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Raw in Alaska

3K views 20 replies 13 participants last post by  BubblingBrooks 
#1 ·
I think I heard another MDC momma on here talk about RAW diet. Is it feasible to incorporate this into a regular diet? Do you loose all benefits if you try 1/2 and 1/2?
What about picky kids? How do you deal with the change when feeding a family?
 
#7 ·
A friend of mine is 90% raw in summer. In winter she tries as much as possible, but produce availability & variety just isn't here. It just her and her daughter (3) most of the time so buying through Wolf Lake Wellness or Alaska Organics isn't really feasible (quantities too large). She buys food probably 5x/week in summer.

I'm intrigued by raw, but don't do it much for 2 primary reasons. I can't eat nuts, raw diet is very dependent on nuts for fats/calories; time required for food prep is not realistic with my work schedule. I think if you go half raw, you'll still get 1/2 or more of the benefit.
 
#8 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by liza-s View Post

A friend of mine is 90% raw in summer. In winter she tries as much as possible, but produce availability & variety just isn't here. It just her and her daughter (3) most of the time so buying through Wolf Lake Wellness or Alaska Organics isn't really feasible (quantities too large). She buys food probably 5x/week in summer.

I'm intrigued by raw, but don't do it much for 2 primary reasons. I can't eat nuts, raw diet is very dependent on nuts for fats/calories; time required for food prep is not realistic with my work schedule. I think if you go half raw, you'll still get 1/2 or more of the benefit.
Does she know you can buy in smaller quantities? You don't have to buy full boxes of the fruits and veggies...you can buy as small as 1/8 of a box for boxed produce and some items you can buy by the item. She should call them or stop into their storefront once it opens(it'll be on the Palmer-Wasilla Hwy/Trunk Rd corner). Or she should see if there would be others she could split items with. Just a thought
smile.gif
 
#9 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by L&K'smommie View Post

Quote:
Originally Posted by liza-s View Post

A friend of mine is 90% raw in summer. In winter she tries as much as possible, but produce availability & variety just isn't here. It just her and her daughter (3) most of the time so buying through Wolf Lake Wellness or Alaska Organics isn't really feasible (quantities too large). She buys food probably 5x/week in summer.

I'm intrigued by raw, but don't do it much for 2 primary reasons. I can't eat nuts, raw diet is very dependent on nuts for fats/calories; time required for food prep is not realistic with my work schedule. I think if you go half raw, you'll still get 1/2 or more of the benefit.
Does she know you can buy in smaller quantities? You don't have to buy full boxes of the fruits and veggies...you can buy as small as 1/8 of a box for boxed produce and some items you can buy by the item. She should call them or stop into their storefront once it opens(it'll be on the Palmer-Wasilla Hwy/Trunk Rd corner). Or she should see if there would be others she could split items with. Just a thought
smile.gif
Yeah, we know (I've been buying for over 2.5 years with WLW and got her interested), but even 1/8th of a case can be a lot for 1 adult and 1 toddler. The unpredictability of what gets ordered also frustrated her a lot (your produce may be cut if a full case isn't ordered). She & I have both been frustrated by the "growing pains" over the last few months (stating "no subs", then getting subs etc.; problems with payments etc.). IMO the business grew too fast, and customer service was sacrificed. Hopefully things smooth out with the storefront, until then I honestly wouldn't recommend joining unless you had some very specific interests and somebody (not 'employed') to walk you through the bumps & bugs. That said I'm fairly satisfied, but its taken a lot of frustration and experience to work out the quirks and bugs to make sure you get what you want. I think it is ridiculous to have a system that is so quirky and buggy that you need to offer a "how to order" class.

I was using WLW to order Azure food products. I have since learned that Fred Meyer's will special order cases for you - no additional shipping charge and you get a 10% case discount. My kids drink Hemp milk. I'm not sure in Azure is more expensive the UNFI (Fred's supplier) or if its just the mass order discount Fred's gets - but going though Freds is much much cheaper (recently got a case from Fred for $31 vs over $38 with WLW) The folks in the natural food/health section have been very helpful.

For some produce items that I usually order in full cases through WLW, I will be considering ordering through Freds (ex. organic apples & citrus - they are usually sitting in a warehouse for weeks, so no benefit in paying $.80/lb shipping for air freight).
 
#10 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by liza-s View Post

Quote:
Originally Posted by L&K'smommie View Post

Quote:
Originally Posted by liza-s View Post

A friend of mine is 90% raw in summer. In winter she tries as much as possible, but produce availability & variety just isn't here. It just her and her daughter (3) most of the time so buying through Wolf Lake Wellness or Alaska Organics isn't really feasible (quantities too large). She buys food probably 5x/week in summer.

