MOVIN' ON UP
For the past year rawodyssey.com has pointed to a placeholder site, while the raw food blog has been published at blog.rawodyssey.com. Before that, the blog was published at rawodyssey.blogspot.com- you can still visit those early months when I was losing 70 lbs and marveling over my clear complexion and the lifting of my depression. A magical time indeed!

I have finally had the opportunity to develop the Raw Odyssey site so that it encompasses more than raw foods. This has been a longterm goal of mine, but with working and attending classes I had little time.  Now, both the blog and the general website will be in a single location.  The move is already underway, and within the next 48 hours when you log into www.rawodyssey.com (rather than blog.rawodyssey.com) you should be able to see the new site rather than a placeholder sign.


SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW
The new site has three main components: the raw foods blog, a farm blog that will detail the fun and challenges (successes all, I hope!) of growing my own organic food for my raw diet, and a third area- still under development- about community.  As you may know, I am a sociologist.  Like many sociologists I am concerned about the state of society and am especially concerned about the most disenfranchised amongst us.  I believe that we all can do things to help improve conditions for people less fortunate than ourselves. I have done so in the past through my 9-5 work as well as through volunteering with a number of organizations.  In the community section I will be exploring aspects of community through locally grown whole foods.  Two examples of the topics that would fit here are community gardening and the locavore movement.
  New Raw Odyssey Site


I look forward to greeting everyone from Raw Odyssey's new location.  Please continue to share your recipes, ideas, encouragement, and now your gardening information on the new site.  There may be a few kinks along the way as the new site grows, but I hope all problems will be fleeting.  

So, whenever the new site pops up on your name servers, I'll see you at www.rawodyssey.com!

This week a package of seeds arrived, sent by my new friend Liz, of hyperlocavore.com.   Boy, are we excited! While my friends are not into raw foods, I'm envisioning subsidizing a large portion of my raw diet with foods I grow in the back yard. I look forward to sharing our crops with family and neighbors as well.

So, what do we have here?

artichoke basil Beets -bull's blood broccoli de cicco butterfly weed calendula cantaloupe hale's best catnip cauliflower Celery Chives cilantro Corn -truegold sweet Delphinium, pink eggplant Japanese pickling fava bean- broad windsor Fennel - perfection

garlic, lavender Leeks- poncho marigolds Marjoram -sweet marjoram onion -siskiyou sweet Peas -oregon trail shell peas Peony (scarlet peony) pepper -California wonder sage Squash -butternut squash summer savory thyme Tomato -early red chief tomato heirloom watermelon- sugar baby white sweet alyssum zinnia- Benary's

We will not grow all of these, I don't think, but any seeds we don't grow we will donate to the local community garden group, as I am a strong believer in getting locally grown foods into poorer urban areas.

Now, there are foods we want to try growing that weren't part of this mix, so we'll be spending some money to get seeds or starter plants for the following: 

• Avocado
• Carrots 
• Cucumbers 
• Parsley 
• Potatoes 
• Romaine lettuce 
• Rosemary
• Scallions 
• Strawberries

While the avocado may be a pipe dream in zone 6, I'm interested in trying.  When I lived in Ohio years ago I remember someone planting an avocado seed and it did grow roots and a stalk, but I don't think she ever took it out of the glass of water.  I love avocados and would be in seventh heaven if I could grow my own in Ohio.

I'm excited about making compost for the first time.  I will be using the pulp produced by my juicer - a colorful addition indeed, as you can see from the photograph.  If I were to stay in Ohio throughout the winter and continue eating mostly raw, we would certainly have great compost by next growing season.   This year my friends already have a compost pile out back, but they have not been keeping up with it.  We will probably end up buying compost or buy Mel's Mix (Mel, the Square Food Gardening guru).



Well, that's it for now.  I should be on my way to beautiful Ohio in a week or two.  I'm looking forward to the project and to seeing my old friends and my family again, but I'm not looking forward to the thunderstorms and tornadoes. Or the spiders. Or the clouds of mosquitos and centipedes hanging off of trees...  Guess I'd better get used to these things again if I'm going to become a gardener.

