Having a family while eating a high raw diet and working for Vivapura leads to a lot of questions! Because of this I decided that I would start a series of Wednesday posts regarding how to eat raw with a family. I'm going to start this week off with introducing the idea of eating a raw foods diet to your family. I'm going to cover a wide range of topics in this series such as respecting your families path, dealing with picky eaters and some family friendly recipes. If you have questions or issues around this subject that you would love to see addressed in this series write to me at erika {at} vivapura {dot} net.
When people discover the raw food diet they are often filled with an enormous missionary zeal. Their passion for this amazing new lifestyle becomes a major focus and every friend or family member becomes a potential convert. It is natural to feel so excited about a lifestyle that so thoroughly shifts your life and perspective. It is also natural for those around you to roll their eyes and groan when presented with your enthusiasm. Friends can be forgiving with issues like changes in diet (though not always). Our families, the people we live with and eat with, can be downright hostile to dietary change. Introducing a new diet to our families must be done very delicately with much consideration for the emotional attachment and comfort many seek to receive in their food. To help you integrate raw foods into your families diet I'm going to have an ongoing series here with tips and suggestions to help you gradually improve your families diet. Today we'll focus on actually introducing your family to the raw diet. Granted, if you are already reading this blog you might be further along in this process already that being said, you may still find some things to be helpful as you proceed. When you make that initial decision to start eating raw foods the key is to remember this is your decision, not your families. Let them know that you will be changing the way you are personally eating in significantly but you are not going to force anyone down this path with you. With that in mind, you may require additional support from your family around meal time and that is the only change you are requesting from them...for now. Now some people in your family may be excited to join you on this new diet, some may be willing to make some changes and others will sigh with great relief that you aren't asking them to change their diet. What was that you said about requiring more help with meal times though? Making two separate meals every night can be draining, I know because I have done that through many stages of my dietary evolution. If your family is very resistant to any changes though it will be necessary in the short term. Just beause it is necessary doesn't mean that the responsibility should fall entirely on you. Make sure that every member of your family has one or two dinner-time chores. Even young children can help by clearing the table and helping to load a dishwasher (if you have one). Even spouses who are not culinary geniuses can boil pasta, or make rice. Kids can make a salad or chop veggies. This has two purposes, one it reduces the amount of work you have to do in the kitchen but it also gets your family involved in making their own food. Especially with children, getting them in the kitchen gets them excited about food. If they can take ownership for part of the meal they are making they will be more excited to eat their accomplishment. Children who are more involved in the kitchen tend to be more adventurous at the dinner table. If you are not the person in your family that prepares meals do not expect the person in charge of meal time to start making you separate meals for you. Take responsibility for your own dietary changes and your partner will be grateful and most likely curious regarding your new culinary pursuits. Now that you've broken the news what's next? Next is to start your dietary journey while respecting theirs. We'll get to this next Wednesday