WOW...thanks to all of you who came out to play in Orange County last night for our first live talk back here in the USA - it was fun to meet you all :)
You can see the rest of our current talk schedule HERE if you'd love to come and join us somewhere along the line...we're now also offering a full day workshop at the event in Michigan ;)
For now though, I wanted to re-post here a little article from my newsletter this week, called:
"10 Ways to Share a Raw Food Message in YOUR Community" - enjoy :)
People often say that they feel isolated and socially awkward as raw foodies...yet we have so many wonderful raw resources and ways to connect these days, either through the internet or in person. I want to offer a list of ten suggestions today for ways to share a vibrant raw food message and lifestyle in YOUR community...
1. Hold a Raw Food Potluck: in many areas, there are already raw potlucks organised - a great way to find out about these is via rawfood.meetup.com - check for *your* area to see if there's already something happening. If not, how about starting a gathering yourself? Even if the gathering involves just two or three people, that is a start - you will have experiences and recipes to share, you can watch, read or listen to raw info together and keep inviting more people to join you...consider posting a notice on local community boards to attract more attendees ;)
2. Demo Booth: find a local fair of some kind in your area to attend and run a booth there giving out green smoothie samples, or any other raw samples you are drawn to share. Have some simple information about eating raw on display, sell tasty 'snack' items such as raw 'bliss balls', smoothies or whatever appeals to you...recommend resources for people to find out more - local potlucks, or online connections and so on...
3. Organise a Farm Trip: organise a trip to a local organic farm with friends, families, local school children, or whichever kind of group you may have connections to - the idea is to get people out into nature and to connect more to where their food is coming from - this is especially great to enjoy with children. You might visit a farm where you can pick berries or fruits together, or gather salad veggies and prepare a salad or smoothies afterwards and so on. People will surely appreciate a day out in nature and eating farm-fresh raw food. If the farm has a CSA scheme, a trip like this might also help them to find more supporters for their production.
on August the 23rd I enjoyed:
1 quart water
3 cups watermelon/orange juice
3 cups greeeeeeen/carrot juice
shared romaine/avo/seaweed/tomato salad with Mr. M, stuffed into nori sheets, with flax snack samples on the side - some GREAT new products :) Followed by an apple and 3 tbsp acai powder
3 cups water
on August the 24th I loved:
1 quart water
1 quart greeeeeeeen/carrot juice
a small papaya
meal of fresh figs with a little almond butter with Mr. M
2 cups water
3 tbsp acai powder
1 cup water
4. Give a Talk: this might sound like a scary suggestion to some of you, yet if you consider the life-changing *impact* that hearing a raw food talk could have on the lives of those around you, you might perhaps think again ;) You never know where a seed of inspiration planted may blossom into a remarkable new transfornation in someone's life...depending on 
your confidence, knowledge and experiences, you might choose to give a free talk, or ask for donations/a nominal fee...you might speak in front of children, cancer/diabetes groups, womens' groups, weight loss groups...whichever audience and platform you feel comfortable with...remember that you *do* have something to share that can be of immense value to other people, even if you feel shy or scared - there are so many ill and unhappy people in the world today - you could help to instigate a major shift in your area... ;)
5. Do a Raw Food Recipe Demo: see if you can provide a 10-15 minute or so raw food recipe demo at any local gatherings. This might be a little stand at a local supermarket (perhaps green smoothies made right next to the produce department), it might be a demo at another related health-event in your area like a fun-run, a weight loss group gathering, a school sports event and so on - the opportunities could be endless with a little inspiration ;)
Show a few simple recipes with easy-to-find ingredients and popular tastes, to get people started off, e.g. green smoothies, a raw soup, banana ice cream, raw apple pie and so on. Hand out samples if possible.
6. Contact Local Press: if you choose to do any of these suggested activities, be sure to let your local newspaper/radio/press know about it, so that they have the opportunity to cover the story if they choose. Remember that the media is *always* looking for stories to fill their column-inches and airtime...why not help them fill those blanks with positive, uplifting stories of health, transformation and joy? :) Do not feel deterred if you contact them about one event and they choose not to cover it - journalists are usually working under a lot of pressure - you can always tell them about events as they arise and see if the timing fits in better the next time around ;)
7. Show Raw Food DVDs: films can help spread messages in a rapid, easy-to-understand, inspiring way...film showings can help bring people together to discuss and share about a 
topic in a way that books and other media usually don't quite match. So, a great way to share the raw message in your community might be to hold a film night, or even a series of film nights, showing raw documentaries and other related material, e.g. "Raw for Life", "Simply Raw", "Supercharge Me", "Food Matters" and so on...you might find a local group who are already showing films and ask them to add these to the listings, you might show things at the local library, school hall, community centre or wherever it makes sense for you...
on August the 25th it was a kinda-odd intake day and I appreciated:
1 quart water
2 cups greeeeeeen/carrot juice
a small papaya
meal of cherries/peaches/fresh figs with a little almond butter
2 cups water
4 tbsp spirulina crunchies
4 tbsp spirulina crunchies
3 cups water
on August the 26th I was blissed with:
1 quart water
big shared meal at Au Lac with friends, involving all kinds of yumminess: durian/coconut shakes, freeze-dried durian/mangosteen, raw 'garlic bread', "De La Mamma" broccoli dish and donut holes - WOW ;O
2 cups water
1 cup coconut kefir
2 cups water
8. Organise an Exhibition: perhaps you will have the opportunity to post up an exhibition somewhere of information and pictures about raw food transformations. This might be something you can hang on the walls of a local library, school, alternative health practitioners' office, farmers' market booth or wherever you find an appropriate space...you could include before/after pictures, a simple explanation of 'why raw', event info, recommended reading/weblinks and so on...if you are able to be in attendance next to the exhibition, you might even like to have some books there to help show people, or simply answer questions...
9. Organise a Big-Scale Event: if you *really* want to take things to the next level in your area, you could organise a big raw/'green'-lifestyle event, e.g. bring in a well-known raw speaker or chef to provide a presentation/workshop, or even organise a whole raw festival or retreat. This kind of activity would involve a lot more work and organisation and depending on where you live, there might also be a lot of thinking/co-ordination involved to encourage people to actually come along...free or low ticket prices are usually a help in this regard, plus *lots* of publicity angled well at different potential interest groups...
10. Raw Britannia - our dear friend Shazzie has a *great* free ebook called "Raw Britannia" that you can download and take to local restaurants, to encourage them to include more raw dishes in their menus ;) The ebook can be downloaded for free from 
HERE - you are of course not limited to the recipe suggestions in this book either - you could take that as inspiration to compile a little list of raw recipes that *you* would love to have available at your local restaurant or deli...give it a try, it could work out for the benefit of all :) You could even offer to give a little free training to the chefs, to share raw kitchen skills and ensure the raw items actually make it to the menu; make it easy for them to co-operate with you on this... ;)
Well...I'm sure there are *so* many other delicious and delightful ways that you could think up to help spread the raw message in your area...and know that whatever you choose to give out to the world in terms of love, kindness, sharing and generosity will come back to you manifold over...there are *so* many people who could benefit from hearing this message and connecting more to a raw lifestyle...may you go forth and shine brightly :)
All love,
MsACS-MMAHons. xxx