I've been having a great time with my friends in Ohio making plans for our subsistence garden. Even though I am still in Las Vegas we've been working together to turn this dream in to a reality.  My friend borrowed some gardening books from the library, and has already started finding materials as well.  We are not interested in spending a boatload of money, so recycling helps.  My friend was told that these biodegradable water bottle holders would be good for starting seedlings in the house, so she has set some aside. 

In the meantime, I've been doing a lot of online research and have found some awesome websites.   I've met a wonderful woman, Liz, who publishes hyperlocavore.com, a site that touts yard-sharing as a way of getting more food gardens into neighborhoods, thus supporting the "eat local" movement.  Yard-sharing involves setting aside some square footage in one's yard for a neighbor who has no garden space. I love this concept; it has firm supporters in Portland.  Liz has been of immense help in giving me ideas for how to set up my garden, and even sent me some seeds to get me started!  She operates in the true sense of community.  I look forward to sharing my harvest and seeds in the future.

We will probably set up our 250-square-foot plot using the technique of square-foot-gardening and the no-till method.  I have seen several versions of square foot gardening, but this example (by serenejournal) strikes me as the most aesthetically pleasing. It looks like it will require a little carpentry, unless you can buy these things already made.  I'm no stranger to hammers and nails so I can do this (besides, it somehow seems counterintuitive to buy already-made plots for my organic garden).  The benefit of square foot gardening is that you are supposed to use only 20% of the garden space you would have used with traditional "row" methods, while getting the same yield. 

"No-till" or "zero tillage" is a method based on the idea that soil should be disturbed as little as possible.  I was surprised that tilling has a negative effect on soil, as I'd always thought you had to till in order to pull out weeds and mix in your fertilizers or compost.  However, tilling also disturbs earthworms and microbes, and changes the density of soil, among other negatives.   At this moment I have no idea what a no-till method is, but I'm looking forward to learning.

Every day I get more excited about this project. I'm sick of grocery store tomatoes with their travel-bred skins and innards that are pale and tasteless.  I have never seen a cucumber without wax on its skin.  Gardening will be an education for me in a variety of ways. 

There she is: the land I hope to turn into a subsistence garden. In this space in NE Ohio I hope to grow enough vegetables, and perhaps some berries, to supply a large part of my raw diet and to feed my two Ohio room mates, on whose acreage this micro-farm will stand.  This land has produced food before; in fact, the previous homeowner- the father of one of my room mates- has offered himself as a resource should we have any questions about our adventure.

So far we have learned that we will be planting in zone 6. And what grows well in zone 6? Quite a few things. The ones that caught my eye are listed in the table below.  The roomies and I will need to get together to make our list.  Because NE Ohio has late frosts, we may be planting some things in April and others in May. However, much of this depends on logistics; I need to make it up to Ohio, and we need to buy soil and compost- and, of course, the seeds.

I've been reading about the pride that gardeners have in the crops that they successfully harvest; a passage in Mother Earth magazine speaks of vegetable gardening and child-raising in the same paragraph, and I can relate to that. There is something special about raising a living thing, flora or fauna, and seeing it thrive under your loving concern. I look forward to this experience, even while  I realize it will be hard work. I welcome the aches and pains, though, as they are a part of my journey back to health.  Bring it on!

                        CONTENDERS FOR THE GARDEN

Herbs	Fruit	Vegetables
Basil Bay Chervil Chives Dill Mint Oregano Parsley Rosemary Sage Tarragon Thyme	Blueberries Raspberries Strawberries  Watermelon (Blacktail Mountain)	Artichoke Asparagus Bean Beet Broccoli Brussels Sprout Cabbage Carrot Cauliflower Corn Cucumber Eggplant Fennel Garlic Leek Lettuces Melons Onion Parsnip Pea Pepper Potato Radish Romaine lettuce Rhubarb Rutabaga Scallion Shallot Sorrel Spinach Squash Sweet Potato Tomatillo Tomato Turnip	ARE YOU A VEGETABLE, HERB OR FRUIT GARDENER? I'M HAPPY TO KNOW OF ANY TIPS OR TRICKS YOU HAVE FOR SUCCESSFUL CROPS!

