Something cool happened...

[Ariannah]

Last night when I was doing my grocery shopping, I think a raw foodist must have been in line behind me, unless my hearing was selective and I wasn't hearing correctly. A woman was shopping with her family, and she had a whole bunch of vegetables on the checkout counter, and there was a lone bag of bagels and a few other things. I thought I heard her say "This is just cooked crap, see?" as she put the bagels on the counter. I was in a hurry to check out my stuff, as my friend was getting ready to drive me home, and I am very shy about just approaching strangers, but I so badly wanted to ask if she was a raw-foodist.

But cool, I thought I was the only raw foodist in this part of Nova Scotia ;)

[Sharon in Colorado]

Once I was in Whole Foods and noticed that the organic strawberries were the same price as the conventional ones. I commented to an older lady next to me about that, thinking she'd be glad for the tip.

She hesitated for a moment, then just looked at me and said "okay..." as if I was a weirdo.

I replied "I just thought you'd like to know" and pushed my cart away. She never did buy the organic strawberries.

After that I kept running into her throughout the store. It really ruined my morning. Strangers either talk to me or I talk to them in the grocery store and it's no big deal but this lady was just plain RUDE.

I still talk to strangers in the store though. I just wanted to encourage you, that even if some jerk off doesn't respond to you, don't let it dissuade you from making a new friend. My mom used to laugh about my grandmother making friends in the ladies' room.

[Autumn]

RawandNatural,
Aww, too bad you didn't speak to her. Maybe you could make up little cards that say, "I'm RAW! Are YOU?" and include your email address. Then you wouldn't have to be nervous about talking face to face. Just hand them the card and skadattle.

<<My mom used to laugh about my grandmother making friends in the ladies' room.>>

Holy Moly. Both my mom and especially my grandmother do that. My mom can't go shopping anywhere without friends or patients from her office talking to her, and totally strangers approach her all the time as well. We joke about it all the time. My parents were at their beach house, but decided to go to another beach about 10 miles away because they wanted some alone time. Sitting there on the beach, another couple started to talk to them, and within 5 minutes realized they went to the same grade school and had known each other 40 years ago. LOL

re: organic vs. conventional strawberries
I was talking about organic foods to my mom a couple months ago and she said, "Ohhhhh, I thought organic was what we're NOT supposed to buy." My mind boggled.

[Pailani]

After that I kept running into her throughout the store. It really ruined my morning. Strangers either talk to me or I talk to them in the grocery store and it's no big deal but this lady was just plain RUDE.

It ruined your morning - but imagine what her attitude must be doing to her life! Yikes! Imagine living with someone like that!

[nuttie]

while shopping in the produce section of the market, i wonder as i look a people if they eat raw too. i don't have the courage to ask but i see people make their selections and sometimes i catch people watching me make my selections. take a look at their carts and you can obviously see what they are eating but i wonder if that's all they are purchasing.... :cool:

[rawpriestess]

Well, I will tell you what happened to me and I was amazed.

Dragggon and I were in the grocery store, the day before Thanksgiving, (YES, I know, we were nuts--our entire little town was there) but we were buying some fresh cranberries, and were making one last attempt at buying some parsnips, they had 3--very old looking ones, so we didnt' buy them, we also bought a bunch of fresh crisp apples, some pineapple and some greens, super delicious carrots, basically a few fruits and veggies.

Anyway, we had a few great raw produce thingies in our cart, and we were noticing all the people with their carts, stacked with all the boxes and things, and these people think that making a stove top stuffing mix is preparing food. LOL

But, what really got us, was we were just checking out,and one of our friends, who is a nutritionist was carting by, and stopped to talk, her cart was full of canned foods, and some boxes, not one fresh item in there, and SHE IS a nutritionist.

So, just because someone has knowledge, does NOT mean that they use it.

[Rawkinlocs]

I was talking about organic foods to my mom a couple months ago and she said, "Ohhhhh, I thought organic was what we're NOT supposed to buy." My mind boggled.

Autumn, I've heard people express that kind of sentiment about organic stating that because they're grown without the chemicals, they can be dangerous as far as getting food poisoning (from any "natural" fertilizers) or that they would have more bugs and stuff due to no pesticides! I believe there was actually a time when our mainstream society touted organic as being inferior to conventional and that people should "use caution" when buying organic produce!

[Sharon in Colorado]

It ruined your morning - but imagine what her attitude must be doing to her life! Yikes! Imagine living with someone like that!

