Why do I keep hearing or reading comments about the huge time commitment needed to eat raw......

The time I spend shopping, preparing, eating and cleaning up has been drastically reduced since I went raw.



Who spends MORE time on food than before they went raw (question mark)



How do these misconceptions start (question mark)



(My keyboard wont let me use most of the puncuation marks, no question mark, no apostrophe,etc...)

I spend way more time preparing food, but that's only because I ate out so much before. If I compare it to when I actually cooked I say it was equal - maybe a bit less. I think that 'myth' exists because you can get a lot of pre-made cooked food.

Preparing raw food takes less time than cooking. Obviously it takes more than McDonalds drive thru but it's worth the time and energy.

Preparing food is fun anyway.

After the delicious pesto I made this morning for my Easter dinner later on today...which really didn't take that long to make...I think the time and sometimes the monetary investments are worth it...Honestly the cooked vegan and non-vegan meals that I have prepared in the past took much longer to make...I'm Italian...so everything took all day to prepare and cook...I hope everyone has a HOPPY holiday...Diana

I think this "myth" stems from the trend I see of high fat raw gourmet food - the kind that requires a lot of sprouting, juicing, soaking and dehydration. I've seen a raw recipe for "pizza" that in all, took almost 2 days to prepare - from sprouting to mixing to first dehydration, then adding the toppings and dehydrating some more. No thanks! When I'm hungry I want my food NOW.

I personally tend to stick with whole fruit... ultimate fast food.

Sarah
[goingbananasblog.com]

I'm in agreement with Sarah. Simply washing fruits and veggies takes a scant amount of time. When you become involved with soaking, sprouting, and dehydrating, it really racks up the time commitment. This route also involves the dishwashing of sprouting jars, blenders/food processors/Champion Juicers, dehydrator trays, and teflex sheets. Just thinking about it makes me tired.

Smile

I have been spending more time since I upped my raw intake (I spend around 1-2 hours daily in the kitchen). but that's because I enjoy preparing foods. I haven't started sprouting/dehydrating--It's just making specialty dishes using the raw fruits and veggies. But, that's by choice.

I think eating takes a lot longer when eating raw veggies. First there is a large amount as they take up a good portion of your diet. But most of all it's the chewing and chewing and chewing. Cooked food is softer and breaks up faster through chewing. While raw is harder and sometimes the tiny hard pieces go to the back of my throat (specifically broccoli and sometimes carrots. I usually have to drink some water after that to make sure I don't choke on the tiny beads at the end of broccoli). It could take me 30+ mins to eat a cereal bowl of various raw veggies. When I eat more than that I specifically attempt to chew fast, but still thoroughly. I learned several years ago that chewing food thoroughly is one of the most important parts of digestion. Funny thing is, I only do it when eating right. If I eat junk, I chew it sparingly. Probably because it tastes so good I want to swallow it and get some more.

bryau au wrote a book called raw in 10 minutes
or something like that
i think he wants to dispel that myth that raw takes longer


i think it takes even less than 10 minutes
more like 10 seconds

wash it
eat it

eating grapes is so easy, maybe blending watermelon with ice can be difficult for some.

it takes alot of organisational time; buying produce, thinking energy, anxiety. preparing is ok, but am washing up alot, and washing floor alot.

I spend LOTS more time preparing my food now that I eat raw. I mean...no complaints or anything- it was due time I started thinking about what was going into my body.

Perhaps it's all part of the learning process...

I'm a full-time student and I work, My days start before sunrise and end around 9pm. On campus, there is very, very little raw food and virtually no raw+organic food. Not eating cooked food means spending a good portion of time buying, preparing and packing it. If I wasn't raw I'd spend much less time shopping...and I rarely went to the grocery store before.

So...I really can't agree that it's a myth for everyone. However, I do think it's temporary, and the prep time isn't absurd; it's reasonable. :-/