raw-chael rachael

This week the head of the eco-justice committee at my church in Chicago sent out an email forward with the headline "What the World Eats" and fifteen photos of families with their week's food.


Check it out.

I did a little digging and found out that it was from the new Hungry Planet book What the World Eats. The book features 30 different families from all over the world and photographs them with their weekly groceries, including for the reader a list of the ingredients and the total cost. I'm sure if you're cool enough to click and see you will be as fascinated as I was.

The thing that immediately struck me was the amount of processed foods and familiar American brands throughout the developed world. Of course the American family predictably takes the cake (and eats it!) of processed, microwavable, anti-food. Yet many other countries are represented by families eating two or three families' worth of packaged, starchy calories.

Of course, that realization collided with the amount of produce present in Egyptian, Peruvian and South Asian households. Most American (and Australian) families would balk at concocting entire meals out of purely produce, beans, and grain. But many, many, many people around the world do it: most out of necessity.

During my tireless internet search to find the origin of the article I ran across several blogs and editorials on the Hungry Planet piece and many of them focused on the theme of, "Count your blessings!" I understand that sentiment and certainly try to count my myriad of blessings every day but what I felt after reading this wasn't so much my own fortune, but the urge to change my habits. The most striking of all the families is the Sudanese; the photo bears a mother and her five smiling children behind their weekly ration of sorghum and soy-corn blend, several handfuls of fruits and vegetables, a few spices, and water. Meanwhile, a family of four in Germany consumes $400 of food per week, including (but certainly not limited to) 5 loaves of bread, 15 pounds of meat and $66 worth of frozen and prepared food. Does the family in Sudan really need me to "count my blessings" or is there, perhaps, a better response?

Gluttony (an ugly but appropriate word) does not only refer to obvious cases. The German family of four is not overweight and, at first glance, wouldn't raise an eyebrow in terms of its consumption. Yet, their 5 loaves of bread, 15 pounds of meat, and $66 worth of frozen and prepared food (not to mention the rough 7.5 gallons of fruit juice, soda, beer and wine) is clearly more than they need.

And while the German family shown looked fairly healthy, but not overweight, the sad fact is that, with diets like theirs (and worse), millions of families now exist who are overweight, even obsese. When I thought about the issue from the angle this article gave me, I began to see how wasteful a gluttinous diet really is. Much of the food, money, and resources going into their weekly diet would be going straight down the toilet. Literally. The problem is that western societies are eating themselves silly and then spending more time, money, and resources to work off the calories they are overeating. There are millions of dollars to be made off of weight-obsessed women, who will gossip about the new diet craze and read every magazine article about the perfect jean for their body type.

Meanwhile, that Sudanese family is still living off of less than $1.50 worth of food per day. That Sudanese mom could care less about the perfect jeans for her A-frame. What she needs is a recipe book for all the diverse ways one can mix sorghum, soy-corn blend, and some limes.

How can we justify this excessiveness?

Not to mention the resources that are poured into our indulgences and then the resources poured into weaning ourselves off of our indulgences. How can any country be a good global citizen until it considers how it is affecting the rest of the world and it's people? Green is trendy right now, but truly, how can any country claim to "green" itself if it fails to consider how much over-consumption, even in its diets, affects the world in too many ways? While there are always going to be political and economic hurdles to jump before solving the problems of families like the Sudanese, the problem will not get solved amidst the continuous gluttony of the transgressing societies.

And so I looked down at my own little belly that I have grown here in Australia over the last few months. I realized I had gobbled down a good amount of garbage myself. I am a vegan because of my response to the environmental issue, but I had failed to see I was still leaving a trail behind me, despite my little green upgrade in lifestyle. I'm still a glut for carbs. (Aren't we all?) Bread, cookies, chips, crackers. The lifeblood of vegan junk food. Even though I had switched to organic and whole grains, I know I still eat more than I need. Gelato. Baked goods. Strongbow. The processed foods, though oftentimes so delicious, are also often a waste because they are the extra unnecessary part of our diet. Grains, of course, are important. But do I need bread, cookies, chips, and crackers in my cabinet at all times? Furthermore, though I was eating tons of produce as well, I certainly wasn't eating double my share of grains, which is really the goal. I considered the Peruvian family and their array of fruits and veggies and a lightbulb appeared above my head.

As my response to this article, I am challenging myself to limit my consumption and not overeat or rely on processed foods. What a perfect time, I decided, to toast to veggies, and try the raw diet.

So for the next week (starting today) I am going completely raw every day. That means nothing can be cooked over 120 degrees F. It focuses on raw fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, sprouted grains, and can include raw meat, fish, and dairy, though I certainly won't be setting foot anywhere near there. It is a challenge but it will be the best response I can give to that article. Eating raw will limit the energy used in heating and preparing food on a stove, in an oven, or a microwave. Eating raw will limit the packaging and resources expended in processed foods that come in bags, boxes, and plastic. Eating raw will be the best for my body, keeping me healthy so less energy and resources are expended on diets and weight loss. I will take pictures of my interesting meals and report back to you Hungry Planet-style at the end of the week.

Anyone want to join me?

Bon appetit!