the rare raw foodist

ha no! it would be fun though. i might not feel so out-of-place here.

No not other than my brother. People already think that I'm weird because I don't eat meat, they don't know that I'm a raw vegan. Could you image how weird they are going to think I am if I tell then I only fruits and vegetables!
I would really like to meet others like me :)

Yes! I have met one. I was just starting my research and went to whole foods to buy a nut milk bag. I of course didn't get a bag to put it in and was holding it waiting for the streetcar and a lady said "ARE YOU RAW!!!?" We had a lovely conversation about it.

But I do live in Portland, which probably makes them more plentiful, and vegan is very much the norm.

granted i wasn't raw yet, but my coworker was raw, i went to one of her raw potlucks, and that was the beginning. Also when I was a the grocery store and looking for some parasite pills, I talked to the vitamin grocery lady, and she was very familiar with raw. we had a very nice conversation. Our duplex-mates sister a month ago was working at a raw food restaurant here in austin (although she herself is not all raw, just raw friendly) My fiancee pedicabs and there is another girl on here, from austin that also pedicabs and is raw :) Tragically I haven't had a chance to hang out yet. It seems we are lucky to be in Austin. There are many raw-friendly, or a least raw-accepting people here. At the grocery store they still look at us strange, but we just smile and tell them we just like eating fruits & vegetables :)

Nope! My brother in Vancouver (I'm in Edmonton) said a friend of his is. Sure would be nice to talk face to face with someone who understands what you're going through.

Nope, I don't even know another vegan never mind another raw foodist.
That's why I find this site (and other similar ones) so useful and motivating.

No but my Mum knows a couple because she teaches on a nutrition course, but she isn't raw herself.

Hey rawfreak4fr! I live in Edmonton also! I have met other raw foodists only at a pot luck in Calgary.

I've only met them at the obvious places, like raw vegan restaurants and grocery stores that carry that sort of thing (one of very few good things about San Francisco, in my opinion.) Never somewhere unlikely, and almost never less than 10 years older than me, either. That would be nice : / : ). The great majority of teenagers and twenty-somethings I run into are completely apathetic about health, and most things, for that matter.

I haven't run into any raw foodists in my random travels, but most people are quite interested in it.

Nice to see some people from Edmonton here. I am from Red Deer and have been to a couple of potlucks in Calgary. We went to a potluck last weekend and David Wolfe was there doing a talk and we actually met another person who is into raw foods who came up from Red Deer. Very small world.

I met another one today! My co op had a big sale and so it was full of people, the guy in front of me was telling the cashier how he healed his cancer with a raw diet. It was amazing! Yah!

No! I haven't. I've told a few people about it and they do ask a lot of questions. My mom continuously reminds me that its the weirdest diet she's ever heard of haha. I don't think its THAT odd.... ok, it IS odd, but then, you're on this site, so you'd agree with me... but I do talk about it more as a funny experiment, and don't let on how much I'm into it.

I'd like to meet some people in person though. I think it would motivate me a lot more. I'm only about 60% raw as it is because making everything takes a lot of planning and a lot of weird spices. I just don't want to be a burden on my parents who buy all of my food.

Though I am slowly converting them to shopping as much as possible at Whole Foods :) haha

demallen, it is funny how much people are interested in it! i told a few friends that i'm making a raw dessert for a potluck in my nutrition class, and they said "what? you're making them eat raw eggs and flour?" i'll explain that i don't eat grains first, and then it will be... "what? no bread?? you don't eat bread at all? how is that balanced?"

i feel like if i had a raw boyfriend, i'd be able to stick to raw so much better. we could motivate each other and whatnot. i'm not making an excuse about it, but it helps when you have somebody next to you who understands exactly how you're feeling.

joanna- haha I guess it would be easier to have someone near you be raw, too. I live near a big city, so I really ought to try to go to some of the raw restaurants (I know of two) and meetups they have around here. I live with my parents and they raise their eyebrows at a lot of my "concoctions"... but they're starting to see the light, I think ;)

