Raw Vegan Group
Our informal Christchurch Raw Vegan Group meets every 2 weeks for a good healthy informal raw potluck meal, and for other events (eg weed/herb workshops, seaweed workshops, lectures & workshops lead by visiting international raw food speakers/teachers/coaches/"gurus").
We welcome anyone who is thinking about trying a raw lifestyle, is currently eating a high raw food diet, or anywhere in between.
For more information about the group and our meetings and/or to be added to our mailing list, please email Karen kaz@xtra.co.nz or Steve Steve@SK2Tech.co.nz
There are many good online resources that you can tap into, including www.giveittomeraw.com which is a message board site/forum with a huge amount of information and support; www.goneraw.com for many delicious free recipes, and www.therawfoodcoach.com for a comprehensive run down on being raw and handling the transition etc by Karen Knowler a UK based raw food writer and speaker.
If you don't yet know the many beneficial reasons for eating raw vegan foods, you can learn a lot by searching and reading online (and listening and watching - eg via YouTube). Some good search phrases are "raw vegan", "raw food", and "raw foods".
Below is the email that I sent out on 24 Feb 2010. I send out emails only to those who want to receive them - either because you've asked to receive them, or because you've answered "yes" when I've asked you if you want to receive them. I send out an email every 2 weeks, and not more often, unless there's something special happening. If you also want to keep informed about raw vegan things happening in Christchurch (and sometimes elsewhere), then email me and tell me so: Steve@SK2Tech.co.nz :)
****************************************
Raw Vegan Group, Christchurch, New Zealand
-------------------------------------------
Hey everyone :)
Are you well? Thriving, not just surviving?
Raw/Live/Living vegan-food-&-lifestyle events-&-Notices,
for & from Christchurch, New Zealand, <b>published 24 February 2010</b>.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Contents of this email:
(1) Food, eating, and this Christchurch Raw Vegan Group
(2) Potluck meal & movie, Sun 28 Feb, 5:30pm, Vanya's farm
(2a) A good raw vegan feast we'll have
(2b) A good raw vegan movie we'll watch
(2c) Weeds & weed seeds I'll share
(3) Raw vegan flat/flatmates wanted
(4) Spontaneous RV picnic lunches, dinners, & events
(5) Recipe ideas - warming foods, cooling foods, apple pie
(6) Being warm while eating/drinking raw.
(7) Green smoothies.
(8) Blenders - Good-value high-speed-blenders avail via ebay.com.au
(9) Auckland RV people, NZ-made movie RealNRaw, Fruit For Our Children
(10) Australian (ex NZ) RV lady Janette Murray-Wakelin, RawCanCure.com
(11) Future potluck meal events
(12a) Suggestions for future activities? - Eg weed & seaweed workshops
(12b) Recommended events etc?
(13) Lost & Found items from previous dinners - teatowel
(14) Spam/Junk ? No longer want to receive these emails?
(15) Some things to think about regarding food
The only Sections that've been updated or amended significantly
since the last Notices is Section (2), which has been updated to
show the change of venue from last time - this weekend we're
meeting at Vanya's farm. I've made a few small improvements or
additions in other Sections, including Section (1) and (15).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(1) Food, eating, and this Christchurch Raw Vegan Group
Food effects more than just ourselves; it effects every one of us.
And its effects include more than those relating to only physical
health. I've written a few things about food in the paragraphs below,
and in Section (15).
Tell me your thoughts about these things, I'm keen to know them.
I might even publish your thoughs in a future Raw Notices. :)
--------
Food can be either good or bad for us, for those whom we know, and
for those whom we don't know. What effect do you want the food in
your life to have?
It's not about the food in your life, it's about the life in your food!
(Raw/Live foods give us life, vitality, and rejuvenation.
We can survive on cooked foods, but we do much better with the
appropriate raw/live foods.)
Food isn't the only important thing in life, but it is one of the
very important things.
The ethics, eco-friendliness, sustainability, and "spirituality"
of our food are important things to consider, in addition to the
personal-health aspect.
--------
This Christchurch Raw Vegan Group can give you good information, ideas,
support, inspiration, companionship, improved health & vitality &
wellness, enjoyment, and some good flavours & nutrients!
