Friends.

The site has been live for only a few weeks and it is really growing. It's like the raw foodists are coming out of the woodwork and emerging here at Raw Food Friends.

Anyways, Alex started these Sunday night chats, and just for fun I decided to check them out. I didn't expect I would end up having so much fun!!

This Sunday, May 3, at 9pm, Daniel Vitalis will be the honored guest in the chat room.

Daniel is going to talk abut ElixirCraft, spring water, liquid alchemy, sur-thrivalism and who knows what else. He's always talking about something new and exciting. JS and I really value Daniel's work to the raw food community.

During the chat you can ask Daniel all of your questions about raw foods, spring water, you name it. Anything goes.

You Never Know What Daniel Will Talk About

OK, honestly, I have no idea exactly what Daniel will be talking about, but I'm sure it will be interesting!

Over the past two weeks Alex noticed that I was especially "chatty", so he decided that he wanted to give me the title of "chat hostess" for the night with Daniel!

Well, all this excitement of being a chat hostess has gone to my head and I want to invite everyone to be there. That means you you you!

Bonus Free eBook Giveaway

Oh, and if seeing Daniel speak live wasn't enough of an incentive, Daniel will be giving away a free ebook to one lucky person in the chat room on Sunday night.

Best of all, it's free. Gratis. Nada.

All you have to do is create a free account at RawFoodFriends.com and be there on Sunday at 9PM EST.

So I'm asking you:

Can you make it this Sunday at 9PM?

You've been officially invited.
If you can make it, RSVP below.

~ Heidi

P.S. I'll be in the chat room around 8:30 pm EST to warm up the room and get the party rollin'...so if you want to chat with me, come early!

Bonus:

Daniel posted a clip on YouTube of one of a talk he recently gave at a health center sharing his views on breast cancer. Fascinating ideas:

Free Superfood Recipes from David Wolfe's New Book "Superfoods" [Raw Recipes]

2009-04-28T02:02:00.000-05:00

Free Superfood Recipes from North Atlantic Books

David Wolfe's new book Superfoods - The Food and Medicine of the Future is being officially released today by North Atlantic Books. And to celebrate, North Atlantic Books has given us permission to give you some free superfood recipes from the book. There are a lot to choose from, so it was quite difficult for us to give you just a few.

Congratulations, David, on such a power-packed book that truly represents your life's work to this point!

Before we get to the recipes, we wanted to give you a few resources to check out:

Read our review of Superfoods: RFRN Review of Superfoods
Grab the book directly from North Atlantic's site here.
Also, you can order a copy from Amazon here.

Now, on to the recipes!

Fly High Goji Berry Superfood Bonanza

4 cups of your favorite liquid (water, hot or cold tea, coconut water, or any nut milk)
3 tbsp. goji berries
3 tbsp. cacao powder
1 tbsp. cacao nibs
1 tbsp. maca, red maca, or maca extreme
1 tsp. goji berry extract powder (optional, but super energizing!)
1–2 tbsp. sweetener (such as yacon syrup, light or dark agave, or any raw honey)
1–3 cups frozen, organic berries
1 tbsp. hempseed
1 small pinch Celtic sea salt
1/4 leaf fresh aloe vera gel (optional)

Blend all ingredients in a high-powered blender until smooth.

RFRN notes: We absolutely adore goji berries, and we haven't found someone who doesn't yet! We make some version of this smoothie nearly every day. This is a very satisfying smoothie that keeps us going for hours!

Sweet Guaca-Maca Collard Wraps

3 avocados
3 tsp. maca
1/2 tbsp. Celtic sea salt or Himalayan salt
1 tbsp. raw honey
juice of 1 lime
1–1/2 tsp. spirulina
1 cup sprouted sunflower seeds
1–2 tbsp. raw sesame tahini

Put all ingredients in a bowl and mash or blend in a blender to a creamy consistency. Stuff into collard greens and wrap it up! For an extra kick, add cacao nibs to the guaca-maca!

RFRN notes: This may be a little bit different than the guacamole you're used to, but it's a great example of making a variation on a classic recipe to expand your tastes. We wanted to share this recipe with you because it is so unique and tasty. Yum!

Spiry Salad Dressing

1/2 cup organic hempseed
1 handful fresh dill (stems and everything)
2–3 cloves garlic (depends how spicy it is)
2 tbsp. spirulina
1 tsp. Celtic sea salt
1 cup fresh spring water

Blend in a high-speed blender until creamy and smooth. Serve on a fresh, garden-picked salad for optimal pleasure!

