The Original Diet!

In the comment section of my Girls’ Day Out post, I wrote this reply to Monique:

“…Talking about Bible verses, one of my favorites is Genesis 1 verses 29 and 30 about God’s love in creating our food…..

“God said, ‘See I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food.

‘And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food…’” ~ NRSV Children’s Bibile

These verses resonate so deeply with me and clearly remind me of the original diet for humans. I often tell my son that if he ever gets confused by what we should be eating, refer to Genesis. Genesis does mean “the beginning.”

Today, I was flipping through Your Right to be Beautiful by Tonya Zavasta, and came across her “Nature Always Right, Cooks Never” chapter in which she says:

“Many Christians praise themselves for abstaining from sins and sensuous pleasures such as drinking, smoking and gambling while indulging in perverse eating as the only pleasure available to them. At the same time, during church meetings they address God with a long list of prayer requests for sick people. We are being irrational when we ask God to do for us what we should do for ourselves. Read a book by Rev. George Malkums, Why Christians Get Sick, and you will become convinced you do not have to be sick, and much misery among people could be eliminated simply if they return to God’s original diet. His other book, God’s Way to Ultimage Health, is filled with inspirational testimonials of more than 300 people who recovered from different degenerative diseases or simply improved their overall health by following God’s design for our food consumption.”

During this past week or so, I’ve been steadily reminded of God’s original diet. Writings to support this, such as Tonya’s words above, have been popping up everywhere.

In the latest newsletter I received via e-mail from EatSprouts.com, Val wrote:

“…I love the rawfood world where it’s win-win for everyone! I don’t know of any other world where every single living being WINS.

“The more you REACH FOR RAW, the more you discover you’re doing the work you always wanted, beyond your dreams. You don’t need a vision board.

“You need to focus on a Green Smoothie daily, and all of Ann Wigmore’s teachings. Then the divine harmony gently carries you into a dream world, a world where there is so much love and joy every day.

“A higher power knows where you belong, even more than you do! God does not need a vision board. Please eat food from the hand of God. This is where your bliss lies.”

Need I say more?

In Bliss!

Love,

Penny

Why “Raw Food” Is A Four Letter Word

I’m in New York City, hanging out in my hotel room while the Food Network is filming Tim in Central Park. I’ve got a bit of diva time until things start to get pretty busy.

Last night we went for dinner with the producer and camera guy/director of the show. Pure Food & Wine’s Caesar salad is hands-down the yummiest I’ve ever tasted. I had a gingery green juice, too, and nibbled off everyone’s plates to taste the different dishes!

Sarma, you’re amazing! Thank you so much! We were spoiled a bit, I suspect, because we were there with the “Food Network” so they took very good care of us bringing 2 extra desserts and a gorgeous appetizer.

*sigh*

But, I’m secretly looking forward to nibbling on sweetgrass and fresh clover the next chance I get. Tim’s crazy raw food granola is too good to put down. Tonight we have dinner at Bonobos and then in front of about 1000 people at a Spaghetti dinner before Tim’s big race (The National Mountain Running Championships), Tim will be serving himself up some raw spaghetti while the rest of the participants chow down on noodles. The next night we have a 5 course raw gourmet meal that Tim’s preparing for the camera, some friends and family.

Then I plan to be sipping on coconut water for a couple days and getting back to my sunflower sprouts!

I wanted to bring up something interesting that I heard in conversation last night.

Last night the producer of the show said some surprising things about how people respond to the word “raw” at the Food Network. He said, “‘Raw’ is a four-letter word.” People, including the executives, have a visceral and negative reaction to the whole idea of raw food.

We’re actually very fortunate that when the producers pitched their story about Tim, it was accepted. I’m sure it has a lot to do with the incredible achievements he’s making in the elite athletic community that really got his foot in the door. However, this, and the fact that “raw” is “war” backwards, got me to thinking…

Why is it that the word has created such negativity even within the ranks of one of the greatest media sources we have about food and diet? If it’s supposed to be so great, have all these amazing health benefits, then why are people reacting this way.

I’m not inspired by the idea of converting a few thousand people on to the new raw food religion. I’m inspired by the idea of touching the life of every person I see in the streets and every exhausted body in the subway stations with the possibility that there is a better way to live.

To the degree that we make our message inaccessible to others, we impede our own ability to move forward and create POSITIVE change in the world. I think we’d get a lot farther if people could just keep it simple, accessible and positive.

“Try it! Pick up a fruit and some veggies for 2 meals a day and see how you feel.”

All you have to do, really, is pick up a few apples and get through the day. You’ll see for yourself whether or not raw food works. And as for intellectual arguments, well, what could you eat if left to your own devices in nature?

