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Did you ever wonder if all those people that write or talk about sustainability really walk the walk? Just because they say it, doesn't mean they play it, right? As a new writer for Examiner.com, my interest is green living in Los Angeles with my specific niche being sustainability. What is that, you say? Sustainability is any action that from start to finish causes no harm to the planet. That's a pretty big order and most sustainability is based on less harm as opposed to, in most cases, the normal way of doing things. From the food we eat to the books we read to the laptop I'm writing on now, everything has an impact on the earth. The reality of sustainability is in how much lighter we can make the footprint. One of the biggest energy draws and global impactors is the production of our food. Whether its agriculture or livestock, corporate and factory farms are behemoths of energy usage input and toxic pollutant output. From start to finish, these farms embody everything environmentalists are working to correct. The issues of animal cruelty (hence proposition 2 coming up on the November ballot) and genetically modified crops (I just read where a crop insurance company is giving a three dollar per acre subsidy to those that plant genetically modified corn) not even being thrown into the mix. Just the basic business operations create environmental havoc.
So where am I going with all this good news? Raw. That's right, raw. To me, changing what I eat and how I eat it is the very most sustainable action I as an individual can do for the planet. I already drive a Prius and recycle. But I'm still not satisfied with the level of change I'm personally effecting. Hence, the move to raw. Going raw basically means nothing is heated over 118 degrees. According to raw foodists,heat kills the naturally occurring enzymes in food. You can dehydrate things though. So what is a raw diet? Raw foodists eat fruits, vegetables, seeds and nuts. It may sound a bit monotonous but consider that the human species is the only one that heats our food before eating it. Going back into ancient times, we began heating our food as a means of preserving it. Without refrigeration, any fresh animal product doesn't stay fresh for long. As time went by, we began to add spices like salt and pepper to our foods to mask any slightly rotten taste. So much for haute cuisine!
Suffice to say I have decided to put my money where my mouth is and give a raw food diet a shake. Although I will go into more detail in another article dedicated to the raw food diet, testimonials of individuals who have subscribed to the raw diet indicate a mountain of health benefits and rejuvenation. The only downside I can see is taste. I grew up on Southern cooking, partake of nearly every international cuisine and live for chocolate in any form. My willpower will be severely put to the test on this but hopefully the results I get will overcome my fatty tastes! Plus,there are raw food restaurants that make dishes that supposedly resemble those that we give up when we undertake the raw lifestyle.
In fact, several of the most well known raw foodists have restaurants right here in LA, thus as a part of my ongoing testimonial on going raw, I will be going to these restaurants and trying their versions of Pad Thai and Rawsagna. Bottom line is this, the most important thing we can do for the planet is to be and live healthy. Everything follows from there. So, stick with me because I'm going to give this a chance and with a little luck my new raw life will be RAWSOME.
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