Raw Food Craze Hits Connecticut by Jocelyn Maminta

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Hartford-WTNH
July 10, 2006

Raw Food Craze Hits Connecticut

What started out on the West Coast is gaining in popularity here in Connecticut.

We're talking about a new way to eat healthy.

It's called raw food.

* by News Channel 8's Jocelyn Maminta

This diet is basically a vegan diet prepared with uncooked food.

You are familiar with fresh fruit and mixed greens as foods you can eat without cooking. This is raw food gourmet style.

Real, live raw food is on the menu at Alchemy Juice Bar and Cafe in Hartford.

Imani says, "Raw food is live enzyme rich food that's not heated up above a certain point usually about 118 degrees."

Owner Imani says customers just can not get enough of it.

"You're talking about real, live food that's enzyme rich, that's overflowing with good nutrients that's going into the body," says Imani.

Chef Erin Schuh creates these tasty treats made without animal products.

"It's a process of slowly drying out the food at low temperature, instead of quickly baking it and killing it in a high temperature oven," says Schuh.

Karen Sevenoff switched to raw food a year ago.

"When I eat cooked food I feel full and generally a little tired and that takes a while to go away. Whereas in raw food you feel great," says Sevenoff.

Here at Whole Foods market in West Hartford the raw foods section was recently expanded. Customers now have a variety of cereals, nuts and fruit.
"They put in like dates, and put in different fruits to make it taste good. If it didn't taste good people wouldn't buy it again. They would buy it once, and they wouldn't buy it twice so the flavor has to be there," says Doug Pyne, Whole Foods market.

A flavor that is just beginning to burst in Connecticut.

You may want to check with your physician if you plan on making a drastic change in your diet.