I loved this article by Tera Warner of www.therawdivas.com and wanted to share. She says it so-o-o well! She even makes fun of emulating Norman Walker, which I still will do to some extent, but she makes a great point.

I think this one paragraph kind of sums it up "Well, if raw food leaders would start to speak from their personal experience rather than claiming to have “the right way,” I think we’d be off to a very good start. Let’s face it, much of what we’re doing in this raw food movement still qualifies as a grand human experiment. As far as I can see, there is no “right way,” there is only “YOUR right way” and if there was a single “right way”, we wouldn’t have nearly this much argument and dissention within the raw food movement, would we?"

Enjoy!

Let Me Tell You What I Think About The Raw Food Movement
By Tera Warner

Okay, I admit that I’ve had more than my fair share of contradicting information when it comes to the “right” way to approach the Raw Food Diet, and today I’d like to set the record straight.

This morning I received an article in my inbox and it was talking about the dangers of consuming too much fruit in the raw food diet. First of all, I love the author and felt like everything was written with great integrity and clarity. The proof was carefully laid out, and the reasoning behind it all was perfectly “sensible,” and yet reading this article, I started to feel rather upset!

Why?

Because I could show you another link, well, dozens of them, in fact, that claim the complete 180 degree opposite of this to be true with as much “sensible” reasoning and proof to back them up as well.

Frankly what shocks me is the fact that we can have two diametrically opposed camps in the raw food movement, and yet BOTH sides of the camp claim “their” way is “the right way” and then proceed to invalidate any other paths by claiming that they lead to misery and failure. The end result, as far as I am concerned, just creates a whole bunch of confusion for people who are looking to succeed in improving their health, and divides us as a raw food community.

The Fat-Fruit Controversy is not the only dichotomy in the Raw Food Movement by any stretch of the imagination. There are the Enzyme-elievers and Nay-sayers, the Sprouters vs the Doubters, the Juicers vs the Chewers, the Supplementers vs Puritan Hygienists, the Colon Flushers vs the Constipators.

You name it, there's protest and dichotomy riddled throughout what we know as The Raw Food Movement.

And frankly, I think we should do something about it.

For heaven’s sake, we’re all raw foodists—we’re a global community of people inspired about health and passionately living as fully as we can. I think the impact we can have on this planet will be greater if we stand united rather than try and throw criticism and polarity into the soup.

How do we do this?

Well, if raw food leaders would start to speak from their personal experience rather than claiming to have “the right way,” I think we’d be off to a very good start. Let’s face it, much of what we’re doing in this raw food movement still qualifies as a grand human experiment. As far as I can see, there is no “right way,” there is only “YOUR right way” and if there was a single “right way”, we wouldn’t have nearly this much argument and dissention within the raw food movement, would we?

I’ve seen raw food “experts” try to apply the raw food diet for more than 10 years, only to pack it in and decide that it wasn’t working for them! I’ve received phone calls from people who had tried EVERYTHING (High fat, low fat, sprouts, juice, and dehydrated goods) just to end up extremely ill and finding comfort only in cooked root vegetables and a small amount of meat.

Who am I to judge? Who are any of us to judge what is “right” for them?

Frankly, as soon as any person claims they know “THE truth” I just want to run in the opposite direction. There are no absolutes, as far as I’m concerned, and when it comes to “truth” well, what’s true is what’s true for YOU!

It would be very easy, for example, to say that just because Dr Norman Walker lived to the ripe old age of 100 and something, and HE didn’t eat too much fruit, and flushed his colon then we should all reduce our fruit consumption and flush our colons.

But that just doesn’t make ANY sense. There are little old ladies in Japan who have been eating sushi their whole lives and digging potatoes out of their back garden living to the ripe of age of 100 and something, too! So should we all start eating sushi and picking potatoes?

No way!

How can you possibly begin to eliminate the infinity of variables that play into each person’s unique constitution, environment and history? You can’t! There’s no way to rationally ignore all the other factors in the equation in order to make any of these broad, sweeping statements about the “rightness” of anyone’s diet or lifestyle.

I’ve seen too many people spontaneously healed from a lifetime of illness through spiritual awakenings and self-discovery to fall for the idea that food alone is the issue. They didn’t change anything about their food, but rather come to understand something profound about themselves, their history, and their very being, and that caused an extraordinary shift in their lives and their health. Wheatgrass and bananas had nothing to do with it.

I’d like to believe that we can create a space where people feel safe to do what works for them and that we can honor the “rightness” of each person’s self-determinism and ability to know what is best for them. Let’s put all the options on the table, but let’s do it in the spirit of learning from each other and supporting each other to better understand health as a composite of a wide range of factors, including tolerance and compassion for others.

There is so much more to be gained by realizing that we’re all here doing our best to learn as we go and make the world a saner place in the process. With all these debates and dissention in the raw food movement, we become obsessed with FOOD, and forget how important our mental and emotional state is to the digestion of whatever we eat.

We see the same thing in raw food leaders who speak with disdain and intolerance for anything that is cooked. We create competition amongst ourselves as people passionate about health, rather than a spirit of tolerance and a desire to understand each other and ourselves better.

Here at The Raw Divas, we will continue to invite experts who practice many different variations of the raw diet, and we will even invite incredible people that live empowered lives and could care less about raw food!

