I'm a student, so i really dont have alot of money... So sometimes i just cant afford to fill my grocery basket with only organic stuff...

So i would like to know something... I have a raw food book that says to put non-organic vegetables/fruits in the sink, filled with water, and to add a spoonfull of clay... It is supposed to absord the chemicals...

Anybody heard of this?

No. But my opinion is also that eating organic is not a 'rite of entry' to derive 99% of the benefit that you WILL gain from allowing a diet of fresh, raw conventional produce to acheive over 12+ months.

-You can always rinse with a very light bleach solution, which should de-activate any organic compounds or critters on the surface....and then rinse with pure water. Just a suggestion.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

mira,

David gave great advice and I learned to take it. My new life with raw foods is more enjoyable because of it. Don't worry about buying all raw. As David also says, "There are no raw food police." Even if you eat only one raw meal a day, even using non-organic raw foods, you'll be improving your health. I promise. There's no rush. Do what you can and have a lot of fun with it!

The one thing I will emphasize about David's advice is this:

Quote

-You can always rinse with a VERY LIGHT bleach solution,...

If your sink is half-filled with water, a teaspoon of bleach is all you would need at the very most. Bleach is potent and you don't need much. RINSE WELL!!!!

Have fun with this! It really does make a difference!

bleach?? Are you guys serious? Try very diluted Dr Bronners salsuds. I would NEVER use bleach.

hmmm.... i must say that i would be afraid to use bleach as well... And i think that it would be a little paradoxiale, as i try to buy unbleached stuff and not to use it when i wash my clothes... i dunno

I hear you. Most municipal water supplies contain chlorine. I don't drink municipal water, but it is safe to drink by most standards when done in small quantities....(although I'm not advocating drinking it either...even in dilute quantities). But my research (The FDA & WebMD sources I checked) seem to indicate that water is safe to drink when the bleach is diluted at 8 drops per gallon of water. That being the case, my opinion is that it would be all right to rinse your produce in...followed by a rinse of pure water....especially if the alternative is some sort of cooked food choice! LOL. Just another option for some one on a budget...if the person is highly concerned. Better to have SOME solution than lapse back into unconscious behaviors (just my opinion).

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

so, i could actually rinse my vegatables with tap water only? hmm... maybe i could let them soak for a while...

Dilute concentrations of either bleach or vinegar are recommended to neutralize the organo phosphate compounds sprayed onto our fruits & vegetables in the form of pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, etc..Rinse off any soil, soak them for 10-15 minutes in the dilute concentration, rinse well, dry off, & consume..

Both bleach & acetic acids (vinegars) are corrosive substances..Bleach at full strength out of the bottle is undeniably more corrosive than acetic acid, vinegar, full strength out of the bottle..As purchased from the grocery store..

What we tend to forget is that if the acetic acid purchased for food consumption was at the same concentration in parts per million as the bleach sold in the grocery store, then it would be just as harmful, if not more so, than would be the bleach..

If you use either of these substances in the very dilute concentrations that are recommended for neutralization purposes, then the risks to ones health are negligible..Certainly, much less harmful then ingesting the organo phosphate chemical compounds that are sprayed onto the fruits & veggies..

There is no argument that not ingesting any of these substances would be preferable..Most of the members on this forum do not have the luxury of unlimited funds to purchase & consume an all organic raw diet..

The paradox of this raw lifestyle, as I see it, is that the ability to consume an all raw diet is absolutely dependent upon purchasing produce that is grown hundreds, if not thousands of miles away from the kitchen of the end consumer..The number of calories of energy needed to grow, harvest, & transport the produce in question from the field where it is grown to the kitchen of the consumer, far exceeds the calories of energy that the produce is able to provide in the form of fuel to the human being consuming it..

For me, this is a greater long term worry than whether or not I can consume an all organic diet..The bottom line for me is this:

Unless I grow, organically, the food that I consume for myself; I REALLY do not know if the produce that I purchase at the grocery store is TRULY organic..Short of learning organic chemistry & having a fully equipped lab right in my home to test ALL of the produce that I purchase; there is no way that I can be SURE that what I purchase is organic or not..We have to depend upon the honesty of others; individuals, companies, & corporations in order to believe that the organic produce in our local stores is truly as advertised..

So do as Bryan, Dave Mason, & many others have recommended..Purchase organic if you feel that it is the best choice for YOU..Weigh the pros & cons of organic versus conventional for each species of fruit or vegetable that you wish to eat..When organic is not available, the cost of organic is too high, when the organic produce is not ripe, or in poor condition...purchase the conventionally grown produce, wash it, soak it, rinse it, dry it, & eat it with a clear conscience!!

