As readers know, I spent labor day weekend hanging around at Slow Food Nation in San Francisco, taking in the talks, as well as the blackberry mint coolers and masa cakes of change for an improved future food system in America. It was a celebration of food but also a virtual manifesto that brought out 60,000 like-minded and/or curious, hungry folks to partake in the various events, from music, to tastings, to idea-sharing.
Food for Thought got down and dirty with the food policy discussion, featuring the biggest names in food, notably Wendall Berry, Carlo Petrini, Vandana Shiva, Michael Pollan, and Raj Patel. I confess, I’m a wonk. So I took it in like a succulent meal, taking furious notes and even writing a breakdown for the Slow Food Nation blog for day 1 and day 2.
Above is the video for the panel on the world food crisis, which was the opening star-studded talk at Food for Thought. Keep an eye on the Slow Food Nation site in the coming weeks for all of the panel videos, free for all to view. One of the biggest takeaways from the conference was that we can’t think about the environment, oil dependency, education, health, or most anything else without dealing with the issues surrounding food. All of the panels were enlightening, but I highly recommend the panel on climate change and food, and the Slow Food Nation panel featuring Wendall Berry, who if you couldn’t tell by now is my food warrior hero. I even waited in an hour-long line to have him sign my copy of The Unsettling of America (a prescient book of essays about our culture and agricultural policies, published in 1977). Berry was humble, but everyone sharing the stage with him had taken inspiration from his writing. He said he felt a change coming, alas. When I met him I shook his hand and let him know that our generation was taking him up on that. I hope to be proven correct.
Are you as sick of the food system we’ve gotten stuck with as I am? I know there are at least a few of you out there, so here is something empowering that every individual (and those on their email lists) can do to demand change from Washington: Sign the Food Declaration!
On Thursday, at the rotunda inside City Hall in San Francisco, the Food Declaration was read aloud for a crowd of 200 people to hear. Framers of the document, including Dan Imhoff, Alice Waters, Michael Pollan and many other food and agriculture policy thinkers have been working on creating a concise document that clearly states the kind of policy that is needed right now. It gives policymakers distinct guidelines, and endorsements from professionals in different fields who can act as advisers.
The petition has been getting tons of signatures at Slow Food Nation, where it is visible for all to see and sign, and afterward it will travel around the country to Slow Food convivia and NGOs who will host signing parties of their own. Meanwhile, endorsements and comments can be posted on the Food Declaration website, so that everyone can get in on the conversation. Roots of Change, Slow Food USA and other like-minded groups hope that by Spring 2009, the petition will be in Washington, D.C. for a final signing event, and then will be presented to Congress.
Would you love to know what other raw foodists are into? Any rawfoodist may submit her site here. Your website doesn’t have to go about rawfood, but the owner should be raw.
My green smoothie with blueberries, sprouts, cocoa and spinach of this morning, turned out to be most delicious. The addition of sprouts and lemon is surprisingly good.
Serves 2 - 3
Ingredients
2 bananas
2 tablespoons hulled hemp seed
1 cup frozen blue berries
2.5 cups pure water
1 teaspoon super foods of choice
5 cocoa beans / 1/2 tbs of nibs
Handful wild spinach
1 tablespoon broccoli sprouts
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Few drops of liquid stevia to taste
Directions
Put all ingredients in a high speed blender. Add enough water so that all ingredients are covered. Blend well. You may want to add a little more water if you like your smoothie thinner.
Kevin Trudeau is the author of the international bestselling book Natural Cures They Don’t Want You to Know. Now, he has his own radio station. It’s absolutely hilarious and you’d think it’s a comedy if it weren’t that the information he’s giving is absolutely correct. He’s exposing the pharmaceutical industry, politicians in a highly entertaining way. Plus, he’s giving solutions. Watch the Kevin Trudeau Show below.
Raw Food educator Tim VanOrder has a great quote he often shares. The quote is, “You need movement to have a raw food movement.”
It’s easy to get caught up in the food part of raw food, but as many of us intimately know, what we eat is just one aspect of the holistic journey. Today we’re talking about the movement aspect of the raw food moment with philosopher and dancer Gabrielle Roth.
Gabrielle has spent the last 50 years of her life exploring the world of music, theatre and dance. She is the founder of the recording label Raven Recordings, the inspiration behind the The Moving Center Schools, an author of 3 books, producer of over 18 albums, music director of the theater company The Mirrors and the creator of the 5Rhythms practice.
