Hello Beautiful!

It looks like you're new to The Community. If you'd like to get involved, click one of these buttons!

In this Discussion

Fresh foods midwest blues

Hello everyone!

I am still in the planning stages of going raw, although I have long been a healthy eater (avoiding most processed foods and all refined sugar). I feel ready to go raw as much as possible, but one question keeps coming up for me:
When so many books and raw foodists advise using fresh organic foods from the local market, etc. (many of them seem to live in California), how do those of us in the midwest and cold winter areas adapt best?

It is clearly nearly impossible to buy “locally grown” veggies in my area (eastern Kansas) during the winter. I want very much to be health AND planet conscious, but this is a dilemma. How do some of you handle this issue? We can’t all live in California.

Thanks for your advice on this and anything else you think is helpful to someone so new to this lifestyle.

Comments

  • Hello hairstar! And welcome to being raw!

    I’ve been raw since May 2007 and I live in a little town in 3,000 in the southwestern Nebraska panhandle. Before going to the Raw Spirit Fest last October I’d never even met another raw person before. Also, I didn’t find this forum until after I took the plunge myself.

    So, here’s how I do it. I live 1.5 hrs from Fort Collins, CO. They have a WF, a Sunflower and a local co-op. Luckily, I don’t have an actual job (though I do run two full time businesses) so I’m able to drive there every other week, sometimes weekly. At first I focused on just eating raw food but not organic. Now that I’m more comfortable with how I eat, I eat 70% or more organic. But, honestly, there is just no physical way for people like us to eat 100% organic. Last month with all the snow and weather we had I couldn’t get there for 3 weeks. But I lived through it. I just had to eat conventional from our local grocery. I hated it, but I just didn’t have a choice. I may be 100% raw and I’m very proud of myself for this accomplishment but I have to let myself slide on the organic part. Where I live just doesn’t allow me to be 100% organic. I have plans of building a pit greenhouse this year so I’m hoping for more organic in the years to come. But… it’s still really hard. However, everything about being raw is worth the effort!!!! I’d never go back to SAD, so don’t let our location deter you from living a wonderful raw life, It’s sooooo worth it!!!

  • The temp. actually reached double digits here in Omaha today. I love Nebraska, but it’s coooold. It will be so beautiful here in the spring when the snow melts and we start to get those crazy rainstorms.
    I live ten minutes from a Whole Foods, so it’s easier for me to get organic produce. In the winter I stick with root vegetables and winter fruits: oranges, lemons, grapefruits. I avoid non-seasonal things like tomatos, grapes, melons, mangos, and pineapples. I keep a lot of frozen berries around too. So far, sprouting is the easiest way to get nutrition. Sprouted quinoa is really filling.

  • skizzyskizzy Raw Newbie

    i have to do what’s best for me. if i restricted myself to only eating local foods, i’d have given up in the first week.

    but that’s just me. for others, eating locally is an important issue.

  • Thanks for your encouraging words. I pretty much guessed that I would have to make some concessions, but it is also frustrating not to be able to do the optimum things. I live about an hour from Kansas City, but when you think about how fresh you want things to be, that’s definitely not ideal—I don’t have the opportunity to make the trip every week. Anyway, it’s good to know that I can still get the benefits even if I have to settle for less for the present time. I am really looking forward to how much better I know I will feel, and I am pleased to be a part of such a supportive community.

  • lstorzlstorz Raw Superstar

    In Chicago, I am fortunate to have a LOT of Whole Foods and Wild Oats stores to choose from, so I buy whatever organic produce is on sale (and some conventional produce like tomatoes and avocadoes… I haven’t even seen organic tomatoes in months), and, honestly, I don’t worry about local in the winter. Maybe if I were more hardcore, I would, but I’m not. You can’t do everything at once…. start small and slowly your process will expand. I say—do what you can and that’s far better than nothing. Every effort counts. Good luck and stay warm!

Sign In or Register to comment.