What are your goals in this adventure of LIFE? To attach a label to your forehead, or to better understand your body and your self? Food is just one part of the equation.

Leaders of the Raw Food Movement Unite! We’re stronger together than we are divided, and as soon as one of us starts invalidating the success or personal choices of the other, we’re all sunk! Let’s admit and understand that there is much to be learned in the process of what we’re doing, and what works for one may not work for the other.

Raw food enthusiasts and seekers of health and high-energy living: Don’t let anyone invalidate what’s real for you! Observe what happens in your body and keep things simple. You will KNOW what works for you and don’t let all those enzymatic fermentation theories distract you from what you OBSERVE to be true about your body and its reactions.

We are all engaged in the process of learning more about ourselves and working towards a greater understanding of health and awareness. We do this best with a genuine desire to learn from each other’s experiences and by standing in the integrity of what we observe to be true for ourselves, and by speaking about it in those terms.

Thank you to each of you who bravely blaze a trail of tolerance, of community, and of mutual support, as we all evolve towards a greater understanding of each other and ourselves. We have much to learn yet. Let’s support each other in the process and we’ll all get to where we’re striving to go a lot faster.

great article...

very cool thanks karen

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

Awesome Karen. Had to fight an urge to stand up and clap here at old Verizon! I loved the paragraph you quoted at the beginning of the post and am also fond of this one:

"I’d like to believe that we can create a space where people feel safe to do what works for them and that we can honor the “rightness” of each person’s self-determinism and ability to know what is best for them. Let’s put all the options on the table, but let’s do it in the spirit of learning from each other and supporting each other to better understand health as a composite of a wide range of factors, including tolerance and compassion for others".


If I had more time I would have underlined TOLERANCE and COMPASSION. Thanks for sharing such a nice thought on a Friday afternoon.

A stellar weekend to all,

David

Well said. It would be great it this article or a thought similar to this could remain at the top of the forum, especially to encourage newbies or others who are trying to wade through the sea of conflicting information on this lifestyle/ way of eating.

Wishing you vibrant health

That would be a good idea, Pistachio! Bryan? :-)

Awesome article and I couldn't agree more! Thanks for posting!
As a newbie to being raw, I've also found it difficult to grasp approaches that are 180 degrees in opposition to each other. In that regard I really like DavidZmason's constant comment of "there are no raw food police"...that has been the most helpful to me (Thanks David!)... to inform myself, relax and do what feels good and right... to pay attention to how it feels and act accordingly.


Pistachio Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
It would be great it this article or a
> thought similar to this could remain at the top of
> the forum, especially to encourage newbies or
> others who are trying to wade through the sea of
> conflicting information on this lifestyle/ way of
> eating.

Great Idea Pistacio

another great post, karen You made my day with that one. ((((((((thanks))))))))))))))

MauiGreg, I couldn't agree more. I like DavidZmason's approach the best.

Thanks, pampam, I'm glad a lot of people like it as much as I do!

Good lord... all that common sense is scary
What will do without our arguements though ?

I like that suggestion about making an artical like this one a sticky. It is truely wise.

Lightform, I like this side of you.

awwwwww.. i'll miss all the passionate arguments...

shoots


!!

This is excerpted from an article about the RawSpiritFest by Mike Adams of NewsTarget.com:

At one point, an overzealous audience member who was obviously at the wrong festival started getting pissy with David Wolfe and, with microphone in hand, ranted off a series of personal attacks. (Didn't the guy know that personal attacks should be reserved for blogs and websites?) I noticed he had his fifth and sixth chakras all blown out the front, and I actually felt sorry for him, but the audience basically told him to pipe down and took away his microphone, returning the Q&A to topics of interest to real raw foodists who are far more interested in learning how to transform the world than bashing each other over minor differences in philosophy.

And that's a good point to mention: If you gather a hundred raw foodists in a room, you'll get a hundred different opinions on exactly what's the right raw food diet to follow. But in truth, they're all probably 95% in alignment, with only minor variations based on personal experience or nutritional knowledge. All raw foodists agree that returning to a living foods diet is crucial for the future of life on Earth (human life, plant life, animal life, etc.). And all raw foodists also agree that consuming raw living foods is an important foundation for spiritual growth and the evolution of human consciousness.

>> Frankly, as soon as any person claims they know “THE truth” I just want to run in the opposite direction. There are no absolutes, as far as I’m concerned, and when it comes to “truth” well, what’s true is what’s true for YOU!

>> I’ve seen too many people spontaneously healed from a lifetime of illness through spiritual awakenings and self-discovery to fall for the idea that food alone is the issue.

nuff said.

forum dwellers..

PACK IT IN!

find something better to do



- if someone says they have the truth - run, if they are talking about the mysterious human vessel - run faster, if they say have 'evidence' from watching a bunch of Orangutangs - hell, buy PLANE ticket.

lol, anaken.

Hey, I still need this forum! ;-) I need the advice, support, and comaraderie (sp?).

I printed this article, thank you!

I hope any newbies are enjoying this article.

Fantastic article posting karennd, thanks!

I've been away for awhile, trying to get my blog up and running. But I'm glad you liked it RawandHolistic!

karennd
[www.healingtype1diabetes.typepad.com]

Great article. Thanks, Karen!

I agree. Great article!

Hi karennd,

That's a great article! Thanks for sharing with us. =)

All the Best,
Wong