The 5Rhythms is a movement meditation designed to take the dancer through a journey that brings them back in alignment with the soul. The practice has grown into an international movement with over 120 teachers teaching it all over the globe.
Today in our interview with Gabrielle we talk about the 5Rhythms and how her journey into dance began.
Today we’re talking with the entertaining, the hilarious, the sometimes crazy, but totally lovable, Beth Berry, also known as Bunny Berry.
Bunny is the mastermind and curator behind the very supportive, and very popular, RawFu Community. RawFu is a place where both beginners and seasoned raw foodies go to sign up for raw food challenges.
Bunny started the RawFu community back in 2008 after having just completed a 100 day raw food challenge of her own. Now the community has thousands of members participating in challenges, providing each other support and producing fantastic content.
Today we talk to Bunny about the magic that makes her community special and some of the new projects that are part of her communities evolution.
Themes
“No perfect people allowed”
“It’s not just about the food”
“The most important thing when you start is encouragement”
The We Like It Raw Community is in for a real treat. Normally we have one My Way feature a week, but this his week we have two. Consider it part of the We Like It Raw Stimulus Package of Inspiration! Together we are all turning off the news, turning off the TV, turning off the drama and turning on the inspiration.
Speaking of inspiration… today’s My Way feature comes to us from a strong female entrepreneur and raw food coach who is overflowing with it - inspiration that is!
Alina Vladimirova had always considered herself a “healthy” girl, but it wasn’t until she went raw, back in 2006, that she truly understood the meaning of “health”. In 2007, after a year of experimenting with raw foods, Alina took a 30 Day to Raw class with Karen Knowler and discovered her calling to serve others as a health coach. Today Alina is based in Brooklyn and works with clients from all across the globe.
My Way: Alina Vladimirova
I am writing My Way at the most exciting time of my life. I just returned from Peru where I went on a month-long spiritual retreat. I came back with a new perspective on my life, my business, and how I want to be present in this world. I’ve learned to go with the flow and trust the Divine, to listen to my body and my Self, to let go of my labels, and to be “in the moment”.
I am no longer obsessed with being 100% raw; after three years of experimenting, I’ve discovered that I am much healthier and happier when I eat a high raw diet focusing on lots of greens and sprouts with occasional organic, cooked vegetables and grains during winter months and all raw during warmer months. My diet is constantly changing to accommodate my lifestyle needs, but right now this way works best for me.
Monday One thing I decided on when I quit my job was to not use alarm clocks and just wake up whenever I wake up. Today I wake up around 7:30 am, which seems like my natural time lately. Start my day with a yoga session followed by meditation. I drink tea with honey while checking my emails. Around 10:30 am I feel hungry and make banana-orange-frozen peaches smoothie for breakfast. My to-do list is quite big today, which means a busy day at the office: balancing two businesses (one and two) plus an online store is no easy task. Lunch is kale salad with avocado and cherry tomatoes. Wrap up my day around 8 pm. For dinner I make a mixed greens salad with avocado, bell pepper, cucumber, and scallions.
Tuesday My day begins with yoga and meditation. Starting my year with a spiritual retreat was an amazing idea, because now I am really motivated to continue all my practices. I make a banana-orange with super blue green algae smoothie for breakfast. I spend most of my morning on the phone with several coaching prospects and my clients. I send out a newsletter to my prospects and take care of urgent e-mails. For lunch I finish kale salad left from yesterday then sit down to write some articles for my blog. For dinner I eat a mixed greens salad and cup of vegetable soup. Max, my husband, fixes the kitchen facet and re-connects my water ionizer back on so I can drink pure, alkaline water again (it’s been two very long months without it). Oh, how I missed my ionizer! Hubby and I get comfortable on the sofa and listen to Obama’s Presidential Address to Congress. We drink some organic wine and unwind after a busy day.
Wednesday I am up at 6:30 am, feeling surprisingly well rested. This morning I decide to do Svaroopa Yoga session and Ujaji pranayama. For breakfast I make banana-orange smoothie with super blue green algae, maca, MSM, and bee pollen. Set up a couple of calls with raw food coaching prospects, take care of the orders placed on my online store, call my clients, and send out the Radiant on Raw newsletter. Another big salad for lunch – mixed greens with avocado, cucumber, red bell pepper, some dulse, and sprouts. I’ve been really craving greens lately (maybe because I ate so little of them in Peru I am now catching up). I have a really productive brainstorm session with my web designers, and then I spend my afternoon answering e-mails, catching up on Twitter and Facebook, reading newsletters from other raw foodies and network marketers, coming up with ideas for future blog posts and listening to training calls. I make some kale salad and flax crackers for dinner and finish my day with calling in on two teleclasses - never stop learning!
