TeamRAW

Just a quick note to give you the link to the podcast of our radio interview today.  We hope you enjoy and would love to hear what you think.  Post a comment below, for now it is time for me to get off the computer…

Good Evening Sweet Ones

I am sitting here at the end of a long day at the beginning of a crazy busy week and I couldn’t be happier about it!  That said I do want to get this list to you so I can get closer to shower time.

But that I had more time I would give you liks to all the references but I do not and these things do not come naturaly to me, so I am going to ive you the name and author and you will be abe to find them, I have not included any obscure titles!

I have just randomly put this list together, we have read so many books and some have made lifelong impacts, others were what we needed to read at the time.  So these are some, but not all, of the books I found sitting on the shelf I could access (in no particular order)!

High Raw by Kevin Gianni, this is FR$E online at www.renegadehealth.com, a great introduction to why you might choose raw (or more raw) and how to do it.  Check out their site too, packed with free information and a new video every weekday.  We love Kevin and Ann Marie

Any and all Ann Wigmore

China Study by T Colin Campbell-this should be mandatory reading, probably my fave food book and I have read many)

Mad Cowboy by Howard Lyman, a true story of the Texas agribusiness farmer who turned vegan and then was a codefendant with Orah Winfrey in the Texas Food Disparagement case-we will be covering food dispargement in a separate article soon)

Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser-dont tell me you saw the movie-good, now go to the second hand bookstore and get a copy of the book, if you do ot know how food is produced this book will illuminate you!

In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan-who hasnt heard of Michael Pollan, and for good reason, his message in this book “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants” is very sound!

Appetite for Profit by Michelle Simon-evils do not only lurk in slaughterhouses, they lurk within the corridors of huge corporations that make up the powerful Food Industry, within which people are being paid to come up with ways to make you buy their product whether you need or not, whether it is good for you or not.  They spend alot of money persuading you to buy.  This book looks into that part of the food relationship.

What To Eat and Food Politics by Marion Nestle-two great books that talk about the crisis we have with food and What to Eat tries to bridge the gap betwee the crisis we have and what we can do on a practical level to protect our health and make our food ore secure.

Food, Inc., edited by Karl Weber, this book takes up where the movie left off ad expands on themes explored in the movie and introduces some new ones.

Rainbow Green Live Foods and There is a Cure for Diabetes by Dr Gabriel Cousens, we are huge supporters of teh incredible work Dr Cousens has done to find a way to cure diabetes.  Rainbow Green Foods is half informative book and half recipes-i remember this book being a little more expensive but it is dense and heay with lots of info and recipes, if you can ony afford one book to start this is the one, you can start reading the front and make the recipes in part II.

Sunfood Success Diet System by David Wolfe-if you havent heard of him yet you will of you start researchig raw foods and longevity…lots of great information.

Whole Foods Companion by Dianne Onstad, one of the first “food” books I bought.  It was pricey for me at the time (around $35-40 I think) but worth it.  A food bible of the nutrtional content, heritage, cooking use (not recipes) and place of origin for all whole foods between one cover.  A must have for the kitchen bookshelf.

Lifefood Recipe Book and Secrets of the Alkaline Body by Jubb and jubb-two great books if you are ready to learn more about the importance of creating alkaline body and the ways to improve alkalinity.  Fascinating read with lots of readable, and scientific, content.  Not for the beginner reader though!

The Ethics of What We Eat by peter Singer and Jim Mason-two excellent and informed writers combine to produce another of y favorite reads, I have been through it a couple of times, not quite as many as the China Study by close.  A readable book for everyone…buy it

Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, one of the first books to be published on the link between chemicals, food and our health, written in the late 60s i think…always good to go back to the source.

Diet for a New America by John Robbins, this book was one of the forerunners of this genre of book. Heir to the Baskin Robbins empire, John said no, he could not do it with a conscience.  Good starter read.

MOVIES:  Food, Inc., Food Matters, Our Daily Bread, The Beautiful Truth, Bad Seed-the Truth About of Our Food and many more

I think that should be something for everyone.  One day I will sit down and transcribe the books that I have most loved.  the lovely thing with books is that they are like the trees they came from, you follow one branch and it grows out into another, so once you start reading anywhere on this list you will find other books and resources referenced.

Remember, this is your health we are talking about.  You don’t have to commit to any changes, just to be informed and realize that the powers that you may have thought were there to protect and inform you are, for the most part, there to take your money and do not care about your welfare.  It is time for YOU to care about YOU and then you can make an informed choice.

I hope that between the radio show today and this post we have helped you.

Make it a RAWsome week

Shivie

Good morning, it seems I have sat through three seasons in the last 15 minutes outside, from blue sky and sun to gray and finally rain, 10 minutes later the sun is trying to shine through the gray clouds.  Gotta love San Francisco!

 It was nice to sit out under the blue sky, feeling the sun on my skin for the first time in what seems like a long time.  The sun felt good and the juice is sweet on my tongue.  Though produce is available (in California, locally sourced) all year round it never tastes as good as when you can taste the sweetness of the sun in the produce.  Today my green juice has a couple of soft, green lettuce from Mario of Ortiz Farms, Santa Rosa along with lemon, ginger, kale, collards, cucumber, salad greens and celery.  Sweetness on my tongue I tell you.

 So yes, today I am juicing, I feel like I need a “re-set” and we are transitioning into Spring so it is a perfect time to do a mini Spring clean and there is no better way to prepare the system than a detoxifying, revitalizing green juice.  I am talking about 4-5 quarts a day which is somewhere between 17 and 20bs of vegetables a day, yes, a day! 

 One of my favorite things about doing a juice feast is shopping for it.  We hit the Farmers Market and spend $25-40 at each stall (always getting a discount for bulk buying, and we go twice a week).  Then we lug it all back and try to fir it into the two large refrigerators we have.  And that is it, no hitting the supermarket or co-op, no thinking about what items you need and yet forgot again.

 Once the produce is home it is all about keeping it fresh.  Now I must point out that there is a huge difference in the “fridge life” of produce gleaned from the Farmers Market as opposed to the supermarket or co-op.  Many items at the farmers stand were picked either the day before or the day of, the market.  When you buy from the supermarket or co-op, the produce had to be picked, shipped or driven to the market or their distributor, and then onto the shelves.  So a lettuce that has sat in your crisper for 5 days will still be fresh (we find that if you use “green bags”, shelf life is longer) if you bought it from the farmer, but may well be droopy and unappetizing if you got it from a third party.

 Our fridges are full of produce, but by tonight they will be a little less full and by Wednesday we will be back at the market buying veggies all over again, and we wouldn’t have it any other way (other than having the land to grow our own which would be amazing). 

 Well. I have finished my first quart of green juice, now it is time to walk over to Pirate Cat Radio on Florida and 20^th for our radio interview at noon.  These are busy and exciting times over here at The Cook & Butler.  We will share our news as it gets confirms, stay tuned!

 Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, make it a RAWsome day

Shivie