Online Database Tells You How Long Your Fruits and Veggies Last [Raw Online Resource]

(via LifeHacker.com)

StillTasty.com Tells You How Long Your Raw Foods Will Last

StillTasty.com is a brand new online (free) resource that gives you information about how long each fruit, vegetable, nut, seed, herb, spice (and more!) will last before they go bad. The site has an easily searchable database that will tell you (in a clear graphical format) how long something will last in the pantry, fridge, and freezer.

Not only that, but StillTasty.com gives you tips on how to purchase the best produce, the most effective way to store it and even the best temperatures to store them at.

The site is not just for raw produce, so you will find just about every form of each type of produce and food from canned, bottled, baked and frozen, to dried. Luckily, they have storage information for raw versions of produce, nuts, seeds, herbs, spices, and more.

StillTasty.com is organized by category or you can also use a simple search function. They have also implemented a forum to share information with others and have started to incorporate articles such as The Secret to Keeping Luscious Fruits to add to their already useful database.

Here is an example of their tips and information chart for whole, raw apples:

Their listings are very specific; they even have a listing for cut, raw apples!

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This is one of our new favorite sites for quickly finding out how long specific fresh foods will last. Right now, it looks like the site is completely free and also ad free.

Another benefit of using this site is that it can help save you money on a raw diet. If you are aware of how long your produce will last in whatever way you choose to store it and know the best way to store it, you can maximize each and every food purchase.

Highly recommended.

~ Raw Food Right Now
http://www.RawFoodRightNow.com

Michelle Obama Plants Organic Vegetable Garden in White House Lawn [Raw Related News]

First Lady and Local School Children Plant Organic Vegetable Garden
Photo from Jason Reed/Reuters

(via Raw Reform)

Michelle Obama, America's New First Lady Into Organic Gardening?

Yes, you read that right. Michelle Obama began digging up the White House lawn last Friday in order to plan the first vegetable garden since Eleanor Roosevelt planted a Victory Garden during World War II.

Not only will the garden help provide fresh, local, organic food for the White House family, but Michelle Obama is using this as an opportunity to help teach American children about the importance of eating fruit and vegetables.

Seriously.

Check out this quote from the First Lady talking about her message by planting this garden, courtesy of the article from The New York Times:

“I wanted to be able to bring what I learned to a broader base of people. And what better way to do it than to plant a vegetable garden in the South Lawn of the White House?”

The First Lady was inspired to plan the garden, her first garden, to help teach her own children about eating better, which has already helped her girls to lose weight.

What's going to be in this garden?

The Obamas plan on planting and eating organic cilantro, tomatillos, red romaine, green oak leaf lettuce, butterhead lettuce, red leaf lettuce, spinach, chard, collards, black kale, berries and some herbs like anise hyssop and Thai basil.

And arugula too. The President likes his arugula!

Not only that, but they are even employing the White House carpenter to keep two hives for fresh local honey!

Truly incredible.

Hey White House folk, if you're reading this we will offer our time to fly out to D.C. and help teach Michelle Obama how to make green smoothies with some of those delicious greens and berries! Can you imagine? Sasha and Malia with yummy green moustaches?!

What does this mean for the raw food movement?

With health, nutrition, and small organic farming always taking a backseat to larger, more pressing issues for our nations politicians, seeing such a fabulous step being taken by our nation's most public political figures sends a very hopeful message.

What do you think the executives of some of the largest processed food corporations are thinking when they see such a strong quote from our First Lady:

...But the first lady emphasized that she did not want people to feel guilty if they did not have the time for a garden: there are still many changes they can make.

“You can begin in your own cupboard,” she said, “by eliminating processed food, trying to cook a meal a little more often, trying to incorporate more fruits and vegetables.”

Has the climate and culture around food in the U.S. finally beginning to change for the better? Are we going to start seeing more interest in fresh, organic, raw foods from mainstream news, culture, and other parts of society?

If you read the articles we linked to at the bottom, you'll see that the authors are focusing on this as a political issue about small scale farming vs. industrial farming and it sounds like Mrs. Obama is dead set on making this health through nutrition one of her priorities while in the White House.