Thursday Not feeling very hungry this morning I just a spinach-mango smoothie. The weather is gorgeous outside so I go out for a walk in the sun and to get some groceries - sometimes I have to remind myself that I am not chained to my desk! Around noon I drink a quart of carrot-celery-apple juice and then have a blended soup for lunch. Dinner is mock salmon pate with flax crackers plus banana-orange-frozen raspberries smoothie for desert. I load my automatic sprouter with a new batch of seeds: radish, alfalfa, mung beans, and wheat berries and read some “Inkheart” before calling it a day.
Friday I get up very early (had to use my Zen alarm clock this time) to begin preparations for my Raw Food for Beginners class that takes place tomorrow. Breakfast is a delicious chocolate nut mylk, which gives me a nice boost of energy. I put flax crackers, marinated mushrooms and pizza base in the dehydrator and head out to Whole Foods in the city to shop for food I will need for the class. Green salad for lunch with some tomatoes, cucumbers, basil and dulse flakes. In the afternoon I print out handouts for tomorrow, clean the apartment and catch up on work. Nori rolls for dinner, one of my favorite things to eat. I love nori sheets – sometimes I just grab one and eat it straight up: crunchy and loaded with goodness. Off to bed early so I am well rested and energized tomorrow and ready to give the best raw food class ever!
This has turned out to be one very busy week but this is My Way and I love every second of it!
Alina Vladimirova is a raw food coach based in Brooklyn, New York. She blogs at radiantonraw.typepad.com
Today on show we have a very special guest with us, singer-songwriter CuCu Diamentes.
Back in 2003 CuCu co-founded the Grammy nominated Latin fusion band, Yerba Buena. On March 17th she’ll be releasing her solo debut album entitled CuCuLand, (available via iTunes).
MTV called CuCu’s style of music a cross between “downtown new york city funk and Cuban glamour and passion.”
What you won’t read on MTV though is that CuCu is also deeply passionate about raw foods, holistic health, essential oils and social responsibility.
A few months ago I met CuCu at a book launch party for my friend Dr Frank Lipman. It was there that I immediately new I had to introduce her music to the We Like It Raw community. Just as it’s so important to be intentional with what food you put in your mouth, it’s also just as important to surrounded yourself with uplifting music from soulful spirits.
Today in our interview CuCu talks about her music, the motivation behind it, her passion for holistic living and the important of giving back.
CuCu’s album release party will be hosted in NYC on March 19th at The Bowery Ballroom at 8pm. More details and tickets here.
We’ll be giving away two tickets to our NYC crew to CuCu’s show. If you’re interested in coming drop us a comment here and tell us what world music inspires you. We’ll pick two winners on Wednesday morning and notify you via email.
This week we’ve invited blogger, entrepreneur and weight loss queen Wendi Dee to participate in our My Way feature. Wendi was raised on a primarily vegetarian diet, but after many years of not paying attention to what she ate, she became nearly 100 lbs over-weight. Around 2005 she embarked on a raw food lifestyle and immediately noticed transformative results. Shortly there after she started the site Pure Jeevan as a way to inspire others to embark on their own transformation. Wendi lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with her husband Jim and daughter KDcat.
My Way: Wendi Dee
When Dhrumil asked me if I’d consider doing a My Way article, I was honored. However, I was on my way to the sunny, warm Florida Keys (I currently live in Pittsburgh, PA, which holds an award as one of the least sunny places in the USA). Writing a My Way article about my trip seemed like it would be a bit too much fluff. How many of you would have read beyond the second day when I was simply writing the previous day’s mantra over and over: I love the warm sun, I love the warm sun, I love the warm sun?
Well, guess what? The sun didn’t show up on our first day in Florida. I had made an impulsive decision to pick up in the middle of some major projects and juggled our budget around to make the trip a possibility, all so that I could see the sun and feel its warmth on my skin. Yet, there I was in a chilly, cloudy place. So, it turned out I had more to say than simple praise for sunshine. Here’s a summary of my week away, done My Way…
Wednesday—Friday Our trip officially started on Wednesday, when we (me, husband Jim, and daughter KDcat) drove to Sandusky, OH, to spend a couple of days at an unschool event held at the Kalahari Resort. KDcat is a brilliant, creative, loving young teen who has been given the freedom to explore her world and passions. I have a strong belief that no one needs to be “schooled” or controlled in life, so she’s been given a lot of freedoms that most people don’t experience. When we found out about an event put on for unschoolers, she claimed: “This is my Raw Spirit Festival!” What she meant was that now she’d be in a place surrounded by hundreds of other people just like her—all unschooled—as I was surrounded by others just like me—raw foodists—at the Raw Spirit Festival. I immediately understood what she meant and registered her for the event.