When I started eating raw foods I had the comforting impression that fresh produce would cost me less than processed foods, and that juicing fruits and vegetables on my own would be cheaper than buying packaged juice. I've since learned that I can get more meals for less money if I eat junk like frozen dinners and ramen noodles.  Still, despite my limited funds, I prefer my fresh foods for reasons of health.  Today I decided to make fresh orange juice to see if I would save money squeezing or juicing it myself.

I started by checking out local prices for oranges.  Seems like .99 cents/lb is a popular price this week, so I bought 6 pounds of oranges and juiced them all, making sure I included some pulp in the finished product.  What I ended up with was a tad disappointing as far as savings go. My six pounds (96 oz) yielded less than 48 oz of juice, or less than 6 cups.  I essentially paid $5.96 for 6 cups of juice, or about 12 cents per ounce. (I'm quite happy if anyone wants to double-check my math, but I believe it's all correct).

For comparison, I looked for a packaged orange juice with pulp, and found Albertson's selling the brand "Floridas Natural Orange Juice Home Style With Pulp" for .07 per ounce. Hmmm... A search online lead to online grocer PeaPod, which sells the same brand at .05 per ounce (in New Jersey, at least).  I checked Sunflower Market, which often sells produce more cheaply here, but found oranges for sale at a penny higher per pound. However, I see a brand of organic OJ for sale there at about .08 cents per ounce. Still cheaper than my non-organic, homemade OJ! Sooo, it was actually a bit more expensive to make my own orange juice.

Now, there are factors that could make juicing cheaper sometimes, I suppose. For one thing, produce prices vary across the country due to factors like seasonality, crop yield, origin of production, and the ultimate price set at the store or market.  Also, I some varieties of oranges yield more juice than others. 

In the end, I prefer preparing my own orange juice despite the fact that today it cost me more in cash than a packaged product would have cost.  The benefits are worth it: my juice is fresher, and I have no packaging to worry about. Furthermore, if I had a compost pile I could have added the pulp, seeds and peels to it.

This leads me to an upcoming post: I have decided to explore the idea of growing my own food for my raw diet.  Do you see the progression from eco-village visit to subsistence farmer?  Maintaining my own micro-farm is an exciting idea for this suburbanite. I have no idea what the experience will truly be like - despite all the reading I'm doing, but  I already have the land picked out in Ohio and a couple of excited friends waiting to delve into this project with me.  More to come. Woo hoo!!

Yes, I'm starting again. I'm always starting again.  Although there is a feeling of optimism when I start fresh, there is also a feeling that I must have failed before, so my excitement is always tinged with a little disappointment and maybe even a feeling of dread.  I don't want to keep hopping on the health wagon and falling off.

Someone told me once that I shouldn't look at my experiences as falling off the wagon, but instead see each event as a step towards my ultimate health goal. This is indeed a more positive way of viewing my raw odyssey.  I "fall off the wagon" for a reason, and if I pay attention to the factors that lead me to fall,  I will be able to use my knowledge to create a health plan that really works for me.  

BUT IN THE MEANTIME.... 

February 23rd is  my birthday- my personal new year. Every birthday reminds me that I don't have forever to improve the quality of my life, so I've decided to renew my dedication to good nutrition.  I've been getting my materials together: I've got my juicer, Vita-Mix, vegetable chopper, and Saladacco (makes intriguing shapes out of your food).  I've made a list of the mental, physical and spiritual improvements I will be focusing on as I improve my health. I've got my juicing recipes, and I've started asking my raw buddies on Twitter for meal ideas.  I am also looking at my 2006 blogs, which chronicled my original foray into raw foods, to get myself excited the way I was when I first discovered raw.  And I even took the dreaded BEFORE photo, which I will artfully render as a sketch of myself, as I've decided that I should put my artistic talents to therapeutic use.  I am the only one in my household going raw, but my two roomies also want to lose weight so I'm sure they will partake of some of my raw creations.

I want to give a "shout out" to a couple who are also starting their raw journey on February 23rd: Nathan and Kelly. They started a blog, which I look forward to reading as they discover what it takes to buy, care for, and prepare raw produce- ahhhh, the memories.  I always smile when I read about people embarking upon raw foods for the first time, because I imagine their excitment as they reap the first benefits of leaving processed foods behind. Check 'em out at Real Food Real People.