We meet informally once per fortnight, sharing potluck raw vegan meals,
and there's no money involved - except for $3 to contribute towards the
cost of hiring the venue and audio-video equipment when me meet at the
Avon Loop Cottage. (We alternate our meetings between the Avon Loop
Cottage near Piko in the city centre, and Vanya's organic farm near
Templeton.)
It's fine if you're not fully raw-vegan (most people who come along
aren't fully raw vegan); being interested is enough.
- Steve :)
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(2) Potluck meal & movie, Sun 28 Feb, Vanya's place
Our next raw vegan potluck meal is this Sundy 28 February, 5:30pm,
at Vanya's organic farm, Wyenova. Tell me if you want to come, and I'll give you the address and directions.
Being a RAW VEGAN potluck dinner, please bring a dish of RAW VEGAN
food to share. A simple dish is fine, eg a salad or fruit salad.
Some of us usually bring something "gourmet", and some of us
usually bring something simple.
For recipe ideas, see the section below, or search the web -
there are thousands of raw vegan recipes freely available
- eg http://www.google.co.nz/search?hl=en&q=raw+vegan+recipe
RAW = live/living / uncooked /
not-devitalised-nor-damaged-by-heat/radiation/chemicals/processing.
VEGAN = plants/parts-of-plants, only (no animals/parts-of-animals).
Whole, fresh, ripe, raw, & edible fruits, vegetables, greens,
sprouts, nuts/seeds (soaked/sprouted is best), or seaweeds.
Organic or home-grown preferred, but not essential.
Bring friends or family if you want.
You don't need to be fully raw vegan; being interested is enough.
It'll be casual, friendly, social, and healthy. :)
Carpooling can be organised; contact me if you're interested.
(It's best to contact me sooner rather than later, so that it's
easier to arrange.)
Please do not use plastic cling-wrap film - it's toxic, wasteful,
and not good in a number of other ways. As an alternative to cling-
wrap, you can simply place a plate over the top of your bowl, or an
upside-down bowl if your food is on a plate. If there's a chance
the two may separate in transit, use masking tape or cellulose tape
("Sellotape") to fasten the plate to the bowl, or put the whole lot
into a bag that's wrapped tightly around the plate and bowl.
The healthier, eco-friendlier, and more economical alternatives are
often this simple!
Feel free to contact me if you want more info - Steve@SK2Tech.co.nz , Christchurch-942-3805.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(2a) A good raw vegan feast we'll have
Enjoy eating this good healthy raw vegan food, we shall ! :)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(2b) A good raw vegan movie we'll watch
I plan to bring a movie to watch or audio-talk to listen to,
something good and relevant to living a healthy and happy raw-vegan
/ live-food lifestyle - which isn't only about food.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(2c) Weeds & Weed seeds I'll share
Edible "weeds", aka edible wild plants or wild herbs, grow so easily
that you don't need to do even minimal labour in your veggie garden,
and they're typically much more nutritious & fresher than store-
bought organic greens & herbs.
I'll bring with me some seeds for some good edible weeds - dandelion,
puha (sow thistle), cleavers (bidi-bid), wild lettuce, nettles, and
maybe some others, so that you can grow your own. I've collected
these seeds from my own garden, after allowing my soil to naturally
grow these "weed" plants.
You're welcome to bring with you on Saturday "weeds" that you've
found in your garden or neighbourhood that you want identified.
There'll be others there, other than myself, eg Vanya, who can
identify many weeds/herbs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(3) Raw vegan flat/flatmates wanted
Some individuals have told me either that they're wanting to be in a
home or flat with others who eat raw vegan, or that they want others
to live with them whom eat raw vegan. If you also want the same, then
reply to this email and tell me so, and I'll connect you with someone
who might be suitable.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(4) Spontaneous RV picnic lunches, dinners, & events
As I've done in the past, I'm keen to have some spontaneous (short
notice) RV picnic lunches and dinners this summer, in places like the
botanical gardens, the beach, on the hills, and in the homes of those
of you who offer.
If you're keen to join in, let me know. If you give me your cell
number or landline, I can contact you by text message or phone call,
since email isn't always the best form of communication for things
at short notice.
Also, sometimes there are events on that may interest some of you -
if I know about such an event, I can inform you at short notice.
