>
>My guess is that a raw vegan has fewer choices, since the
>diet is limited to things that taste okay, and are not
>problematic, when raw. This would probably exclude things
>like collards, kale, dandelion greens, nettles, mustard
>greens, lots of other bitter-tasting green leafy vegetables.
>And most likely members of the cruciferous family (broccoli,
>brussel sprouts) if the person is shopping at a normal
>grocery store where these vegetables will typically be
>pretty bitter without cooking (dare I say it - low brix).
>And they are not eating some of the tougher starchy tubers,
>or squashes. And they're not eating legumes. Or grains.
>
>(Whether or not any of the above-mentioned foods are
>beneficial, or toxic, in either their raw or cooked forms is
>another question, but in any case they are certainly not
>_palatable_ when raw).
I understand that in the practice of raw vegan, it is often true that such
greens ( the ones you named) are not eaten very often. But this might have
little to do with the greens themselves,
i am myself, very attracted to strong tasting green and i prefer dandelion
and chicorees to organic lettuces , I prefer a bolted lettuce to a normal
one, too..
I n my vegetarian days i was eating huge amounts of cabbages in salad
almost every other day , all varieties of the cabbage family) and i stay 3
months with a group of raw foodists and they were very much enjoying
brocoli stems
>
I just come from a walk with my son (2 years old raw food eater) and his
little friend ( 4 months older cooked food eater) and we all enjoyed eating
nettles shoots ( i prechew for them so they don't get stung ) All together
we ate something like 25 terminals buds with 2 leaves unfolded, quite a bit.
the palatability of such plants depends on the availability of thoses and
how often we try them (one bad experience with them should not be
generalised for ever)
i read that north americans have, something like, ( not sure of the numbers)
90% of their plant diet coming from 12 plants.
Natives from here (BC) were using something like 300 differents plants as
food.
Quite a difference anyway ( if the numbers are not right)
So for sure when one switch to a raw vegan and eliminate some foods because
palatable in quantity, only cooked. One might ends with not that much
choices in its plate.
I will recomend any candidate to raw vegan to widen its choice of food big
time to have a chance to make such diet sustainable.
For example north america have lot of available wild tubers or roots in its
flora ( like jerusalem artichoke, apios, salsifis or camas who can be
delicious raw and replace potatoes easely, they can be easely cultivated
too )
Coming from europe i have been shoked by the limited choice of plant foods
available in store ( beside squach potatoes carrots celery cabbages lettuce
and tomatos there is not much more)
Bon appetit
Jean-claude
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