Because millions of us are watching our spending these days, more and more resources are being published to help us find ways to save money on groceries.  Those of us who prefer a diet of all or mostly raw foods, however, must contend not only with rising grocery prices but with the already-higher cost of organic produce and the perishable nature of our foods.  Below are some tips for saving money while eating raw.  Depending on your location and means, some of these tips should be helpful to you.  

1) Join an organic co-op in your area  (you can check out my fun experience in California!)
2) Shop at farmer's markets in your area.
3) Find Asian grocery stores like 99Ranch and others.
4) Look for discount grocers like Food4Less, Aldi's, and Sunflower Markets
5) Grow your own vegetables, herbs and sprouts in your back yard.
6) Grow food in someone else's yard if you don't have your own: check out yardsharing in Portland and elsewhere.  And if you are stuck with just your apartment, try these garden tips.
7) Store your produce so that it stays fresh longer.
8) When saving money on non-organic versions of produce, stick to those with the fewest pesticides. The food list below, from the Environmental Working Group, lists produce from worst to best as far as pesticide absorption. Peaches absorb the most, while onions and avocados are among the better non-organic choices.

Know of places in your area to save money while eating raw produce?  Got additional money-saving tips? If so, why not submit them here? Times are tough, so let's help each other out!




LINKS from this post
Discount Produce Shopping
Food Co-op Directory
Local Harvest 
99Ranch
Aldi's 
Sunflower Markets

Grow Your Own
Raw Food Ideas

Freedom Gardens
Portland Yardsharing
Backwoods Home
Hyperlocavore

Storing Your Produce

Storing Fresh Produce and Herbs

Toxins

Environmental Working Group

                            
                                                                                      (image created through wordle.net)

I am so tired of reading articles about a mysterious Raw Food Diet created to help you lose weight.  The authors warn against this "diet" because you can't find all of the foods you're "supposed" to eat, claim that everything "has" to be organic, that you have to follow complex recipes, that you can't get enough nutrients, that the time needed to prep foods is best spent elsewhere, etc.  Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but when certain statements are promoted as fact, there should at least be references.

I'm becoming an activist in 2009 - I am combating the incorrect assessments of eating raw. Among the messages I am spreading:

• It's not a weight loss scheme. 
• It's not a fad.
• It can be as simple or as complicated as any individual willfully chooses to make it.
• It doesn't require expensive superfoods or non-seasonal produce unless you want it to.
• Getting the family involved in prepping raw foods for the week might actually be a GOOD thing.
• Yes, we can get our nutritional needs met
• There is no official Rulebook of Raw; we are free to create a raw food regimen that fits our unique health needs and lifestyle.

I also make recommendations, such as referring people to raw food sites such as welikeitraw.com that show the diversity of people eating raw and the different ways they eat.  I recommend nutritiondata.com and sparkpeople.com to those who fear their diet won't provide all of their nutrients, so that they can use tools to help them improve their diet.

Today I read an article simply titled "Raw Foods Diet" and was annoyed at the assertions made by an anonymous person calling him/herself "MysteryShopper."  There were no credentials or references provided, and no reference to any personal experience eating raw.  This article actually wasn't as bad as some I have read, but I sent in my response anyway.  Below is what I wrote. 

"Thank you for your review of eating raw.  I'm not sure where you got any of your information, as you cite no references.  Can you update your article for us with that information?

Let me begin by saying there is no such thing "THE raw foods diet."  Eating raw is not a fad or a weight loss scheme. It's part of a holistic health regimen that people can choose to adopt in the way that best fits their health needs and lifestyle. There are no rules about what you are "allowed" to eat, only that your food is raw (hence, "raw foods").  

If you cannot afford organic, for example, then don't buy organic. Some foods absorb more pesticides than others, so people need to decide which non-organic foods to eat. There is plenty of information available online about the best non-organic foods.   You say some foods are hard to find, but what foods are you talking about? If I can't find a certain food, then it can't be in my menu. Pretty simple!  That doesn't stop me from eating raw foods. As for "how raw" one's diet is, there is no mathematical way to label the percentage of one's diet as raw, nor any rule that you should eat "70%" raw.  You must choose what works for you as a unique individual.

