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Mango at Union Station: Raw in public

Mango at Union Station: Raw in public

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  • I experience this all the time, especially when I’m on the UC San Diego campus. My generation, especially, has grown up on processed, boxed, microwaved foods. When kids see me eating a salad or a bowl of fruit sitting cross-legged in the middle of school, I always get strange looks. They don’t realize that for most of human history that is how food was eaten. No society before ate while sitting on a couch, watching TV, and surfing the internet. Life has gotten so complicated that people find simplicity strange.

  • bittbitt Raw Newbie

    yeah i got a lot of strange looks with my green smoothie at the farmer’s market. people were like dumstruck that someone might actually drink their greens. silly humans.

  • newbienewbie Raw Newbie

    at the farmers market today, everyone kept questioning my green juice, “what’s that?!?” I even got, “that looks like a dare”. guess I would have thought green smoothies were strange too before learning about them. Thanks Victoria! ;-)

  • rachel_akikorachel_akiko Raw Newbie

    LOL, newbie, someone thought your green juice was a dare? that’s so funny.

    yeah, I get weird looks sometimes when I only eat fruit (like strawberries and pineapples) at a party or something (if they even have any) and especially if I bring my own, but I don’t really care anymore.

  • Perhaps they’re curious or jealous! :) I know I would envy someone a beautiful mango snack if only fast food was around! I once ate a mango with a friend, sitting cross legged on her bed. No napkins, no knives. Peeled with our teeth and gnawed off, juices licked off like wild things! It’s one of both of our favorite memories!

  • pianissimapianissima Raw Newbie

    just a little side: you don’t have to peel mangoes (if they are organic of course). the skin is delicious! i eat mine like oblong apples. =)

  • while in other countries- fruit is really all they have. you would see men, children, women,. crouching in dirt streets eating plums, apricots, dates, bananas… children included. when i feed my child fruit, some of my fellow mother friends think im starving him.

  • MeditatingMeditating Raw Newbie

    I know if you had done that down South, people definatelu would have looked at you because they would have been trying to figure out what you were eating. I don’t think the average person around here (certainly the average person who uses public transport, which in my area is unfortunately primarily those in lower income brackets who can’t afford cars) knows what a mango looks like and that may have been the issue.

  • I always thought mango skins were supposedly poisonous and could make you very ill…is that some bad fruit hype? I suppose I ought to ask google the question…

    I brought in a green smoothie to work the other week and found I was very self-conscious about drinking it, knowing I would have to “explain” myself. My co-worker took one look and said, “that looks disgusting.” Sigh…

  • suryadayasuryadaya Raw Newbie

    Everyone in my office has been deflowered to the presence of my green juices and smoothies now. I encourage their approval by highlighting the key points in the morning when they undoubtedly still question it.

    It goes kind of like this: Them: What the heck is that now, something else you pureed?= Me: Yep, its green. Today I made it with an apple so its very sweet. Them: Oh, I’ve eaten an apple in my life. I know what those are. Did you try those new apple fries from Burger King? Me: Oh no not yet but I sure will!

    Someday I think they will gather an immunity and be more excepting of those with strange eating habits that pass through after I’m gone.

  • newbienewbie Raw Newbie

    apple fries?? what will they think of next?

  • elizabethhelizabethh Raw Newbie

    haa same thing happened to me with a mango at a subway station! so funny. i enjoyed the stares though, i wont lie.

  • I consider myself very lucky to live where I do. I will get the occasional look from people when gnawing on fruit or drinking a green smoothie, but for the most part, people are genuinely interested about my diet. It’s been really fun so far embarking on this raw journey and having the pleasure of sharing it with others!!!

  • mmmorgans… i have experienced the same thing. whenever i drink my green juice in public, i get a lot of questions about it, but as i’m always eager to talk about raw foods with anyone who is interested i have found that people tend to really be more curious than anything else. i’ve had to learn not to get up on my soap box when it isn’t asked of me, but in my experience anyone who is asking questions is more than likely to be genuinely intrigued… provided of course that you don’t respond in a defensive manner. although i also happen to live in Los Angeles… so people here tend to be very open about any kind of “weird” or “different” food philosophy!

    i also have found that i tend to sit on the floor cross legged more often while i eat these days! big bowl of salad and all. .

  • bittbitt Raw Newbie

    i get lots of weird looks at work but mostly because stuff they never thought of has been made into food in a new way, like pumpkin seed crackers, onion bread, collard wraps, green smoothies. but in that setting i can at least talk to them and let them taste if need be.

    the idea of an apple fry is nice but not from burger king. or murder king i should say. yuck.