(If you know of an event, please tell me: Steve@SK2Tech.co.nz ,
Christchurch-942-3805.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(5) Recipe ideas - warming foods, cooling foods, apple pie
Something warm/warming:
* Avocado-carrot raw soup -
http://www.living-foods.com/recipes/avocarrot.html
* Energy soup (Anne Wigmore's recipe) -
http://www.living-foods.com/recipes/energysoup.html -
NB If your blender is not powerful enough, I recommend that you
blend a small amount at a time, rather than all of it at once.
Something cool/cooling:
* RV banana icecream - frozen bananas, blended in a food processor -
yummy, healthy, relatively-eco-sustainable, and so fast and easy!
(I think that this is cooling, not just because it's served
cold/frozen, but also because banana is a tropical fruit.)
Something good with the seasonal apple abundance currently:
* RV apple pie - Warming, unless you have too much tropical fruit
(coconut etc). Very quick and simple -
http://www.living-foods.com/recipes/applepie.html
For more recipe ideas, search the web - there are thousands of raw
vegan recipes freely available - eg
http://www.google.co.nz/search?hl=en&q=raw+vegan+recipe
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(6) Being warm while eating/drinking raw
During some of the slightly cool days and nights even during summer,
some of you may be not wanting to consume as much raw vegan foods;
I understand and can identify with this. During the past couple of
years I've discovered some useful things: types of raw vegan foods
that warm (and cool) one's body when consumed, and some ways of
warming raw/living foods while retaining their vitality; ask me to
share this information with you next time we meet - ask me then if
you want to know.
Until then, exercise is a good way to warm-up yourself (and to
benefit your body and mind in a number of other ways).
Veggie gardening is another good way to warm-up oneself, while
benefitting your health (via better nutrition), getting some needed
beneficial sunlight exposure, and benefitting our environment -
if done organically.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(7) Green smoothies
Green smoothies - know about the goodness and convenience of them?
Try some if you haven't yet. Such an easy and fast and tasty and
mega-nutritious way to eat/drink greens, which are essential for
health - it's much more likely you can healthily and happily sustain
a raw vegan "diet" if you consume lots of greens, and green smoothies
are the best way of doing it, as far as I know.
Green smoothy = any leafy greens + any fruit + water + blending.
Add (organic) sea salt, superfood powder, herbs (eg ginger), lemon
(to help preserve), sprouts, (soaked/sprouted) nuts/seeds, and/or
a small amount of some healthy vegetable/fruit oil - eg coconut or
olive. To mine I usually add all of the above, and some fine kelp
powder.
A tip if your blender isn't powerful enough to blend your greens:
chop/cut/rip down your greens to a smaller size before blending.
At first I was resistant to making & drinking green smoothies, since
I thought "it's not natural to blend or juice, we should chew using
our own teeth", but now there's hardly a day when I don't have at
least a cup or two of greens per day in a green smoothies, since
I've learned the facts about greens, fruits, and what nutrients
humans "should" be eating for optimal health [learned largely from
Victoria Boutenko's books & DVDs - especially the book "Green for
Life")"]. Thanks Victoria! :)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(8) Blenders - Good-value high-speed-blenders avail via ebay.com.au
If you're wanting a good high-speed blender at a good price, then
consider the following blender available via eBay Australia:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/HIGH-PERFORMANCE-COMMERCIAL-DRINK-BLENDER-MIXER-1300W_W0QQitemZ400072472468QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_Business_Industrial_Restaurant_Catering_Equipment?hash=item5d262d7794&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
(Thanks to Kandiace for this.)
Aus$299 plus "shipping" (planing in actual fact, probably).
Karen used this blender at the recent Vegetarian Expo to make green
smoothies with.
If any of you want to buy one, let me know, and I'll investigate
about a possible quantity discount, and shared shipping cost.
Does anyone know about what NZ Customs will do/apply with one or
a few of these coming into NZ?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(9) Auckland RV people, NZ-made movie Real n' Raw, Fruit For Our Children
Recently I was in Auckland & met with some good RV individuals;
if you plan to be in Auckland and want to meet some of these people,
tell me and I'll help to get you in contact with them.