When I made our reservations at the resort, I requested one of their rooms with a full-size refrigerator. I told the manager that I have a very special diet, one that requires me to eat a lot of fresh, refrigerated produce to absorb maximum nutrients, so I’d like an exemption from their rule of a 3-night minimum in order to book the large room with the refrigerator. Sure, he probably assumed I was on some sort of doctor-prescribed medical diet, but I don’t feel like I was being dishonest. This raw food diet has brought me back to life and kept me alive (see my video on YouTube)—there’s no way I’m going to let something like a refrigerator stop me from eating/being healthy. He waived the 3-night minimum and we stayed in an absolutely amazing condo-like room for two nights!
While KDcat enjoyed time with other unschoolers all day and evening on Wednesday, Jim and I formatted some fabulous guest articles for our Pure Jeevan blog. I had requested some inspiring raw success stories to run on the blog while we’d be away, and many amazing individuals took the time to share their stories; the My Raw Story series was a huge hit.
Thursday afternoon I made banana ice cream for KDcat and some of her friends. Later that day I also created some amazing raw food meals to share with some fellow unschool raw food friends who were also staying at the resort. I made tacos, “veggie stir don’t fry,” a few different salads, and a banana coconut dessert. Then we all went to a Medieval Ball and danced into the evening.
Friday morning we woke at 4 a.m. so we wouldn’t miss our flight to Florida. We made large green smoothies to fuel us for the morning and kept some bananas easily accessible for later snacking. Once we landed, we picked up a funky-looking red rental car and drove straight to Glaser Organic Farms, where our produce order was waiting. We found out about Glaser Farms by posting an inquiry on Give It To Me Raw, asking where to find organics while visiting Florida. What a great, resourceful community!
Glaser Farms was nice enough to stay open late, so we’d have our groceries for the week while staying down at the Florida Keys. We ordered a few of their veggie patties to eat before leaving, and then arrived in the evening at the beach home we rented in Islamorada. I unpacked all the groceries, checked out all of the rooms, and went to bed so I’d be well rested for my first full day of the warm sunshine I’d been craving.
Saturday I woke up feeling a bit chilly, but opened up the sliding glass doors that covered the waterfront side of the home to check out my first Florida morning. There was a cold breeze blowing and I could see the sun trying to shine, but the clouds decided I wasn’t ready for such a drastically bright day after living in sunless Pittsburgh for so long. It wasn’t dreary at all, however. I was still happy to be away, even without the warm sun, and delighted to be without Internet or phone connections for an entire week!
Today we decided to relax a lot, explore the private beach, and drive to Key Largo to find a knife suitable for opening the young coconuts we had purchased from Glaser Farms (at $3 each). The coconuts were huge, but they still had an outer casing and were difficult to open for our smoothie that morning (we succeeded, however, because we wanted to have fresh coconut water!). That was our first time opening a coconut that didn’t have its outer casing already removed, but it’s something we (actually, Jim) got better at as the week progressed.
We are lovingly calling this the Coconut Trip, since we saw coconuts everywhere and they became a large focus for each day–marveling at the fact that everyone had them in their yards but didn’t eat them, spending time opening 2-4 a day, and searching out places to acquire even more of the lovely green, life-filled beauties! We managed to knock one out of a tree on the rental property, KDcat scored some free ones from a neighbor who was trimming his tree and tossing them out, and we found a roadside stand selling them for less than a dollar each!
Our food today consisted of amazing smoothies made with the freshest coconuts, strawberries, oranges, and mangoes we’ve ever had, nori wraps with chopped veggies, and almond pate eaten with veggies.
Sunday We went to bed early last night, compared to when we are at home and using the computers late into the evening. It’s amazing how the body quickly falls into a more natural rhythm with sleeping and waking, when we get away from our normal routines. We found ourselves waking to the sunrise. Yes, the sun was shining! I love the warm sun, I love the warm sun, I love the warm sun!
