Raw food, or to put it more accurately ‘Living Food’, is a passion for Ian, Jonathan and Alison.
Food contains enzymes that are killed by cooking or heating above 40 degrees. The nearer food is to sunlight the better: plants turn sunlight into chlorophyll and we can turn it back into ‘light’ energy in our bodies!
To quote David Wolfe, one of world’s leading authorities on raw nutrition:
“Sunfoods beautify the body, mind & spirit. They carry with them the vitality of health & life – vibrant Sun energy that nourishes all life on Earth. By taking in the energy of vibrant Sunfoods you can overcome any health challenge. The Sun is a transformer. By eating Sunfoods you can improve your life in everyway.”
The typical raw food diet (and we use this word in its most abundant sense, not the restrictive way it is usually used) is vegan. Some raw foodies also eat raw dairy products, for example unpasteurised goat’s cheese. Our raw meals are based on raw vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds, sprouted seeds and seaweed. We also eat foraged foods from the fields and hedgerows, including nettles and cleavers that are juiced, and dandelion leaves that are added to salads.
Now this doesn’t have to mean endless salads, although you can happily live on beautiful salads when you vary the flavours, shapes and textures to delight your mouth.
There is now a raw food equivalent of virtually any cooked dish – from pizza to spaghetti to curry to burgers to pates to cakes and cheesecakes. And raw chocolates… well where do we start!!!! (By the way, we’re not promoting raw chocolate as a health food, we simply love it and treat it as an indulgence in the same way as old-fashioned chocolate).
We’re very excited to have set up a regular Raw Food Potluck, building a Raw Food community in Bath every month since our first potluck meal in February 2010.
We have an allotment in Bath where we spend as much time as we can growing our own juicy, living food. Last summer we held our Raw Food Potluck on the allotment, attracting about 30 guests.
As well as growing and eating Living Food we’re passionate about preparing delicious raw dishes to share. Jonathan, Alison & team put on a fabulous raw lunch at our Energy Workshop in March 2010 – and again in May and October. We had a delicious Raw Chocolate Party in April 2010, followed up by raw refreshments at Conscious Clubbing nights in the Love Lounge and in Bristol later in the year.
We have shared our raw food inspiration through a series of workshops including ‘Raw Food for Radiant Health’, ‘Raw Chocolate Alchemy’ and ‘How to Thrive in Winter with Raw Food’ – with more to follow…
Jonathan has now created a raw food business from his passion for raw food, with Cafe Grace evolving from our mobile catering at events in our first year.