Two of the Auckland RV people whom I met have recently made &
released a documentary about raw vegan nutrition and healing,
called "Real n' Raw".
A DVD of this documentary can be bought for only NZ$22.95),
and proceeds go towards the Fruit For Our Children organisation,
which has been set up by one of these people.
http://www.RealNRaw.com
http://www.FruitForOurChildren.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(10) Australian (ex NZ) RV lady - Janette Murray-Wakelin - RawCanCure.com
Janette has beat breast cancer with a raw vegan diet, and has done
the amazing (superhuman) feat of running 50 marathons in 50 days
(50 consecutive days) !
Check out her website -- http://www.RawCanCure.com
~~~~~~~~~~
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 2009 23:51:14 -0700 [18:51:14 NZST]
From: J Murray-Wakelin <zorrocam@yahoo.com>
To: steve@sk2tech.co.nz
Hey Steve,
Thanks for keeping me in the loop with what's going on in NZ!
Could you please pass on my website to all the raw folks in NZ?
Good to keep the network channels open.
It's not so far across the pond anymore!!
Have a rawsome potluck and blessings to all our Kiwi Kousins!
Cheers, Janette
Alan Murray & Janette Murray-Wakelin
Personal Email: zorrocam@yahoo.com
Website: http://www.rawcancure.com
Website Email: inspire@rawcancure.com
janette@rawcancure.com, alan@rawcancure.com
Snail mail adrs: 26 Harris Gully Rd, Warrandyte VIC 3113, Australia
Ph: 61 3 9844 3133
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(11) Future potluck meal-&-movie events
This year we have a meal-&-movie event every 2nd week
(rather than twice a month as it was last year).
And this year we have events on 1 of 3 evenings each
fortnight - either a Friday, Saturday. or a Sunday.
The dates & locations of our next few RV dinners:
Sun 28 Feb 2010 - Vanya's organic farm
Sun 14 Mar 2010 - City - Avon Loop Cottage
Sat 27 Mar 2010 - Vanya's organic farm
Sat 10 Apr 2010 - City - Avon Loop Cottage
Fri 23 Apr 2010 - Vanya's organic farm
Sat 08 May 2010 - City - Avon Loop Cottage
Fri 21 May 2010 - Vanya's organic farm
Sun 06 Jun 2010 - City - Avon Loop Cottage
Sat 19 Jun 2010 - Vanya's organic farm
Vanya's orgnanic farm (Wyenova) is near Templeton, 20 minutes
drive from Riccarton. (See Section 2 above for directions.)
(Car pooling can be organised - contact me early if you're
interested.)
Avon Loop Cottage is at 28 Hurley St, between Barbadoes St,
Fitzgerald Ave, Kilmore St, and Salisbury St; it's about 2
blocks east of Piko Wholefoods. It's a small house near the
end of the cul-de-sac.
If you have ideas for particular dates or locations to meet on or
at, then tell me. We can have dates and places more than what's
listed above, if the occasion's worth it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(12a) Suggestions for future activities? - Eg weed & seaweed workshops
Contact me if you have any suggestions for activities.
Our weed workshop a few weeks ago was good, and I plan to run
another one later this year.
Also, I plan to run a seaweed workshop (seaweed for eating and
for your garden).
If you have info, knowledge, or contacts for a weed or seaweed
workshop, please inform me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(12b) Recommended events etc?
If you know of events that may interest others of us, tell me,
and I'll inform us all by email.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(13) Lost & Found items from our previous dinners
A teatowel, left at Vanya's place in about August 2009,
white with a pattern of small black dots/squares.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(14) Spam/Junk ? No longer want to receive these emails?
You've received this email because you've wanted to be on our email
list for the Raw Vegan group of Christchurch, New Zealand.
If you no longer want to receive notices from and for this group,
then reply to this email & with the subject "Unsubscribe from Raw
Vegan Group Chch Notices".
If this email is in your Spam/Junk folder, declare it as "Not Junk"
/ "Not Spam", so that future emails shouldn't again be auto-filed
into your Spam/Junk folder.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(15) Some things to think about regarding food
Here's soemthing I wrote a few weeks ago about food, raw vegan
food in particular:
100%? Raw law? Rawligion? Abundance or scarcity? Love or fear? Extreme?
