Chicago Green Gratitude Dinner
Monday, November 16th, 2009 at 8:58 pm
This past Saturday night was the annual Chicago Raw Food Community’s “Green Gratitude Dinner.” This is one of Chicago’s biggest raw food gatherings of the year and is always a sold out event. Everyone in the community–vegan, vegetarian, or omnivore–is invited so we get a good mix of people who enjoy GOOD, HEALTHY FOOD and FUN there. We posted flyers all over the city and definitely welcomed a lot of new faces there so that was a great thing!
I have so much to be grateful for and one major thing is the Chicago Raw Food Community and all of the amazing friends I’ve made through it (and through my Young and Raw meetup group).
Tim VanOrden was the special Guest Speaker and he spoke a lot about community in his talk. He lives in Vermont in a very isolated part of the land and admitted that it’s very bad for his health to be by himself for too long, yes–even with Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, etc.
He touched on a lot of really important points when it comes to raw food philosophies and dogmas. Mainly, raw food is not the “be all, end all” of health that some of us would like it to be. Community, positive thoughts, and exercise are also crucial pieces to the optimal health puzzle. That is always something to remember and I love talking about these three things on this blog. They are really key to going and staying raw or high-raw in a fun, healthy, and sustainable way :) We want to raise-the-vibe in every way possible!
I write a lot about raw food support and community in place on this blog. If you’ve missed them and are wanting to learn how to find and get (and give) more raw vegan support, you can start here and here.
(Above: The chips and dip bar: Two kinds of Crackers, three dips – see menu below)
The title of Tim’s talk was “Raw Food Myths, Magic, and Misconceptions.” My boyfriend and I thought it was really good. Tim obviously does A LOT of research in his spare time (when he’s not running races and training for them).
Can you spot the one truth apart from the raw food myths/misconceptions below?
1) Enzymes in raw food help us digest the food.
2) People who eat 100% raw food never get sick.
3) Raw food heals the body.
4) Raw food is all it takes to be healthy.
5) Raw food is the healthiest diet there is.
Did I get you? Well…none of them are true! You probably knew that already though… :)
Explanations:
1) Truth: The enzymes in food are not they same kind of enzymes found in a digestive enzyme supplement, otherwise the fruits and vegetables would digest themselves or start to burn (or eat away at ) our hands when we touched them. They are very good for us though, still, because these food enzymes help us reserve our metabolic enzymes for other healing and maintenance activities and make it a lot easier for our stomachs to create the needed acids and enzymes to digest them.
2) Truth: You probably know that’s not true. I’ll admit, I’ve been sick before in the past three years. Your thoughts, feelings, exercise habits, and immune system all play a part. When you’re vibes are low, thinking and feeling on the low end of the spectrum–bam! You get sick (that’s been my experience every time).
3) Truth: Raw food makes your body function more efficiently and frees up more energy for detoxing and recovery, allowing it to do what it naturally does best: heal itself.
4) Truth: Nope, you need happiness, joy and love (in my opinion). Tim talked about positive thoughts, community, and exercise, which is true too.
5) Truth: Different strokes for different folks. Like David Wolfe always says: “One person’s poison is another person’s panacea (heaven), one person’s panacea is another person’s poison.”
I thought I’d share the menu with you guys too. No recipes, sorry, but this makes it even more fun to try and recreate them!
Green Gratitude Menu:
Kabocha Hummus, Spinach Dip, Red Pepper Cheeze and Yum Chips
Newleaf Chocolate Bliss Elixir donated & created by Karen Keane
Market Winter Squash Soup
Portabella Fillets with Rosemary Orange Marinade
Gratitude Stuffing with Crimini Mushroom Gravy
Kale Pomegranate Salad
Ellie’s Cranberry Apple Pear Relish
Blake’s Crispy Leek Spears
Fruit and Spice and Everything Nice Water
Pumpkin Spice Pie
Chamomile and Hibiscus Teas donated by Ineeka Tea
Yum! Best Gratitude/Thanksgiving Meal ever! The leek chips were awesome. So was the stuffing. It was all good :)
Also, we got a tip from someone in the community on where to get Really Raw Organic Almonds for $10/lb or less! (Prices may be lower than those listen on website and include shipping. Lower Prices for larger quantities). I’ll be getting mine from here for sure! You must call to order though but this seems like a pretty awesome deal and website to me! www.OrganicPastures.com
Thanks for reading and let me know what you think about those myths and misconceptions down below!
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