Today we hung out at the private beach, drank a lot of coconut and fruit smoothies, ate some raw apple pie, watched the beautiful sunset, and KDcat braved the cold water by taking a sunset swim in the Gulf of Mexico.
Monday Today we woke again to the sunrise. What a lovely way to live! We packed enough smoothies and veggies with dip to last us for a day away, and then headed down to Key West. We met Rita Romano, author of Dining in the Raw, to interview her for our blog. We bought some food from her while visiting, but then later also went to check out Help Yourself, a local restaurant serving organic raw foods. The food was so great that we hired a bike taxi to escort us from the famous Mallory Square sunset celebration to eat a late dinner before driving back to our rental home for the evening. While there for our second meal, we interviewed the owner, Charlie Wilson, for our blog.
KDcat fell in love with Key West. It’s a small, creative community with a lot of great energy and friendly people. On top of that, there are stray cats roaming the entire city (and beautiful stray hens/chicks, too)! We visited the beautiful beaches, enjoyed the warm sunshine, window shopped, walked past Hemmingway’s place, and checked out some kite surfers.
Tuesday Today we checked out some recommendations from Dr. D, who used to run a fasting retreat in the Keys. If you ever visit the Keys, be sure to check out Bahia Honda State Park for some beautiful ocean waves and nice sandy beaches (here we saw some strangely beautiful, alien-like blue bubble creatures that later Dr. D explained were poisonous Portuguese Man o’ Wars!), and then head back to the 7-mile bridge for the evening sunset with some yummy coconut smoothies!
Every day seems to start with a giant coconut and fresh fruit smoothie, and many evenings end with them, too! Today we also ate the dip and food we didn’t eat from yesterday’s trip to Key West. We had some more apple pie, too.
Wednesday Since this was our last full day here, we decided to hang out at the private beach again, as well as hang out around the house just relaxing. KDcat did some more swimming, while Jim and I waded out a bit but decided it was just too cold to be truly enjoyable. I sat with my face facing the sun, eyes closed, willing my body to absorb as much of the Vitamin D it could. I wasn’t too happy to be leaving, because in doing so I knew it meant I was headed back to the cold, sunless place that I so desperately want to move away from. But, I know things will work out in time, especially since I’m taking action on projects that are moving me forward.
Today we realized we overbought groceries. So, we created some amazing taco salads, smoothies, and a carob dessert, trying to figure out how we’d be able to get all of this produce back home. I decided to dedicate two of our carry on bags to the food, and I packed all the things that didn’t require refrigeration (like nuts, spices, etc.). I bagged up things that needed to stay cold and kept them in the fridge for the evening. In the freezer I kept a bag of ice that I would use to keep the produce chilled for the trip the next day. We packed up all of our clothes, biked a bit, hung out at the local beach some more, and played some more card games (which we’d been playing a lot during the week).
Before going to bed I was tempted to eat even more of the already prepared foods, so that they wouldn’t go to waste, and I stopped myself. What kind of thinking was going on in my head? Why would I eat if I wasn’t hungry? Wasn’t it better to leave some food behind and hope that the cleaning people would eat it? I made a mental note to remind myself that even though I don’t like to be wasteful, I value my health above all else.
Thursday We started the day with enormous coconut fruit smoothies, which we also bottled up to drink during the long drive to the airport. During the drive we watched the sunrise and it was absolutely beautiful. While at the airport, since we arrived early, we sat and leisurely ate tacos from the leftovers I had packed. Everything was staying nicely chilled, which made me happy. Before we went through the security check, I dumped the ice from our carry on bag into a trash can and folded the bag up to fill again, once through the security check (to keep things chilled while on the plane trip home).
Our plane was held up in Philadelphia because of severe winds, so we were getting hungry during the flight. We had easily accessible bananas and some dried mulberries. By the time we arrived in Pittsburgh, it was late in the evening and we were all quite hungry. We stopped to buy a soup, bread, and brownie at Panera Bread Company for KDcat on the way home (yep, she’s not completely raw and eats things that drive me crazy sometimes, but it’s her body and her choices—at least I know she’s educated on what those foods are doing to her body). I was so hungry that I ate more than my share of dates and walnuts on the way home, but Jim didn’t complain. There was a feeling of comfort in returning home, even though I’m looking forward to moving away as soon as our home sells.
There’s one thing that I learned during this trip: I refuse to live long-term in a cold climate anymore. I insist on living in an area filled with warm sunshine, a place where I can knock my food out of the trees and feast to my heart’s content!
Wendi lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with her husband Jim and daughter KDcat.
|