  • thecavsmanthecavsman Raw Newbie

    I live and work in the downtown of a northern city (Philly) so people are a little more open minded. There are actually a lot of people that eat Lean Cuisine, Salads, etc occasionally at my job (significant if you know anything about the average diet) – and a few sandwich brown baggers.

    I get some questions like “man, you seem to always have some fruit” and they pry into the lifestyle a little bit. Or while they are making their eggs they will see my cutting up fruit and say that I make them feel guilty. I think over the coarse of the next few months people will be emboldened to ask me more questions.

    But when they do pry a little, I actually don’t open up and I just say that I “eat healthy”. I never say raw, so people never get too interested. It’s not that I don’t want to share the raw lifestyle, it’s just that I consider myself a healthy eater and I don’t like to label myself or seem like I’m on some sort of vain diet. I told someone that I happened to lose 25 pounds being healthy, but never raw or anything. I feel like raw is how people were made to eat so it shouldn’t be different in the first place. There are no dietary restrictions or quantity limits, just restrictions on preparation. Raw is just healthy eating. I donno maybe one day I’ll let people know.

  • thecavsmanthecavsman Raw Newbie

    I live and work in the downtown of a northern city (Philly) so people are a little more open minded. There are actually a lot of people that eat Lean Cuisine, Salads, etc occasionally at my job (significant if you know anything about the average diet) – and a few sandwich brown baggers.

    I get some questions like “man, you seem to always have some fruit” and they pry into the lifestyle a little bit. Or while they are making their eggs they will see my cutting up fruit and say that I make them feel guilty. I think over the coarse of the next few months people will be emboldened to ask me more questions.

    But when they do pry a little, I actually don’t open up and I just say that “I eat healthy”. I never say raw, so my encounters are kept to a minimum. It’s not that I don’t want to share the raw lifestyle, it’s just that I consider myself a healthy eater and I don’t like to label myself or seem like I’m on some sort of vain diet. I told someone that I happened to lose 35 pounds being healthy, but never raw or anything. I feel like raw is how people were made to eat so it shouldn’t be different in the first place. There are no dietary restrictions or quantity limits, just restrictions on preparation. Raw is just healthy eating. I donno maybe one day I’ll let people know.

  • thecavsman- I like that you tell people ‘I eat healthy’, that’s a good way to put it! But wouldn’t you consider that not eating meat or dairy is a restriction? Congratulations on the woght loss, I too have shed a few punds thanks to raw, 25 of them!!

  • thecavsmanthecavsman Raw Newbie

    Congrats to you, too

    Only problem is I didn’t want to lose those 25 pounds and it caught me off guard. I am actually trying to gain that weight back in healthy weight – got into eating avocado.

    Ur right – meat and dairy is a restriction worth mentioning. I suppose I can say that I am vegan – but it still sounds too trendy too me – and it sounds like you eat nasty food. And I am against these vegetarians that eat pizza and potato chips all day and think they are healthy – don’t want to be thought of like that lol

  • bittbitt Raw Newbie

    yeah vegan is trendy but i think of the vegan label as an ethical choice. if you not as focused on the ethics the vegan part can be hard to put on because people will test you with ethical questions you have to be prepared to answer.

  • pianissimapianissima Raw Newbie

    i just tell people i eat raw when we are NOT in front of food. i like to get it over with fast, when the context is appropriate. and since food ALWAYS comes up, it’s really easy to slip it in there. the conversation usually doesn’t last a long time, and i don’t anxious about eating around people because they already know. since i decided to do that a huge weight has been lifted.

    the problem with telling people you eat “healthfully” is that for ex, when my co-teachers were ordering chinese “food” the other day, if they thought i ate “healthfully” they would have ordered me some brown rice and sauteed broccoli. and i would have had a LOT more explaining to do when that didn’t work… when i bring it up casually it just nips it in the bud. i’m comfortable with it, so why shouldn’t they be too?

    bitt—yes, i actually will pick and choose which i say… “raw” or “vegan” or “raw vegan” depending on whether it’s a matter of ethics or not.

    i’ve also told people i eat “raw plant foods” which is less of a label, but still aptly descriptive.

  • pianissimapianissima Raw Newbie

    oh, versepie—yeah, i found i really dislike tables now! what surprised me more was that i suddenly wanted to eat everything with my hands.

