I've decided to un-subscribe.

This email list is just too energetically draining for me.

Keeping in mind that positive energy and worthwhile activity are
priorities to true health and well-being, I find it to be in my best
interest to discontinue my participation in this fiasco.

There are some nice people on this list, and then there are some people
here that I honestly don't care for (sorry).

I originally subscribed with the intention of positive discussion about
raw foods. I was immediately met with opposition to this intention, via
the desires of others to discuss cooked foods. I know that the
description for this list includes "...discussion of predominantly raw
diets..." but I find I really don't care to discuss cooked foods. Been
there, done that. I don't want cooked food, I don't eat cooked food, I
don't wish to discuss cooked food.

Some people feel that there is some merit to eating some cooked food. I
once did too. I gave the usual arguments - we're "adapted", makes some
things more "digestible", lessens some toxins (such as in legumes),
etc.. But to be honest, I haven't felt, in my experience, that I was
"adapted" to eating cooked food. I know the Ward Nicholson interview
theorizes that we are, but that's all assumption. I see it's convenient
for people to use that interview for their claim ("proof"?) to
"adaptation" to cooked. I previously used it myself! But I see now that
it was just an excuse to try to justify my previous cooked food eating.
So perhaps this is one reason I met up with such resistance: I extol the
virtues of eating raw foods, while others perhaps find it threatening --
they need to justify their cooked food eating. Then, I make honest
attempts to discover WHY they are eating the cooked food, especially
those whom were 100% raw previously. They give no solid justification at
all. Thus, there seems to be no good reason at all. I never tried to
"convert" anyone, or to try to stop anyone from eating cooked food. To
be honest, I don't care if you eat cooked food -- just about everybody
else does. But this doesn't mean that it is optimal. I go for what's
optimal. Again, I merely tried to find out *why*...

Also, I find that most of the "chat" on this board is just small talk,
hardly worthwhile skimming through. In fact, someone from this list (I
won't say who) told me via email that they find this list to be just
gossip and a waste of time... Very little of the messages on this list
seem to really have any value in regards to the raw food diet. It's
almost as if everything BUT raw foods is being discussed here.

And, I have an aversion to eating animals. I have many reasons for this.
Therefore, it definitely does not make my day to have to sift through
all kinds of threads regarding the ingestion of dead animal bodies. In
my opinion: human beings at one time resorted to eating animals because
they had to, in order to survive, as plant food was likely scarce. An
obvious example of this would be with the Eskimos -- little or no edible
plant food at all. But, in this day & age, and for most of us, there is
really no solid justification in eating meat, especially in such high
amounts. Try "getting" (hunting and killing) these animals that you eat
for yourself, and see how "natural" such a diet is. How many of you
could get your daily ration of animal and fish meats in a primitive
situation, or even a modern situation (with rifles, scopes, fishing
gear, the whole works). Show me how realistic such a diet therefore
would be. People I know who hunt, find it very very difficult and rare
that they actually make a kill, even using the most sophisticated
weaponry. Also, I used to be a fisherman, and I can relate how hard it
is to actually catch the fish (and I was pretty good at it too...I
caught my share, but not enough to live on or to eat on a daily basis).
And this was with the most sophisticated equipment, line, tackle, bait,
etc.. Try it with primitive equipment or none at all!

Lastly, I do not regret even one post I've made to this list. I just
went back and skimmed through all the messages I posted from Day 1 from
myself on this list, and I see no fault in what I said. I also see that
I provided good, worthwhile raw food-related material...

I was "attacked" first. Check the archives -- go back to late October,
as of my first post(s), and see for yourself.

So, I'm done. Stopping my subscription to this list is great and
liberating for me. Been there, done that. Now I've got some free time on
my hands to use for worthwhile endeavors! :)

You can always spot the true genius: All the idiots form an alliance and
attack them.

Take care,

Wes