As for nutrients, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and grains are chock full of calcium and protein. I've used nutritiondata.com to ensure that my daily intake provides me with all of the nutrients, including protein, that I need. I prefer to avoid vitamins, so I learned how to get all of my nutrients through a raw food diet. Everyone can do this if they are serious enough about taking control of their own health.

As for the time it takes to prepare raw meals, we can choose to eat frozen Lean Cuisines (full of chemicals) and save a few minutes, or we can learn how to use a portion of one day each week to prep our fresh vegetables for the work week.  Children and partners can pitch in as well.  I know this is something we are not used to in this world of fast food and packaged items masquerading as edibles, but that doesn't make it impossible.

Yes, there is a learning curve to eating raw.  I would hope that anyone reading about eating raw foods will do their own research to determine how this way of eating may be helpful to them.  It is possible to create a raw diet that fits one's health needs and lifestyle. I recommend that curious people check out welikeitraw.com and just read what some people are saying and doing in the raw foods community. We are a diverse group of people of many different ages, backgrounds, health needs, and philosophies. Sites like these will make it clear that there is no one "raw diet."'


What do you think are the biggest misconceptions about eating raw?
What misinformation about eating raw irks you the most?

Are you familiar with the Fool of the Tarot card deck? The Fool represents new beginnings unfettered by the past. The Fool has no real goal and no preplanned route- in fact, in the Ryder-Waite deck, he's about to unwittingly step off a cliff.  OOPS!

In some ways I see myself as the Fool for 2009: I want to step off the cliff, because I want to leave behind my old baggage of judgments, ideas and analyses, falling into a new world that I learn about as I experience it.  In this new world I have no pre-formed judgments or analyses to tell me that something is right or wrong; I simply experience, and I determine based on that experience whether something works for me.   In this way I forge a new path that is unique to who I am, and which leads me to the kind of life I want to live.  Unlike the Fool, though, I have an ultimate goal; I want to live a life of abundant health mentally, physically and spiritually.  I want my living, working and playing environments to support abundant health. To achieve this, I need to leave behind the ideas, judgments and behaviors of the "old me" because they have kept me from moving forward. But how to do this?

I love the ideas of Eckhart Tolle and Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor when it comes to forging a new path in life.  Simply put, Tolle finds that people tend to maintain an ongoing identity (the Ego) based on their history of thoughts, stories and judgments.  The desire to maintain our ego identity is so strong that we lose our connection to the potential of the present moment and hamper our ability to take on new ideas and behaviors.   Taylor speaks similarly of our identities, stating that without the incessant chatter of the left brain (where the ego Tolle refers to resides), the right brain is free to experience each moment as new, unfettered by old left-brain baggage.   

I've decided that my New Year's theme for 2009 is Transformation. I want to give my left brain a little rest and give my right brain a workout this year.  I tend to fiercely hold on to old ideas and old habits in some important areas of my life, especially the area regarding eating. This year I'll learn to balance the capacities of my left and right brains. I've been trying to practice this already by listening to my mental chatter when people speak. When I sense myself becoming judgmental or analytical, I stop by saying to myself: "right brain! right brain!" which is my signal to go back to really hearing, without judgment. Yeah- sounds like a weird new habit, but it's a form of meditation to pay attention in this way, to hear the chatter in my brain and recognize it for what it is- simply the work of my left brain/ego and nothing more. I'm hoping that meditating in this and other ways will help me to lose my habitual ways of thinking and clear my mind to take on new ideas.  

To help myself with my transformation, I am attending to my mental and physical environments. Examples include the following:

Mental/Spiritual

• I have been having fun using a gratitude journal for my iPod Touch. I list at least 5 things every day for which I am grateful. This is a nice exercise which helps me to stop running habitually negative ideas through my head and to remember that things could be much worse.
• I listen to Oprah's Spirit Channel podcasts to give myself inspiration, motivation and information about living a positive, fulfilling life. Here you will find interviews with Eckhart Tolle, Jill Bolte Taylor and many others.
• I am chatting with my raw Twitter friends, reading raw food blogs, and going back to my nutrition books to get myself mentally back into the type of daily thinking that supports a whole and raw foods lifestyle.