Pasta? Bacon? Cheese? or Leafy greens and fresh blueberries?

All these “super” foods create for me a super urge to tell someone to pick up a bag of seeds and plant a garden in their window sill. Personal empowerment should not be limited to one’s income. And I don’t believe the answer to making the world a better place lies in the percentage of green algae in the diet.

I think it depends on the degree to which we can free ourselves from ignorance. And I don’t mean to be difficult, here, but as long as the Food Network is getting the heeby geebies off the word “raw” then there’s something we’re not doing right and it deserves being addressed.

Are we, educators in the raw food movement, taking responsibility for creating a comfortable experience for others? Are these choices we make about food and nutrition sustainable and in consideration of all people?

You’ll never hear us make an ultimatum or say one way is the right way to live or eat. We try to promote all paths with the hope that you’ll find the one that fits right for you and we believe that they all lead to truth depending on who you are and what works for you.

When I look around me in the subway stations and on the streets of New York, I am overcome with an urgency to tell the world there’s a better way to live. It’s not about “raw” foods, but freedom from ignorance, common sense and a way of living that will handle some of the very appauling conditions we’ve created on this planet.

If we’re talking about “raw” foods in a way that excludes people on the basis of their spiritual beliefs or their personal wealth, I believe we’re doing the world a disservice.

I hope that this project with Tim and the Food Network can make a difference in the way people view this movement–make it positive, real, and accessible to others. I hope it touches the lives of a lot of people in a positive way.

Back to the adventures! It’s going to be a VERY busy day!

Love and hugs,

Tera

Thriving On Raw Foods With Tim VanOrden

Here’s the scoop about Tim’s Presentation tonight at Bonobo’s Restaurant!

The world is taking notice of Tim VanOrden, elite athlete and creator of the Running Raw Project www.RunningRaw.com. Tim is a raw vegan athlete who has an international reputation for excelling in some of the world’s most grueling sports. His achievements in Stair climbing, or Tower Racing, have just been featured in GQ Magazine and the London Guardian.

He’s recently been crowned the New England Mountain Running Champion in the master’s category. On June 21st Tim will be competing against the best runners in the country in the US Mountain Running Championships. This year’s championship course is up the 7.6 mile toll road on New Hampshire’s infamous Mt. Washington – a 6,288 ft. monster of a climb. The Food Network is sending up a camera crew to film Tim in this epic race as part of a documentary style show that they are doing on Tim and the Running Raw Project.

Tim will be giving a dynamic presentation at Bonobos Restaurant (18 E. 23rd street) at 7PM Thursday June 19th. In this lecture Tim puts forth a new definition of Health; beyond the absence of disease and into the realm of THRIVING. In this discussion he’ll touch upon the power of a raw vegan diet and how transitioning to this lifestyle will open new possibilities for your life. Tim’s talks have touched thousands of people throughout the country and we’re thrilled to have the chance to offer you this presentation.

There is a fee of $15 payable at the door. All proceeds go to supporting the Running Raw project and enabling Tim, as a sponsored athlete to continue to get the message of Raw Foods out to the mainstream population. Doors open at 6:00 with time for a delicious raw vegan meal, and the presentation will begin at 7:00pm sharp. Please contact 514 833 3482 or email info@runningraw.com, if you have any questions.

**IMPORTANT NOTE**
This presentation will be filmed by the Food Network for a special presentation to be broadcast in October of 2008 on the life of Tim VanOrden and how the Raw Food Diet is enabling him to achieve outstanding performance within the elite athletic community.

Tera’s Off For Raw Food Adventures In NYC

I didn’t even tell you all about my last trip to New York, and I’m already to take off again. I so enjoyed the last visit that I simply couldn’t resist making a second trip happen quickly. Okay, there’s an ulterior motive, but more on that in a moment.

Before I even dare go out there gobbling up new experiences, I’ve got to tell you why the last trip was so amazing.

I left from Montreal and took a train to some charming little down in… Vermont? (I’m terrible with geography. Sorry. Tim came to pick me up and we met for the first time, but we’ve been working together on projects since about December last year.

Annnyway, he showed me the ropes of an American Health Food store and I was SUCH a tourist–eyes wide and impressed with the selection, colors, and strangeness of things to me. I was particularly impressed with the selection of freeze dried foods. WOW! So pretty and what a texture!

Tim and I made our way through gorgeous scenic routes toward NYC and were racing to get to the Chocolate Rave the Vanessa of Gnosis Chocolate and Dhrumil of We Like It Raw had put together in honor of Tim and Philip. Sorry, Dhru! It’s the only choco shot I have!

It was SUCH a treat to meet amazing people from all over. I was so honored to be in the room with such fiery, bright people. Could have hugged all night! But instead, we danced and ate chocolate, so I’m definitely NOT complaining.

