Make it raw—NorthBay biz looks at the burgeoning living food movement and its local supporters, who are doing their part to spread the word.
Today, what was once a diet shared by nearly everyone in our early years of civilization has evolved to be considered outside of the norm, on the outskirts of the mainstream—perhaps even fanatical, eccentric or extreme. Yet as more people testify to having used food as their medicine—healing sometimes “incurable” diseases—and as more people have witnessed the energy, vitality and health that raw food provides, the more this lifestyle has inched its way back into our consciousness. And as any marketing professional knows, where there’s a niche, there’s a business opportunity!
All living creatures on earth, except for humans and some domesticated animals, eat their food raw. It’s only humans who (today) eat a diet that’s largely been cooked, processed, irradiated, treated with herbicides, pesticides and fungicides and/or has been genetically modified. The exponentially rising rates of degenerative diseases in our country and those that closely follow our “standard American diet” seem to show that this change in the way we eat may have produced disastrous results, with rates of cancer and heart disease skyrocketing, and obesity and type II diabetes reaching epidemic proportions—even among children.
What it means
So what exactly is raw food? Does your favorite sushi bar qualify? No, say the most stringent living food proponents. However, the definition does change somewhat depending on what type of raw food lifestyle you follow. Some will include raw meats, milk and cheeses, for example, but most follow a strict vegan raw diet.
“Fruits, vegetables, seeds and nuts, served in many textures, are what’s involved in this [lifestyle], and a couple of cold-pressed oils,” says Kathryn Ackland, chef and owner of Sebastopol-based RawFood Central, a learning community of organic, vegan, whole and living food enthusiasts that offers classes in raw food preparation and “cooking” and consults with groups and individuals on living healthy and healing lifestyles. “But ‘raw’ implies plant-based food that hasn’t been heated above 118 degrees.
“At around 118 degrees, the enzymes and life force of food changes. Things start to die, and you can’t consider that living anymore,” she explains. “But, some things for sale now are labeled raw or uncooked, but aren’t really living. Spices dry out—there are a lot of things that aren’t really alive anymore even though they haven’t been cooked. They still have enzymes and a lot of the natural nutrients—the vitamins and minerals. I find that minerals add taste and are much less affected by heat. But when you cook plants above 118 degrees—green beans, for example—the enzymes and vitamins are damaged. I think of color as the vitamins, and when everything starts to look the same color, I believe you’ve just cooked out much of the vitamins. And that’s a red flag for me. If I had a choice, I’d rename it ‘living food,’ because it’s the life force that heals and energizes”
That’s why most individuals embracing this lifestyle prefer the label “living food” to “raw food,” because “living” implies all the food’s enzymes have remained intact.
“I like to use the word ‘live,’ instead of ‘raw,’” agrees Hastey. “The definition is generally anything that isn’t heated over 118 degrees. So with the dehydrator, you can make pizza crusts, live burgers and so forth, where all the enzymes stay intact. You’re not cooking away nutrition, so there’s high nutritional content. You’re not cooking away flavor, either. When eating live food, you taste things so dramatically. The desserts are amazing. Everything is amazing, but the desserts alone have so many layers. All the layers of flavor are there, because nothing’s been cooked away. That’s one of the things I find so exciting about it.”
Just as anyone engaging in activities outside of the mainstream can be ridiculed or “questioned” about their beliefs, so too are individuals eating living foods bombarded with questions such as, “How do you know you’re getting enough calcium?” Or, “Where do you get your protein?”
“My sassy answer is, ‘Where do animals get their protein?’” quips Ackland. “They get it from the greens growing on the ground. They eat the grass and the fodder and produce protein. The dark leafy greens, sprouts and sea vegetables—they’re full of protein and calcium. Besides, in the United States, more diseases are caused by too much protein than are caused by too little.”
Spreading the word
David Klein is executive editor for Sebastopol-based Vibrance magazine (formerly Living Nutrition magazine, published since 1996), which focuses on a healthful, natural lifestyle and aims to inspire and encourage a natural diet of living raw foods. He came to the raw food lifestyle when he suffered from ulcerative colitis between 1976 and 1984, when he applied the Natural Hygiene self-healing program, which includes a vegan, mostly raw food diet. Examples abound of individuals and doctors reversing diabetes, heart disease and even various cancers, by embracing dietary change. These success stories have, in turn, helped catapult the raw food movement into the mainstream. Klein credits the Internet and the success of others, who’ve turned around serious health issues, to the increase in interest in the raw food movement.
