Lisa wrote:

>
>Wes,
>
>>  Raw food
>> is literally alive - living food!
>
>I know this thing about "living" food is a popular slogan, but from a
>scientific standpoint this is really just plain nonsense. A raw carrot
>is no more "alive" than a raw piece of fish. It is not, in fact,
>"living" food. In fact, if we wanted to be really accurate, we'd be
more
>correct to call it "dead food," since it is, in fact dead - although I
>don't see the point of using either of these terms at all for
>discussions about foodstuffs. I think the term "living" food has
>confused a lot of people (maybe deliberately so).
>

I have to disagree here.  As I look at the carrots which insist on
sprouting in my refrigerator, I can hardly call them "dead."




>> Cooked food is dark and literally dead.
>
>Likewise, cooked food is no more "dead" than un-cooked food. They are
>BOTH "dead." Neither form has the recognized characteristics of "life"
>(meaning that they do not Metabolize, or Respond, or Reproduce).
>

See comment above.  And they are not alone.  A bean looks "dead."  That
is, until it's put into the ground or into water and begins to sprout.
Cook it, and it **can't** grow.  The very life force is dead.


{{Much stuff snipped}}

 I just don't like seeing it described as something that it is
>not - a panacea for all ills - and I don't like seeing attributed to it
>all kinds of magical healing powers and energy fields and magnetic
>cosmic what-nots and abilities that it doesn't have. It's just food.

In that case, then pizza, fries, roast beef, etc., are just food.  It
doesn't matter if we eat them or not.  "Magical healing powers"?  No, no
*food* has that, but there is a definite effect from using overcooked,
processed foods than fresh raw ones.

 I
>think we're making entirely too much of food, when we start worshipping
>it and elevating it to such a high place of importance in our lives.

I don't think "worshipping" is quite the right word.  I, too, agree that
food needs to be in the proper perspective, but let's face it.  It's
third in line after *air* and *water.*

{{Stuff snipped}}

>
>It's JUST food. Stuff to eat for fuel. No more meaning to it than that.

It's never JUST food.  Not just here at this group, either.  Check out
the focus on food in various cultures.  Since we cannot live without it,
food has a particular importance, since next to air and water, nothing
is more important in keeping us alive and healthy.  I don't think this
means that we are anthromorphizing our food ... we're giving it the
importance that it deserves.

Now I don't believe that at 100% raw food diet all the time is
necessarily healthy (sorry Wes.  I was 21 once and 26 years later, see
things a lot differently), I believe that the discovery of a way of
eating to build health and keep us alive can't be lightly scoffed at.

Irene


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