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here are some of my current thoughts, beliefs, and experiences
regarding raw vegan foods / a raw vegan "diet". It could be
refined to read better, but as it is the messages should be
conveyed okay.
Over the years I've often been asked questions like:
"Are you 100% raw?"
"Do you EVER eat ANY cooked food?"
"Do you ever CHEAT?"
"Are you ALLOWED to eat this?"
Even (apparently) long-term vegetarians, vegans, and some raw
vegans, have asked me these things.
My answer has often been something like:
-- "Even though you own a car but you cycle for transport often,
do you EVER drive?"
-- "You like to go to bed early each night, but do you EVER stay
up a bit later?"
[ These questions aren't exact analogies/parallels to the questions
about raw food that I've been asked, but they should illustrate my
point. ]
Then I elaborate, usually mentioning some of the things below:
I eat for health, not for dogma.
I'm allowed to eat what ever I choose to eat. I happen to choose
foods that are good for me, rather than foods that are bad for me.
What do you mean by "raw"? My meaning of "raw" food is raw vegan
food, live food, living food; whole fresh ripe raw organic fruits
& vegetables.
Eating more raw foods is better, unless you're eating too much of
some particular foods, or unless your raw diet is lacking in some
essential nutrients.
I believe it's better to eat healthy boiled or steamed veges or
boiled grains or legumes, than to eat too much of some RV food
(eg dried fruit, unsoaked nuts & seeds, cacao).
[ If you want to eat boiled grains, eg rice, millet, quinoa,
buckwheat, or boiled legumes, eg lentils, mungbeans, then I suggest
that you soak them first, overnight or for a few hours; this will
make more of their nutrients available for absorbtion, and will
speed up cooking time. ]
Even if (you think) your diet is truly balanced and not lacking in
essential nutrients, you'll still get benefits from increasing the
amount of raw foods that you eat.
I believe that raw vegan food is about abundance, not scarcity.
A healthy & sustainable raw vegan "diet" has a vast abundance of
nutrients, water, & fibre - more than any other diet that I know
of; it's not about scarcity (restriction). Perhaps the only thing
that a good raw vegan diet lacks is bad karma, bad effects on our
enviornment, and bad effects on us.
Love vs fear, with regards to food/diet:
There is a lot of love & fear that we have associated with food
& diet.
With our past or current diets, there are things that people
"love too much to give up" (sacrifice); this is one usage of the
word "love".
Love can also be applied to chosing to eat foods that we love,
and that love us back (rather than harming us) - such foods are
truly "loving foods" :)
It's common to have the fear "What if I'm not getting enough
protein/calcium/iron?".
If you do have this fear or concern, I suggest that you research
the truth of it for yourself, rather than relying on (supposed)
"experts" or "authorities".
[ Actually, don't immediately believe what I tell you, unless or
until you've researched the facts for yourselves. ]
If it's health improvement that you want to gain from RV foods,
it will happen, but it may take some time. [Learn about
cleansing, detoxing, healing crisis/crises, cleansing, etc.]
If it's weight loss that you want to gain from RV foods, it'll
happen very soon, especially if your diet is alkaline. It's
common to lose half a kg (one pound) per day, especially if
you're moderately overweight.
[NB: If you want to fast, I suggest juice feasting rather than
water fasting.]
Many people have addictions to food, and as with most addictions,
most people are (initally) in denial of their addiction. In
hindsight, I realise now that I experienced an addiction to
cooked food, and for the first few years (yes, years) of my raw
vegan food journey, I often chose to eat cooked (vegan) food
rather than raw vegan food. Now that I know more about raw vegan
foods & health, and as my body has become cleaner and
"recalibrated" to its natural state, I tend towards live vegan
foods much more, and to cooked vegan (or vegetarian or
omnivorous or carnivorous) foods much less. And towards true
health foods, rather than junk or comfort foods (note that there
are cooked vegan and raw vegan foods that are junky - not good
or ideal for us).
If you do "fail" or "cheat" on your raw vegan journey, it's okay to
"fall down" to (healthy) cooked vegan foods (or cooked vegetarian).
Much better than falling (all the way) down to flesh (cooked or raw).
