im a vegan and want to eat 100% raw, the problem is where i live there is only a super walmart for our groceries, and sometimes we'll take the drive to price chopper, i see organic food and fruits there, but they dont look very good..so is it possible for me to eat 100%raw? or do i grow my own food? i live in upstate NY so i cant grow oranges or coconuts

You do the best you can do. If the organic selection is low where you live, find out which foods have the highest pesticide usage, and avoid those. Well, here are the worst:

12 Most Contaminated
Peaches
Strawberries
Apples
Spinach
Nectarines
Celery
Pears
Cherries
Potatoes
Bell peppers
Raspberries
Grapes, imported

If you have the space for a garden, grow your own fruits and vegetables. You can use rock powder to mineralize your soil, and use your make compost with the refuse from your fruits and vegetables.

You can also grow sprouts.

Check around your neighborhood for people who have fruit trees, and see if they would let you pick their trees. A lot of people don't eat their fruit, and it just goes to waste.

In upstate New York, find out where the local farms are, and see if you can get into a community supported agriculture program to get food from the local farmers.

Eat raw commercial foods are going to be much healthier than eating cooked commercial foods. But get organic when you can, and have your own garden be an organic garden.

Have you tasted the organic fruit? Sometimes good fruit doesn't "look good" at first, until you get used to it. Sometimes the best fruit is smaller and funny looking, at first. When I am in a normal grocery store I am baffled by the produce section....big ole perfect looking fruit, looking unreal and shiny and plastic to me!

rawrvegan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> ...i live in upstate NY so i cant grow
> oranges or coconuts

Enjoy those Walmart oranges and coconuts.. I get mine from the local Stop & Shop grocery chain..

you might be able to find food buying clubs in upstate ny.
even if you have to drive once or twice a month to pick up your order
it might be a good investment in your health and enjoyment

I agree with the above great posts. Eat as best you can. Eating 100% conventional produce from WalMart is LIGHT YEARS ahead of how 99.99% of even healthy people eat consistently. That would be a TREMENDOUS accomplishment!

-The above ideas are spot on. Sprouting and window gardening (micro-greens) is an excellent hobby to help support your diet with organic produce (you KNOW its organic because YOU nutured it!)

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

There are lots of things you can grow at home organically in small spaces- in tiny pots you can grow chillies and herbs, and in slightly larger pots you can grow bell peppers, baby aubergines, tomatoes etc.

Jeez Bryan all my favorites are high pesticide. Doesn't washing work, or not as well as most would think?


WendySmiling in Oklahoma
www.16weeks2health.blogspot.com
12/17/10.......240/155/125

Wendy,

I don't know about washing. Washing is better than not washing. For some things (like apples) you could peel them.

For greens, get the organic. They don't cost that much more than the commercial products.

if you do end up eating conventional, atleast try to wash them and make sure you're getting b12 -- it's not in conventional food. You can try ordering organic food online, as well. Just look up diamond organics on google, or search for organic food delivery.

Many people in America are in similar predicaments to yours; they want to step up and have a healthier diet, but unfortunately their local communities and stores don't have organics and pesticide free produce high on their list of priorities and concerns.

If you cannot get organic produce all the time but/and are concerned about eating a 100% raw diet with only conventional fruits and vegetables, I'd recommend using a specifically designed fruit and veggie spray for removing waxes and pesticide residue on all your raw food.

As an intermediate step, using an organic fruit and vegetable wash that is specially designed to remove pesticide residue and toxins from produce is a very good action to take. These types of washes are available from Whole Foods and Trader Joe's if you have those stores near you( or can call the nearest one and ask if they could ship..) and numerous online sources as well. Google it.

I purchased a bottle of organic vegetable wash for my own mother when she couldn't find very much organic produce in her town. The brand I bought her was "Veggie Wash", and it can be found at www.veggie-wash.com Directions for use are on the bottle.

And as an fyi....the list of the most contaminated produce is predominately higher in fruits than vegetables. As many on this board have previously shared in older posts, eating a lower sugar raw diet with a higher proportion of vegetables to fruits is not a terrible way to go raw, and can be very balancing.

Also, note that most fruits with tough outer skins like bananas, melons and squashes are much lower in pesticides, so you aren't completely being left "fruit-free" if you choose to avoid the more highly sprayed ones.



PEACE
Choco

Well, do the best you can sweety

Are you near Albany NY by any off chance? I ask because I went to college up there and I remember a Price Chopper and a Super Walmart.

If this is the case, there is a co-op with lots of health food and org produce called Honest Weight Food Coop..google it!! They also have Hannafords in the area with a better selection than the p-chop.

Even if you arent near Albany, check around and see if there are any Hannafords or coops in your area. Sometimes they are tiny and spread mostly by word of mouth, so do your research and you may be pleasantly surprised.

Best wishes

Choco,

Those fruit and veg washes were proven by the labs at America's Test Kitchen, and Harvard's labs to not work! A 20/80 solution of white vinegar and water, used as a "bath" and rinsed off, was found to be more effective and cheaper.

Wendysmiling,

Unfortunately, most non-organic produce is genetically modified, and, alas, this means its evils are not limited to its having mouse and hog genes spliced into it(as if that weren't bad enough). No, the greater evil is that the seeds of the produce are germinated in pesticides[thank you, Monsanto, you are the Devil] from the earliest stages in order to make them resistant to crop sprays in maturity. What this means is that the pesticides and herbicides are part of the chemical makeup of the plant by the time it reaches fruit bearing age. There is no way to wash that off. Also, the most recent studies show that conventional crops are up to 300 times less potent in antioxidants and other micronutrients[including trace minerals--at the vanguard of cancer prevention] as are organic crops. It is very important that people be able to find good, organic produce; whether certified or "naturally farmed," i.e. organic but uncertified, wherever they live. If you live in a farm state, stay on your Congresspersons about farm bills and other issues having to do with our crops. The enormity of how badly our food supply has been corrupted cannot be exaggerated.

P.S. Sorry to be such a stone bummer, everyone!

What's the general consensus of ordering from an organic shipper over the Internet and having the food items delivered? Is this viable?