Physical

• I have stocked the kitchen once again with healthy produce and have gotten rid of the Pepsi!
• I have made a list of all of my ailments- just like the list I created in 2006 when I first started my raw odyssey. As I conquer each malady with my transformative lifestyle, I will note it so that I have an ongoing list of reasons to stick to my path. But if anything unfavorable occurs- like the hair loss that came from eating raw goitrogenic vegetables -  I'll investigate and learn how to deal with the problem healthfully.
  

TIME TO GET STARTED!!

A wonderful woman I met this year, Barbara, introduced me to her phrase “living in the solution.”  We were talking about our plans and the challenges we face in reaching our goals.  I have been a bit depressed since being “downsized” out of a job this summer.  As I’m finding myself  “overeducated” or “underqualified” for jobs I know I could do very well, I’m also watching my savings disappear.  In my resulting anxiety I’ve been completely off my raw diet for some time.   I live off the groceries my room mate buys, along with cheap junk food.  Consequently, I’m tired for “no reason.”  I don’t want to get out of bed in the morning, and on some days I stay in my room for hours.  My other hours are spent job hunting online until the wee hours of the morning.  Thank goodness for my friends and my Twitter buddies for giving me reasons to smile.

Barbara heard me out one day and caringly expressed doubt that I would reach my goals because, as she put it, I was “dwelling in the problem.”  I was complaining, inert, depressed, and doing a lot of talking but not a lot of action outside of hours and hours of online job hunting and networking.  I was dragging myself into a “hole.” She said she only knows she is going to reach her goals when she “lives in the solution,” by which she means cultivating an attitude of success and taking daily action to move herself forward.  When she catches herself complaining about current conditions or merely talking about future plans, she knows she is not living in the solution and that she needs to get herself on track. 

For some reason, the phrase “living in the solution” struck a chord within me. I’ve heard all sorts of positive affirmations and stock phrases meant to uplift the spirit and motivate the mind but for me, this simple phrase was what I needed to hear to help me rethink my state of mind.   Unnecessary clutter is the foundation of my unhappiness, so for me “living in the solution” means creating clutter-free environments wherever I go.  Since my conversation with my wonderful friend, I’ve focused on the steps required to stop dwelling in the problem and to start living in the solution.

Physical environment: Don’t bring home new, unnecessary objects; live simply and lightly. Keep my spaces organized and handle tasks promptly to avoid becoming overwhelmed.  Avoid negative/unhealthy environments and people as possible; seek out healthy spaces - especially outdoor environments and natural settings.  
Don’t clutter the body with unnecessary foods and unhealthy substances. Replace these with whole foods, consumed mostly raw or steamed.  Become physically active for both health and the sense of freedom that getting out of the house brings.

Mind/spirit: Do not dwell on negative thinking or take on others' negativity; concentrate on my goal when engaging in anything difficult so that I have a positive image to hold on to.  Adopt a daily meditation practice to become attuned to my mind’s habits so that I can work to make beneficial changes in my thinking- particularly in clearing out the left-brain clutter.  Seek environments that are calming and nurturing (bookstores, cafes, libraries, natural settings all work for me).  Read uplifting, informative material that supports my goals. Take time to relax.

One "Solution" Might be a Farm!
For several years I’ve had a yearning to live more harmoniously with nature. I experienced a stay at an eco-village in New Mexico a few years ago. The experience was wonderful and healing for me, an urban child filled with pollution and junk food, who thought that Healthy Choice frozen meals were the only way to health.  When I think about “living in the solution” I can clearly envision the environment I want to be in: an organic farm.  The experience of both living and working on such a farm fits well with my life goals.  Both personally, and as a sociologist, I strongly support organic farms for healthy communities and environmental sustainability.  My experience eating raw foods has made this connection even more obvious to me.  I want to experience firsthand the work involved in growing the healthiest foods on earth.  I want to see how they are distributed.   It feels like a calling to me: I am dying to get dirty in the fields and to fall asleep at night, achy and overjoyed to be doing something meaningful and significant.  I want to find an organic farm in southern California to live and work on but so far I’ve found that getting hold of a farmer is as difficult as applying for jobs! I’m not giving up, though.  I know there’s an organic farm just waiting for me! 

Happy Holidays, and Happy New Years, everyone!  I hope you all find ways to live in the solution in 2009.