I'm intrigued by raw, but don't do it much for 2 primary reasons. I can't eat nuts, raw diet is very dependent on nuts for fats/calories; time required for food prep is not realistic with my work schedule. I think if you go half raw, you'll still get 1/2 or more of the benefit.
Does she know you can buy in smaller quantities? You don't have to buy full boxes of the fruits and veggies...you can buy as small as 1/8 of a box for boxed produce and some items you can buy by the item. She should call them or stop into their storefront once it opens(it'll be on the Palmer-Wasilla Hwy/Trunk Rd corner). Or she should see if there would be others she could split items with. Just a thought
smile.gif
Yeah, we know (I've been buying for over 2.5 years with WLW and got her interested), but even 1/8th of a case can be a lot for 1 adult and 1 toddler. The unpredictability of what gets ordered also frustrated her a lot (your produce may be cut if a full case isn't ordered). She & I have both been frustrated by the "growing pains" over the last few months (stating "no subs", then getting subs etc.; problems with payments etc.). IMO the business grew too fast, and customer service was sacrificed. Hopefully things smooth out with the storefront, until then I honestly wouldn't recommend joining unless you had some very specific interests and somebody (not 'employed') to walk you through the bumps & bugs. That said I'm fairly satisfied, but its taken a lot of frustration and experience to work out the quirks and bugs to make sure you get what you want. I think it is ridiculous to have a system that is so quirky and buggy that you need to offer a "how to order" class.

I was using WLW to order Azure food products. I have since learned that Fred Meyer's will special order cases for you - no additional shipping charge and you get a 10% case discount. My kids drink Hemp milk. I'm not sure in Azure is more expensive the UNFI (Fred's supplier) or if its just the mass order discount Fred's gets - but going though Freds is much much cheaper (recently got a case from Fred for $31 vs over $38 with WLW) The folks in the natural food/health section have been very helpful.

For some produce items that I usually order in full cases through WLW, I will be considering ordering through Freds (ex. organic apples & citrus - they are usually sitting in a warehouse for weeks, so no benefit in paying $.80/lb shipping for air freight).
I did know about the case ordering from Fred's but didn't know you could do the same with produce...that's good to know. Thanks! I've found Fred's is definitely cheaper for food items and they will order anything that a company carries...they don't necessarily have to carry it in the store which is nice. And I became a member of WLW pretty early on so yeah, I've seen the quirks...I haven't been ordering from them in a while just because I couldn't figure out how to work it into the budget and because often when price comparing the produce we typically buy between them and Fred's, Fred's was cheaper(organic apples, carrots, pears, peppers(not always), bananas are pretty typical in our house).
 
#11 ·
I will definitely advocate WLW for any fragile produce - like strawberries. B/c its flown in, you can actually keep them on your fridge for a few days. As an experiment, I set some aside in my fridge to see how long they'd last -- 2 weeks!! until they were 'smoothie' only condition. That tells me you are often buying 10 day old berries at the store.

I get the whole budget thing. I shop for seasonal/local produce and sales. I pretty much get the 'dirty dozen' organic or when its affordable like bananas (okay,not at all local but the kids love them). My fresh produce is definitely limited this time of year. Jan & Feb are the worse for north american seasonal produce.

I did get some "micro-greens" (sprouts) at the farmer's market at Northway Mall (Anchorage) this week. Yummy.
 
#13 ·
Hey, just popping in because I find this particular topic really fascinating. I'm always fighting with my husband over this. I'm not being snarky or rude - promise. I love the raw food idea. But...

To what extent is it counter-intuitive and ecologically insensitive to fly in produce to have a raw diet in Alaska? I mean, people have been smoking/canning for generations to get through winters is places like Alaska... is that truly "less healthy" than raw foods? Especially considering the environmental impact of the food mile (3,000 miles for tomatoes, I know that much... plus I know my organic apples come from New Zealand... not exactly around the corner).

Like, I'm sure fresh strawberries are healthier than canned strawberry preserves, but what is the environmental cost of having fresh produce flown thousands of miles... daily. (which I know happens anyway, for the retail grocers, but still...) I just think, isn't the best thing to can my own strawberries/raspberries/smoked salmon/etc... rather than buy fresh? I mean, for the health of the planet and not just me?

I'm not lying when I say my DH and I argue about this all the time. Really, fresh pears in December in Alaska? How far are those traveling? and what's the ecological impact of that fuel usage? What if I bought dried strawberries instead? Or better yet, dried my own? (But really, who does that?)

