Tera Warner

Spreading the Word: Victoria and Valya Boutenko

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victoria-valya-boutenkoOn 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!