Below is an excerpt from an old post to raw-food and veg-raw, with
new material/correction attached. This correction is being posted on
both raw-food and veg-raw. I have submitted the correction to the
living-foods.com web site, where the entire post can be read. It can also
be obtained from:

< http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/raw-food.html >

or by sending e-mail to: [log in to unmask], with
a message (no subject) consisting ONLY of:

getpost raw-food 2196

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file by e-mail (use web site access instead).

Regards,
Tom Billings
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ORIGINAL POST (EXCERPT):

>>> Posting number 2196, dated 28 Feb 1997 08:06:21
>Date: Fri, 28 Feb 1997 08:06:21 -0800 (PST)
>From: "Thomas E. Billings" <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: UPDATE: on raw foods/fruitarianism and ethical veganism

ON RAW FOODS/FRUITARIANISM AND ETHICAL VEGANISM

...snipped...

Q: HX asks for ethical reasons that support following a raw diet.

A: The entire argument for ethical veganism can be summarized as - vegan
diets are best because they are more efficient, where efficient here specifically
means less resources used, less cruelty. However, most raw foods diets are
more efficient than cooked foods diets! This you can prove directly - compare the
amount of wheat you might eat when baked into chocolate chip cookies, versus
plain, sprouted wheat. Compare broccoli cooked with salt and sauces with raw
broccoli. You will generally eat a lower quantity of foods on a raw food
diet.
(Exceptions: if one is a glutton on raw foods, if one falls prey to sugar
addiction, or if one consumes a lot of juices which are inefficient.)

Hence it follows that raw foods diets use less resources and are less cruel
(less food used => less wildlife habitat lost to farming) than a cooked
vegan diet. So the "most ethical" vegan diet is a raw food diet! It's unfortunate
that ethical vegans are generally unaware of this, as it leaves them open to the
charge of hypocrisy (as they aren't fully practicing what they preach), and
they also miss out on the potential benefits of raw foods diets.

It should be noted that raw foods diets are not for everyone; in particular
fruitarianism is problematic, difficult, and not recommended (by me).
However, given the ethic of efficiency, ethical vegans should at least try a raw
foods diet and see if it works for them. If 100% raw is too difficult, perhaps
50-80% raw will work. To have the "most ethical" vegan diet, one wants to maximize
the % of raw foods in the diet. Finally, in finding the "most ethical" diet for
yourself, don't let dogma override your common sense. Find the mixture of
raw/ cooked that works best for you, that supports your good health.

Tom Billings

NEW MATERIAL/UPDATE:  (May 18, 1998)

Correction,  May 1998

The above article contains a possible error, and it deserves explanation/
discussion. The answer to the last question notes that raw vegan diets
are more efficient than cooked vegan diets. At the time I wrote that,
I had some reservations - I considered it possible for a raw vegan to eat
less weight (of food) than a typical cooked food vegan, but it is rarer than
the answer to the question suggests.  Specifically, I have found it possible
to get by on a low weight of raw foods, but only if the foods are high calorie:
nuts and large amounts of avocados. However, in terms of efficiency,
the cooked food vegan can also eat avocados, and even nuts (raw or cooked,
the energy value is about the same). A raw diet that is primarily low
calorie foods, may eventually result in weight loss.

Let's examine the logic in the question answer. The first part of the logic
-
that you will say, eat less sprouted wheat than cooked, is true - raw/
sprouted foods are usually harder/coarser and they have a lot of bulk,
compared to cooked foods.  However, the conclusion, that one will then
eat less total food (weight) on raw than cooked, does not apply. If you eat
coarse low-calorie foods, you will ultimately have to eat something else -
raw or cooked - to get the energy you need (the alternative is to lose
weight).

So, although it is possible for a raw vegan who has a high fat diet,
from nuts and avocados, to eat less weight in food than the typical
cooked food vegan, it is not so common. (Indeed, the binge eating that
is so prevalent in raw, makes the situation worse.) So, my claim
that raw vegan diets are necessarily more efficient than cooked, is not
true in general. I apologize for the apparent error in the above, and
any misconceptions it might have caused.

Tom Billings