  • thecavsman… that is really interesting that you choose to say that you eat healthy rather than raw. i agree that there is definitely a stigma attached to any kind of eating that may be considered trendy or that even may just SOUND overly restrictive to those who aren’t fully educated about it. i know for myself that i have had a couple of friends make comments that they think eating raw is a form of eating disorder “because it’s obsessive”, to which i counter that i eat MORE now than before i was raw (well still on my way to 100%) and that while i’ve really only lost maaaybe a couple of pounds since i was already at a very healthy weight beforehand, i no longer get daily migraines and headaches nor need to be on antibiotics for sinusitis all the time!! not to mention as i’m still on my way to 100%, i still eat plenty of stuff that i ‘shouldn’t’ and don’t feel guilty about it, just recognize the next day that it’s not my goal for a reason, ha. i think the same people who make these comments never believe me about the migraines and sinusitis and like to think it must be something else that’s a coincidence, but for those who are less shut down about food for their own personal reasons, i’ve found that it’s inspired some of my friends who also have bad headache/sinus problems to at least cut back on dairy with fantastic results!

  • thecavsmanthecavsman Raw Newbie

    Yeah bitt…I agree about the ethical part. I just do not eat raw for the ethics to tell you the truth – or let’s say that I didn’t start off this way for the ethics but now I have gained a sort of different world view through it all and I am much more of an animal sympathizer. But I still don’t want to portray myself as an ethical “vegan” – because it downplays the health benefits of raw/veganism. “Healthy” is easy. If people want to pry into what exactly I eat, they can do so afterward.

    dorian. I like the mentality you have going raw and not worrying about eating something bad on the journey because the next day will be better. So stress free. And I know what you mean about people thinking that the changes really are all in your head or a coincidence. My friend thought it was a placebo effect – when I said I felt great and had no more ADD. That was until the acne cleared – even the most cynical people can’t think you can think acne away (though I will say, thoughts do help as I used to think it away for certain events when I still ate SAD).

  • I LOVE that you posted this!

    I deal with this all the time too!!!

    I eat mangos everyday. Literally. I never cut them like I used to. For months I eat them just by peeling them…it feels more natural to me.

    I’ll be walking through a Walmart to get something and it cracks me up to have a mango in one hand, eating it like it were a BURGER or something that people in Walmart generally see. I love it. I love it I love it I love it.

    I think the more people like us are proud to walk around with bananas, mangos, green smoothies in hand…people will become more familiar with all of this.

    I think it is truly awesome and amazing :)

  • KhaasLadkiKhaasLadki Raw Newbie

    I agree with thecavsman – although (especially since I’m not 100% raw) I didn’t start eating raw for the ethics, I have, same as he did, gained some different ideas after learning more about this. I also like to tell people I eat “healthy” instead of vegetarian, vegan, pescetarian, or whatever; people just get weird ideas if you tell them that you ‘are’ something – like when I asked for no eggs in my rice noodles at a restaurant the other day, the girl I was with asked “Vegan?”; I was tempted to say “Pretty much, yah”, but I just said “I just eat really healthy, and I don’t like eggs”. It stops the long conversations that I’m usually not in the mood for (and I’m not worried about her eating habits anyway – she eats very healthy).

    But back on topic…

    When people at work see me with a green drink in my hand they just watch me out of the corner of their eye while they talk… like I don’t notice lol. Sometimes they’ll say something like “What is THAT?” and I use my TMJ as an excuse “Since I don’t want to chew anything, I blend extra stuff in my smoothie for nutrient value” which is true, but then I have to tell them what it is – haha. My aunt finally tried a sip of one after me staying with her for a week and drinking 2 gs every day; I was glad because she liked it! I knew she would :D. And then when I’ve got some lettuce wrap or something they always think I’m on a diet – I’m like uh, no – you should see what’s inside the lettuce wrap! lol. And yah, what’s so strange about seeing someone with just a piece of fruit?! I ate a banana a few weeks ago while I was at a horse show, and I think i got more strange looks from that than I did from my green smoothies! It’s kindof annoying, but I like it because I’m hoping maybe I’ll make someone want a banana :D. Of course, these ARE country people – nothin’ but double triple extra deep fried batter covered lard for them lol. But who knows…

    Oh and I, like many others I’ve noticed, also find myself wanting to eat outside, or at least in a quiet place where I can enjoy my meal and pretend I’m outside. Everyone will be eating at the table at work and I quietly slip past them and step outside to the picnic table and enjoy the warm sunlight while I munch on my yummies. I think it can help as much as the raw food does as far as making you feel better!

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