Raw Sacramento News
Newsletter to Raw Sacramento Sunday, September 28, 2003
Photos from our Potluck & play day at the CSUS Aquatic Center earlier this month (Sep 7, 2003) In the sailboat, that's (L to R) Phyllis Polito, Janet Ahlbrecht, Skipper Keith Little, & Rich Angell.
In the other photo, Richard Dolan tries to coach us on how to avoid an alien takeover of our potluck........right!
Attendees of Victoria's September 21 Class got quite a bit of attention...Victoria stayed for 5 hours! I got great feedback from people who attended. Can we all hear a round of applause for Juleen Stenzel, coordinator for this event? Great job, Juleen! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! Thanks also to Roberta and Paul who hosted this event at their ranch home in Elk Grove.
Our next regular Monthly Raw Potluck will be Next Sunday, October 5 at the home of Juleen Stenzel in Rancho Cordova. PLEASE NOTE THE TIME IS 4PM!! If you're late, you'll miss the best food there! Also, if you can bring a folding chair, it would be appreciated. Need a recipe?
Our Steering Committee will meet next this Tuesday Evening Sept. 30 at the Co-op Dining Area at 5:30pm. All Raw Sacramento members are welcome and encouraged to attend. We always need volunteers for special projects. Meeting agenda for Sept. 30.
Do you need encouragement or lessons on how to prepare delicious raw food? Friends, we are achieving critical mass with Raw Foods in Sacramento. There are no less than 10 raw food classes listed on our events calendar from Oct. 3 through 20. Would you please let me know if this is not enough...
Are you interested in Organic Gardening/Farming? Be sure to attend the Hoes Down Festival on October 4. This is a superb regional event.
I know 3 individuals from Sacramento who will be attending Living Light's Culinary Arts Course at Harbin Hot Springs next weekend (see our event calendar). Good luck to Winnie Comstock & her Daughter Carmel and also to Diane Walters who will be staying there for a full week of classes.
Do you need a personal raw food coach? We have a couple in Sacramento. Here's Shar. Here's Maya.
Do you need to know where & how to buy coconuts in Sacramento? Check this out!
Raw Restaurants: Are popping up all over! According to Pam Benson, I understand that there are 3 new ones in the Bay Area in the last 6 months. Later this week I hope to eat at Cilantro Live in Chula Vista (near San Diego). As you get information please email me and I will post it on our links page.
Raw Food Testimony: Have you eaten exclusively Raw Foods for at least 2 months? Did you experience any health improvements? Would you be willing to write a 'Raw Food Testimony?" We would like to post more of these. If you have concrete documentable health improvements and can write a few paragraphs about your experience, it may influence and help others. Would you please send Mark your Testimony?
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Since becoming interested in raw foods, have you had a greater interest in rare and exotic fruit? I know I have. For this reason over 5 years ago I joined www.crfg.org, the California Rare Fruit Grower's Association, an international organization. I have attended their outstanding annual conferences including in 2003 in Riverside, CA. I was able to tour the date farms of Indio, and visit the Federal Geosperm repository--holder of every known species of dates in the USA (numbering now fewer than 40). (There may still be near 200 in what's left of Iraq, formerly the richest source of date varieties). This special tour cost me only $10 as a member of CFRG, and I met and traveled with several other raw foodists from other parts of the country. In 2002 the annual conference was held in Santa Barbara & had excellent presentations on how to photograph fruit. It was there I ate my first sapote! How delicious as they had enormous sample tables of delicious exotic fruit. On day 2 I toured a commercial cherimoya farm (www.calimoya.com), as well as an incredible 5 acre farm in Santa Barbara growing mango, banana, sapote, guava, pineapple, and dozens of other tropicals. CRFG has been dedicated to bringing new fruit species into the USA from foreign countries and making them popular (such as cherimoya -- originally from Peru). Lately the Federal Government in their backlash against terrorism has initiated an effort to stop the importation of any seeds into the USA. CFRG is fighting this misguided effort which runs contrary to lovers of freedom and lovers of fruit. CRFG publishes an outstanding magazine 6 times a year packed with information on growing specific fruits. If you care about your welfare, I urge you to join the fight in an effective way which will be beneficial to you and others: join CRFG!
-Mark Blackburn
I got the following message From Jay Soduski, one of our members & am passing it on:
Dear Mark:
Just a another "tidbit" of information for other Sac. Raw Fooders.
A couple of weeks ago I was able to receive a "Special Order" at
Sac."Whole Foods" one case of a dozen of 12 oz. cans of "Nutiva" brand of
Raw Shelled Hempseeds. The price for each 12 oz. can of "Nutiva" Raw
Shelled hempseeds came to $4.49/ can. (It was late in the day and I was
able to persuade the seller to sell them for that LOW a price. .
.Regular retail price of same at S.F. Rainbow Grocery store is normally
$5.99/can.
I mention hempseeds, because I have found them to be a great
alternative to supplement my good FAT intake when I am not able to tolerate
avocados.
(Actually I'm somewhat allergic to avocados for some reason.)
Also, I've been informed by "Andy" at the Co-Op that hempseeds are the
only food item which contains Omega 6 fatty acids AS well as a good
supply of Omega 3 fatty acids..
He informed me that the only other item rich in Omega 6 fatty acids is
Borage Oil.
He also informed me that Omega 6 FA's are helpful in skin re-growth.
FYI, Sacramento "Whole Foods" doesn't normally carry "Nutiva" raw
hempseeds, but they are willing to special order them.
That's all for now,
Best regards,
Jay
BTW, "Nutiva"'s @ www.nutiva.com.
Or they can be telephoned @ 1-(800) 993-HEMP.
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Interpreting Labels on Fruits & Vegetables:
I didn't know until I read it last night that the little stickers on loose fruits and vegetables have valuable information on them! According to a letter from 'a scientist knowledgeable in the field of genetically modified organisms (GMOs)' in the October 2003 issue of Gourmet magazine:
“A useful tip to the consumer [would be] a primer on how to read the little stickers on loose fruits and vegetables. Besides providing the store's cash registers and computers with product identification and price information, these stickers can tell you a lot about the food you are buying. A label with four digits indicates conventionally grown food. Labels with five digits starting with an 8 indicate that the food is genetically modified. Labels with 5 digits starting with a 9 indicate that the food is organically grown."
Well as soon as I read this I looked at all my little stickers and it's true! All my organic food had stickers with 5 digits beginning with 9 and all the conventional food had stickers with four digits. There were no five digits beginning with 8, nor do I plan for there to be, but what a great thing to know! Am I the last one to know this? |
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