That was a perfect way to spend our first day in NYC.
The next day brought us a presentation with Kris Carr at Bonobo‘s (oh my GAWSH! That was sooo yummy!). Kris is amazing.

Then Tim took the time to show me around the streets of NYC a little bit.

For me everything was pretty new and I was especially impressed with the number of PEOPLE everywhere. I couldn’t believe how many people lined up at the checkouts to buy food. It was just like watching herds of humans everywhere!

We absolutely loved this weird picture that we came across. Soooo cute!

After that, I took off my high heel boots and at this stage, I really had had enough of them, and went into the car and put on my running shoes! It felt GREAT! As much as I love sparkles and stilettos, I’m SUCH a flat shoed princess for getting around.

Sooo, Tim and I went for a run in Central Park together. It was absolutely beautiful. I even got the chance to meet up with one of my coaching clients, Sandra and her son in Central Park before I ran. That was great! I can’t wait until we have our first Diva Retreat so I can meet sooo many amazing women we work with.

I quickly changed into a more respectable outfit in the car, and then we made our way to Pure Food and Wine for a birthday dinner with a whole table full of amazing people. Here are a few:

Gala Darling was there.

Philip McClusky, Dhru, Tim

And, of course, the juiciest, giggliest, squishiest moments of the whole trip were spent in this amazing woman’s arms for some of the best hugs ever.

I loooooooooove you Amy!!

This morning I’m off to Vermont to meet Tim and tomorrow we drive to NYC because we’ll be spending a week with the Food Network who have decided to do a documentary style presentation on him. I’ll post the promo annoucement in another blog entry for anyone who can come and make it there to join us.

It would be wonderful to see you! We’ve got our fingers crossed, but Amy should be able to make it, too!

Anyway, gotta catch my train in an hour and still haven’t packed!!

Silly diva.

Love and early morning hugs,

Tera

Mummy Gets Creative

I’m rather proud of myself. This weekend I became all crafty and homespun, and made library bags for my girls. They had been taking standard council library bags to kindergarten each Tuesday (which is the kindergarten “library” borrowing day, when they are each allowed to take one book home), but they had mentioned many times that they wanted “special” library bags.

Being short on time, I hit the stores in search of the perfect bags. Surely they had to be out there! Surely they wouldn’t cost the earth! Well, unfortunately, they didn’t have to be out there, and if they were out there, they actually cost more than the earth and the moon combined. So, being supermama, and feeling the need to take on too many projects at once, I decided to make the bags myself.

After much fruitless searching for non-licensed, non-horrid fabric, I eventually came across a gorgeous store that sells beautiful fabric. If you live in Melbourne, check it out – “Patchwork on Central Park” in East Malvern (www.patchworkoncentralpark.com.au). I’d never before gone to this store, thinking it would be a fuddy-duddy gathering place for old ladies making standard old patchwork quilts (not that there’s anything wrong with that), but I’m so glad it was recommended to me. So many funky fabrics, so little time…

So why on earth did I think I would have the skills or patience to undertake a project like this? Well, I have the benefit of great sewing training from my mum (for more on my amazing mum, see my mother’s day blog), but I had also armed myself with a super little book called The Creative Family: How to Encourage Imagination and Nurture Family Connections, by Amanda Blake Soule. Amanda has a fabulous blog at www.amandasoule.com (the photography is luscious, for starters), and recently released this book. I love this book. For many parents, there would be nothing “new” in it, but it really is an inspiration. She even tells you how to make wooden knitting needles! I’m going to employ heaps of Amanda’s fabulous ideas. The girls are already so into “craft” – they’ll love having even more ways to express their creativity. She also includes instructions for basic tote bags, so I used that as my guide for the library bags.

I spent a good deal of the weekend at my grandmother’s house, using her sewing machine (I don’t own one, because then I’d have to use it). It meant I got to spend a lot of time with her, and with my aunt and baby cousin, who are staying with my gran while my grandfather is in hospital recovering from surgery. So great to spend special time with my extended family. I also found it so meditative, watching closely as the machine needle thumped gently up and down; and focusing so hard on hand-stitching in all the loose ends of thread. There was some clenching of teeth in frustration as I unpicked yet another mistake, and many wide smiles of satisfaction and relief as I finished yet another section of each bag.

So, having taken a good few hours longer than planned, I finally finished my works of art. The girls are so proud of me. They’ve also been using the bags as part of their playtime, filling them with dolls and other tea-party essentials. I tell them that there is love sewn into every stitch. Thank you, Amanda Blake Soule, for re-igniting my own love of creation, and for reminding me how important it is to value the hand-made, and the innate creativity of children.