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

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