Could the Obamas eventually become raw foodists? Probably not, but any step and every step counts. Any small change in the right direction sends a strong signal out to the rest of our nation and gets the wheels turning in the "more raw" direction.

We look forward to seeing more of this Victory Garden 2.0.

~ Raw Food Right Now
http://www.RawFoodRightNow.com

Related:

• Raw Food Gardening - Grow Your Own by Angela Stokes
• Obamas Prepare to Plant White House Garden
• First Lady Break Ground on 'Kitchen Garden'
  
  
  

Raw Food Term: "Raw-ish"

The other night Justin's parents invited us out to dinner at a new Mediterranean style restaurant that just opened up a few weeks ago. We've been working so much on all of our various projects for the past few weeks that we haven't eaten out in what seems like ages, and we haven't seen Justin's parents in weeks.

For most people in industrialized nations, eating out is an entertaining part of life. But as all long term raw foodists know... eating out looses it's luster when eating at home tastes so much better.

While eating out may no longer be entertainment for us, we knew the most important reason to go out to dinner with Justin's parents is to spend time with them. It's not about the food, it's about the company.

Yet, both of us were kind of dreading this dinner. It is a new restaurant, so it is a new menu to scour in hopes of finding raw treasure. When driving to the restaurant, we both looked at each other with a knowing look of trepidation.

Then, in a moment of clarity, Justin said something that changed everything in one sentence:

"No worries. We'll just eat something raw-ish tonight."

Raw-ish. Immediately, we both knew what he meant. We have seen other examples of people using the term raw-ish, but we have not seen anyone using it in this particular way.

Let us define it:

Raw-ish: v. The act of eating something as raw as possible in a cooked food environment.

Raw-ish is the perfect solution when you are eating out, or at a party, or at Grandma's house. It is the moment where you eat a perfect-for-you raw lifestyle for 99% of your life, but when these moments happen, you just go with the flow and eat something raw-ish. No worries, no biggie.

This is not an excuse to go out and binge on a chocolate cake and put one raspberry on top. This is about making the most of every moment, and making an effort to eat as raw as possible in any situation you are in.


How Raw-ish Works For Us

Sure enough, after Justin said the term raw-ish, we both felt at ease. We no longer felt the pressure to be perfect. Or the stress of making up some crazy printed card asking for a fully raw, fresh vegetable plate, no dressing so we can maintain a "raw" status.

We ended up ordering spicy hummus at the Mediterranean restaurant, and it was delicious. Then both of us had a salad off the menu.

I never felt more comfortable at a restaurant.

So the next time your parents want to take you out to dinner and say "Where would you like to go?", you can say, "I don't care, as long as there is something raw-ish there."

Perfect.

~ Heidi
Raw Food Right Now
http://www.rawfoodrightnow.com

P.S. Oh, and by the way, the "cooked" spicy hummus was some of the best hummus we've ever had. All those raw hummus recipes always make my stomach upset. I'll take the "cooked" garbanzo bean option any day over sprouted garbanzo hummus or zucchini raw hummus. It's just one of those things that doesn't translate well into raw food.

There is a Cure For Diabetes [Raw Food Book Review]

"Worldwide, diabetes has reached pandemic proportions. Data published in December 2006 in the International Diabetes Federation's Diabetes Atlas show that the disease now affects a staggering 246 million people worldwide, with 46 percent of all those affected in the 40-to-59 age group." -- from the book "There is a Cure for Diabetes" by Dr. Gabriel Cousens

We thought long and hard about reviewing this book on RFRN. We didn't quite know if this book review would fit into our site's intent of helping you, the reader, in your path to go raw and stay raw.

You see, on this site we haven't talked much about the dreaded "D" word: Disease. That is not our intent with this site. However, because the book is written by uber-expert, raw and living foods advocate and top researcher Gabriel Cousens, MD (Co-written- by David Rainoshek of JuiceFeasting.com) from the Tree of Life in Patagonia, AZ. We also wanted to review this book because it contains information that is excellent for non-diabetic raw foodists, we came to the conclusion that this book review can fit quite nicely into our site's content.

