Do you feel EXTREME?: Utopian Ideals in a Modern World

By Fiona Hollis

Since joining the raw food community I’ve dealt with feelings of ‘extremism’ and not quite fitting in. It starts with food and nutrition, then radiates into morality, philosophy and lifestyle.

Once on the other side of the fence, I labeled raw foodists ‘extreme’ in their living, driven by a cacao fueled aspiration to be 100% raw. My 80% felt inferior – never mind the lows of winter months. I’d learned so much about food, and managed to heal my body – but where did I fit in to this raw community?

Judgment – a pointer to how we feel about ourselves

Whilst watching an interview with David ‘Avocado’ Wolfe talking about getting B12 from ants which crawl into his raw honey, I had an attack of ‘raw judgment’. A bubble of extreme outrage popped inside of me – this raw food guru who I gleaned so much information from was suddenly eating ants? This raised new questions. Does raw = vegetarian – if not vegan… Where do ants fit in? Is there some sort of raw class system? My fear of being lowly ranked clearly did not stop me from judging others. For a period of time, David ‘Avocado’ Wolfe was, David ‘Anteater’ Wolfe.

Whilst doing his first 30 days raw challenge, my fiancé would heckle, ‘Raw Hovis’, as I succumbed to a sandwich. I started looking at the Shazzies, Sarmas, and Karen Knowlers through different eyes, wondering if they were extreme in their discipline, and if they even remembered what a nacho tasted like?

Utopia

Recently I had ‘a moment’ of what felt like divine education. I was in the garden reflecting on my day, feeling so much gratitude to God for guiding and allowing me to create whatever it is I desire – regardless of how impossible it may have once felt. As I looked at the beautiful flowers in the sun parched earth – I marveled at how they survive such dry weather. Out of nowhere I saw a vision of how moisture is given to the plants at night. God designed our planet to work in perfect harmony with everything around it. The sunshine is given to the earth during the daytime when life is awake. When life rests in the evening the weather changes and rain falls at the most perfect time for its life giving qualities to be absorbed. God gave us the potential for extreme perfection in all that we do by way of love and life.

Plants and trees provide more than enough food and nutrition to sustain healthy bodies, and allow our souls to thrive. There is no need for a cafeteria in the garden of Eden. This utopia we all recognize, is a vision of what was intended at source, what our planet once was. All around us grow wild foods: herbs, plants, flowers designed to suit our every need. Mallow, elder, dandelions, berries, hops, grasses, cleavers, birch – the list is endless. Sadly Western culture does not promote raw idealism. Wild food foraging is often a secondary option to the supermarket or farmers market.

Displaced and unsatisfied we find ourselves craving the utopia that what was intended. As we awake to this primal knowing and allow our feelings to guide us, we start to see that there are new possibilities.  Eating roast dinners, sandwiches, Mexican food, Indian food, haute cuisine are emotional instincts. Cooked food is what we’ve been brought up on, it comforts us. Suddenly choosing to eat raw in cold climates is not an obvious choice. However, this diet would be more accepted in hotter countries where fruits and nuts grow naturally. It’s our extreme desire to achieve our optimum vitality that can challenge other people.

Our version of reality

Way back when, through the pages of time, climate determined where we lived. People were indigenous and we ate according to our environment. Technology now heats our homes, fuels our cars and irrigates our barren land. Technology gives us international neighbors and global aspirations. We are able to unite in an unprecedented way, creating Facebook pages, twitter accounts, online events which serve to link us together by a common desire. People crave quality from their lives – raw goodness, not just illusions of goodness. These geographical human connections pave the way to increased expectation. “I prefer goji berries from the Himalayas rather than Canada…  some mangoes from Thailand…” The sudden need to eat out of season foods with huge carbon footprints is pretty extreme, no?

The raw food community wants to connect to something. Many have a strong sense of morality and are predominantly vegan. In my vision, God gave us the gift of animals – provided to play perfect roles within the ecosystem and to teach us lessons of empathy and compassion and wonder. We were given the most exotic array of fruits, nuts and plants to eat. The clean bright flavors of raw food connect us to our planet, allowing us to feel why it is better to buy organic foods, you’re inner knowing steering you away from pesticides and chemicals that pollute the earth and our bodies. I now see raw foodists as extreme in their love for the planet and all life on it. Long live the extremists! (I have a hunch they will!)

For delicious recipes check out our books, and for some really great information from leaders in nutrition, health and emotional well being check out the Raw Mom Summit.