I guess I just feel like, why get healthy to have my children live in a world that's ecologically destitute from climate change? Can't I make sustainable choices and eat healthy at the same time?

Honestly, I'm not attacking the raw food diet at all. I ate a salad this week, and it was delicious. I love salad. And my New Zealand apples. And I'm not planning to give those up any time soon. I'm asking on a philosophical level. I'm just intrigued and trying to start a dialogue. Who else in AK considers these things? Because I know where I live, no one gives a rip about fuel usage or sustainability. They'd rather be snowmachining.
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While eating a steak.
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ETA: info I found on freezing items from the summer, rather than flying (or driving) in fresh produce. http://www.grist.org/article/freeze
 
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#14 ·
Well, I'm in Seldovia, and I promise you my husband and I think about these things all the time (but then again, we run a small environmental nonprofit). We end up taking kind of a middle road. Yes we eat oranges sometimes. But we also have lots of berries in the freezer and jam from the summer, frozen veggies from the garden, etc... A lot of people do these things around here, whether or not they're thinking about sustainability. Of course, the electricity for the freezer isn't all sustainable either, but at least you can make that sustainable much more practically than shipping strawberries.

One tip: for winter salads, grow lots of kale. It's the miracle vegetable. Let the snow cover it up in the fall. Dig it up all winter long, leave it in a colander for the ice to melt off, and voila! Seriously, you can eat it raw in a salad and it's just as good as summer, you'd never know it had been months under the snow.
 
#15 ·
i totally agree on the ecological perspective of flown in produce. When it comes to fragile produce, if you're 'dying' for fresh strawberries its the route to go, but we stick to mostly frozen. i have a large raspberry patch i usually freeze 4-8 gallons.

i love kale. how do you deal with freeze/thaw cycles. Do you just have it really buried under snow so it doesn't break down/ Sadly, a moose got in my bed and ate every last bit at the end of Sept.

My goal is 1) all animal-based foods from AK. Biggest problem there is if I want chicken - locals want an arm and a leg for locally raised chickens. But it works for game, fish, eggs, pork & beef. Although I'm still eating about 1/2 imported eggs. 2) No produce from outside North America - however, my kids love bananas and we get those every so often. Plus I love the occasionally grapes or kiwis.
 
#17 ·
I have a friend who is raw, along with her toddler. She does allow her toddler to eat cooked vegan items if they are out, but only vegan. Because he's been on the raw diet since he started eating solids, there's not really an issue with picky eating, he's just picky about raw foods he likes. I imagine for a kid who is used to an omnivorous diet, going raw would be pretty tough (especially for parents just trying it out without the vast knowledge of raw preparation).

From what I know about eating raw, which is limited to say the least, incorporating more raw foods is always beneficial. The idea is that you get greater nutrients because the enzymes haven't broken down, so you don't need a 100% raw diet to get those benefits, you get them any time you are eating raw foods. Since meeting a raw foodie, I definitely make more conscious choices when deciding wether or not to roast nuts, cook veggies, etc. I find that I like a lot of things raw, and my toddler is a total raw foodie. She'll grab raw mushrooms or fruit out of the fridge and eat it up much more readily than I will. I remember seeing a cooking show where the host said that when she introduces a new vegetable or a new preparation her children, she always puts a slice of the vegetable raw on the plate so they know what it is and can taste it plain.
 
#18 ·
I've been eating raw since July and I've never been healthier and never felt better. Contrary to popular believe, very few raw foodies eat lots of nuts (you tend to gain weight easily when you eat lots of them). The only time I eat them is if I want to make desserts. I get my fats/omegas from flax and avocados.

I didn't start eating this way for moral, environmental or anything of the like. I did it merely for health purposes. I've cured myself of 3 chronic diseases and my labs have NEVER looked better.

I have no problem eating raw in Alaska. I buy a majority of my produce from costco, because it's what I can afford. They have a large selection of organic produce and anything I can't find there, I will order from azure (I order my nuts in bulk from them, then store them in the freezer).

Any raw food you incorporate into your diet the better! In my personal experience, I don't get the full results unless I eat 99-100% raw. Physically, I don't feel as well at 80% than I do at 100%. There are times that I "fall off the wagon" because I just want something HOT... so I will eat some vegan soup. Every couple of months I crave shrimp or fish, so I will eat some, then go back to my raw foods until I crave it again.