With all the buzz going on about a low-glycemic diet and lifestyle, and with the tremendous results Dr. Cousens is getting in treating diabetes patients, we thought that by reviewing this book, we could show a real world example of how a raw and living foods diet could possibly reap tremendous benefits for people with degenerative diseases.

(Note: We are not advocating or prescribing anything in this post on or on this website in general. Please make sure you read our Disclaimer before continuing.)

So yes, this book is talking about a "cure for diabetes". But it does go beyond diabetes as well.

Let's get a more specific quote from the introduction of the book itself:

"Yes...Type-2 diabetes is a curable disease. From my thirty-five years of clinical experience as a holistic medical doctor, and that of live-food therapeutic centers since the 1920s when Max Gerson, MD, healed Albert Schweitzer of diabetes with live foods, the fact that diabetes is a curable disease is common knowledge in the live-food community. Diabetes is not a fixed sentence; it is not our natural condition, and has only become a problem of pandemic proportions since the 1940s."

Pretty incredible claims and a bold statement made by Dr. Cousens, yet we can see the results for ourselves in the Tree of Life's very well made documentary Simply Raw: Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days. The film itself documents six Americans who all have diabetes (and eat a Standard American Diet) who go to the Tree of Life to go on a low-glycemic, live food diet to completely reverse their diabetes and get off insulin for good. The film is extremely moving and mind-blowing, highly recommended for those stuck in the "diabetes-medicine-disease" mindset and for those interested in strengthening their views on what the body can accomplish on a raw and living foods diet.

The book also details some actual case studies from those who have cured their diabetes at the Tree of Life using Dr. Cousens' approach. The amount of scientific and medical studies quoted and referenced in this text is equally mind-blowing. Anyone thinking that there isn't a scientific base behind such a claim as "curing" diabetes my want to take even a brief glance at this book. Dr. Cousens has more than done his homework.


What exactly is the program?

So, what is the "cure for diabetes" according to the book? The book outlines the Tree of Life's specific 21+ Day program for reversing diabetes naturally. Consider it a primer on Dr. Cousens' years and years of work and research on reversing diabetes with a natural diet.

We can't give you all of the details of this phenomenal program in a simple book review. Not only is this quite a large and very in depth book, but it is massively packed with information and references to studies and other scientific papers that can make your head spin. The book is thick with scientific and medical terminology and wording, but those who are interested in pursuing such a program will benefit greatly by soaking up as much of this information as they can out of the book before they consider going to the Tree of Life for the full program. Despite the sometimes dry text, the book is also written in a plain enough style that anybody at any reading level will be able to understand the basics of the program.

In the first seven days of the 21+ day program, participants are put on a minimum seven day green juice fast "which greatly accelerates the reversing of the diabetic degenerative physiological process."

One of the most fascinating claims in this book, is that "the program renders insulin and related medicines unnecessary within four days as the blood sugar drops to normal levels, and the diabetic shifts into a non-diabetic physiology within two weeks." Wow! These claims are simply astonishing when you consider that the modern medical community considers diabetes an incurable and life-long (and life threatening!) disease.

The remainder of the 21+ Day program is a low-glycemic all or mostly raw diet supplemented with herbs and various supplements. After the blood sugar stabilizes within a normal range and the program is over, the participants are encouraged to follow the diet for life with only a few modifications, if any. Part of the program entails an up to one year follow-up via telephone consulting to help those who went through the program maintain their new diet and lifestyle at home.


How can this book benefit non-diabetic raw foodists?