You are RIGHT! I never thought about it that way. Unless the person living with her is even worse, then POOR HER!

I just returned from Wal-mart and was surprised to find a teeny tiny selection of Chanukah items, some oven mitts and some kitchen towels. I was thinking about how cheezy they looked when a lady noticed me fondling them.

She said to me "Oh, how nice that they have these here" (as Walmart never has anything for Jewish holidays)

I replied "Ya, but I was noticing that they aren't really nice, like these tea towels" and I pointed to a nicer style Christmas tea towel.

She didn't respond to me, but grabbed a couple. I felt like such a snob for saying that. Then I said "they'd be nice for bathroom towels"

She sort of mumbled "yes" and rolled her cart away.

I ended up taking 4 towels after that! :rolleyes:

[RawFoodieMom]

But, what really got us, was we were just checking out,and one of our friends, who is a nutritionist was carting by, and stopped to talk, her cart was full of canned foods, and some boxes, not one fresh item in there, and SHE IS a nutritionist.

So, just because someone has knowledge, does NOT mean that they use it.

I think one of the problems is that this IS WHAT they are teaching them in nutrition school! I mean, you look at all the pamphlets, etc, at the Doctor's offices, and the "food pyramid" nonsense, and what do they say? Yes, they say eat 5-10 servings a day of vegetables but they don't say it has to be fresh. They keep telling society that canned fruits and vegetables have just as much nutrients as fresh, etc. They tell us to eat numerous servings of bread or rice a day, they tell us to eat 2-3 servings of meat a day, etc. I would seriously bet that the nutritionist friend really believes she IS eating healthy. I used to really believe I was eating healthy if I got some fruits and veggies (cooked or not), if my bread and pasta was whole grain, etc...

Debra

[RawFoodieMom]

But cool, I thought I was the only raw foodist in this part of Nova Scotia ;)

This is so cool. I really hope you get the chance to run into her again, and if you do, ASK! :)

I'm beginning to get a little suspicious that there are raw foodists in my city as well. The last time I was at the health food store, and I asked them about their nuts (long disturbing story :( )and she asked me if it was important to know at what temperature they were heated at, etc, who I could talk to. If no one else had asked previously she wouldn't have brought up the temperature thing herself. Interesting! :)

[CAdreamer]

try posting a message on the bulletin board at whole foods, or similar, annoucing a meeting of all "interested" raw fooders. You might find people coming out of the woodwork....even one or two would be nice.

I met a lady in whole foods who turned out to be a fabulous friend. We were both buying beets, and 40 minutes later, we finally quit talking. My husband just doesn't understand how I do this, but I love meeting new people and sharing ideas. unfortunately, I've moved to another state, so I'll only see her a few times a year now.

[rawruh]

bit off the topic, but i just love making new friends in strange places, airports, shops, planes ...

once i was dropping in to surprise a friend with a punnet of strawberries. somehow i got the address wrong, but the lady who opened the door was such a cosmic amazing out of this world women that we spend the whole afternoon talking and eating the fruit and her house mate joined our meditation retreat that weekend.

[Ariannah]

This has turned into a really interesting discussion! I should clarify one thing. While I usually am shy about just approaching strangers, if we're already bumping into each other (in the ladies' washroom, same shopping aisle) or in each other's space, I'm fine with engaging in some form of pleasantries. Each of us has to already be aware of the other person's existence. With this lady who was behind me at the check-out cart, it was a combination of being in a hurry, and the woman being absorbed talking with her family. It likely wasn't an appropriate time. If we'd both been in the produce section loading up our carts with the organic bananas, I may have at least smiled :)

[honeybee joy]

Autumn, I've heard people express that kind of sentiment about organic stating that because they're grown without the chemicals, they can be dangerous as far as getting food poisoning (from any "natural" fertilizers) or that they would have more bugs and stuff due to no pesticides! I believe there was actually a time when our mainstream society touted organic as being inferior to conventional and that people should "use caution" when buying organic produce!

What do you say to someone who says that about organic? I have had people say that, & I just do not know what to tell them. What do I tell them?

[Sharon in Colorado]

What do you say to someone who says that about organic? I have had people say that, & I just do not know what to tell them. What do I tell them?

I would say - Oh, that is interesting, where did you hear that?

[Ariannah]

Where fresh, organic produce is concerned, to me, "use with caution" means "eat up as soon as possible!" :D :D

[honeybee joy]

Originally Posted By rawandnatural
Where fresh, organic produce is concerned, to me, "use with caution" means "eat up as soon as possible!"