The only thing I can say about the diet from my personal experience is this. It's only as much work as you want it to be. In the beginning, I spent many many hours in the kitchen trying to replicate raw versions of meals I used to eat. I was only marginally satisfied and completely frustrated at how much time it took... so I simplified things. I graze all day long on fruits and veggies. Mornings I usually do a HUGE smoothie, lunch is a big salad and dinner is what ever tickles my fancy (most times another big salad with lots of seeds, fruits, etc.) I'm never hungry and my energy is through the roof. I'm constantly telling people about it, because I can't believe the difference it's made in my life. I've literally never felt this good. So that is my .02
 
#19 ·
Were you vegan before going raw? Have you had any major detox moments? I've read a lot about raw diet but I'm not sure I could ever make the change. I feel pretty healthy so I guess I don't have the same motivation as some people that have a lot of chronic illnesses. I found this website www.rawschool.com and couldn't stop reading through it. Ever heard of it? I was inspired but also depressed. The argument there is that humans should actually eat mainly fruits. Her list of vegetables that are not suggested is very long! I find this so shocking...but on the flip side it does seem to be that raw vegans have the very best health. Also, David Wolfe has some interesting things to say about raw food. Eating this way might be the next step in evolution?? It is very hard for me to see things like bread and grains as the "trappings" of religion and culture. Yes food is cultural but isn't that togetherness around the table a good thing? Somehow just sitting there eating a banana doesn't seem so inviting. Obviously I'm not ready (nor is my family) to make this leap. I can't even get past meat and cheese! But I certainly like to hear about the experience of others. Maybe one day I'll be ready. : )
 
#20 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by FbksMama View Post

Were you vegan before going raw? Have you had any major detox moments? I've read a lot about raw diet but I'm not sure I could ever make the change. I feel pretty healthy so I guess I don't have the same motivation as some people that have a lot of chronic illnesses. I found this website www.rawschool.com and couldn't stop reading through it. Ever heard of it? I was inspired but also depressed. The argument there is that humans should actually eat mainly fruits. Her list of vegetables that are not suggested is very long! I find this so shocking...but on the flip side it does seem to be that raw vegans have the very best health. Also, David Wolfe has some interesting things to say about raw food. Eating this way might be the next step in evolution?? It is very hard for me to see things like bread and grains as the "trappings" of religion and culture. Yes food is cultural but isn't that togetherness around the table a good thing? Somehow just sitting there eating a banana doesn't seem so inviting. Obviously I'm not ready (nor is my family) to make this leap. I can't even get past meat and cheese! But I certainly like to hear about the experience of others. Maybe one day I'll be ready. : )
No, I was not vegan prior to going raw. But, I did eat a mostly organic diet... very little processed foods. I don't feel like my detox symptoms were all that bad. I had a couple of days of feeling a little flu'ish, and my face was a MESS for a month or so (tons of breakouts) my breath was horrid and that was about the extent of it.

I have not been to that website, but I will check it out. Honestly, I'm not really into anything that completely cuts out entire subsections of raw foods. I eat what my body craves. I believe my body has a strong intuition about what it needs nutritionally, and I follow it. Once every couple of months I will CRAVE seafood or fish... so I will eat them... cooked. My stomach isn't happy with me and I feel sluggish, but the craving goes away. I don't want to spend my life feeling deprived from cravings. I figure if I crave fish or steamed rice every once in a while and I eat it, it's certainly a million times better for me than the cheetos I used to crave. I don't feel like it's realistic for me to stay 100% raw forever... but I do strive to stay very close to it as much as possible.

I've read a lot of David Wolfe and Durian's sites... again, I'm not a big fan of extremes in either direction. I just know that I've never felt better in my life, and every time I fall away from raw foods I am quickly reminded how horrible I felt. Funny that feeling horrible was my normal before.
 
#21 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by liza-s View Post

i totally agree on the ecological perspective of flown in produce. When it comes to fragile produce, if you're 'dying' for fresh strawberries its the route to go, but we stick to mostly frozen. i have a large raspberry patch i usually freeze 4-8 gallons.

i love kale. how do you deal with freeze/thaw cycles. Do you just have it really buried under snow so it doesn't break down/ Sadly, a moose got in my bed and ate every last bit at the end of Sept.

My goal is 1) all animal-based foods from AK. Biggest problem there is if I want chicken - locals want an arm and a leg for locally raised chickens. But it works for game, fish, eggs, pork & beef. Although I'm still eating about 1/2 imported eggs. 2) No produce from outside North America - however, my kids love bananas and we get those every so often. Plus I love the occasionally grapes or kiwis.
I wanted to comment on this, even though its an old post. We have raised meat birds for others before. It actually costs 10-12 dollars in food (natural or commercial) per bird to raise them up here. Even when they are on grass 24/7. Add in the 8-12 weeks of raising them, and its quite fair to charge $20 per bird
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