The other day, a friend who knows I am a raw foodist asked if I would be interested in preparing ‘a little extra’ of whatever I make for myself for lunch or dinner a few times a week, and selling the meals to her. I think she was assuming that I prepare elaborate gourmet raw dishes for myself, but I explained to her that my diet is very simple, and includes mostly minimally prepared foods. I did refer her to someone whom I thought could work with her and cater to her specific dietary needs.
Lately raw food has become much more visible in mainstream society, and the people gaining the most visibility are usually the raw gourmet chefs and restaurants, as well as the ‘gurus’ who promote gourmet foods. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Someone who has just discovered the raw food diet needs to see that there are enticing and delicious foods that can be created using raw ingredients. It’s also really great to have some dining options so the raw fooder can maintain some semblance of a social life. Greater exposure might also bring the raw vegan lifestyle to people who might not have considered it when it seemed more radical and ‘on the fringe’.
But except for rare occasions, I tend to avoid fancy gourmet foods in my own daily diet.
Raw restaurants are expensive, and when it comes to my own food preparation, I admit to being quite lazy. I get occasional spurts of enthusiasm for trying a new recipe, but overall, I am not interested in becoming a raw gourmet chef. I wouldn’t change my mind even if it didn’t involve buying lots of expensive equipment like food processors, dehydrators and grinders, or pricey exotic ingredients like lucuma, maca, mesquite powder, raw cacao, etc.
I hate to clean up after preparing something, and I don’t have the patience to wait for my foods to dehydrate. But even more importantly, most gourmet raw foods have very high concentrations of fat, sugar (yes, agave nectar and raw honey are concentrated sugars), sodium, or all three. More often than not, nuts, avocado, coconut or a combination of the three are the primary ingredients. And many contain soy products like nama shoyu or tamari, both of which are cooked products that contain MSG (nama shoyu is unpasteurized, but the soy is originally cooked before it is fermented) and are not at all healthy.
In nature, it would be pretty difficult to eat such high concentrations of fat in one’s diet. We likely wouldn’t have the time or the resources to extract our own oils from nuts and seeds, and it would be pretty difficult to even produce nut butters. We’d have to shell each nut individually, which would slow down and lessen our consumption considerably, and they wouldn’t be readily available all year round. Nuts don’t keep well, and have a propensity to go rancid shortly after they are shelled. It also makes less sense to eat nuts and seeds when you think of it from a natural perspective. Usually when we eat fruits, we are helping Mother Nature to disperse her seeds, so even more plants can grow. It’s a symbiotic relationship in which plants and humans both benefit. But when we eat the nuts and seeds, we take, but give nothing back in return, and nothing can grow from the relationship.
As delicious as gourmet raw foods are, to my way of thinking, they are not really “raw”. They are overly processed foods that are very far from their original state in nature. You can’t pick a raw cheesecake off a tree. You can’t harvest flax crackers from the nearest flax bush. And why would anyone want to remove the water and the freshness from a food by dehydrating it? I can understand sun-drying fruits to preserve them or to help you tote along some energy-sustaining calories on a long journey, but as a regular part of an everyday diet, gourmet raw foods don’t seem any more natural than their cooked food counterparts.
I don’t want to come off like a food-Nazi. But I do think that the longer one stays on a raw vegan path, the less attractive gourmet meals will seem. This is not an overnight process, and can take months or even years. It’s kind of like a natural progression that starts to happen as your body gets healthier and starts getting rid of all the old junk and toxins that you had stored away for so many years. It’s like an internal light bulb goes on, and your body says “Hey, I want more of this healthy stuff!” You will just start to intuitively know which foods are healthier for you. But there’s no need to rush the process and torture yourself.
Again, gourmet foods do have their place, and I think that they are particularly helpful for someone transitioning to a raw food diet. When in a transition phase, it’s very important to be kind and forgiving to yourself, and not to stress yourself out or become obsessed with your diet. I personally still consume much more fat than what is ideal, usually in the form of avocados and olives, but I am gradually tapering myself down to a lower percentage of my daily calories comprised by fat. I’m taking things slow, and listening to my body. Even when I consume raw foods that are less than optimal, I remind myself that I’m still way healthier than I was when I would scarf down pizza and pasta and caffeinated products on a regular basis.
I try my best to be patient and positive in my outlook, and I know that eventually I will achieve and surpass my health and fitness goals.
After all, optimal health is really what we are all after when we choose to go raw. Isn’t it?
Recently a friend who’s new to the whole raw food thing expressed interest in the raw food lifestyle, but wanted to know what the best way to get started is. It can definitely seem daunting to embark upon a raw food diet, and there is certainly a lot of conflicting advice floating about. Reading as much as you can is a good place to start, but I would also recommend making small changes, and paying close attention to how they make you feel. You are your own best barometer of what is working for you. 