Originally Posted By Sharon in Colorado
I would say - Oh, that is interesting, where did you hear that?

Those comments are cute & would work for me, Organic logically seems to be the right choice, but this person, is someone I have to deal with alot, & every once and awhile this continues to come up. It would be so wonderful to have some fab facts to say back to this person so I do not have to hear about it again. Sometimes it bears down on my soul, This person thinks that the raw food lifestyle compares to Satan's sister.
Thanks,
Lissa

[RawFoodieMom]

Those comments are cute & would work for me, Organic logically seems to be the right choice, but this person, is someone I have to deal with alot, & every once and awhile this continues to come up. It would be so wonderful to have some fab facts to say back to this person so I do not have to hear about it again. Sometimes it bears down on my soul, This person thinks that the raw food lifestyle compares to Satan's sister.
Thanks,
Lissa

Lissa, check out this link. I would print it out and show it to him:

Food for Thought: Pesticides for Dinner? (http://www.organicconsumers.org/foodsafety/dinner112305.cfm)

Debra

[dhammala]

Thats a great link.. here is an excerpt that caught my eye:


A recent biomonitoring study from the U.S. government's National
Institute of Environmental Health Sciences found that feeding exclusively
organic food to schoolchildren for just five days greatly decreased the
quantity of organophosphorus pesticides found in their urine. The study
concluded that the children were most likely exposed to these pesticides
through their diet, strongly indicating that buying organic food can almost
immediately decrease the pesticide body burden of your family.

[Sheryl]

In the year 2000 I (from Canada) started chatting to a guy (from Australia) in an airport in California. At the end of the 10 minute conversation we exchanged contact details... now we're married! You just never know what can happen.

*GRIN*
Sheryl

[Ariannah]

Ok, this is the second time I've heard this in a 3 week period of time. But I was at the grocery store, and a man was looking at the organic broccoli and cauliflower, the lettuces, that they have in a special section of the store. He says, "Organic produce?" His wife looks at him, rolls her eyes and says, "No such thing, there's no such thing." He says, "Yup", and they nod their heads and move on.

The first time I heard this a few weeks ago, I was buying organic bananas, loading up my cart (my children love bananas and so do I, in smoothies), and these two college age fellows were an aisle apart from each other, and said, "There's really no such thing as 'organic bananas', I mean NO such thing!" His friend nodded, "Exactly, man."

I suppose people really do blind themselves on purpose?

[RawFoodieMom]

:confused: I wonder where they're getting this opinion from? Why would they say there's no such thing as organic?? They must have gotten some kind of weird information somewhere?

I know that there is some controversy over anything being "truly, 100% organic", because if a farmer anywhere nearby an organic farm is spraying their crops the organic field will end up getting some of it because of wind, etc. But to me, even if it can't be perfect, it's a whole world better than produce that's drenched with the stuff.

YIKES: And I have just read an article online that organic food standards have just been weakened by congress, with an amendment passed through congress secretly! :mad: :mad:

I will start a new thread with details of that, sorry this thread is getting so off topic.

Debra

[honeybee joy]

Well I have heard from a little bird, that organic farms are not really organic becuase they could have conventional farms next to them & they would have a runoff of chemicals that flush into them from the conventional farms, or others might say that there might be chemicals in the soil previously. I do not know what will qualify a person to ba able to sell organic, but I would think it would be pretty stiff. There are those negative people in this world that will always see something wrong w/ everything so they do not have to make a decision, & they can judge everything & feel justified. I know there is a difference bettween organic & non organic, especially the bannanas. I can only eat organic bannanas. The conventional ones I have allergic reactions to. I guess the thing is people will do what they think is best for them, even if they are wrong.

Rawfoodmom,
Where did you read that about the organic produce standards being weakened by congress?!?

[RawFoodieMom]

I started a new thread about the organic standard laws being weakened it is here:

http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?p=74485#post74485

Debra

[blessed]

It's been 10 years ago that we attempted to adopt a child, we were vegetarian then and we fed our child organic food and goat's milk.
We were taken to court and lost custody of our son and the reason was that they put in the record was the fact that we were vegetarian and fed our child organic food and the goat's milk.
I would like to think that knowledge has increased but it seems old habits die hard. The S.A.D. still reins in some areas of this country.
We still have a lot of work to do to educate these die hards.

Ann :)