Being raw is MORE important than whether or not all of the food that you consume is organic!!..

Bruce



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/05/2008 04:54PM by baltochef.

yeah...It's true that eating raw is more important that not eating anything alive... I hope one day there will be alot more organic food in the grocery stores, sold at a reasonable price!! I think its coming, sooner or later, cause if we go back only ten years ago, there wasnt alot of organic food around!!

wouldn't it be safer just to use a produce ozonator then bleach?

...Also, in the book "The China Study" the author devotes several paragraphs to explaining how a whole food, plant diet has a prophylactic effect against many of the dangerous chemicals found in our food and environment. I took that to mean that eating an all plant diet can offset many of the dangers found in conventional produce. ...but yes, rinsing does make perfect sense too.

Aloha Nui Loa,

Greg

A great many people think they are thinking when they are really rearranging their prejudices. - William James

There is no pill that can be swallowed,
There is no guru, that can be followed, - Michael Franti (Pray For Grace)

The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion. - Albert Camus

The suggestion to use the light bleach was a suggestion made to someone who said they don't have a lot of money to spend. The special products we can buy to clean our produce are usually expensive. David and I were just recommending a virtually cost-free way of cleaning produce. The bleach system is safe when done as recommended.

Just EAT RAW. period.

dont stress over this that and the other. The amount of dead bugs/old bandaids/other crap in SAD food.. its GOT to be a step up eating fresh vibrant RAW produce!!

dont get caught up in the worry cycle. just enjoy!

rawdanceruk, that's a high quality perspective shift. very nice!

MauiGreg Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ...Also, in the book "The China Study" the author
> devotes several paragraphs to explaining how a
> whole food, plant diet has a prophylactic effect
> against many of the dangerous chemicals found in
> our food and environment. I took that to mean
> that eating an all plant diet can offset many of
> the dangers found in conventional produce.
> ...but yes, rinsing does make perfect sense too.


My personal opinion of the entire raw movement spanning from the 1920's, through the present, and into the future for the next 50-100 years is this:

Very little scientific research has been done in the past, nor is very much being done currently to establish the viability, short term or long term; and the advantages & disadvantages of a plant-based diet for humans..Note that I said SCIENTIFIC research, not apocryphal information based on speculation..

Humans gained control of fire approximately one hundred thousand years ago..Since that time we have been steadily moving from family & clan-based hunter gatherers to so-called civilized humans of today that live together in large groups called cities..During this one hundred thousand or so years we have been steadily moving away from an all natural plant-based diet to the diet of primarily proteins, starches, fats, & sugars that the majority of the world consumes today..

Since the time that humans invented written language to the present relatively little has been recorded regarding diet..Compared to the writings on philosophy, religion, & other subjects..Since the 1850's hundreds of thousands of cookbooks have been written, but little about the consumption of food, cooked or raw, & how it effects human health..

So as I see things, the raw foodists of the past, the present, & the immediate future are the guinea pigs for future human health..Although our numbers seem to grow exponentially, day-by-day, there are still not enough of us to currently make much of a difference..

We are marginalized in a world where the ability to afford meat to cook & eat every day is the ultimate expression of no longer being poor..For thousands of years the ability to eat cooked meat every day has gone hand-in-hand with wealth & status..

I grew up very poor in Baltimore City during the 1950's, 1960's, & 1970's..Not having meat on the table every night was a definite social stigma..Eating hot dogs instead of steak or pot roast was not something that you went & told your friends about..Unless you wanted to be teased & ridiculed..

All we can do is to set quiet examples by our behavior..If the organic movement in the United States truly reverts farming back to the times before the advent of chemical agriculture in the ways that Robert Rodale envisioned, then I feel that the raw movement will have a real chance of becoming an accepted, mainstream reality..

If this happens then serious scientists will begin the long-term studies that are essential to understanding what the long-term consequences of a raw diet might be..Right now, no one really knows what those consequences are..We question, speculate, postulate, & discuss our individual day-to-day experiences on forums like this..For now, this is all that we can do..

Unadulterated, fresh, ripe, organic raw fruits & vegetables are unquestionably the best for humans to consume..If the organic produce available for purchase is unripe, & or of inferior quality, then I elect to purchase & consume the conventionally grown produce instead..The benefits of eating raw far outweigh the drawbacks of eating conventionally grown produce..

Bruce