To The Tameka's Of The World

This young lady I am writing of, has no idea I am writing about her. But she has grabbed my attention. Not many people effect me the she has. I met her recently at one of my raw food classes. Now you have to remember, I am totally new at this raw food thing, so to say I can whip out factoids on what vitamins and minerals are laden inside of raw food...well I am not quite there yet. I hope to be soon enough.

With that said, Tameka came and sat in one one of my best classes, which of course was a raw dessert class, in which I made Raw Oatmeal Cookies and my utmost favorite Raw Chocolate Pudding. But to say I thought I had made was an understatement. I thought I had seen the last of this young lady. She was energetic enough (but then so many who come to my class are and then they fizzle out, and that goes for other food classes as well, not just mine) and looked as if she was truly hooked on what I was trying to sell (which was just a new way of eating). So when my next raw food class came to be, no Tameka to be found. Alas, another one falls by the wayside. Until this past Earth Day. *insert climatic music Dun dun dun*

I was at Liberty Medical and was representing Nutrition S'Mart which is the store where I teach my food classes every month. The lady who is their community director (A fancy name for 'person to get name of store out in the community') was with me through thee entire event. And thankfully so. I would have to guess that nearly close to 1,000 + came by our table. I figured out, the closer we got to this event, that I would need help and that we would indeed be seeing allot of people.

Now mind you that this crowd was not going to be an easy sell to get them to see that organic, healthy, raw food was the way to go. So we figured that if we showed them a simple,easy, recognizable dessert, that we could grab their attention. It work. I am not sitting here saying that everyone who came through our line is going to become a raw food vegan. But we did open some eyes there. And all I kept tell them about my raw oatmeal cookies were just a few things I had to ask them, which of course none of my questions were deniable:

1) Can you turn over your boxed cookies and pronounce all thee ingredients?
Answer: No

2) Would you have said ingredients in your cupboard?
Answer: No

3) Would your great grandmother recognize those ingredients as real food?
Answer: No

That was all I had to say to them. For that got their wheels turning. I was not judging them, I was just opening their eyes to the obvious in a semi-comical manner. I got allot of,"Yeah, you are right about that." Which was a great thing to hear, for you know they had to think about it just a wee bit on the ride home. They may not go home and throw out the boxed cookies, but I but you at least a dozen folks will attempt to make the cookies they ate yesterday and maybe even a small percent will like them enough and have enough curiosity to come and take one of my classes and see what healthier eating is all about.

Well much to my surprise I caught, out of the corner of my eye, a lady I recognized. Low and behold I was looking at Tameka, the young lady who was so enthusiastic at my dessert raw food class. And she stood there, trying to sell these people on my cookies. And took it a step further and boasted on how great the raw chocolate pudding was and they would not believe that avocados were the base of that dessert and they would never know how good it was until they had tried it. For she herself was a non-believer until she tried it, and now she believes.

All she kept doing was touting how great that raw chocolate pudding was and the no one would believe it had been made with avocados. Then I asked her why she had not attended my last raw food class, for I had made this great Raw Cauliflower Cous Cous Salad and my friend Dotty from Nutrition S'Mart came to my defense and said it was awesome. And then you saw the look on her face, it was slack-jaw. She then commenced to tell me the reason she had not shown up was that she thought that the same recipes would be served again. I told her, 'Definitely not." And that it was my goal to change the food each and every class. And as I am teaching these classes, I too, am learning tons of information. But more then they vitamin packed information. I want people to see how easy an inexpensive it truly can be to go raw if one if a percentage of your diet.

And I now see thee enthusiasm she exudes, and the changes she is making in her life. 'She' has been doing it in little steps and that is how it should be done. Unless you are dealing with drugs, alcohol or cigarettes, most changes can and should be done gradually. You alone can set that time table and it should be right for you. And when you find that spot where you are completely comfortable, then stop. You will know. If you were to look up the word change in the dictionary, you would find Tameka's picture, for she is thee embodiment of what we can all accomplish. If we all had more Tameka's in this world, it would be a better place.

What amazed me a bit when we did our Earth Day event was that people were genuine confused by the fact that you could eat raw oatmeal cookies and they could taste good. There was just one person who kind of bamboozled me with her response to my saying, "Try our raw, organic whole foods oatmeal cookie." And one lady cam back with, and very politely I might add. 'I Am watching what I am putting into my body.'

Well needless to say, that blew me away. I mean how much healthier and or better could you get with raw organic whole foods. I was then the one who was confused. I only hope that we cracked open the door for people to think outside of their S.A.D. (Standard American Diet) and see the possibilities out there. And that vegans and raw foodists do not live on twigs and salads.