You Know You Are a Raw Foodist When? (Blog)

[Rachelle]

Originally Posted by supertom

nothing compared to raising animals for years just for a few meals and how much animals "ahem" add to the whole global warming thing, oh yeah i wonder how the animals take their gains. just saying if everyone was vege we would havent worry about global warming or world hunger.

I was hoping more for thoughts in ecological impact comparing eating vegan/local to eating raw... but i do see your point.

Just so it's clear - I'd like to give raw a try some day and I'm not trying to put it down. I think it sounds tremendously healthy. But at the same time I wonder about the big picture and its impact in a global/ecological context.

[Bruce Achterberg]

Originally Posted by rjani

Hilarious! I love your humor Steve
This was the best one: you meet a breatharian and have to ask, “But where you do get your protein?" (ofc it was good only because the previous part)

Indeed--you could really notice the humour structure. Good fun! (Especially when you can appreciate how well it was crafted.) I need to practice flexing my humour muscles.

[Lenie]

these are brilliant.

More one-liners, please

[Bruce Achterberg]

Originally Posted by Rachelle

"...your breakfast smoothies include items from six continents and four oceans."

I'm curious about what people think of the ecological/environmental ramifications of maintaining a raw diet depending on where one lives... ?

For example, I live in central Canada. Our growing season is obviously shorter than areas further south. A lot of vegetables are local, wheat (but i guess you don't eat wheat if you eat raw), some grains, some berries, some meager apples (like crab apples) I think soy is also a local crop... but aside from that, everything else is shipped and transported into the city. With the whole eco/carbon footprint debate now-a-days... how do people think this idea translates to eating raw AND eating local? I'm just trying to think how people living very far north (like in Alaska or the Northern Canadian Territories) would eat raw and their impact on the environment when you take into consideration transportation issues, vs that of a largely local (but not raw) diet...

thoughts on the matter are appreciated...

Steve wrote a really good forum post on this issue that was nicely aligned with power, but for the life of me, I can't find it. (Other Steve posts that I can't find for the life of me include where he mentions a book that he read on humour before he competed in his most recent humourous contest. Alter-ego-Bruce who is better at search than I am, please help.)

The basic premise of Steve's post was that if you're already vegan, you're doing such a significant thing for the environment that all the other issues are pretty minimal and that it's better focusing on such significant things, rather than the pretty insignificant things such as transport.

Sure, transport contributes, but diet (indirectly) contributes a heck of a lot more. It's about knowing where to target, and I agree.

Although if you're a vegan or raw foodist already, then yeah, I think it's reasonable for you to be concerned about that. But I don't think it's reasonable to channel too much time into it, unless you know you're going to make a significant difference. You should channel your time where it will have the biggest impact.

For me, that means I channel my time into potential. I know that potential and self-alignment is far more impactful than targeting any environmental issues, and I also know that the most influential thing is not so much the specific message you convey, but the state of being you convey it from. So I try to make self-alignment the order of the day. That doesn't mean I'm always self-aligned, but it does mean I am for maximum self-alignment. Sometime I live in paradox because it's effective to do so (in the short term, at least), but more recently, I've decided to start more liberally letting go of attachment to things that are no longer congruent with me. I don't think I can make any meaningful forward progress if I live with all the incongruencies that I have. I'm starting to thing that change isn't so much about gaining more of anything, but rather, letting go of what no longer aligns with you. Needs more testing, but it seems to make sense.

So the main point here is to focus on what has the most potential for impact, and go do it. It’s nice to focus on other issues and be aware of them, but as Eckhart Tolle once wrote, if you complain about something or think about something but take no real productive action, you’re just perpetuating thought patterns and not really interested in making a change. Not saying that applies to you, but it has indeed applied to me and helps me be aware of what I actually care about vs what I just use to make myself feel better and reinforce a sense of self rooted in thought rather than in being and self-alignment—the universe; life.

[The Wise Turtle]

You know you're a raw foodist when you complain about truly free lunches (that aren't raw)...

Now that I'm nomadic, I really miss my raw food! I was doing well even with no kitchen to speak of, but then when it got cold outside and I couldn't easily dehydrate anymore, and my bike trailer that was functioning as a small kitchen (food storage and prep space) lost it's connectivity to my bike (the trailer hitch broke) I got frustrated and gave in to the free addicitve cooked food that was often in front of me. Soon, I will go back to an all raw diet. Soon...

Peace, Love, and Bicycles,
Turil

[The Wise Turtle]

Oh, and you know you're a raw foodist when you get excited by the purselane growing out of the cracks in the sidewalk in front of your friends house and start nibbling, knowing that you're getting a huge boost in your omega-3 fatty acids and you'll be happy all day long because of your discovery!

[Rachelle]

Thanks for the reply Bruce.
Very helpful.

[Dorota]

* you sport a green moustache every morning
* you write poetry about kale
* you've become very interested in your poo

[Fullcrum]

...your poo is green.

I rest my case.

[Dimond]

When you love salad more than almost any other meal you make.

When you actually can binge on salad.

You never again have to worry about getting bitten by mosquitos because the raw garlic you eat acts as a repellant.

When you constantly talk about how yummy the food you just ate or will eat, tastes.

When people discuss the junk they wanna eat at the movie theater and you have absolutely no interest in any of it and you're deciding which raw snacks you're gonna sneak in.

When you always carry an emergency raw bar just in case.

When you make sure to bring food in a cooler tote if going out for several hrs.

When it's summer and you're excited there's an overabundance of tasty fruits to choose from that you usually can't get any other time of the year (or they're not as good) and they're much cheaper.

When you realize just how much fruit you never tasted prior to raw and you loved fruit when SAD.

When you realize just how much you missed out on your whole life.
***
From when I was newly raw:

When you're talking on the phone about how you haven't used a microwave in years and have to run to the kitchen to see if your apartment of 3 months has a microwave because you can't remember & never go near that side of the kitchen.

When you manage to make a new raw meal and are so proud of yourself because you never liked to cook when SAD.

When your ready-made raw food meals arrive and you're so excited, like you received a gift you've been wanting.

When those same meals are so tasty, you can't imagine ever having to eat cooked again.

[Milena]

So I don't really get these:

… you don’t believe in pre-detox sex.
… you refer to the Food Network as the Horror Channel.
… you know what Cassandra felt like.

What's wrong with Food Network? I <3 it

[JGrace]

When there are more than 20 things in your smoothie, all plant based.

You never miss eating cooked foods at restaurants.