“It’s all because of the Internet,” he says. “We were so frustrated for decade after decade. People before us tried to get this information out but couldn’t do it. When this movement started to catch fire, so to speak, in the late ’90s, articles for the first time started comparing it to other diets. There was always a medical doctor or dietician quoted in the article who’d caution, ‘There’s not enough B12; you’re not going to get enough calcium.’ There were always some caveats and warnings, as if to say, ‘Keep on eating your rib-eye steak and your mashed potatoes and three other heart attack meals every day.’
“But then, [the raw food lifestyle] started becoming prolific, and now several medical doctors are proponents, and many nutritionists and health-minded people have gotten into this. It’s self evident. It helps people overcome virtually every disease, from A to Z—reverse obesity, hypertension, colitis, Crohn’s—the cat is out the bag.”
Ackland agrees that the tremendous success of previously suffering individuals in resolving their health issues—often by going against the advice of their doctors and adopting a raw food diet—has acted as a grassroots campaign to get the word out about the raw food movement.
“People are becoming sick on the Standard American Diet,” says Ackland. “There’s an epidemic of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer. For so many diseases, when you study causes and review eating behavior, it’s easy to conclude there’s a dietary connection. But when I go to doctors, they never ask me about my diet. I go to UCSF every now and then to check on my Grave’s disease, because I have it permanently—it’s a lifelong thing [and the motivation that initially prompted her to try the raw food lifestyle]—but they’re just blown away and say, ‘You’re doing so great.’ And I say, ‘Well, I’m on this raw vegan diet,’ and they say, ‘Whatever, just keep it up!’ They don’t appear to care much about my lifestyle and what I do. I find that disconcerting.”
Gaining ground
Today, the raw food movement has exploded, with communities of proponents cropping up all across the country. Four years ago, Klein, along with Dr. Douglas Graham, a doctor who’s seen, coached and lectured before raw foodists and attended and lectured at raw and vegan festivals for the past 30 years, attempted to estimate the number of raw foodists in the United States.
Through already available research along with some estimates and assumptions (for example, only counting those who eat a 90 percent or more raw diet as a “raw foodist”), the two came up with an estimate of 2 percent of vegans who qualify for this definition; today, that comes to about 200,000 people—a number that’s rising every day. In 2009, there were 31 million results for “raw food” on Google, and Amazon.com listed 12,177 books under the “raw food” category.
“[The raw food lifestyle] used to be thought of as a very hippie thing,” says Hastey. “It was ‘out there.’ It was very unique. It used to be that, to eat this way, you couldn’t just go to Whole Foods and find live foods, packaged up. It’s now taking a step toward the mainstream, and the mainstream is embracing it, which is fueling more growth. You go to high-end restaurants and pay $100 per person to eat raw foods in New York or Los Angeles—that I find more trendy. But I think this is going to continue to grow because it’s becoming more accessible. It’s something you’re finding in grocery stores, just like organics. You see all of these things growing. Whole Foods is huge, and if you look back 10 years at what was available….
“The more that’s out there, and the more people can access, just helps them make those choices. I see people every week who were dragged [into my restaurant] by friends. They’re scared to death and just aren’t sure what to expect. They end up being very pleasantly surprised at how great and versatile vegetables can be!”
Eat what you like
A recent midweek lunch hour at Café Gratitude, a primarily raw food restaurant in San Rafael, exemplified the crossing of demographic lines. In one corner, an elderly couple enjoyed a lunch out; in another, a young mother celebrated her daughter’s fifth birthday with a tasty but healthy piece of cake; at another table, a group of animated coworkers took a much-needed lunch break; and at another, a family of four enjoyed their first live food lunch. During the lunch hour, there was a continuous stream of customers popping in for healthy take-out meals—certainly a new definition of fast food.
Matthew and Terces Engelhart, founders and owners of Café Gratitude, first opened its doors in San Francisco in 2004 with 11 employees. They’ve now expanded into six locations (including one in San Rafael and one in Healdsburg), 200 employees and close to $10 million in revenues.
Asked what demographic of people she’s seen patronize her restaurants, Engelhart responds, “People who are independent thinkers. People who’ve had a health challenge, who have environmental awareness and a commitment to peace. It’s oftentimes animal rights activists and people interested in agrarian lifestyles—agriculture. I think it’s a mix.”
Hastey originally thought, when she opened Seed restaurant in 2008, that she was supporting the vegetarian and vegan community within Sonoma County. However, she was pleasantly surprised to find that about 85 percent of her repeat customers aren’t vegetarian, and some even travel from as far away as Sacramento to dine on her live, vegan cuisine.
“While my customer age range is from childhood to 100, my typical customer is a 35- to 55-year-old professional,” says Hastey. “These are people who care about their health and are thinking twice about what food they put in their bodies.”