A lot of our readers write into us asking us about low-glycemic recipes and information. The interest in this style of raw foodism stems from Dr. Cousens' many books. His books Conscious Eating, Spiritual Nutrition, and Rainbow Green Live-Food Cuisine all substantiate his views on what he and the rest of his team deem the best possible diet. His years of tireless scientific research for the living foods community is a precious gift for those of us seeking a much healthier lifestyle. Whether or not you agree with his approach, we should all give our respects and consideration to his work and recommendations. If you haven't read about Dr. Cousens work, take the next five minutes to read his amazing biography on the Tree of Life's website. (link: http://www.treeoflife.nu/gabriel)

There is a Cure for Diabetes gives many more valuable and up-to-date low-glycemic recipes that can be enjoyed by any health-conscious individual. Because Rainbow Green Live-Food Cuisine was written and published in 2003 (nearly 6 years ago as of this writing), many, many breakthroughs have been made in Dr. Cousens research on living, low-glycemic foods. New recipes are found in the pages of There is a Cure for Diabetes, including lots of chia seeds and even recipes for cooked dishes that include unrefined grains like quinoa and millet, as well as a lot of new and up-to-date raw food recipes you won't find in Rainbow Green.

In a way, this book serves as a sequel to Rainbow Green.

People who also eat cooked foods and those who want to introduce this lifestyle to friends and family that are resistant to eating a raw diet will love the low-glycemic, high-mineral cooked food recipes included in the book, using ingredients like quinoa, amaranth, and beans.

The recipe section of the book also includes a basic introduction to live food culinary creation. Think of this as a quick overview of the same information (but much updated) of Rainbow Green. A great summary for those new to making this type of food as well as a refresher for those who've been at it for a while.

On top of all that goodness, a detailed list of all nutrients and foods that are helpful for diabetics are listed, along with the reasons why and any related scientific studies that back the author's conclusions up.

There is also an extensive section on Juice Feasting written by David Rainoshek, the creator of JuiceFeasting.com and co-author of the book. Juice Feasting is also recommended as part of the home follow-up to the 21 Day program outlined in the book to further cleanse and ehance the individual's healing. This section provides an excellent summary of Juice Feasting as well as serving as an adjunct to the information on the JuiceFeasting.com website. It's not all repeated information from the site but is more like a well thought out and condensed summary of Juice Feasting.

There is a Cure for Diabetes is not just all about treating diabetes with food. Specific herbs, teas, and supplements are also listed along with their potential benefits for diabetics. Cousens cites scientific research and history of these additions as well so the reader can follow up should they choose to be interested in pursuing these choices. In addition, lifestyle enhancements, such as exercise, yoga, and meditation are encouraged and described in the book.


Culture of Life vs. Culture of Death

"The degenrative conditions, lifestyle, and diet that create diabetes emanate from these modern realities, which, taken together, we are calling the Culture of Death." - Dr. Gabriel Cousens, There is a Cure for Diabetes

Perhaps the most common theme threaded throughout the book is what Dr. Cousens calls the Culture of Life vs. the Culture of Death. Dr. Cousens believes that diabetes is a disease that results from living a Culture of Death lifestyle (i.e., an extremely poor diet and lifestyle in a culture fixated on death and destruction). Living in the "correct" way or, as he puts it, the Culture of Life, does not result in a diabetes physiology and can even reverse diabetes.

An integral part of his treatment for reversing a diabetic physiology at the Tree of Life is spending a lot of time helping his participants in the program to change their thinking on diabetes. They spend time working on re-framing their views on the disease from something incurable, as allopathic medicine calls it, to something that they do not have to experience if they take on the physiological change through diet which ultimately "cures" diabetes.

All in all, There Is A Cure For Diabetes is an excellent book for a raw foodist library. Who knows, you might meet someone who is a diabetic, and they ask you how you became so healthy. You might do someone a favor and open the doorway of raw foods to someone new!

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Again, we want to stress that we do not talk about "diseases and cures" on this blog very often, if ever. This blog is for an audience already interested in a raw and living foods diet who want to learn more about being raw, how to take it further, and most importantly, how to make it easier in their day-to-day life.

Notice to those who wish to comment on this post: If you have any specific things you want to say about curing diabetes, Dr. Cousens work, or have any arguments against the possibility of reversing diabetes, this blog is not the place for that discussion. In fact, RFRN is not a place to "debate" diet or any approach to disease. We recommend that you call the Tree of Life and speak with them if you have any specific questions, concerns, or just want to tell someone that diabetes cannot be cured: call the Tree of Life at 866-394-2520.

This review is simply that: a review of a book.

