Lately I’ve been re-thinking raw.
It’s easy to find something new and exciting and go crazily happy over it. I know this because I’m definitely the typical experimental 18-year-old. But when does food become a dogma? I’m just wondering what people think.
I go to an Environmental Liberal Arts College, so recognizing that you are the Earth and the Earth is you is key to my beliefs and what I study. It’s always been in the back of my mind, and I’ve recently allowed it to surface: being raw here in Northern Wisconsin is completely unsustainable! Almost all of the food I ate was from California or Washington or Mexico, etc. This is completely wrong to me.
The Native Americans here (mainly Ojibwa and some Sioux and Lakota) grow wild rice and have grown it for thousands of years. They hunt animals and cook roots and squashes for food. They have always been spiritual, healthy people. Very little of their food is or ever was raw, except for during the summer. They listened to what the Great Mother tells them, not what some scientific study does. Now, their culture has been almost completely diluted except for those few natives and non-natives who want to continue their traditions.
And I’ve been having horrible digestive problems for a while. I’ve also felt low in energy for many days at a time. I think that the Northwoods and I were very unbalanced! There is nothing wrong with raw food, except that it become’s a lifestyle, or even a dogma for some, in a place where it doesn’t fit. Raw food doesn’t fit well here. If I want to respect the Northwoods and take what it gives me, I should be eating what local farmers produce as best I can.
So lately, I’ve decided that I will integrate raw food that I can as best I can (since I can’t change the world with my idealistic, college student, tree hugger ethics!!) with local food. I’ve tried sprouting wild rice, but it fails often because of the traditional way it is prepared (Wild rice comes mostly from Natives and is prepared the traditional way, which involves some sort of high temperature or something. Basically wild rice isn’t raw ever). I eat some greens, but mainly my own sprouts and local sprouts, local roots for soups (which, other than carrots, can barely be digested raw without problems. It’s just historically cooked!), wild rice, and local kimchi (mmmmmmmm). Apples can be eaten here in the winter if stored properly, which I’m considering for next semester.
Next year, you can buy a box of local produce from farmers each month for a price. That’s the way to go. Doing what you can to be balanced with the environment, not worrying about whether something is raw or not. Worry and stress are HUGE causes of so many health problems in the first place! I believe very much in energy affecting one’s health, and that, contrary to many people’s beliefs, unbalanced energy is the basis for health problems. Emotions play a large role, as well as disrespect toward the Earth and one’s surrounding environment.
If I were still living in Northern California (I grew up there), or any place where more things grow, I could eat more raw food. I could eat mainly fruit in a tropical place, since that’s what the Earth provides there. But I don’t. So until I do (I dream of living in the highlands of a tropical area), I’m going to listen to my spirit, the Earth’s spirit, and not the raw food gurus who claim one must be raw to be healthy.
Sorry for the long essay-like speech. I hope I haven’t offended anyone!
Comments
Oh, Zooey, you’re awesome. I’m glad people are kind of getting my point. It’s all about trying things and learning, not adhering to one dogma and becoming self-righteous. I love raw food, but is it the only way?
Cherie, I read this long list of myths from steven bratman (that’s his name, right?), but that link is also very interesting and I haven’t read before, thanks!!
Zooey, you’re right about people in the U.S. having a hard time with moderation. It’s so hard to find balance it seems! One person is pulling you one way while other pull you in different directions. And in the meantime, I’m not feeling up to shape and I also feel guilty about my environmental impact. Ugh.
I like female radical revolutionaries
Zooey Glass.
Yes, yes, and more yes.
The open mindedness in this post gives me so much hope, fills me with love, and reminds me to relax.
Omshanti,
I will change the name.
Namaste ( I felt like saying that)
I completely can hear where you are coming from. I think there are a lot of people on this website who are high raw and feel great doing that. I went from eating a fairly SAD diet (not McDonald’s type food but plenty of junk for sure) to eating maybe 70% raw. Of course I feel better. I’ve always thought it’s as much what I’m not eating as what I am eating though. I get a weekly farm delivery and if I want to cook some of those veggies, I’d feel better doing that than eating raw veggies from 1/2 way around the globe. Now that I feel I am eating cleaner, I can tell what makes me feel good and what doesn’t. Raw food makes me feel good but so do other cooked foods. Sugars and white flour foods make me feel the worst. I think you have to listen to your body and do what feels right. I would still say raw food has changed my life but I’ll probably never be 100% nor do I necessarily want to be.
Ambikalee, you are one of my favorite people.