RFRN notes: It's great to sneak in spirulina however you can. There are some people out there who can eat it by the spoonful, but we're not one of them. We love the benefits we get from eating it, but because we are not protein burners we don't need as much protein sources as other people might. Once blended into something like a dressing, spirulina can actually add quite nicely to the taste!

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Please note that all of these recipes are "From Superfoods by David Wolfe, published by North Atlantic Books, copyright © 2009 by David Wolfe. Reprinted by permission of publisher."

Enjoy!

~ Raw Food Right Now
http://www.RawFoodRightNow.com

Sunfood Living [Raw Food Book Review]

2009-04-24T01:22:00.000-05:00

"If you have always wanted to do the right thing, to make sustainable, environmentally conscious, as well as relevant decisions and purchases...then this is the book for you."

- David Wolfe

If there ever was a perfect book for Earth Day for raw foodists, Sunfood Living is it.

Sunfood Living is written by John McCabe, the chief editor for books written by David Wolfe and a friend of David's since 1997. John is one of the most passionate advocates of living a raw food lifestyle that stresses no harm to the planet and the inhabitants that live on it. If you want to learn from someone who walks the walk of saving the planet, John McCabe is your teacher.

Sunfood Living picks up where the Sunfood Diet Success System ends. If Sunfood Diet Success System teaches you how to go raw, then Sunfood Living is the book to read after you go raw, to learn how to take the raw foods lifestyle to the next level.

When you become raw, it changes your life in ways you never would have imagined. You start to look at every aspect of your life and you begin to get the urge to improve it as well as your local environment and the planet at large. Sometimes there are parts to living a raw food lifestyle that seem difficult, tricky, or complicated if you don't know what you are doing. That is why a guide like Sunfood Living helps put everything into perspective.

Sunfood Living is Being Green While Truly Eating Green

This is not a book like most other raw food books. Sunfood Living is about the lifestyle, not necessarily about what to eat or how to eat it. There are countless other books about how to eat raw food. Yes, in Sunfood Living there are chapters on enzymes, B-12, and basic information on the Sunfood Triangle created by David Wolfe among other topics, but Sunfood Living is a guide about the other aspects of living and being raw.

What does Sunfood Living mean? Essentially, it means living green. For example, topics include natural resources like wildlife protection and personal care topics like the hair care products you use and the bed you sleep on.

Sunfood Living is a guide for those that found themselves at a place where they naturally want to be environmentally friendly; not because they feel they "have to", but because they desire to live a green life. This desire to go green is something that happens naturally to every person we have encountered that has been living the raw food lifestyle to some degree, but for those that are new to green living, it can be a complicated process and sometimes good resources for living green can be hard to come by. Sunfood Living may be considered our main resource in the raw foods movement to living green.

One interesting aspect of Sunfood Living is that the book as a whole is a concrete argument as to why eating raw is the best diet for the planet. In addition, it is also a great book to educate yourself for when you are having conversations with people you interact with who are not raw, but want "proof" that raw food is good for the environment. Inside Sunfood Living are literally hundreds of facts on why the raw food diet is good for you and the planet.

What's in Sunfood Living?

This 562 page book (including index) is a jam packed resource full of answers to both beginner and advanced questions about living green and living raw. The first part of Sunfood Living is a selection of articles mostly alphabetized for easy reference on various green living topics. Each topic is covered in a short article format that gives you an overview of the subject. At the end of each chapter are additional resources, websites, or organizations that will help you take your learning further.

This book serves as an excellent reference book. Keep it on your shelf for quick access. When you have any question about how to live more green on a specific topic, you can find the answer quickly.

An short example of what's in the book:

Why is one tropical country contributing to deforestation because of what they eat? See page 135 and the answer will surprise you.
Do you want to help family farmers? See page 157 to learn how.
Are you ready to go "Back to Nature"? See page 175 for ideas and inspiration.

Each article may have some things you already know, but where do you go to put these ideas into action? Each specific topic John addresses in the book gives you not only the facts you should know, but a list of multiple resources so you can "do what you know". You may know a little about some of these topics, but there may be others that you might have missed along the way.

The second half of Sunfood Living has 331 pages called the Directory. It's like the yellow pages for living as a conscious raw foodist. This A to Z directory encompasses a wide variety of resources that include environmental activism, diet, health, and other aspects of living the day to day life of a raw foodist.