And yet, there’s still a perception that this lifestyle can only be afforded by a small percentage of elitists.
It’s for everyone
“I think [the raw food lifestyle] is perceived to be [for the] affluent at this point,” says Ackland. “Because of organics [being more expensive] and because of people who are dependent on going to fast food restaurants and deli stores to get their food. Too many food producers are profit-motivated; they use cheaper ingredients and processes because they benefit the bottom line, not the eater’s health. If you grow your own or buy it from co-ops, though, it can be very affordable.
“People have been growing food for as long as we’ve been eating—that’s not a change. But I’d say there’s a perception that this is expensive, because people haven’t planned much for healthy food in their budget. They eat for taste without consideration for health. I think people have unconsciously decided they can’t afford this kind of food, so they’ve given it a lower priority in their budgets. If you have a health crisis or some new insight hits you in the face, then you’re more willing to make the change. I’m trying to raise awareness of the importance of the quality of the food you eat.”
Even with more and more people embracing this lifestyle, there are nevertheless still only pockets throughout the United States where it’s entered the mainstream. Here in the North Bay, we’re seeing more and more individuals following this path, and business and restaurants rising up to meet them.
“All along the western part of California, it’s more prolific—there’s more action here in raw food than there is probably anywhere else in the world,” says Klein. “There are many entrepreneurs doing classes, and restaurants are sprouting up all over the place. This is probably the mecca for it, along with Maui. From the Bay Area to San Diego it’s huge.”
As a result, he continues, “You feel more comfortable doing it here socially. In other parts of the country, most raw foodists are judged as oddballs and don’t fit in. This state is more conducive to a healthy lifestyle, and also, the availability of quality, organic food in California is obviously the best. Here in Sebastopol, I’m within a 15 minute drive of eight stores—health food and regular grocery stores—where you can get organic produce. That’s incredible. Because it’s such a conducive social climate, so to speak, all these groups have sprouted up. We used to have one raw food group in Sonoma County in the early 1990s and, several years later, there were three.”
Given the rising awareness of the raw food lifestyle, do people living or working within this movement believe it will one day become mainstream? No, say most experts. But while they don’t foresee it becoming the norm, they do see at least elements of this lifestyle becoming a bigger part of people’s everyday lives and our society incorporating more whole, fresh fruits and vegetables into their diets.
“I think the mainstream will increasingly accept that raw fruits and vegetables have a bigger place in their lives,” says Ackland. “I think some people will always hold on to the old books, theories and tastes of the comfort foods from their childhoods. They feel it was good for them as youth, it must still be OK. They think they must have the cooked food, or they have to have meat, and so on. If it comes back to your personal health, individuals choose change. And if people like me get this message more out there, people would realize it’s so much easier to have vibrant health with better eating and exercise regimens. RawFood Central is designed to help willing folks make this transition.
“Some people have a feeling that this information is weird, difficult to implement, expensive and isn’t going to work for them, or they don’t think it’s a long-term strategy. We’re just getting ourselves back to eating good food, and redefining good food as that which nourishes and heals instead of all the negative things it does now. We can choose to heal with food or continue to let food make us sick. Good food can be made delicious and pleasurable, but it’s not entertainment; it’s fuel.”
In the end, the only thing a raw foodie has to say to naysayers or skeptics, is as Ackland puts it: “Good food heals, energizes and elevates mood. It feels good to feel good, and what’s wrong with that?”
Zucchini Marinara
(Recipe by Jerri Hastey of Seed restaurant)
Marinara ingredients
24 soaked and drained sundried tomatoes
1 red bell pepper
1/2 cup olive oil
1+ cloves garlic
1 small handful of basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-2 zucchini per serving
I Am Thankful (Coconut Curry Soup)
(Recipe courtesy of Café Gratitude)
Ingredients
4 cups coconut milk
2 tablespoons minced ginger
1 teaspoon garlic
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon large date, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon Nama Shoyu (unpasteurized soy sauce)
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon East Indian curry powder
1 jalapeño pepper
Garnish
1⁄3 cup diced tomato
1⁄3 cup diced cucumber
1⁄2 cup shiitake mushrooms
1⁄4 cup cilantro leaves
Add all but the garnish ingredients to a blender and purée until smooth. You should have a nice, rich, golden soup. Taste the soup and adjust the flavors—sweet, spicy and salty—as necessary (some coconut milk can be sweeter than others, and jalapeño heat can vary greatly). When the soup base is to your liking, divide among four bowls. Add the garnish ingredients and top with a few cilantro leaves. Makes 4 servings.