~ Raw Food, Right Now
http://www.RawFoodRightNow.com

Massive Raw Book Reviews!

Massive Stacks of Raw Food Books to Review

As the raw food world grows and grows and grows, so does the amount of information. And at the top of that stack:

RAW FOOD BOOKS.

Lots of 'em.

It seems like almost every week a new raw food book is coming out, and if you couple that with the hundreds of DIY raw ebooks out there, it's astronomical. It seems that every week, we are getting a new book in the mail to review for our readers.

Now, while we don't plan on reviewing every book out there (it would be impossible), we do want to give you our always honest opinion and review on as much raw information as we can. So many of our readers have written us thank you emails deeply appreciating our past book reviews, helping them to make better decisions on which raw food books to buy and which ones they can avoid.

Our goal with these book reviews is simple: tell you what the contents are, who the book applies to, and why we think you may want to own it or get it from your local library.

We want to help you sort out the great, from those that are a waste of paper.

This month we are going to go through our stacks of raw food books and raw food ebooks that have been sent to us, and we are going to review them right here on Raw Food Right Now.

Not only that, over the next month we have some exciting articles for you to help you use those few raw food books that you don't use very often and may be sitting on your bookshelf collecting dust. We're calling this upcoming series:

How to Get More Out of Your
Raw Food Books

Because there are so many raw food books available in the market now, these questions come up. Have you ever asked yourself:

• Why do I have all these raw food books?

• Do I really need to have 100 raw food books to choose from?

Well, besides raw recipe books, a lot of raw food books tend to repeat information you already know or just say the same thing in different ways.

To avoid re-reading the same things over and over in different books, between our raw book review posts, we're going to give you tips and tools on how to get the most out of your newest raw book gem in the least amount of time possible. Of course, if you fall in love with a new raw book and want to savor it, please do so! But if you're like us and have less than no time to read yet another raw food book, these tools will help you get what you need out of the book for you in record time.

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While you are waiting, get a feel for our review style by reading some of our favorite raw book reviews we have done here on Raw Food Right Now:

• Raw Food Diet Myth Book Review
  
• Amazing Grace Book Review
• Juice Feaster's Handbook Review
  

So yep! More high quality and honest book reviews for you to learn from and enjoy!

Well, we both have a lot of reading to do, so off we go to hit the books!

- Raw Food Right Now

http://www.rawfoodrightnow.com

Photo credit: flickr/austinevan

Raw Almond Pasteurization Update - Not Out of the Woods Yet

Raw Almonds Lawsuit Not Giving Up Despite Setback

A recent article from the Cornucopia Institute, the organization responsible for heading up the lawsuit to reverse the USDA's almond pasteurization law, has issued an update regarding their attempts at reversing this silly law.

In summary, the lawsuit was dismissed by a federal court judge on Monday because "the judge decided on procedural grounds that almond farmers, just like consumers and retailers, have no right to have their concerns about the illegal nature of the almond treatment scheme heard in court.”

No rights?

Hmmmm, interesting country we live in here in the U.S., isn't it? Seems that not only do consumers not have the right to eat what they want, but our judicial systems seems to think that the farms should be told what to do with what they grow.

But despite this nearly comical situation, the Cornucopia Institute is not giving up the legal fight:

“Cornucopia and our attorneys are carefully exploring legal options, including appeals and other strategies,” Fantle said. “We are not abandoning the fight to return to grocer’s shelves an American-grown, highly nutritional raw food that has been eaten with confidence and enjoyment for decades. We believe the fundamental points of our lawsuit are valid and need to be tested.”

We all need to be aware of when our rights to eat our food in a healthy, natural state are being threatened.

Please be sure to go to Cornucopia's site and sign up for their mailing list, rss, or whatever you like to keep yourself educated and informed on these and other important issues regarding your right to eat healthy, natural food.

Many thanks, again, goes out to the Cornucopia Institute for standing up for the rights of raw foodists.

~ Raw Food Right Now
http://www.rawfoodrightnow.com/

Photo credit: flickr/monstershaq2000

Heidi's Smile is Back!

