Thanks for sharing.Spreading the Word: Victoria and Valya Boutenko
Written by Stacey on March 1, 2009 – -
On a balmy evening last week, over 180 raw food-lovers – and those who were just “curious” – made their way to Melbourne’s city centre. I was one of them!
Victoria and Valya Boutenko were on a tour of Australia, and it was Melbourne’s turn to play host. For the uninitiated, Victoria gave a run-down of her family’s decision to start eating raw foods back in the 1990s. She also told the highly entertaining story of how she created the first-ever green smoothie – her passion and incredulousness for how the creation came about was palpable! She really is an amazing storyteller and entertaining speaker, and I love her keen, dry wit.
She let us know that her next book, a follow-up to her landmark Green for Life book (which reveals the magic that is the green smoothie), is due to the published in a few months. It will be called Green Smoothie Revolution, and she assured us that there won’t be any overlap of information from the first book – there’ll be even more recent research, and more recipes!
Valya took to the stage for a while to let us know about her latest DVD release – Overcoming the Food Imprint: The Origin of Our Cravings. This is certainly one DVD that will be of interest to raw moms, as it dispels the myth that kids don’t like fruits and vegetables. Valya wondered whether there was any validity in that myth, and asked lots of children directly. Much of the DVD has footage from an inspiring alternative child-care center, where children help make and then heartily gulp down green smoothies, and make their way through heaps of fruit. The children also help juice wheatgrass.
The teachers at the center feel that peer pressure is a BIG factor in helping kids to try new or unfamiliar foods, and one of the teachers says that when a child is trying a new food or drink and they’re not sure about it, they are encouraged to say, “I’m learning to like this!” Hmm, I’m gonna try that one out on my girls!
Victoria generously answered heaps of questions – there really is so much to explore on the subject of raw food theory, and it’s through lectures like these that we open up people to the very idea of it. Victoria encouraged us to “spread the word”, letting people know about how life-changing raw food (and green smoothies) can be.
It is so exciting to think that with our enthusiasm and gentle guidance, and by our inspirational example, we are giving our children the best possible start in life. Their generation won’t need to be convinced of the benefits of raw food – they’ll be living it!
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Posted in Success Stories | 7 Comments »
By Tess on Mar 1, 2009
No disrespect meant but, I would be interested to know, if Victoria has been Raw Vegan since the 90′s, why she is so clearly overweight and has none of that healthy glow that every other Raw Vegan seems to have. The body she’s sporting no longer seems to jive with the information she’s selling, if you know what I mean. Does she address this at all?
And, I just want to say, I’m really not knocking her at all. I’m genuinely interested in how one could possibly be overweight and eating raw foods for so long. It just doesn’t make logical sense to me.
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By Joanne on Mar 1, 2009
Hi Tess!
Thanks for your question! Victoria kind of addressed this in her talk, indicating that it might be an issue of her continuing to eat into the evening. She told us how she has patented a timer door-lock for fridges, and that that product is nearly ready for release. She’s hoping that it will help with her weight. (She says it’s just meant to be a way of starting a new habit of not going to the fridge at night, not something that she’d imagine being used in the long term.)
I think she focuses more on the fact that she and her family no longer have serious illnesses, so I suppose it’s all relative, isn’t it? If you’re healthy in terms of not being ill, it doesn’t mean that there can’t still be a few issues in terms of weight etc. I hope that the fridge timer works for her – can’t wait to hear the results! She also hinted that she doesn’t really like exercise, so that’s all part of the equation.
Thanks again for your comment – food for thought!
Joanne
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By Shannon on Mar 1, 2009
Great job Jo! Thank you so much for bringing this to us Moms, Victoria never fails to be inspiring xo
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By rawseedling on Mar 5, 2009
I can quite clearly see the mother and daughter GLOW(Look at their hair, skin and eyes:).
Thank-you for sharing!
Namaste:)
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By Susan on Jun 11, 2010
I agree with Tess. I am wondering why someone can eat ONLY raw foods and still be overweight—especially a diet of green smoothies! I love Victoria’s books but have not gone 100% raw. I love making green smoothies and fully intend to keep it up, in spite of the nagging feeling that Victoria is eating something else besides raw foods; otherwise,why is she overweight????
Susan
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