Here is a small sample of some interesting highlights from the Directory:

Would you like to know 14 different resources for cloth shopping bags? See page 226.
Want to learn over 30 different things to consider when building or living in an environmentally friendly home? See page 246.
Take a look at page 315 for a list of over 100 different edible flowers.

Sunfood Living Walks the Walk

Like other books published by North Atlantic Books, Sunfood Living has the environment in mind during all stages of the printing process. Inside the third page of the book is the following statement:

"Sunfood Living saved the following resources by using New Leaf Opaque 100(FSC), made with 100% post consumer waste, and New Leaf Primavera Gloss, made with 80% recycled fiber and 40% post consumer waste, both manufactured with electricity that is offset with Green-e certified renewable energy certificates, and processed chlorine free."

What did this way of printing do for the planet? According to the book, it saved 172 full grown trees, 75,205 gallons of water, 8,313 pounds of solid waste and even 16,220 pounds of greenhouse gases - all from this one book!

How many books would you like to see with a statement like this one? It is refreshing and inspiring to see a book about green living that is doing its part by walking the walk instead of just talking the talk.

As someone who has been pursuing green living for nearly two decades, I have seen dozens of books and other publications on the environment. I even worked on a green publication here in the Twin Cities! I've seen a lot of books over the years, but none so far compare to the depth of information contained in Sunfood Living, and certainly no other book speaks from the unique language of a raw foodist.

Should You Get this Book?

By no means is this book a complete green living guide for everyone. There are many more resources out there, but for those who don't have the time to delve into this lifestyle headfirst and just want quick answers, this book is perfect for you.

This book is for you if:

You have started eating raw food and are interested in also living a conscious raw foods lifestyle
You have been a raw foodist for some time and feel like you want to do more to help the environment but you don't know where to start
You want to have answers for all those pesky questions about meat, factory farms, GMO, pollution and other aspects of a conventional lifestyle that are current issues
You want to own more quality informative raw food books
You're interested in living green, but you don't have the time to keep up, but just want a handy, all-in-one guide to use as a reference

Additional Resources:

Sunfood Living - the book
Sunfood Living.com - the book's website
Sunfood Traveler.com - John's website with free raw food travel resources
Hemp: What the World Needs Now - read John's entire manuscript online!

With Sunfood Living, you can finally learn to make Earth Day every day.

- Heidi
Raw Food Right Now

Earth Day is Everyday When You are a Raw Foodist

2009-04-22T15:06:00.001-05:00

Today is Earth Day.

People all around the world celebrate one day out of 365 days in our solar calendar year to focus on the planet that we live in.

For some people, this is one day to attempt to make a difference for the environment. For just one day, they'll not use a plastic water bottle. For just one day they will bring reusable containers from home in their lunch. For just one day they will recycle the paper that they might otherwise absent mindedly throw into the trash.

Just one day. Just one day.

And then, it's back to business as usual!

Eat factory farmed chicken, pour oil down the drain, bleach their clothes until they are sparkling white. Drive their SUV's that get 8 miles to the gallon, spray Round-Up on every "weed" they see...the list goes on and on. Business as usual for the other 364 days.

Until I became a raw foodist, I had always considered myself an "environmentalist". I have many things from my past that shows my prior dedication to the environment. I became a vegetarian at 14 for the environment. I graduated from an environmental high school called the School of Environmental Studies. I created environmental curriculum while working with children at the YMCA. I worked on the first guide to the Twin Cities on green living. I even spent part of one summer with the Sierra Club. These are just the highlights of my time as "an environmentalist".

None of that compares to going raw.

When you become a raw foodist, it changes your life forever. Your perception of the world completely changes. While you pursue excellence in your personal mind, body and spirit, you pursue excellence for the planet as well. It happens simultaneously. You connect to the entire planet in no other way possible. You learn to appreciate things that other people don't even know are possible. It is a deep awareness that transcends words, that goes beyond language.

When you eventually reach that time when you truly become a raw foodist, something interesting happens:

You've just plugged into the language of Planet Earth.

This is the experience that every environmentalist wants to experience. Unfortunately for them, it rarely happens to most enviornmentalists. I have seen so many environmentalists with a raging desire that they could never articulate that I now feel on a daily basis. I have achieved what some spend their life pursuing.