A few months ago I had some dental issues. We blogged about it here on RFRN. At the time I was in a lot of pain and it really sucked, but I wanted to keep you, our readers, posted on what is going on with us in our lives.

I shared my deepest emotions, and my deepest fears live on the internet for all to see.

After my post we got our first batch of hate mail. The hate mail that continued on a weekly basis all the way until a few weeks ago. Some people were incredibly mean and hurtful... saying very mean things about me.

It felt like middle school all over again. It hurt a lot at first because I felt like people were trying to kick me when I'm down. Then, eventually, I grew aloof about the haters because I gave it a lot of thought, and realized that there will always be haters out there. And sometimes these haters just want to hate for no reason.

For the record: My smile project happened three months before the tragic bushfires in Australia. I did not cause the bushfires. I am sorry about starving children in Africa.

The experience also gave me an opportunity to connect with people who really care about me, about JS, and about Raw Food Right Now. And that is what matters.

I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who contributed to the Smile Project. Thank you so very much. Your support means the world to me. Literally. When times got down I would read your letters and your positive comments would cheer me up. Knowing that you are out there cheering me on really kept me going.

And with the help of contributions, I was able to get my smile back last week.

So here, for you, is first of many smiles I have to give to you.



And to anyone out there dealing with haters, I highly suggest one excellent blog post by Danny Choo who recently guest blogged on Boing Boing:

Something for the Hated

Nobody can break my stride.
Nobody is gonna tear me down.
I've got to keep on smiling.



~ Heidi

Raw News and Events Roundup for March 2009

Here are some updates for what's going on in the raw food world for March 2009 online and offline...

• Lenette from Go Raw Have Fun just put up an interview she did with David Wolfe about his upcoming book, Superfoods: The Food and Medicine of the Future, published by Random House and to be released on April 28th. Interesting topics covered in the interview include new tips on sungazing, what makes gold so special, and what to look for when buying superfoods.
  
  
• A great breakdown of the top 50 raw food blogs by topic was recently posted over at Massage Therapy Careers. A very good list.
  
  
• Alex from RawGuru has finally established a regular supplier of certified organic young coconuts and they are now back in stock. These are higher quality than his previous supplier, and they are coming to Alex in 15 pound cases.
  
  
• Angela Stokes' newest creation, The RevitaLive Plan, is re-launching. The program is essentially a 30 day email support program designed to help you lose weight. Also included in the program is a 60 minute interview with Angela, a full exercise manual and 4 weeks of raw food and intermediate diet plans. Note: We have not personally taken a look at the entire program, so we cannot give you our full RFRN recommendation. However, we do respect Angela's work and are sure this is a quality program. We've heard great reviews from our readers who have taken the program.
  
  
• The ever inventive crew over at We Like It Raw has just launched "Masala", a quick overview page of what's said to be "The Hottest Mix of Raw Food Blogs Online." We agree fully with his mix, these are our favorites as well, and now they are all in one place and easily scan-able in one glance. Full disclosure - we happen to be included on this list. Thanks Dhrumil and the WLIR gang for putting this together!
  
  
• Penny Powell, the a freelance writer and editor of PearMagazine.com has launched a new site, Bottling Health. If you like Penny's work with Storm and Jinjee and Pear Magazine, take a moment and check it out.
  
  
• Very popular vegan blog Vegan Lunch Box recently reviewed the Vita-Mix. Nice to see our favorite blender company making it into the non-raw world!
  
  
• It's that time of year again to get real juicy. The 2009 Global Juice Feast has begun, and for those that are interested, be sure to check out the incredible resources and guidance (including the entire Juice Feasting program for free) over at JuiceFeasting.com.
  
  
• Nutiva is now offering their hemp oil in dark glass bottles! The president of Nutiva, John Roulac, recently sent us a bottle of their new dark glass bottle hemp oil, and we loved it! The taste is more solid, nutty, and doesn't have the wicked aftertaste of some of the other brands that are in plastic bottles.

Have any raw food related news that you think our readers can benefit from for April 2009? Send us a note via our feedback form for consideration.

Stay tuned to RFRN for your monthly dose of raw food news you can use!

~ Raw Food Right Now