"Raw vegan is too extreme for me" - this is a common thought or
statement that most people have (intially). Well, "extreme" is
relative. What are you comparing to? Most other peoples' diets
are what contribute to many of their health & social problems.
Today it's normal (usual, acceptable) to have heart disease,
cancer, high cholesterol, aching joints & muscles, "the flu",
to be tired all the time, or to be overweight. If we ask a truly
healthy person or culture about these things, we'd hear from them
that THESE things are extreme - although they're normal to us.
Read the following few paragraphs for some ideas about what's
extreme, and what's normal.
When babies are being weaned off (raw) mothers milk, they at first
vomit up the food (cooked food) that they're fed, but with repeated
force-feeding, their bodies eventually accept this cooked food -
is this normal, natural, or healthy? Or is it an accepted normal
extreme?
If you give a baby or toddler an apple in one hand and a slab of
meat (either cooked or raw) in the other hand, which food or "food"
will it want to eat, or what thing will it want to play with? Why
then fed it meat? What is more normal or natural, and what is
more "extreme"?
Is it natural for us to salivate when we see a pet cat, dog, bird,
or fish?
Do we salivate when we see roadkill?
When we see a sheep or a cow, do we want to suckle on its nipples,
or sink our teeth into its flesh?
The desire to eat flesh (and to drink milk from another species)
is a learned behaviour, it seems.
Naturally carnivorous animals like cats stalk other animals
(stalk their prey); humans do not, usually.
[ For more info about this topic, and for other good info, read
this page - http://www.thefirstsupper.com/efficientexercise.html ]
Even if you (still) think that meat or dairy or fish is needed,
then do realise that there is LOTS of evidence that it's healthiest
(and the most eco-friendly & animal-loving) to eat MUCH LESS animal
product than it's normal to eat in the modern "civilised" Western
world.
When we're growing our own fruit & vegetables (including greens &
"weeds"), it's much easier, more econonmical, more eco-friendly,
more ethical, and healthier to eat/be/sustain a raw vegan "diet".
An additional benefit is that growing your own food gets and keeps
us in touch with nature and life, and teaches us about what food
actually is, and where it comes from.
Now, having learned a lot over the years, and knowing what I know
now (eg the ease and benefits of green smoothies - and overcoming
my belief that "it's not natural to blend or juice, we should chew
using our own teeth"), I'd do things differently if I was to start
again, and it'd be easier and more sustainable for me. I don't
consider that I "cheated", or that I "failed"; rather I've learned
from my mistakes - and fortunately my mistakes weren't fatal :)
I could write more here, and perhaps improve the wording of what
I've already written, but I have other things to do right now ...
You're welcome to talk with me on Saturday (at our potluck meal)
if you want to discuss or learn more about this stuff.
And you can read the last Section of this email (Section 19)
for some more of my thoughts about food.
[ What I've written just here is just one expression of some of
my current opinions, thoughts, and feelings, at one particular
point in time.
Errors or omissions may exist.
Research for yourself, and learn the truth about things.
Consult a SUITABLY qualified (true) health practitioner
(not a disease practitioner) before you change your diet.
Etc Etc :) ]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peas, Love, and MungbeanSprouts! And Be well :)
Steve.
Phone Christchurch--942-3805.
***************
Steve(n) Kung
B.Eng [Elec] (Canterbury)
Founder, Owner, Manager, Engineer
SK2 Tech Solutions
Christchurch, New Zealand
Phone: (+64) (3) 942 3805
Fax: (+64) (3) 942 3815
Email: Steve@SK2Tech.co.nz
Web: http://www.SK2Tech.co.nz
SK2 does work, supplies products, & provides ideas in the following areas:
Technology, Engineering
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At the moment our main areas of work are:
Computers, Electronics & Electrical, Audio & Hi-Fi
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****************************************************************************
****************************************************************************
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Feel free to email me ( Steve@SK2Tech.co.nz ) if you want more information, or if you want to receive these emails - I send them out once every 2 weeks, and not more often, unless there's something special happening.
Be well, and enjoy growing/eating/blending/drinking lots of greens/sprouts ! You'll be amazed at the benefits they give you (and the others around you, and the planet), if you haven't already experienced them. :)
- Steve :)