The thing is, even though I'm all for eating raw, I get so self-conscious talking about it! I was eating cauliflower cous-cous on a lunch break at work and when I mentioned the "raw food diet," everyone started asking me a ton of questions. One of the ladies called out from her office the other day asking, "Is yogurt considered a raw food?" hehe

Seriously though, bringing it up feels either turns into the brunt of a joke, or turns the convo as awkward as religion and politics :D

My scapegoat is easy. I just tell people I eat fruits and vegetables and leave it at that. All people for the most part at some point eat them, so they just say "oh" and i think it throws them off, so they go about their merry way. Either that, or just say.."it works for me.. I feel better than i've felt in years" some people's curiosity is just that. curiosity. I myself had all the same questions about what exactly "raw" meant. It seems strange at first, but once you understand the concept of it being about eating living foods, then everything adds up. If its alive, or can sprout, it's raw.

Yes I bumped into a raw foodist in a health food shop, we had a chat about raw choc then decided to start a pot luck group. Now we meet every other month and there is usually about 20 of us at each event.

nope, ive never even met another vegan around here :(

http://lilearthmuffin.wordpress.com/

demallen05, I know just what you mean about all the questions - after my work colleagues found out I was eating raw, they asked me hundreds of questions and intently studied my food for months. It did my head in a bit but it's only natural to be curious I guess. It wore off after a while though and they don't bat an eyelid now.

We hired a guy at work and he dabbles in raw food!!! I was so excited. Both of us are not 100 % but it is nice to have someone to talk to for motivation.

No, but I'm seeing it mentioned A LOT on TV and in movies...Baby's Mama, Food Network, last night on Bored to Death.

I have been meeting a lot of vegetarians who dabble in veganism lately though...one of my professors, my hairdresser...

I can't believe how mainstream it is now! It's pretty nuts, but in a good way. :)

Swayze
www.fitonraw.com

I have plans to. There is a group here locally, that meet the first Thursday of every month. As soon as I get a free evening I plan to check it out. They seem to be very friendly online and open to meeting more people following the way of the raw. Can't wait to taste someone else's recipes.

http://www.zazzle.com/merchant_magi*/raw+gifts?ps=60

I did! at the farmers market last week. she was working at a organic vegetable & fruit stand.

I know a lot of vegetarians and vegans, and some mostly raw, but I'm a uni student and the culture thrives there.

I've met several at festivals, and at a neighbour's party.

I consider myself to live in a lucky little bubble as 99% of people I tell about raw are interested and supportive. I think it helps that I have so far lost 3 stone (42 lb) so there is tangible evidence there.

If I pick up negativity from someone i just say to them "well, thanks for the support!" which generally shuts them up :)

never just randomly, always at a restaurant or a health food store. And rarely my age, usually older. I did meet a really cute one on a recent road trip (Driving through Madison, WI.) There's a great Co op there in case you ever find yourself in Madison, its the "Williamstreet Co op". We talked for a while, he even invited me to a Raw Potluck he frequents but alas I live in Chicago and as cute as he was that's a pretty long commute. But all this talk about Potlucks sound like a great way to meet like minded people, try new foods, exchange recipes etc...
Any Chicagoans or neighboring suburbs out there wanna start one up?

My in-laws are raw. But other than that I've never met anyone raw, especially since I live in a rural community.

I randomly met a couple of raw foodists in the 90's.... .I thought they were crazy :-D lol

additionally I don't really care for the raw-food meetups in my area, as most are set up by folks who have something to sell, and that sort of spoils the community aspect for me. I dont' like being marketed to.

UPDATE: I just met quite a few at a lecture with Matt Monarch and Angela Stokes this past Wednesday here in Memphis.

I know that doesn't count, since it was a raw function. But it was pretty interesting none the less.

Swayze
www.fitonraw.com

I recently started work at a Whole Foods and I met a co worker who is Raw. Although, she is not a Raw vegan. She eats raw Cheeses. She is super educated which is awesome! Her and I have a VERY similar common beliefs about food but very different diets. The Foods that work great for me do not work for her so we come from two different sides of the raw coin.

When I was in Seattle I met some but it was only because they worked at a Raw restaurant so I guess that doesn't count :)

http://www.myrawconsciousness.blogspot.com