They are still plugged into pop culture Earth Day. They are still connected to what everyone else says is a "Green" thing to do. As long as you wear the right clothes and hang out with the right people and shop at the right stores, you're part of the environmentalist club. You've done your part. Now you can go to the vegan pizza place and drink beer with the other environmentalists. These so called "environmentalists" are the reason why I gave up on the environmentalist movement all together.

I had to blaze my own trail for Mother Earth. I found that trail with raw food.

I experience the treasure of nature every day. Every day I eat foods and drink teas from around the world. Each food is actually going beyond Fair Trade, it is helping the people as well as the planet. I feel incredibly blessed.

If you are connected to nature, you no longer want to "save" the environment. You now experience the environment. You enjoy the pleasure of the nature around you. You naturally spend time in nature, not just talk about it. It becomes a part of your lifestyle.

You eat, breathe, live the planet by eating raw plant food.

I am one human living on the planet, yet I am intensely focused on integrating myself into nature. I am researching solutions that I can make in my own life. I constantly strive to set an example of doing what I can to make the change in the world I wish to see.

Want to make change in the world? It's simple.
Here. Let me show you how...

Want less trash in the world? Eat raw food.

Want less chemicals in your water? Eat raw food.

Want to stop factory farming? Eat raw food.

Want to support local produce farmers? Eat raw food.

Want to preserve our forests? Eat raw food.

Want to reduce packaging? Eat raw food.

Want to save the oceans? Eat raw food.

Want to save the wildlife? Eat raw food.

Want to reduce pollution? Eat raw food.

The lesson of the day? Eat raw food.

If you are not already eating raw food, today is the day to start on the trail. It doen't happen overnight, it is a process. But as someone who has pursued this raw food trail for over a decade, I'm here to say that the journey is amazing. Come walk on the trail. I promise you it will be fun.

And for those that are eating raw food, I wrote this article to tell you how I am so proud of you. So many raw foodists don't think they are doing enough. What is enough? Are you going to feel guilty for not doing enough when you are doing more than most nations?

If you are eating raw food, congratulate yourself. You are doing more than most people on the entire planet. All raw foodists are doing something significant. It doesn't matter how much raw food you are eating right at this moment; wether you are a beginner who is just learing about raw food or someone who has been raw for years. It doesn't matter what kind of raw foodist you are. That's all petty minutiae. If you are eating raw food, you are making a difference.

Happy Earth Day, Everyday.

When you are a raw foodist, every day is Earth Day. Every moment is Earth Day. Every bite of food is Earth Day. Every step outside is Earth Day.

Enjoy the moment. The Now is Earth Day.

~ Heidi
Raw Food Right Now

P.S. Tomorrow we are going to review an awesome book that ties in with Earth Day and raw foodists. Stay tuned!

P.P.S. Justin just reminded me that Alex over at RawGuru.com is offering free shipping today on any order of 22 dollars or more, in honor of Earth Day. Take advantage of this deal and eat raw food!

My Co-op Rocks - Fun videos about your local health food store

2009-04-20T12:12:00.005-05:00

Do you shop at a local food co-op?

If you're lucky like us Minnesotans, we have many amazing food co-ops to choose from.

The National Cooperative Grocers Association has created a website called My Coop Rocks.com, as a contest for people to create their own videos sharing their Top 10 reasons why they like to shop at their local co-op.

Here are some videos from our local co-ops that I enjoyed watching.

Top Ten at the Wedge

This video is not 100% raw, but it is very creative, and it will make me think of blood oranges in a completely new way. I'll never be the same again. Watch and you'll know what I mean.

Our friend Mika is a video artist and is currently studying Oriental Medicine. She created a video for her local food co-op, Just Food, in Northfield Minnesota. Mika's video features a chicken farmer, and she is an example of what a typical Minnesotan looks like (in case you ever wanted to know!)

Just Food... Is Not just food

There are over 50 other videos on the site. Lots of fun user generated content from people just like you who love natural food. Now, I didn't see any raw foodists in the videos. If you see any of the videos with a truly raw food angle email us and we'll add it to this post!

Log in to MyCoopRocks today and vote for your favorite video, because the winning video will win a new Macbook!

What are your Top 10 reasons why you like to shop at your local co-op?
Tell us in the comments.

- Heidi
Raw Food Right Now

P.S. We should all make videos this summer and we'll call it "My Farmers Market Rocks". Who's going to join us?!